England v India 2025 Test Match Series June 20-August 4

[PhatBoy]

This is getting boring, this is the problem with The Oval pitch, it gets better to bat on as the match goes on, it should get worse.

For 3 days it was doing plenty. If you want it hard at the start and getting worse, what sort of pitch do you think someone can produce? It’s halfway through day four.

They haven’t won it yet but there’s a strong chance that they will. At some point, if this gets added to a growing list of really big fourth innings chases that they’ve pulled off, people will stop looking to write them off and maybe go ‘you know what, this is happening too often to just ALWAYS be the pitch, maybe they’re actually good at it.’

 

[Plugger35]

A good hundred from Brook but Ponting is taking the piss saying it's a difficult pitch, it doesn't look that difficult to me.

It looks like an ODI or a T20 pitch now which is one of the reasons flat track Harry just scored a ton.

 

[Plugger35]

For 3 days it was doing plenty. If you want it hard at the start and getting worse, what sort of pitch do you think someone can produce? It’s halfway through day four.

They haven’t won it yet but there’s a strong chance that they will. At some point, if this gets added to a growing list of really big fourth innings chases that they’ve pulled off, people will stop looking to write them off and maybe go ‘you know what, this is happening too often to just ALWAYS be the pitch, maybe they’re actually good at it.’

Trust you to be contrary but anyone that's followed test cricket knows that The Oval pitch gets better to bat on as time goes on.

It's not a good venue for test cricket, it's a better venue for ODI cricket but it's Surrey's home ground and they have the money.

 

[Bedi]

With Oscar Piastri just getting pipped at the line, this is turning out to be a shit weekend of sport, so hoping India can rectify things here

 

[Plugger35]

Flat track Harry gone, India probably still aren't that much of a chance to win but at least it gives Bethell another chance to bat.

He is a batsman worth watching if he gets going.

 

[PhatBoy]

Trust you to be contrary but anyone that's followed test cricket knows that The Oval pitch gets better to bat on as time goes on.

It's not a good venue for test cricket, it's a better venue for ODI cricket but it's Surrey's home ground and they have the money.

It’s not being contrarian to understand that it’s virtually impossible to get a pitch to behave the way YOU want it to at every tick of the clock.

Why does every test pitch have to be the same? What makes a ‘good’ venue for test cricket - because by what you’re saying, all pitches should behave the same way at the same rate, yeah?

 

[PhatBoy]

Flat track Harry gone, India probably still aren't that much chance to win but at least it gives Bethell another chance to bat.

Flat track Harry who’s played comfortably the best hundred of the last 12 months on a seaming pitch and it happened to be against your team.

Christ you post some rubbish mate.

 

[Bedi]

well bowled, well batted Siraj slow ball to Bethell

 

[Bedi]

what? why? who?

 

[PhatBoy]

lol wtf was that

 

[Bedi]

has to be up there with the worst shot ever for a batsman to survive. Absolute miracle.

 

[PhatBoy]

has to be up there with the worst shot ever for a batsman to survive. Absolute miracle.

You couldn’t mistime or mishit a shot that poorly in 1000 innings on purpose.

 

[Bedi]

You couldn’t mistime or mishit a shot that poorly in 1000 innings on purpose.

haha the placement was superb

 

[Bedi]

England strong favourites from here. But 1-2 wickets can change things instantly

 

[PhatBoy]

England strong favourites from here. But 1-2 wickets can change things instantly

You’d assume the instructions would just be to let Root guide things home.

 

[Bedi]

You’d assume the instructions would just be to let Root guide things home.

Yep a Root 100 would put the finishing touches on a superb win. To win two matches chasing 350+ runs in the 4th innings in a series is extraordinary. Dare say it'd be the first time it's ever been done. Regardless of what happens, this is right up there with the most tightly contested 5 test series i can remember.

 

[Plugger35]

England should win this test now unless it keeps on raining.

Flat track Harry who’s played comfortably the best hundred of the last 12 months on a seaming pitch and it happened to be against your team.

Christ you post some rubbish mate.

There you go again, it was a good hundred from Brook but he still isn't a great test batsman when it is seaming and swinging.

If I could pick an English test batsman to bat for my life I wouldn't be picking Brook, I would be picking Root who is still there.

 

[PhatBoy]

England should win this test now unless it keeps on raining.



There you go again, it was a good hundred from Brook but he still isn't a great test batsman when it is seaming and swinging.

If I could pick an English test batsman to bat for my life I wouldn't be picking Brook, I would be picking Root who is still there.

