England v India - 2nd Test

[CoolClaret]

Stokes has probably told the lads to try and chase it down.

Think he's become a bit of a martyr for this style and it's affecting his form with bat and ball (injury aside).

[Andreshotboots]

To be fair Stokes has made 2 poor decisions at the toss. We were extremely lucky to win at Leeds, and only poor Indian catching prevented them from winning that test. They were largely on top in that game for the majority of the time.

I can't understand again why he's chosen to bowl, 1 up in the series, a very lame bowling attack and a non existent spinner. It was almost as if the arrogance of we are England, we will chance anything....

We are 1 0 up in the series, their best bowler wasn't playing and it should have been England making the big score first on a flat pitch, therefore controlling the game completely, just like India have done .

[Andreshotboots]

Crawley has to dropped now. Another duck for England from a duck egg batsman. We need to find a better opener before the Ashes.

File him alongside Pope. Every few innings it comes off and it looks great, but nowhere near regularly enough. Gill gave a masterclass in leaving the ball early, and getting in properly. Crawley is swinging at a wide one and nicking off to gully with only 17 overs left of the day, just ridiculous..

[ClaretTony]

Two down

[ClaretTony]

File him alongside Pope. Every few innings it comes off and it looks great, but nowhere near regularly enough. Gill gave a masterclass in leaving the ball early, and getting in properly. Crawley is swinging at a wide one and nicking off to gully with only 17 overs left of the day, just ridiculous..

Interesting observation from Nasser Hussain regarding the guard Crawley’s guard on off stump which he believes is making him play at balls he doesn’t need to play.

[Milltown1882]

Interesting observation from Nasser Hussain regarding the guard Crawley’s guard on off stump which he believes is making him play at balls he doesn’t need to play.

He’s been doing it for years though. Comes a time where he just isn’t test level.

[ClaretTony]

He’s been doing it for years though. Comes a time where he just isn’t test level.

But it showed clips from the first test when he had a middle & off guard. But he’s definitely not test level.

[Gunfury]

Crawley averages 32 in county cricket so I don’t know who ever thought he would be good enough at international level

[Andreshotboots]

Interesting observation from Nasser Hussain regarding the guard Crawley’s guard on off stump which he believes is making him play at balls he doesn’t need to play.

In my experience if you bat on off stump you should take out the nick to the slips totally because you know anything that is outside the line of your feet, you can just leave alone, that's supposed to be the point.

The big danger batting over there is the one that jags back and hits you in front. Crawley is batting on off, but is still flashing away which is madness. Poor technique from Duckett too if we're being honest, big gap between his bat and pad leading to an inside edge.

[Buxtonclaret]

Pope was kippered then. Lucky boy.

[Gunfury]

Triple ton from Sibley this week.

Dom Sibley is another one who had a chance at test level and looked out of his depth.
I guess if he keeps scoring like that though they will have to consider him,can’t be any worse than Crawley can he?

[DAVETHEVICAR]

For next test Crawley and Tongue have to go and be replaced by another opener in the squad and Archer
Possibly Bashir as well and replaced by another spin bowler in squad ( not sure what other options are but Dawson would be ok from Hampshire and a decent batter also )

[Milltown1882]

For next test Crawley and Tongue have to go and be replaced by another opener in the squad and Archer
Possibly Bashir as well and replaced by another spin bowler in squad ( not sure what other options are but Dawson would be ok from Hampshire and a decent batter also )

Bashir out for Bethell and him and Root can balance spin duties. Would strengthen the batting and bowling then so Bashir can go back to club cricket because no county wants him.

[TheFamilyCat]

Dom Sibley is another one who had a chance at test level and looked out of his depth.
I guess if he keeps scoring like that though they will have to consider him,can’t be any worse than Crawley can he?

Sibley has apparently completely remodelled his game, he even scores runs quickly in T20s now.

[Buxtonclaret]

Good umpiring.
India lose another review.

[Gunfury]

Sibley has apparently completely remodelled his game, he even scores runs quickly in T20s now.

He needed to,he just looked awkward at the crease

[ClaretTony]

And Root gone now

[Buxtonclaret]

Oooops.
Superb delivery.

