England vs India - test series

[SeinDude]

England play India in a 3 match series starting at Lords on Thursday. I'm really looking forward to seeing how Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid go against the English seam attack. I think this could be a close series with India possessing more bowling options than Sri Lanka had, so the England batsman will have to play well to post a decent score.

Cheers!!
SeinDude

 

[Slax]

India's form on the road is terrible it's almost as bad as Fremantle's. Looking at the strength's of both sides and considering it is in England, England for a 2-0 series win.

 

[NYPomme]

Originally posted by Slax
India's form on the road is terrible it's almost as bad as Fremantle's. Looking at the strength's of both sides and considering it is in England, England for a 2-0 series win.

Relative strength of both teams? You think that England WITHOUT Caddick, Gough, and Tudor are stronger on paper than India?

 

[London Dave]

Heard Gough is out for at least first two tests...be interesting to see how the welshman Jones goes, is apparently quick (but the Welsh said Crofty could turn a ball!)...sans Caddick, Gough & Tudor, I can't see England rolling the Indians twice for scores under 300.....still, it's a funny old game.

 

[Briedis]

With Trescothick, Caddick and Gough out I reckon India will win this series.

Bookies have the series very close at 11/4 for both sides to win the series.

Looking at the bowling lineups for both sides it will be hard for either side to take 20 wickets to win the match, so I think it will be 1-0 to India. England need Flintoff, Hoggard and Cork to lift. Any of you Pommies know much more about Simon Jones? I hear he is pretty quick, can he move it a bit? No point in being quick against Tendulkar if you don't move it around otherwise it will dissapear to the fence twice a fast as you bowled it!!

That said, India also have a very inexperienced bowling line-up as well. Nehra and Khan did not perform well in South Africa and really need to step up to help India to win the series. I think both bowlers are much more suited to English conditions than the South African tracks...

A lot will also depend on the luck that is had with the weather over there too.

 

[SeinDude]

What's wrong with Marcus Trescothick??

Cheers!!
SeinDude

 

[Briedis]

Originally posted by SeinDude
What's wrong with Marcus Trescothick??

Cheers!!
SeinDude

Fractured Hand. He's got Nassers Disease!

 

[GOALden Hawk]

I agree with Briedis - both sides have limited bowling options, expect some very big scores if the weather holds up. That combined with rain leads me to tipping a 0-0 draw.

Doesn't matter how weak England are, India are pure rubbish away from home.

But I will be looking forward to dipping in and out of the series on Foxtel.

 

[Briedis]

Originally posted by GOALden Hawk
I agree with Briedis - both sides have limited bowling options, expect some very big scores if the weather holds up. That combined with rain leads me to tipping a 0-0 draw.

Doesn't matter how weak England are, India are pure rubbish away from home.

But I will be looking forward to dipping in and out of the series on Foxtel.

Yeah, I thought about tipping a 0-0 result, but India are one of those teams that can have a couple of big days and win a test match.

I can't see Domonic Cork troubling Sachin at all, or any of the Indians for that matter, but stranger things have happened.

Mind you, they can also have a couple of bad days and lose a test.....

 

[SeinDude]

Originally posted by Briedis
Yeah, I thought about tipping a 0-0 result, but India are one of those teams that can have a couple of big days and win a test match.

I can't see Domonic Cork troubling Sachin at all, or any of the Indians for that matter, but stranger things have happened.

Mind you, they can also have a couple of bad days and lose a test.....

Briedis,

I think the other Indian batsman need to put their hands up though and not leave it all up to Sachin Tendulkar to score the runs. Dravid and Ganguly need to show why they are so highly rated by their country, and some of the younger guys need to step up as well.

Cheers!!
SeinDude

 

[Dipper]

Originally posted by Briedis
Any of you Pommies know much more about Simon Jones? I hear he is pretty quick, can he move it a bit? No point in being quick against Tendulkar if you don't move it around otherwise it will dissapear to the fence twice a fast as you bowled it!!

He is apparently very quick, I've never actually seen him bowl but they say he comes off a really innocuous short run & then gets all his pace form his action & natural strength.He is definitely a bit of a scud missile launcher & the reports are that he doesn't really move the newish ball at all but he reverse swings the old ball prodigiously this is shown by the fact that he usually bowls 1st or sometimes second change for Glamorgan.People are saying he is quicker than Devon Malcolm who was our last real speedster.


PS Davo if you've got proof that nayone in wales has said that Croft turns the ball then I will join you in launching a libel action against them.


As for this series we could struggle to bowl them out with the injuries we've got if we keep producing these un English brown flat pitches that actuall last 5 days.Maybe we need to tell the groundsman for the next Test to leave a bit of grass on.As it is although on the face of it perhaps India should be favourites I would be ashamed if we lose to them & their crappy medium pacers.

