For a Test Match to take place, it requires two teams to contest a game over 5 days. The game at the Oval could not be called a Test Match, India were truly woeful, and the game if anything was a confidence boost for Alastair Cook's resurgent England.
England are cock-a-hoop with confidence, but beating this un-motivated, and dis-interested Indian team, does not paper over the cracks which are still appearing within this England team.
England won this Test Match by an innings and 244 runs, I will say that again an innings and 244 runs.
This demolition began once Cook won the toss and inserted the Indians on an overcast Friday morning in London. India's top order were completely abject, and were struggling at 44-6, after exceptional bowling, not just from Anderson and Broad, but finally ably backed up by Chris Jordan and Chris Woakes. This certainly bodes well for England's fast bowling future, when you consider the back up is Liam Plunkett, Steven Finn and Ben Stokes.
If it wasn't for MS Dhoni's belligerent 82 from 140 balls, christ knows what the Indian score would have been.
As mentioned in a previous blog, the following players whilst lavished with superstardom in their own country, need to perform away from home if they are to be named in the same light as their predecessors. Virat Kohli, Pujara and Rahane need to concentrate on their technique and application. As the series has progressed, the English quicks have had their plans to bowl to the Indian middle order, and it would appear the Indian batsmen have not studied the English bowling or practiced in the nets. India were finally bundled out for 148, and Cook and Robson handled the tricky overcast conditions with comparative ease to close day 62-0.
Under sunny skies on the Saturday morning, Cook and Robson resumed, and again question marks will be raised against Sam Robson's long term future in the side. He played all round a full length delivery from Aaron, and was cleanly bowled. Robson is fortunate that there is no test cricket until April next year, if there were another test this calendar year, it would be unlikely that he would be opening. England have discarded the two previous openers Michael Carberry and Nick Compton erroneously in my opinion, and I would not be surprised if one of these two is given a go in future test series, quite possibly Compton due to his youth over Carberry.
Cook and Ballance again showed the application and desire required in Test Match cricket, and they grinded out 79 and 64 respectively.
England have found a brilliant number 3 in Gary Ballance, and James Whitaker the chief selector should take some credit for giving him his opportunity. Since a slightly wobbly start against Sri Lanka in the summer, he has not looked back since the Indians arrived, and should have the number 3 slot nailed down for the foreseeable future.
Joe Root has finally found a permanent position in this England side, and his 149* was a brilliant mixture of sensible batting, and increasing the run rate with techniquely sound aggressive batting. He was ably supported by Jos Buttler with a 45, and he has walked into this England side playing like a man who has been in it for years. Root is genuinely a world class player across all formats of cricket, and players like him should be cherished. They don't come along too often.
Whilst praising the England batting during their innings of 486, the Indian bowling and fielding should be admonished. They played like a side who could not be arsed, and as mentioned in a previous blog, serious questions should be asked about MS Dhoni's captaincy, especially out on the field. He gave an air of a man who would rather be elsewhere, and his motivational skills for his side are non-existent. The sign of a good team is by their fielding, and I have seen school teams field better than this Indian side in the last 3 Test matches. India will probably look to Virat Kohli as their next Test captain, however I feel that would be the wrong decision, he needs work on his technique, he is undoubtedly a fine batsmen, but you cannot play on roads each week when on tour. Murali Vijay would be my choice, he has worked hard to get into this Indian side, and shows great pride when batting, shame some of his team-mates cannot say the same.
After first innings India were 338 runs behind, and whilst nobody expected them to make England bat again, what followed was a procession of wickets, mainly due to a mixture of great bowling from the English pace quartet, and some
genuinely lazy couldn't care less shots from the Indian batsmen. They saved their worst till last, and were bundled out for 94 in 29 overs, in little over 2 hours of play. Gautam Gambir played one of the most uncomfortable test innings you're likely to see, and he knew he was suffering, and ended up running himself out to stop the pain!
This series turned in the 3rd Test at the Rose Bowl when Alastair Cook was dropped on 15 by Ravi Jadeja. Since that moment England didn't look back. Who knows what would have happened if Jadeja had held that catch, would Cook have been replaced as captain? I would certainly have been calling for his head. However Cook and England have flourished since that pivotal moment, and I am happy to be proved wrong by the English captain. Long may this run of fine victories continue.
Chris Clark © 2014 @Chrisclark1975
Monday 18 August 2014
Saturday 9 August 2014
India fold as England cruise to Old Trafford victory
Pathetic. Spineless. Useless Captain. These phrases have been used to describe England in the past 12 months, but over this Test, India served up a performance which truly plumbed the depths.
From the moment they won the toss, and batted under leaden skies, they were thoroughly outplayed by an enthusiastic and steadily improving England side. Brilliant swing bowling by the English opening bowlers Anderson and Broad, reduced India to a mind-boggling 8-4, and to give some credit, albeit not a lot to the remaining Indian batsmen to get to 152 was a fair effort. Stuart Broad finally this summer being given a pitch that produces pace and bounce, used it to full effect to end up with tremendous figures of 6-25 off of 13 overs.