[Milltown1882]

That ‘we can chase down anything’ attitude is going well

[Andreshotboots]

Awful shot by Root too. Good delivery, but nowhere near as good as he made it look, look at his bat face/ angle. He plays that with a straight bat, at worst it finds a thick edge.

England been found technically wanting in both tests so far..

[Bordeauxclaret]

Awful shot by Root too. Good delivery, but nowhere near as good as he made it look, look at his bat face/ angle. He plays that with a straight bat, at worst it finds a thick edge.

England been found technically wanting in both tests so far..

I was thinking the same.

They were making out that it was an unplayable delivery.

[alwaysaclaret]

But for the 2 batting performances of Brook and Smith in the 1st innings this would have been over long ago, England just not coping with this Indian bowling attack, and far too weak in their own. Big improvement needed for the next test.

[Bordeauxclaret]

Hussain scathing of Crawley at the end of play.

[Foulthrow]

England’s best seam bowler is chosen for his batting - Stokes.

England’s best spin bowler is chosen for his batting - Root.

How brain dead has England’s approach been to batting in this game? The ball has literally done nothing after 15 overs. India have shown us this twice now. Do we pay any attention? Nope. Just have a swing at everything early doors.

[jdrobbo]

I think it’s worth highlighting that in this test match, India have simply been far better than England!!

[Andreshotboots]

I think it’s worth highlighting that in this test match, India have simply been far better than England!!

They were in the last one for the majority of the game and we've not learned a thing..

[jdrobbo]

They were in the last one for the majority of the game and we've not learned a thing..

Yep, but this is the brand we play. We’re always going to make mistakes. Some frustrate me (Brook playing a daft shot in the first ball of his innings in the first test was one that did that) so when we lose, whilst dissecting every daft decision (this side will never be faultless I don’t think), it’s important to point out perhaps, that we’ve been totally outplayed at the same time.

[Andreshotboots]

Yep, but this is the brand we play. We’re always going to make mistakes. Some frustrate me (Brook playing a daft shot in the first ball of his innings in the first test was one that did that) so when we lose, whilst dissecting every daft decision (this side will never be faultless I don’t think), it’s important to point out perhaps, that we’ve been totally outplayed at the same time.

Very true and I agree. I also think this "brand" was the reason we decided to bowl first. We should have been ruthless, batted first, and batted them out of the game like they did to us. The "we can chase anything" attitude has bitten us on the ass.

Losing this test has also really helped them with the Bumrah dilemma too although they don't appear to have missed him that much, if India had gone 2 down he'd have had to have played the last 3 back to back. Now they can manage hs workload again..

[TheFamilyCat]

Very true and I agree. I also think this "brand" was the reason we decided to bowl first. We should have been ruthless, batted first, and batted them out of the game like they did to us. The "we can chase anything" attitude has bitten us on the ass.

Losing this test has also really helped them with the Bumrah dilemma too although they don't appear to have missed him that much, if India had gone 2 down he'd have had to have played the last 3 back to back. Now they can manage hs workload again..

You're not optimistic about batting the day tomorrow then?

[TheFamilyCat]

He needed to,he just looked awkward at the crease

Yes, i can't think of a less fluent looking batter.

[jdrobbo]

Very true and I agree. I also think this "brand" was the reason we decided to bowl first. We should have been ruthless, batted first, and batted them out of the game like they did to us. The "we can chase anything" attitude has bitten us on the ass.

Losing this test has also really helped them with the Bumrah dilemma too although they don't appear to have missed him that much, if India had gone 2 down he'd have had to have played the last 3 back to back. Now they can manage hs workload again..

I agree. I would say it’s the right brand but not quite balanced. A few smarter decisions, like your correct suggestion of batting first, would make us formidable. I love our confidence but there’s also the occasional blind spot. This is the ideal test series to play ahead of the winter Ashes: we’ll learn a lot. I think we’ll win both.

[Andreshotboots]

We also dropped a b***** by not batting first due to the fact India were without their best bowler. They had zero pressure on them by the time they came to bowl with a massive score on the board.

It's the same with Gill, their skipper. We've asked him zero questions in terms of batting under pressure as we've allowed him to bat first both tests, and basically be able to bat as long as he likes without having any score board pressure, or a total to chase in the 4th innings which also adds lots of pressure. No wonder he's scoring runs for fun...