 

[jim boy]

Online audio commentary from BBC's Test Match Special is available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/help/tms.shtml for the entire series.

 

[SeinDude]

Originally posted by SeinDude
England play India in a 3 match series

A small correction to my first post, it's actually a 4 match series between England and India.

Cheers!!
SeinDude

 

[Briedis]

England 4/257

Well, a good start by Zaheer Khan had the Poms at 3/70-odd, but a great captains knock by Nasser (120 n.o. at stumps) has given England the honours from the first days play.

Very impressed with John Crawleys innings as well, great anchor role to support Nasser.

How bad was Asish Nehra?

England must push on as India will be able to post a pretty big total on what looks to be a very flat track.

It will be interesting to see how much spin the Indians get in the second innings, that could be the key factor in getting a result from this match.

 

[Richie Benaud]

Re: England 4/257

Originally posted by Briedis
a great captains knock by Nasser (120 n.o. at stumps) has given England the honours from the first days play.

A marvellous innings that by Nasser Hussain, really super stuff!

 

[Booze Hound]

Briedis

Nehra bowled OK, Agarkar was the horse.

I was surprised how much seam movement and spin there was. I doubt this was due to moisture in the pitch because London has been dry and pretty warm for the last couple of weeks. With hot sunshine forecast over the weekend it might crumble nicely. Could have been a good toss to win.

 

[Dipper]

Yeah it was Agarkar who was total pony but toady the little jug eared git has had both Flintoff & Hussain caught behind playing loose shots.We could end up really regretting those wickets as these 2 were cruising with us at 350 odd for 5,Flintoff scored 59 off 63 balls, India started bowling wide of off stump & both these two fell for it trying to score off widish deliveries.For me the order of the day would have been to bat & bat, show a bit more patience & try to get over 500.I think Boozy is on to something & the pitch may break up, personally i'm still haunted by the time we played Sri Lanka 4 years ago at the Oval on a similar track, we rattled up about 450 then they raced past us in double quick fashion & bowled ius out in the 2nd dig.
Hopefully the tail led by Craig White can really wag.It's such a good pitch that you have to be worried about the Indian batting line up but despite the conditions they managed to get a nice bit of swing so with Hoggard in the side hopefully he can winkle a few of their top order out & Jones can put the sh*ts up a few of the jellyfish(no backbone ) in the Indian team such as Dravid, who scores loads of runs in India but put him up againts some real pace away from home & he doesn't like it.
Mind you I wouldn't mind a few quid on Tendulkar to get a ton on this pitch especially it being Lords as well.

 

[Briedis]

Well Dipper, the tail wagged and the Poms got to 487.

India were very dissapointing in their run chase. Although he scored 84, I question the logic of Sehwag playing a one-day style innings in what was a crucial period of the match.

Well done to John Crawley getting a ton - he and Vaughan dug in for an important partnership which ensured Eng;land remained in the box seat. The Indiain batsmen could learn a thing or two about test match batting from the partnership.

The Indians continued to throw away their wickets in the second innings, Dravids shot will be one he regrets. But, full marks to the english bowlers for bolwing with such discipline. They deserve to win this test.

How about Sachins drive yesterday ... worth the admission price that was. Shame he got out so soon...

 

[Dipper]

Well Briedis there's no way that Sehwag is a Test match opener, he's just indicative of the way that Indians are just brought up on a diet of 1 day cricket.While he's in you crap yourself a bit but deep down you can feel pretty sure that he'll give you a chance sooner or later.

We batted well as we have done all summer & the bowling attack without Gough,Caddick,Tudor did great I thought & showed a lot of character & gives us a lot of hope for the future.If we get everyone fit we may be in the amazing situation of having slection meetings where we don't know who to leave out of the attack.

We've just won the Test after a bit of a hard time winkling out the last pair but we thoroughly outplayed India & for me the best thing that has happened this summer in terms of putting England on the right track for the next few years is the pitches.Normally we do pretty well at home by ambushing sides on green tops that you don't really see too often anywhere else in the world & then we go away from home we don't have a clue how to bowl teams out on flat bare tracks but this summer the ECB have a few financial problems with having to pay for central contracts for players so they've told the groundsmen to make Test pitches that last 5 days as we were losing so much money on Tests finishing on the 3rd or 4th day.These pitches we're playing on this season have all been brown & bare & resemble the sort of thing you get in hotter countries, there hasn't been a lot of seam movement & how bowlers have really had to earn their wickets whilst the batsmen have enjoyed showing they can post big totals which we've done in all 4 tests this summer.

As a group I don't reckon there are too many countries that can bowl reverse swing as well as our bowlers now although a top notch spinner still remains the priority.

