The Cricket Thread

[Dr Gloom 21847]

If this does end up 4-1 it’ll not really tell the whole story of the series. It’s been much closer than that. Though the Indians look like they wish they were on the plane now. Been a long tour 

[Dr Gloom 21847]

27 minutes ago, Alex said:

Slightly reticent as teams tend to bat until they are absolutely safe which would eat up a bit of time. England probably have enough already but I bet they want a lead of at least 450 before declaring.

We’ve already got more than enough runs. But it’s the modern way. Bat them or of the game and then some and give yourself less time to bowl them out. Still can’t see anything other than an england win in this instance though so there’s no harm in seeing how many cook can get 

[Dr Gloom 21847]

put them in ffs

[David Kelly 1224]

2 hours ago, Dr Gloom said:

If this does end up 4-1 it’ll not really tell the whole story of the series. It’s been much closer than that. Though the Indians look like they wish they were on the plane now. Been a long tour 

Looking very likely now!

[Alex 34913]

Anderson now one away from becoming the most prolific pace bowler in test history. Cook will probably take most of the attention but that's an incredible achievment. Broad's just one behind Kapil Dev now as well at 7 on the all-time list. Decent day's test cricket so far

[Alex 34913]

20 hours ago, Dr Gloom said:

If this does end up 4-1 it’ll not really tell the whole story of the series. It’s been much closer than that. Though the Indians look like they wish they were on the plane now. Been a long tour 

I don't know about that. I think India have been competitive in most matches but England have bowled as well as they have and have batted better overall. They've also seized the moment and taken control of the matches in those crucial periods. If it had been the other way round and we'd capitulated with the bat and failed to ram home our advantage with the ball when it mattered on an away tour and ended up losing 3 or 4-1 would you be anywhere near as sympathetic? I think most people would quite rightly be saying we've been hammered abroad again. When the pressure's been on their batting line-up just hasn't been up to it in 4 out of the 5 tests. There's mitigating factors but there always is. They've won something like one series outside Asia in the past 6 years. I do think they have a good chance with their bowling attack and Warner and Smith missing when they go to Australia this winter though.

[Dr Gloom 21847]

1 minute ago, Alex said:

I don't know about that. I think India have been competitive in most matches but England have bowled as well as they have and have batted better overall. They've also seized the moment and taken control of the matches in those crucial periods. If it had been the other way round and we'd capitulated with the bat and failed to ram home our advantage with the ball when it mattered on an away tour and ended up losing 3 or 4-1 would you be anywhere near as sympathetic? I think most people would quite rightly be saying we've been hammered abroad again. When the pressure's been on their batting line-up just hasn't been up to it in 4 out of the 5 tests. There's mitigating factors but there always is. They've won something like one series outside Asia in the past 6 years. I do think they have a good chance with their bowling attack and Warner and Smith missing when they go to Australia this winter though.

i've watched every test and didn't feel we dominated any of them - india won days in each test match, not just sessions, so 4-1 seems a little harsh on them to me.

it's been a story of two excellent bowling excellent bowling attacks and two poor batting line ups. it's the best indian pace attack i can remember seeing in english conditions and they have consistently bowled us out for under-par scores of 200 odd. you're right that we won the crucial moments - the difference between the side has probably been our lower/middle order, curran and buttler in particular, who were able to dig us out of holes in a way their tail end wasn't able to.

our batting problems are well known but we didn't make a score north of 400 until this dead rubber. we deserved to win the series but it's been very close and i think it's great that it's been so competitive - so credit to the groundsmen for producing bowler-friendly wickets when there was talk at the start of the summer that the heatwave would produce slow, boring pitches. 

[Alex 34913]

Hasn't been very close like

[Dr Gloom 21847]

i must have missed the games we dominated from start to finish 

[Alex 34913]

Where did I argue that was the case? I didn't. You said it was very close. I disagreed. Nice try

[Dr Gloom 21847]

eh? you said it wasn't close. i've watched every match and each one has been close.it was close precisely because neither side was able to dominate a single test match, which is why 4-1 will flatter england. yes, we edged it over the series, largely thanks to our superior lower middle order recovering from top order collapses and giving us something to bowl at, but every match has been extremely competitive. in english conditions against an india team that doesn't usually travel well, i'd have expected us to have won more convincingly. 

