Cricket

[wolfie]

87 for 2.

Shame Cook got out right at the end.

Can England get 317 from the final day play? I would say its doubtful..

Only see a draw or a India victory but really hope we win tho.

I will be up at 4am watching it tomorrow

Winning the test won't even be on Englands radar. England will be aiming to bat out the day but would be amazed if they manage it.

[oldjamfan1]

A bad hour in our first innings effectively cost us that match. I know the 4th innings collapse looks shocking, but that's what happens on a day 5 pitch in India, as a rule.

[onlyonetugay]

Fairly predictable outcome once India had won the toss , got to 500 plus and England didn't match or get ahead of them .

Three points regarding this match and test matches in general :

1) Instead of a toss ,is it time to allow the visiting team to choose whether to bat or bowl ? I've not looked at the statistics but my gut feeling is that on the whole, home teams tend to be huge favourites in test cricket . In many cases groundsmen are instructed to produce wickets that favour the home team , whether it's green seaming wickets or huge turning wickets . This might be negated slightly if the away team can choose to bat or bowl first .

2) DRS now makes it incredibly difficult to survive on a turning wicket. In my day it was drummed into you when playing a forward defensive, to get your leg as far down the track as possible , bat and pad together . You had to be incredibly unlucky to be given out if the ball hit your pad, DRS has changed the way batters approach defence and makes the whole job far more difficult , especially in circumstances like today where survival is the be all and end all.

3) Virat Kholi needs to study an O'Level in the " Spirit of the Game " His dissent shown when the DRS decisions went against him was nothing short of a disgrace

Two positives to take forward to Mohali . The last time England were in India , Cook was captain and came back from a 1- 0 defeat to win 2 -1 . Down under , in an attempt to arrest a 5 test losing streak , Australia have turned to Middlesbrough born opening batsman Matt Renshaw , who lists his hero as Alastair Cook

Edited November 21, 2016 by onlyonetugay

[Baz]

Fairly predictable outcome once India had won the toss , got to 500 plus and England didn't match or get ahead of them .

Three points regarding this match and test matches in general :

1) Instead of a toss ,is it time to allow the visiting team to choose whether to bat or bowl ? I've not looked at the statistics but my gut feeling is that on the whole, home teams tend to be huge favourites in test cricket . In many cases groundsmen are instructed to produce wickets that favour the home team , whether it's green seaming wickets or huge turning wickets . This might be negated slightly if the away team can choose to bat or bowl first .

2) DRS now makes it incredibly difficult to survive on a turning wicket. In my day it was drummed into you when playing a forward defensive, to get your leg as far down the track as possible , bat and pad together . You had to be incredibly unlucky to be given out if the ball hit your pad, DRS has changed the way batters approach defence and makes the whole job far more difficult , especially in circumstances like today where survival is the be all and end all.

3) Virat Kholi needs to study an O'Level in the " Spirit of the Game " His dissent shown when the DRS decisions went against him was nothing short of a disgrace

Two positives to take forward to Mohali . The last time England were in India , Cook was captain and came back from a 1- 0 defeat to win 2 -1 . Down under , in an attempt to arrest a 5 test losing streak , Australia have turned to Middlesbrough born opening batsman Matt Renshaw , who lists his hero as Alastair Cook

Regarding the toss, I think the toss should be at the first game of a series, and alternate each match afterwards- it still may not work out even in terms of you may not get the key games, but was it Alec Stewart who lost something like 12 straight tosses?

[PeteJD13]

We are paying the price for not having some touring games, it would have been a chance for Duckett and Ballance to find some form, playing Buttler isn't the answer we need another player to hold an end up in the middle order we have far to many lax dismissals when the chips are down, I still think Vince should have come on the tour in Ballances place as he has been bang average for Yorkshire this season

[onlyonetugay]

3rd Test in Mohali and I'm sure there will be changes . If Broad is fit then this is my team and batting order :

Cook

Hameed

Root

Ali

Bairstow ( wk )

Stokes

Buttler

Woakes

Rashid

Broad

Anderson

Edited November 23, 2016 by onlyonetugay

[chaddyrovers]

3rd Test in Mohali and I'm sure there will be changes . If Broad is fit then this is my team and batting order :

Cook

Hameed

Root

Ali

Bairstow ( wk )

Stokes

Buttler

Woakes

Rashid

Broad

Anderson

Totally with this team and batting line up.

[PeteJD13]

I would give Duckett another go this should be test of his mental ability

[jim mk2]

3rd Test in Mohali and I'm sure there will be changes . If Broad is fit then this is my team and batting order :

Cook

Hameed

Root

Ali

Bairstow ( wk )

Stokes

Buttler

Woakes

Rashid

Broad

Anderson

Ali is not a Test No 4. Seven should be his highest.

And playing Buttler purely as a batsman is a huge risk too given his weakness against spin.