He’s played 30 tests mate

He’s probably played 6-7 of them on pitches that have been genuinely seaming or swinging and his bludgeoned run a ball hundreds in two of them, AND I’ve not counted the 170 against NZ as one of those where he got dropped a bunch of times.

He hit 123 off 115 with his team 4-40 in the first hour on a pitch where even the hosts came out in their first innings and were skittled for 120.

The previous time they went there it was 3-20 inside the first 45 minutes of the game starting and he just hit a casual 186 off 176.

Even last summer on two of the three most seam friendly pitches in the Sri Lanka/West Indies series’ he hit half centuries, and in THIS actual match, where both sides struggled in their first innings, he walked out and crushed a run a ball half-century like he was having a net, before hitting his century today.


What do you want him to do, build a Time Machine and either go backwards and inject himself into past test tours to SA to compete against Vernon Philander, or skip forward to when he’s a 120 test veteran?

I’ve never seen a player get criticised so much for the crime of…. Scoring runs in basically every condition in which he’s played.

Literally his only failure so far has been heavily turning tracks - where he’s had two goes.

And mate I’m sorry, you’re not being very revelatory selecting the second most prolific run scorer of all time to bat for your life. I’m pretty sure a lot of people would too.

 

[Bedi]

here we go

 

[Plugger35]

Nasser and Athers in the Sky commentary box in about 20 years time.

 

[Plugger35]

He’s played 30 tests mate

He’s probably played 6-7 of them on pitches that have been genuinely seaming or swinging and his bludgeoned run a ball hundreds in two of them, AND I’ve not counted the 170 against NZ as one of those where he got dropped a bunch of times.

He hit 123 off 115 with his team 4-40 in the first hour on a pitch where even the hosts came out in their first innings and were skittled for 120.

The previous time they went there it was 3-20 inside the first 45 minutes of the game starting and he just hit a casual 186 off 176.

Even last summer on two of the three most seam friendly pitches in the Sri Lanka/West Indies series’ he hit half centuries, and in THIS actual match, where both sides struggled in their first innings, he walked out and crushed a run a ball half-century like he was having a net, before hitting his century today.


What do you want him to do, build a Time Machine and either go backwards and inject himself into past test tours to SA to compete against Vernon Philander, or skip forward to when he’s a 120 test veteran?

I’ve never seen a player get criticised so much for the crime of…. Scoring runs in basically every condition in which he’s played.

Literally his only failure so far has been heavily turning tracks - where he’s had two goes.

And mate I’m sorry, you’re not being very revelatory selecting the second most prolific run scorer of all time to bat for your life. I’m pretty sure a lot of people would too.

You do your homework in terms of stats I will give you that but as I've said before I don't go by the stats I go more by the vibes.

 

[Bedi]

He’s played 30 tests mate

He’s probably played 6-7 of them on pitches that have been genuinely seaming or swinging and his bludgeoned run a ball hundreds in two of them, AND I’ve not counted the 170 against NZ as one of those where he got dropped a bunch of times.

He hit 123 off 115 with his team 4-40 in the first hour on a pitch where even the hosts came out in their first innings and were skittled for 120.

The previous time they went there it was 3-20 inside the first 45 minutes of the game starting and he just hit a casual 186 off 176.

Even last summer on two of the three most seam friendly pitches in the Sri Lanka/West Indies series’ he hit half centuries, and in THIS actual match, where both sides struggled in their first innings, he walked out and crushed a run a ball half-century like he was having a net, before hitting his century today.


What do you want him to do, build a Time Machine and either go backwards and inject himself into past test tours to SA to compete against Vernon Philander, or skip forward to when he’s a 120 test veteran?

I’ve never seen a player get criticised so much for the crime of…. Scoring runs in basically every condition in which he’s played.

Literally his only failure so far has been heavily turning tracks - where he’s had two goes.

And mate I’m sorry, you’re not being very revelatory selecting the second most prolific run scorer of all time to bat for your life. I’m pretty sure a lot of people would too.

Hate to agree with you (him being a Pom and all), but it was painfully clear from day one Harry Brooke was going to be a generational player. Unfortunately for anyone he's playing against he's well exceeded those expectations. Can get a bit cocky, which can the difference from scoring 100 and beyond, but otherwise can't speak highly enough of him.

 

[Bedi]

You do your homework in terms of stats I will give you that but as I've said before I don't go by the stats I go more by the vibes.

sadly he's going to be a thorn in all our sides for many years to come

 

[Bedi]

**** you Joe Root. Too good.

 

[Plugger35]

Mick Jagger is in the house again, it looked like he was sitting next to Mark Nicholas.

i reckon Mick would be more of a vibes man and Mark would be more of a stats man.