England vs India - 2nd Test

[Briedis]

The second test has got under way at Trent Bridge (Nottingham) with the first days honours being slightly in Indias favour.

Play stopped early due to bad light and India were 4/210. Sehwag scored a lovely ton.

Tendulkar's shot to get out was very dissapointing, he was batting with a lot of patience but must have had a brain explosion with that one. It looked pre-meditated.

Hoggard bowled really well. There was a afir bit of swing around and he kept his shape nicely all day and ended up with 2/54 from 21 overs.

I can see this test meandering to a draw.... but you never know with cricket when India is playing!

 

[SeinDude]

India have done well so far and should be looking at a score somewhere around 350-400 on the first innings. With the time lost being able to be made up at some stage, I still think there's every chance of getting a result from the test.

Cheers!!
SeinDude

 

[Booze Hound]

With the weather forecast in England for the next few days I suspect a result is unlikely. Also, the Trent Bridge pitch tends to flatten out.

For India to get 350-400 they will rely a lot on Ganguly and Laxman I think.

Their tail is still weak. The last day at Lords was mainly down to a very flat last day pitch.

 

[Dipper]

Well they've done it again, everything seems to be going along nicely then we get the customary crapped up selections.

Why oh why did they send Tudor back to Surrey a couple of days before the game?He was MOM in the last Test he played, his test average is lower than any other current England player & he just needs games but for some reason Hussain doesn't rate him, he made all sorts of cracks about Tudor questioning his mind/heart last year & then it turned out that Tudor had a long standing injury that they only diagnosed in Adelaide.
It's bloody clear to me that Tudor is twice the bowler that Harmison is, this guy as well as being a homesick sook whenever he leaves his inbred village he is the most injury prone cricketer in the world(even more than Tudor!).

Then there's the selction of Cork, I used to be a fan but is really the future?They pick him whenever they think that there will be swing but all the bowlers can swing it when the conditions are right , the thing with Cork is that that is all he can do, when the ball doesn't swing he's a waste of space as was shown at Lord's against Sri Lanka.
By picking Cork we leave out Giles, let's face it he's not a great spinner but he gives the attack variety & allows us to defend at times plus it was also shown at Lord's(v Sri Lanka) that we often misread match conditions & so he should be in the team for virtually every game.Plus do they really believe that 5 fast bowlers will be any more successful than 4?


As for the bowling yesterday, the ball was swinging like a motherf***er & we should have doen a lot better but sometimes we appear clueless when there's a lot of swing.
Hoggard who did bowl well technically (& was clearly the best of the bowlers)getting a lot of away swing was still pretty clueless I thought.
He fell into the same trap that Caddick often falls into when there's lots of swing, he just keeps bowling from close to the stumps away swing on an off stump line, so the net result is that he beats the outside edge countless times & the commentators sit there going'oh on another day he could have had 5' but for me there's an art to taking wickets just as there's an art to beating the outside edge & they're not the same thing.Sometimes these blokes need to use their brain a bit more & in this instance bowling from wider of the crease a bit more & aiming their away swingers at off or even middle would have a lot better, plus mixing it up with the odd in swinger wouldn't have been a bad idea.But that line meant that he beat the outside edge regularly whilst very rarely looking like getting a wicket(he got Dravid brecause he was trying to drive a full one) & then whenever he shiftedhis line he got taken for runs on the leg side, i can't understand why some of these bowlers are so reticent about using the crease a bit more.

 

[Slax]

With the weather forcast over here I doubt that a pitch this flat and dead will deliver anything but a draw. India has a weak attack and with Kumble injured it is not looking good for India to bowl out England for a reasonably low total.

 

[Briedis]

Originally posted by DIPPER
Why oh why did they send Tudor back to Surrey a couple of days before the game?He was MOM in the last Test he played, his test average is lower than any other current England player & he just needs games but for some reason Hussain doesn't rate him...

Agree 100%. I had assumed Tudor was injured and that was the reason he wasn't picked...but if he was left out then I hope the notorious Pommie press is getting stuck into the English selectors for that.

Originally posted by DIPPER
Plus do they really believe that 5 fast bowlers will be any more successful than 4?

You wouldn't think it would make much difference would you. 4 should be able to do the job.

Originally posted by DIPPER
for me there's an art to taking wickets just as there's an art to beating the outside edge & they're not the same thing.Sometimes these blokes need to use their brain a bit more & in this instance bowling from wider of the crease a bit more & aiming their away swingers at off or even middle would have a lot better, plus mixing it up with the odd in swinger wouldn't have been a bad idea ...... i can't understand why some of these bowlers are so reticent about using the crease a bit more.

Good point. Actually that comment made me start to realise that I probably could try and use the crease a bit more because I reckon I am one of those that beats the bat but doesn't often get the nick!! Thanks for the tip DIPPER!

 

[Briedis]

On the test I thought Vaughan played extremely well. Very positive stroke-play, great strike rate but without playing too many one-day type shots. Most of it was great test match batting.

Very impressed with him. I'm really looking forward to seeing how he goes against the Aussie attack this summer - I reckon he will be a tough opponent.

I still reckon that the test will be a draw as I can't see either team bowling out the other team and getting enough runs to win the game. Only a batting collapse can change the game now....

 

[Dipper]

Yeah it was a really good knock from Vaughn, he has that sort of unfalappable look about him.He actually scored at a pretty good rate & yet he never played a false shot or took too many risks.
Personally I have very high hopes of him & Trescothick as our opening partnership for the next 5 years at least, the fact they are right/left hander is great plus they have such different styles that they really complement each other.
The proof of the pudding is how they go in Asstralia this winter, it has to be remembered that to some degree the Aussie attack stopped Trescothick doing what he'd done to most of the other countries he's faced with Gillespie seeming to have his number more than anyone else, but hopefully him & Vaughn can give us a good start more often than not especially as I reckon they're the most likely to score runs against Warne.

Looking at the England run rates for the whole series it's been very entertaining with us going at over 4 an over for most of the summer & I think we have to (very grudgingly ) thank Steve Waugh for that as I think it's his attitude for Australia in trying to score over 300 per day that has seeped into the English consciousness.a coiuple of years ago you'd get about 220 runs in day over here & it could get pretty tedious.


The game ended up as draw with some good knocks from Tendulkar,Dravid & Ganguly (out for 99! ) but did anyone see the Indian wicketkeeper?
He was 17, but often these Asian guys that they claim to be 17 really look about 22 but this guy seriously looked about 12.he was about 5 ft tall & looked so young, he came in to bat in the first innings with England's 6ft 5inch Harmison bowling & I was wondering whether he'd have the heart to give him a few short ones.He didn't really work him over but i was wondering what the crowd's reaction would have been if he had, my attitude is usually pretty ruthless but even I'd have been embarassed if he'd kopped a short one on his helmet.