[onlyonetugay]

I would give Duckett another go this should be test of his mental ability

That's a fair point but there's a fine balancing act between testing his mental ability and finishing him off . , From what I've seen of him so far , despite a great season in county cricket , Duckett looks out of his depth in test cricket. However I accept India away is a tough as it gets. Hopefully if he is given another chance at number 4 he'll prove himself.

Bayliss has said in the past he likes to give players one game too many rather than one too few .

Edited November 24, 2016 by onlyonetugay

[MCMC1875]

.

Edited November 26, 2016 by MCMC1875

[jim mk2]

Another below par total - England are about 100 short of where they should be.

I'll say it again - Ali at No 4 is far too high and was never likely to be the solution to England's fragile top order.

[PeteJD13]

I still do not understand picking batty he has added nothing, Kerrigan would have done more then he has

[jim mk2]

Ali gone cheaply again, now 47-2 after India made the sort of total England should have scored.

[chaddyrovers]

I still do not understand picking batty he has added nothing, Kerrigan would have done more then he has

I would have took Kerrigan in place of Ansari.

My team for next test(which might change depend on if replacements is called for Hameed's injury and the lost of form of Ballance and Duckett.)

Cook, Replacement for Hameed(Likely to be Jennings from Durham), Root, Bairstow, Ali, Stokes, Buttler, Woakes, Rashid, Board, Anderson

[onlyonetugay]

That would be my team too Chaddy . It's tempting to push Bairstow up the order, but he had one of his rare failures ( in 2016) at 4 today , so better to have him at 5 I'd leave Ali at 4. Hopefully Cook will have a better time of it in the next test - our batting is heavily reliant on him scoring big.

[chaddyrovers]

Who is likely to Hameed's replacement?

Jennings from Durham

Bell-Drummond from Kent

Billings from Kent

Who would people choose?

Hussain and Atherton SkySports said they would pick Billings.

Maybe Play Duckett as Cook opening partner and play Billings at 4 with Ali at 7 and dont play Broad or Woakes so the line up would be

Cook Duckett Root Billings Bairstow Stokes Ali Buttler Rashid Woakes/Broad Anderson

What do you think of that line up?

[onlyonetugay]

I wouldn't play Duckett again on the tour . I'd pick Jennings , who from what I've read is more like Hameed , although another left hander .

Cook , Jennings , Root , Ali , Bairstow , Stokes, Buttler , Woakes, Rashid , Broad , Anderson

Cook really has to step up and score some big runs for the team and take the pressure off the middle order

[jim mk2]

Cook Duckett Root Billings Bairstow Stokes Ali Buttler Rashid Woakes/Broad Anderson

What do you think of that line up?

The advantage of that team is that Ali is better at No 7 and there is runs in it from 5 to 10. But it is still a very brittle top order; Duckett looks nervous at Test level while Billings is not a Test No 4 either.

It's not difficult to see a 4-0 rout here unless England can make at least 400 in the first innings - which they have failed to do consistently for many years now.

[chaddyrovers]

The advantage of that team is that Ali is better at No 7 and there is runs in it from 5 to 10. But it is still a very brittle top order; Duckett looks nervous at Test level while Billings is not a Test No 4 either.

It's not difficult to see a 4-0 rout here unless England can make at least 400 in the first innings - which they have failed to do consistently for many years now.

Unless Billings is given the chance to bat there we will never know. Just like Vaughan and Trescothick never had great county records but got picked and the rest is history.

Not sure if I would bring in another left hand in when we have 2 already on tour.

[McClarky]

I think the team is short of a batsman. They should have a specialist at no 4. Problem now is that we are short of 2 batsmen with a week to bring them over and get them up to speed. Can't see either of the 2 reserves being up to the job. Hameed showed that it's all about character and technique out there rather than how fast you can score.

Heard on commentary the other day that in about 60% of Moen's innings he has scored less than 20. He just can't bat in the top 5 with a record like that.

[chaddyrovers]

Jennings and Dawson called up to Hameed and Ansari.

[Baz]

Shame about Hameed seemed to be doing well at that role we havent filled since Trott left the scene, the ability to occupy the crease for hours without getting worried about scoring at a high rate. You need those players against the top teams.

[bellamy11]

Can more knowledgeable fans of the wider English game than me please share their thoughts on our potential next generation of seamers? Obviously there's still some gas in the tank of Jimmy and Broad but they won't be around forever. Woakes and Finn can definitely do a job but I'd be concerned about them leading our attack consistently. And Stokes is terrific but a bit injury prone and is having to shoulder a massive workload. Who's up and coming? And are we talking potential world beaters or your more run-of-the-mill international players?

[Baz]

I think Jimmy will retire after the next ashes, he's becoming a bit more fragile to smaller injuries, and even has had a couple of occasions when he hasn't been in the new ball pairing. As for replacements, I don't see anyone with the same quality coming through- as we are concentrating more on the shorter forms of the game, its the big-hitters and steady bowling all-rounders like Liam Lawrence at Lancs, and even pace off the ball spinners we are seeing more of, I don't see many kids being given a chance to come through as a seam bowler.