IheartIheartTesla Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 I can also see some Indian supporters being a bit salty at the reactions to this match compared to the other 2-day one played in India, though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Two match series are annoying, especially since it seems they would probably have plenty of time to play a decider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted January 17 Author Share Posted January 17 (edited) Kind of bemusing decision to promote Steve Smith to test opener. You never know, it could work out in the end. It's not as if he doesn't have the ability to excel as an opener. But it is a very specialized position, so I'm not sure why you'd risk him against the new ball unnecessarily. And someone who gets that far across their stumps is always going to be playing at more deliveries, which increases the chance of nicking off, as seen yesterday... Edited January 17 by Paxter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IheartIheartTesla Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 Yeah, I think Lara and Tendulkar flirted with opening but never settled on it.A weird experiment for sure. Anyway, Australia won comfortable in the end. Maybe WI can do an India and win the second Test, but not having high hopes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 (edited) The India England test series is going to be on TNT Sports here in the UK which, as I don't have it, is pretty annoying. Sky really seem to be dropping their coverage of test cricket to focus on T20 leagues I have no interest in. Bah. Edited January 20 by ljkeane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 England team for the first test. It's 3 spinners (plus Root) and one seamer with Stokes almost certainly unable to bowl so they're probably dependent on the pitch being an absolute minefield but it's probably not a bad bet. I don't know whether Bashir would have been in ahead of Hartley or not but he misses the chance to play due to some really not ok visa issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 Looking forward to watching the first hour or so tonight before heading to sleep! Will be interesting to see how Bazball goes in India. No Virat or Brook in this test. Given how pivotal the latter has been to McCullum/Stokes' success, that pretty much evens things up on absences. Oh and nice to see Foakes back in the test side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 6 hours ago, Paxter said: No Virat or Brook in this test. Given how pivotal the latter has been to McCullum/Stokes' success, that pretty much evens things up on absences. Apparently Pope didn’t look great coming back from his shoulder injury (he struggled last time in India too) so they might be feeling Brook’s absence a bit. They could definitely do with all the runs they can get. I’ve got no idea how competitive this score’ll be. If the pitch is a complete minefield like some in the last series it might be ok, if it isn’t England are in trouble already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IheartIheartTesla Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 Australia Bazballing WI by declaring while 22 runs behind, and India equally Bazballing England by scoring at ~3.9 a clip, which is roughly what England scored at. The latter are in a world of pain right now, but maybe they'll do better in the 2nd innings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 It appears the answer to whether 246 was a competitive score is no. At least it’s not when you’re opening the bowling with Tom Hartley and your main strike bowler appears to be Joe Root anyway. I was considering getting TNT Sports to watch this series but I might give it a miss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted January 26 Author Share Posted January 26 (edited) Oh boy England. Could be a very long series for them. They will almost certainly have to pick a different attack in the next test, India are scoring far too quickly as Tesla mentioned. And crazy stuff in Australia. I don't know how Aus managed to recover from 5 down for nothing - extremely fortunate to still be in this test match. Again, that Smith opening decision is backfiring hard. Edited January 26 by Paxter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 (edited) 20 hours ago, ljkeane said: I was considering getting TNT Sports to watch this series but I might give it a miss. In light of further developments yesterday I’ve decided I need all the sports channels to maximise my Liverpool under Klopp watching while I still can. As an added bonus I can now watch England getting battered. Stokes just got very lucky on that stumping. I’m not too confident there was anything grounded behind the crease. 9 hours ago, Paxter said: Could be a very long series for them. They will almost certainly have to pick a different attack in the next test, India are scoring far too quickly as Tesla mentioned. Sure but it’s hard to see where they go to get any better. They could treat Root as their all rounder and play an extra seamer, who will almost certainly be a better bowler than the spinner they replace, but I’m not sure it’ll help them much in these conditions. They could give Bashir a try but, again, hard to see it working. ETA: Also I can watch the test at the Gabba which is shaping up to be a bit of a cracker. A Windies away win in Australia would be nice. Edited January 27 by ljkeane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impmk2 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 9 hours ago, Paxter said: Again, that Smith opening decision is backfiring hard. Yep. Nice to have Green for the extra bowling, but I really think they need to bring in a specialist opener (Renshaw?). Smith isn't a long term solution for an opener in any case, they'll need to solve it sooner or later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 (edited) The Windies have completely gone into their shell here. I’m not sure I see the point 8 down. ETA: And it looks like Joseph has broken his foot to end the Windies innings. That’s a pretty demoralising finish for them. Edited January 27 by ljkeane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Century for Pope after looking the worst of England’s batsmen in the first innings. I’m not sure where England go with the bowling but there are some positive signs with the batting. There’s been a lot of talk about Indian pitches recently and I think a few of them in the last series were poor but this is a decent pitch so far. There’s something in it for the bowlers but if the batsmen play well they can score runs too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IheartIheartTesla Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 If England can knock out about a 100 more it should be a very competitive match. Fourth innings chases are always tough, with the caveat that as mentioned, the pitch doesnt have major devils in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 196 from Pope in the second innings in India. That really is an incredible performance. I was fairly dubious about his place in the team to be honest. If England had India’s attack I’m pretty sure they’d be winning but with the attack they have it’s a bit more up in the air. The match in Australia is also on a knife edge. Good couple of days of cricket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impmk2 Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 May have spoken too soon about Smith. Nail biting stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Amazing win for the Windies. Absolutely heroic effort from Shemar Joseph after getting carried off last night he’s come back to pick up 7 wickets and bowl them to the win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impmk2 Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Very well deserved win to the Windies. That was a much better match than I was expecting after the Adelaide test. Right down to the wire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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