 

Edited September 11, 2018 by Dr Gloom

[Dr Gloom 21847]

moving on, if rashid doesn't get a proper bowl today he may as well give up test matches as well as the CC

[Alex 34913]

9 minutes ago, Dr Gloom said:

eh? you said it wasn't close.

I said the series wasn't very close. Slightly different.

i've watched every match

So fuck?

and each one has been close.

So far, 3 out of 5 matches have been very one-sided.

it was close precisely because neither side was able to dominate a single test match,

Err, see above

which is why 4-1 will flatter england. yes, we edged it over the series, largely thanks to our superior lower middle order recovering from top order collapses and giving us something to bowl at, but every match has been extremely competitive. in english conditions against an india team that doesn't usually travel well, i'd have expected us to have won more convincingly. 

Yeah, you said that before

 

 

Edited September 11, 2018 by Alex

[Dr Gloom 21847]

ok, on reflection, the lords match wasn't close - i forgot about that one as i was way on holiday and didn't actually watch it.

but india beat us convincingly at trent bridge. edgebaston and the rose bowl were thrilling test matches, which ebbed and flowed and were settled by 60 runs and 30 runs. even this match was up for grabs until the cook and root show in the second innings. the indian bowlers have had us in all kinds of problems all summer, frequently beating the bat and running through our top order, and they'll feel hard done by if they do end up losing 4-1. i don't recall us chalking up a series with a scoreline like that, which suggests almost total dominance, after posting so many totals of less than 300. 

[David Kelly 1224]

I think India have had us in positions where they should have put us under real pressure but apart from Trent Bridge they've totally blown those chances.  The first match where we won by about 30 runs was close but after they blew their chances fairly early on in the other two, it always seemed a knocking bet that we would win.  In that sense I don't think it was really as close as it could have been or that some are saying it has been.  And it's only really Kohli who's kept it at all close (in a batting sense as obviously their bowlers have done well).

[Alex 34913]

8 minutes ago, David Kelly said:

I think India have had us in positions where they should have put us under real pressure but apart from Trent Bridge they've totally blown those chances.  The first match where we won by about 30 runs was close but after they blew their chances fairly early on in the other two, it always seemed a knocking bet that we would win.  In that sense I don't think it was really as close as it could have been or that some are saying it has been.  And it's only really Kohli who's kept it at all close (in a batting sense as obviously their bowlers have done well).

Yep. Nicely summed up

[Dr Gloom 21847]

i can't remember india's seamers ever matching ours in home conditions before but they have this summer. shami and bumrah in particular are absolutely quality and have posed a constant threat. sharma has had the beating of cook until the dead rubber. they'll feel let down by their batting

[Dr Gloom 21847]

pretty good effort from india to still be in with a chance of saving this with tea approaching. 

[Dr Gloom 21847]

that delivery from rashid!

[Dr Gloom 21847]

absolute jaffa

 

[Dr Gloom 21847]

Well played, Jimmy. 

[Dr Gloom 21847]

Anderson: "It's been an amazing series, one of the best I've been a part of. It's been quite close. We've been up against it a lot and we've had to put hard yards in. It's been hard graft”

 

[Dr Gloom 21847]

Vaughan: “I don't see it as 4-1, I see it as 3-2. India didn't win a toss. England have been the better team, but India deserve a lot of credit.”

i agree with that. Great series. England the better team, but with the score line slightly flattering them. Could have been a different story but what a fairytale ending. 

Scrap the toss and allow touring sides to pick whether to bat or bowl first?

Edited September 11, 2018 by Dr Gloom

[RobinRobin 11160]

14 hours ago, David Kelly said:

And it's only really Kohli who's kept it at all close (in a batting sense as obviously their bowlers have done well).

That is probably the difference in making it closer.

[David Kelly 1224]

18 hours ago, Dr Gloom said:

Vaughan: “I don't see it as 4-1, I see it as 3-2. India didn't win a toss. England have been the better team, but India deserve a lot of credit.”

i agree with that. Great series. England the better team, but with the score line slightly flattering them. Could have been a different story but what a fairytale ending. 

Scrap the toss and allow touring sides to pick whether to bat or bowl first?

Obviously losing every toss hasn't helped them, but really it's been their batsmen's (Kohli aside) inability to deal with the conditions that has been the big difference as well as us have a few more bowling options with all rounders.