England's 1st innings started off a little scratchily, and there may be some growing concern about Sam Robson, who appears fidgety and frenetic at the wicket. Opening the batting is a hard task, but he seems to lack a certain composure, and his runs are always hard earned. Oh for the days of a Marcus Trescothick, to complement the doggedness of the captain Cook. After the KP fiasco, which I have spoke about in the past, it seems England now have a settled middle order, with the increasing authority of Gary Ballance at three, the technically flawless Ian Bell at four, and the little Yorkshire fighter Joe Root at five. There's a real glue to the England middle order, and after a period of finding the correct batting position for Root, he seems really settled at five.
One of the question marks over Jos Buttler's inclusion were - could he bat under pressure? When he walked to the wicket on Friday, England were 140-6. His circumspect 70 was an excellent knock in the context of the match, and his 134 run partnership with Joe Root was looking at the final score, a match winning partnership. Buttler should be, barring another youngster coming through, the England wicket-keeper in all 3 formats for the next 5 years at least. It is nice to see a young man break into the England team, and take his opportunity so brilliantly.
If India's 1st innings was shambolic, then their 2nd was spineless. The young men in their middle order, have had to bide their time to get the chance in this Indian test side, whilst they await the legends Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman to retire. It's all well and good getting runs in your home country, but the mark of a real test player is to go overseas and get runs in difficult conditions. Pujara, Kohli and Rahane need to stop reading the praise they get from the Indian press, and knuckle down and grow some balls.
Special praise must again be given to Mooen Ali, whilst he appears to have a problem with quick bowling, his bowling is coming on leaps and bounds, and if he can tie the supposed best players of spin in the world in knots, then it bodes extremely well for the future. In further test matches we may find the batting positions of Ali and Buttler becoming interchangeable, depending on circumstance.
There was no play after 2.15pm on Friday, so England have wrapped up this Test Match in little under 2 and half days. India are playing like a test team who want to get on the next plane home, however they still have a test at the Oval before they can. Alastair Cook must be thanking MS Dhoni, as Dhoni has helped to give England two easy test match wins, with some baffling bowling and field selections during England's recent innings. Dhoni in the field is playing like a man who would rather be elsewhere, I would anticipate that he will call time on his test career after this series.
So England rock on to the Oval cock-a-hoop, India off to lick their wounds. I can only see another comprehensive England victory in the final test of the summer. Who would have thought England would be winning this series 3-1 a month ago. Fair play to England, India however need a long hard look at themselves.
Chris Clark © 2014 @Chrisclark1975
From the moment they won the toss, and batted under leaden skies, they were thoroughly outplayed by an enthusiastic and steadily improving England side. Brilliant swing bowling by the English opening bowlers Anderson and Broad, reduced India to a mind-boggling 8-4, and to give some credit, albeit not a lot to the remaining Indian batsmen to get to 152 was a fair effort. Stuart Broad finally this summer being given a pitch that produces pace and bounce, used it to full effect to end up with tremendous figures of 6-25 off of 13 overs.
England's 1st innings started off a little scratchily, and there may be some growing concern about Sam Robson, who appears fidgety and frenetic at the wicket. Opening the batting is a hard task, but he seems to lack a certain composure, and his runs are always hard earned. Oh for the days of a Marcus Trescothick, to complement the doggedness of the captain Cook. After the KP fiasco, which I have spoke about in the past, it seems England now have a settled middle order, with the increasing authority of Gary Ballance at three, the technically flawless Ian Bell at four, and the little Yorkshire fighter Joe Root at five. There's a real glue to the England middle order, and after a period of finding the correct batting position for Root, he seems really settled at five.
One of the question marks over Jos Buttler's inclusion were - could he bat under pressure? When he walked to the wicket on Friday, England were 140-6. His circumspect 70 was an excellent knock in the context of the match, and his 134 run partnership with Joe Root was looking at the final score, a match winning partnership. Buttler should be, barring another youngster coming through, the England wicket-keeper in all 3 formats for the next 5 years at least. It is nice to see a young man break into the England team, and take his opportunity so brilliantly.
If India's 1st innings was shambolic, then their 2nd was spineless. The young men in their middle order, have had to bide their time to get the chance in this Indian test side, whilst they await the legends Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman to retire. It's all well and good getting runs in your home country, but the mark of a real test player is to go overseas and get runs in difficult conditions. Pujara, Kohli and Rahane need to stop reading the praise they get from the Indian press, and knuckle down and grow some balls.
Special praise must again be given to Mooen Ali, whilst he appears to have a problem with quick bowling, his bowling is coming on leaps and bounds, and if he can tie the supposed best players of spin in the world in knots, then it bodes extremely well for the future. In further test matches we may find the batting positions of Ali and Buttler becoming interchangeable, depending on circumstance.
There was no play after 2.15pm on Friday, so England have wrapped up this Test Match in little under 2 and half days. India are playing like a test team who want to get on the next plane home, however they still have a test at the Oval before they can. Alastair Cook must be thanking MS Dhoni, as Dhoni has helped to give England two easy test match wins, with some baffling bowling and field selections during England's recent innings. Dhoni in the field is playing like a man who would rather be elsewhere, I would anticipate that he will call time on his test career after this series.
So England rock on to the Oval cock-a-hoop, India off to lick their wounds. I can only see another comprehensive England victory in the final test of the summer. Who would have thought England would be winning this series 3-1 a month ago. Fair play to England, India however need a long hard look at themselves.
Chris Clark © 2014 @Chrisclark1975
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