England v India, 4th Test, Ageas Bowl, 30 August - 3 September, 2018

It has been abject batting from both sides at times, as almost nobody has the patience to tough it out in testing conditions these days. It’s England’s batting depth that has won us this series - we can be six down for sod all and still make a competitive score, where as India’s lower order rarely contributed much, and only Kohli’s supreme efforts have really kept them in it.

We haven’t really learned much new about this England side, and it’s still a long way from being able to beat decent sides away from home. Curran has been a real find, his impact reminds me a bit of the way Dominic Cork burst onto the scene against the West Indies in 1995, in terms of making something happen in every phase of the game, though he may well go onto be a much better batsman than that.

The all-rounders are our strength, and if we have 5 or 6 of them why not play them all? It’s not as if the specialist batsmen are contributing much. I suspect Test cricket is going towards the top three being basically glorified nightwatchmen, to take the shine off the new ball, and then the batting engine room starting at number 4 and going down to 8 or 9.

beamer wrote:Has to be... though Cook increasingly looking like time is up.

Fair f*cks to Root for taking a step down, even if the Ali experiment didn’t pay off. No point continuing to sacrifice yourself supposedly for the team cause. Presumably Vince will come in to bat at three at the Oval.

Entirely new top three for a series decider? Would surely be a first, but probably improve our chances.

Fair ****** for hiding? Could you imagine Ricky Ponting hiding behind his team mates. He’d have gone out there to try and battle for his team.

Root’s a pussy.

Root was effectively opening the batting with our top 2 so useless, so he was right to drop down to 4. If Moeen gets 38 or 48 everyone says it was a good decision. He was against good bowlers on a bowler's wicket and he got out quite cheaply, but that happens. I would have tried someone else at 3, not Ali but the Root number 4 decision i back.

krikri wrote:

beamer wrote:Has to be... though Cook increasingly looking like time is up.

Fair f*cks to Root for taking a step down, even if the Ali experiment didn’t pay off. No point continuing to sacrifice yourself supposedly for the team cause. Presumably Vince will come in to bat at three at the Oval.

Entirely new top three for a series decider? Would surely be a first, but probably improve our chances.

Fair ****** for hiding? Could you imagine Ricky Ponting hiding behind his team mates. He’d have gone out there to try and battle for his team.

Root’s a pussy.

You put your best batsman in his preferred position. Particularly if he’s your only top order player of note and is struggling for form. We’ve been shooting ourselves in the foot all summer with Root batting at 3.

JGK wrote:

skully wrote:Nah, Q. It'll be 5 roads again this summer. E-Coli will make 1000.

He'll only get 5 innings though.

My fears too. There will be autobahns everywhere and E-Coli is in ripping form. There is no way the Bannies will not smite us. Their series hoodoo here will be broken.

beamer wrote:

krikri wrote:

beamer wrote:Has to be... though Cook increasingly looking like time is up.

Fair f*cks to Root for taking a step down, even if the Ali experiment didn’t pay off. No point continuing to sacrifice yourself supposedly for the team cause. Presumably Vince will come in to bat at three at the Oval.

Entirely new top three for a series decider? Would surely be a first, but probably improve our chances.

Fair ****** for hiding? Could you imagine Ricky Ponting hiding behind his team mates. He’d have gone out there to try and battle for his team.

Root’s a pussy.

You put your best batsman in his preferred position. Particularly if he’s your only top order player of note and is struggling for form. We’ve been shooting ourselves in the foot all summer with Root batting at 3.

To be fair to Root, he probably acknowledged his own poor form in that decision and looked to give himself some space to find some touch. It really didn't work out that way though.

Agree about England's tail. India had them on the ropes on day one, but couldn't land the killer blow. Toss maybe important too in that batting last wasn't easy.

beamer wrote:

krikri wrote:

beamer wrote:Has to be... though Cook increasingly looking like time is up.

Fair f*cks to Root for taking a step down, even if the Ali experiment didn’t pay off. No point continuing to sacrifice yourself supposedly for the team cause. Presumably Vince will come in to bat at three at the Oval.

Entirely new top three for a series decider? Would surely be a first, but probably improve our chances.

Fair ****** for hiding? Could you imagine Ricky Ponting hiding behind his team mates. He’d have gone out there to try and battle for his team.

Root’s a pussy.

You put your best batsman in his preferred position. Particularly if he’s your only top order player of note and is struggling for form. We’ve been shooting ourselves in the foot all summer with Root batting at 3.

A lot of bollox is talked about your best player batting at 3. Remind me where Tendulkar, AB and Steve Waugh preferred to bat.