[Bordeauxclaret]

Blindly accepting this “brand” argument isn’t holding much water anymore.

Our Test record since its inception is nothing to write home about, especially against the established teams.

Loss by 423 runs
Loss by 9 wickets
Loss by ings and 64 runs
Loss by 434 runs

Four losses since the start of last year against what I’d call serious Test playing sides.

But this is the “brand” so…

[jdrobbo]

Blindly accepting this “brand” argument isn’t holding much water anymore.

Our Test record since its inception is nothing to write home about, especially against the established teams.

Loss by 423 runs
Loss by 9 wickets
Loss by ings and 64 runs
Loss by 434 runs

Four losses since the start of last year against what I’d call serious Test playing sides.

But this is the “brand” so…

Yes, this is another blindspot perhaps: continuing to select players because you believe in them, whilst denying players who are more in-form on the county circuit.

[kentonclaret]

I actually posted on Day 1 of this Test Match the comment made by Ravi Shastri, that if Gill had won the toss and put England in to bat on that feather bed that he wouldn’t have been captain for much longer.
Because England have built this reputation for Baz Ball and chasing down any total players are selected who are suited to that role, scoring quickly and going for their shots. Shutting up shop isn’t in their DNA. India decided to bat England out of this match to put them in a position that they hadn’t yet encountered where a win was totally out of their reach and England don’t do draws. Do they?

[Andreshotboots]

I think this brand is useless and I've not liked it from day one. Yes it can be exciting, but it's so wreckless it's untrue. You will never get consistency against the better teams playing this way.

To me it's like setting up at football with 5 strikers, you may win some games, you'll get some stuffings, but everybody comes off saying " well isn't that entertaining"?

Well no it isn't actually,.I'd rather win, and win 1-0 if I have too. Same at cricket, this was our chance to almost bat India out of the series on the first day in this test, and we just handed them a way back into it.

The likes of Cummins, Hazelwood, Starc must be rubbing their hands with glee seeing us bat like this, and seemingly learnt nothing from two years ago...

[Bordeauxclaret]

It was so impressive how we approached the fourth innings last week.
Leaving and seeing off the new ball.

Ideal wicket to do the same this week.

[CoolClaret]

Yep, but this is the brand we play. We’re always going to make mistakes. Some frustrate me (Brook playing a daft shot in the first ball of his innings in the first test was one that did that) so when we lose, whilst dissecting every daft decision (this side will never be faultless I don’t think), it’s important to point out perhaps, that we’ve been totally outplayed at the same time.

It doesn't have to be this one style vs another though, that's what is so infuriating.

It isn't this binary choice between playing like Boycott vs like Ben Duckett. Knowing when to be aggressive and when to rein it in just a tad is what all the best teams in history have done.

[Newcastleclaret93]

Got to imagine Sibley or Hameed gets a shot opening the batting at some point

Both averaging over 70 in the county championship.

[jdrobbo]

It doesn't have to be this one style vs another though, that's what is so infuriating.

It isn't this binary choice between playing like Boycott vs like Ben Duckett. Knowing when to be aggressive and when to rein it in just a tad is what all the best teams in history have done.

I absolutely don’t disagree.

[Bordeauxclaret]

Fingers crossed for a little resilience and a bit of rain today.

[ClaretTony]

Fingers crossed for a little resilience and a bit of rain today.

Looking at the forecast it’s a potential late start but then should be a clear day. I’m not sure we can hold out for too much help from the weather.

[kentonclaret]

Looking at the forecast it’s a potential late start but then should be a clear day. I’m not sure we can hold out for too much help from the weather.

Just our luck eh? A delayed start robbing us of a glorious run chase

[ClaretTony]

Just our luck eh? A delayed start robbing us of a glorious run chase

Ha ha

[Bordeauxclaret]

Overs start ticking away from midday.

Still raining.

[Newcastleclaret93]

Fingers crossed it rains till about 2pm that’s should be enough for us to hold out the rest of the day

[kentonclaret]

Very quick turnaround to the 3rd Test that starts at Lords on Wednesday.
Plenty of changes and sunshine on the horizon.

[sjb]

Play to start at 12.40. Just 10 overs lost.

[ClaretTony]

Underway

[ClaretTony]

Pope gone