It was a real shame to see Ganguly given out first ball to one that pitched outside leg stump

 

[GOALden Hawk]

Didn't you just laugh at Ganguly's dismissal! Couldn't happen to a nicer bloke.

Good win to England - pathetic performance by the Indians. My 0-0 prediction is out the window.

 

[Briedis]

Originally posted by DIPPER
Well Briedis there's no way that Sehwag is a Test match opener, he's just indicative of the way that Indians are just brought up on a diet of 1 day cricket.While he's in you crap yourself a bit but deep down you can feel pretty sure that he'll give you a chance sooner or later.

Yeah, Sehwag is a very exciting strolemaker, but there is absolutely no value in getting 84 runs quickly when your team needs you to dig in and bat for a few days to save a test. On that flat track, there should never have been a result. A very poor effort from the Indian batting line-up...

Originally posted by DIPPER
We batted well as we have done all summer & the bowling attack without Gough,Caddick,Tudor did great I thought & showed a lot of character & gives us a lot of hope for the future.If we get everyone fit we may be in the amazing situation of having slection meetings where we don't know who to leave out of the attack.

Yep, agree there. English cricket is definatelty making a resurgence IMO and I will be interested to see how they go against the Aussies this summer. It is a real test for the Poms to see how their development is going. I reckon it will be a close series. Don't forget the batting will be bolstered by the return of your best bat in Trescothink too for the series against the Aussies.

On development, I reckon the Aussies have hit a bit of a wall. There does not seem to be much coming after this current group. I think in three years time (next Ashes series in England) it will be a very different story.

Originally posted by DIPPER
We've just won the Test after a bit of a hard time winkling out the last pair but we thoroughly outplayed India & for me the best thing that has happened this summer in terms of putting England on the right track for the next few years is the pitches.Normally we do pretty well at home by ambushing sides on green tops that you don't really see too often anywhere else in the world & then we go away from home we don't have a clue how to bowl teams out on flat bare tracks but this summer the ECB have a few financial problems with having to pay for central contracts for players so they've told the groundsmen to make Test pitches that last 5 days as we were losing so much money on Tests finishing on the 3rd or 4th day.These pitches we're playing on this season have all been brown & bare & resemble the sort of thing you get in hotter countries, there hasn't been a lot of seam movement & how bowlers have really had to earn their wickets whilst the batsmen have enjoyed showing they can post big totals which we've done in all 4 tests this summer.

Don't forget last year you played the Aussies and it wouldn't have mattered what the pitches were - it still would have finished inside 4 days!!

Originally posted by DIPPER
As a group I don't reckon there are too many countries that can bowl reverse swing as well as our bowlers now although a top notch spinner still remains the priority.

What about the bloke you guys took to India, he looked like he could turn it a bit. His name escapes me at the moment....

Originally posted by DIPPER
It was a real shame to see Ganguly given out first ball to one that pitched outside leg stump

Couldn't have happened to a nicer bloke!!

 

[SeinDude]

Well done to England on their victory in the first test. Lets hope India take heart from the super effort from Ajit Agarkar with the bat in the 2nd innings, finishing on 109 not out.

Cheers!!
SeinDude

 

[Briedis]

Originally posted by SeinDude
Well done to England on their victory in the first test. Lets hope India take heart from the super effort from Ajit Agarkar with the bat in the 2nd innings, finishing on 109 not out.

Cheers!!
SeinDude

Agarkar getting a ton at Lords?

I hope the ICC knew where John the bookie was at the time because Agarkar is crap!

 

[Richie Benaud]

Originally posted by Briedis
Agarkar getting a ton at Lords?

A marvellous century that from Agarkar, really super stuff!

 

[Dipper]

Originally posted by Briedis



Don't forget last year you played the Aussies and it wouldn't have mattered what the pitches were - it still would have finished inside 4 days!!

LOL!Yeah you're probably right as I seem to remember we we're going through a resurgance last season as well.In fact we're always going through a resurgance till we meet the Aussies.


The spinner was Richard Dawson of Yorkshire, he ahsn't done a lot this season so I'm not even sure if he'd be 2nd spinner for the ashes, he'd only played about 10 1st class games before the tour of India so he's still very raw.


As for Agarkar they showed his scores from Australia when he played there & he got 4 or 5 golden ducks in a row & about 7 in the series & then he takes us for a ton & looked like Bradman in the process

On development, I reckon the Aussies have hit a bit of a wall. There does not seem to be much coming after this current group. I think in three years time (next Ashes series in England) it will be a very different story.

Do you want sympathy?

Even if we do manage to win a couple of series in a row you know full well that you blokes would pull out all the stops to stop the rot, there's no way you'd allow us to win 7 on the trot.

I'd just be happy with an Ashes victory before I die.