Re: India v England, 5th Test, Chennai, 16-20 December, 2016

by doremi Tue 20 Dec 2016, 10:37

Huh. That was quite good.

by JGK Tue 20 Dec 2016, 10:38

taipan wrote:
JGK wrote:Root about to get the England record for most Test runs in a calendar year.

Pure evil.

I was going to add that Bairstow will likely pass him though...

by furriner Tue 20 Dec 2016, 10:45

doremi wrote:Huh. That was quite good.

Well lookee who's back, how's life?

by PeterCS Tue 20 Dec 2016, 10:46

doremi wrote:Huh. That was quite good.

Where the hell did you come from?! Laughing

by PeterCS Tue 20 Dec 2016, 10:46

JGK wrote:
taipan wrote:
JGK wrote:Root about to get the England record for most Test runs in a calendar year.

Pure evil.

I was going to add that Bairstow will likely pass him though...

On the way to and from the wicket?

by furriner Tue 20 Dec 2016, 10:54

Don't remember seeing Cook so disconsolate. I'd believe it if someone says he's done.

by lardbucket Tue 20 Dec 2016, 10:58

Inevitable result, I think.

Australian fans console themselves with the fact that their side can only do marginally worse.

Oh and welcome back doremi!

by taipan Tue 20 Dec 2016, 11:00

furriner wrote:Don't remember seeing Cook so disconsolate. I'd believe it if someone says he's done.

He's done.

by furriner Tue 20 Dec 2016, 11:04

taipan wrote:
furriner wrote:Don't remember seeing Cook so disconsolate. I'd believe it if someone says he's done.

He's done.

I believe you.

by krikri Tue 20 Dec 2016, 11:18

We just don't have the bowlers to compete and our batting has been too inconsistent. Cook needs to go though.

by skully Tue 20 Dec 2016, 11:21

doremi wrote:Huh. That was quite good.

Dori!!! Where ya been???

Nice achievement by England. Highest ever score in an innings loss. Well done to Jadeja on his 7.

by Brass Monkey Tue 20 Dec 2016, 12:50

krikri wrote:We just don't have the bowlers to compete and our batting has been too inconsistent. Cook needs to go though.

Yeahman. Time to go. Dunno what else we can do, we just don't have enough consistently world class players.

by doremi Tue 20 Dec 2016, 18:11

Haven't really been following any cricket for the last couple of years (life), the triple suddenly made me want to see how it was going here. So came for a quick look.

Hasn't changed much... I see that I still can't make any sense of horrie's posts.

by horace Tue 20 Dec 2016, 19:09

Phurt

Good to see you posting.

by PeterCS Tue 20 Dec 2016, 19:17

Reflecting on England in the series, and the match, that was quite a slump, quite a landslip in the batting, and the bowling - in a sort of reverse-scissors effect - slid off to insignificance the other way. A series going increasingly one way.

Or even on the last Test alone: a first innings of near 500 then an innings defeat, a second knock essentially of 100-0 to 200 ao .... that taking some (un)doing.

Once again, mighty congratulations to India. Catching (or not - and Jadeja) apart, pretty phenomenal rise and rise from the home team, and a large number of individuals in it - not just the three or four usual suspects. Will they now push on abroad? Always the acid test for India as potential World #1. Yes, I know they've been there, but only I think on the back of home wins. Once on their travels, different story.

Back to England. In most situations of a near-whitewash over 5 Tests, the prima facie case is there for "heads to roll". But which heads? Cook's, that's the call - has he resigned yet? - but it's not just Cook.

Management staff? Some odd selections, some exposed. Worse, horribly miscalculated/poor preparation you'd have to conclude, in this day and age of exact physical, technical and psychological priming and video learning too.

But which heads do we want paraded on pikes?

I think the fact of the matter may be more natural wastage and the question of which players come through to establish themselves. Physical fragility of Anderson especially, Broad perhaps. Is it catching, with Woakes still early in his Test career?

Will Jake grow into the role? Jennings? (I take Hameed as a 90% chance - England missed his stability, despite Jennings' score and a half.) Is the proper full-time spinner (Leach) really blocked by suspicions over his action? Jordan, Willey, Overtons, who else might strike a claim ...?

Addendum. Warning: Non-cricket-related. Stop here if O/T is out of bounds.

Hell, I'll spare those of sensitive disposition and put it under this cowl. :

by horace Tue 20 Dec 2016, 19:29

Well put Petey.

This is a distressing period in human history.

Sport's salve has a limited but still beneficial effect.

by Basil Tue 20 Dec 2016, 21:26

First of all, congratulations to India. This team has the makings of a seriously good side and most of them are young enough to be around for some years to come.

The writing was on the wall for England ever since they lost those 10 wickets in a session in the second test against Bangladesh. Boy, that seems like an age ago!

I hope the itinerary is not used as an excuse - it wasn't ideal, but there were fundamental deficiencies in the way we played.

For a side with so much depth in batting, we batted like a team whose tale started at seven. There's a fundamental lack of nous when it comes to playing spin - it's either block or slog. Only Root gets it and, to a lesser extent, Moeen Ali.

Once Mark Wood knackered his ankle bowling for Durham against Surrey, we were destined not to be able to put out our best bowling attack. His pace would have made a telling difference.

As for the spinners, Rashid went okay but Chef blatantly doesn't trust him. Moeen gets to play as he is a frontline batsman, but I'll be surprised if any of the others get another cap between them.

Successes? Jennings and Hameed obviously - one of them will have to bat at three next season but I'm a fan of an opener coming in at three in tests.

Chef, I think, has captained England for the last time. He was never as bad as some (yes Warnie, I'm talking about you) would claim but he was certainly no tactical genius. Root will bring fresh ideas and, I suspect, is more in tune with the way Bayliss would like his team to play.

There will be the usual siren calls for a bit of bloodletting, but I hope they're ignored. We are not THAT far away from being a seriously good side ourselves.

Players to watch next season:

David Willey: a left-arm seamer. Not the quickest, but up for the fight.
Tom Westley, Joe Clarke and Sam Billings: probably vying for a middle-order place
Jamie Overton, Saqib Mahmood, Tom Helm: potential fast bowlers.

by lardbucket Tue 20 Dec 2016, 23:20

England still above NZ and Sri Lanka in the rankings.

Australia may fall below them following their own tour to The Last Frontier.

by DJ_Smerk Wed 21 Dec 2016, 00:10

Sack.Cook.Now.

Can India play like this outside of India?

by DJ_Smerk Wed 21 Dec 2016, 00:14

Basil wrote:

David Willey: a left-arm seamer. Not the quickest, but up for the fight.
Tom Westley, Joe Clarke and Sam Billings: probably vying for a middle-order place
Jamie Overton, Saqib Mahmood, Tom Helm: potential fast bowlers.

I'm sorry Bas, but David Willey is f*cking tripe. He's a middle of the road county hog.

He'd be annihilated in a test match.

by lardbucket Wed 21 Dec 2016, 01:00

[Smerk] Get James Harris in [/Smerk]

by taipan Wed 21 Dec 2016, 03:18

DJ_Smerk wrote:Sack.Cook.Now.

Can India play like this outside of India?

I think there will be the usual problems in SA, Aus and England. There will be a lot of bleating about green tops and pitches fixed in favour of the home team.

by DJ_Smerk Wed 21 Dec 2016, 21:44

lardbucket wrote:[Smerk] Get James Harris in [/Smerk]

If only he played enough.

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