England v India, 5th Test, The Oval, 15-19 August, 2014

I actually heard Boycs talking about it on the TMS summary of the day's play.

skully wrote:

Henry wrote:I didn't see it but I gather India should have had Cook plumb LBW?

HAHAHA   And it will continue to be hilarious as long as India refuse to use the DRS.

Looks like it, Trev. I gather you picked it up from this Cricinfo commentary...

8.2 Kumar to Cook, no run, big lbw appeal from India but this might have pitched outside leg, Bhuvi is distraught. He was quite adjacent on impact as Cook plays an uncertain flick. Too slow on it and falling across. Has reason to be disappointed. It pitched in line, hit in line and crashing into the stumps. Cook escapes!

and this poster agrees with you...

sshero: "Wonder if the BCCI is keeping stats of the number of wickets they keep losing due to their stubborn stance on DRS?? Yes, they probably gain a few too, but am pretty sure they are losing out overall thanks to non-usage"

Just when you thought the day couldn't get any better for a neutral.

 

Can't understand why Cook didn't give Moeen a few overs to try and break the 10th wicket partnership.

Because he's Alastair Cook, and he'll simply NEVER have a great deal of tactical nous. It's just not in him.

Sorry if this has been mentioned before but when was the last time India played a 5 Test series?

Possibly in the West Indies in 2001/02??????

Robson loses his off stump again, played down the Bakerloo line and the ball went down the Northern line...

Assuming he doesn't get another meaningful bat in this match there's a big question mark going forward.

I would send him on the Lions tour (SA in Jan?) along with Lyth and Lees and maybe Hales and see how he goes, but he's got all sorts of technical issues and the future does not look rosy for him.

If he'd averaged a solid 40 plus I wouldn't have complained but I've always felt we need to find a more dynamic foil for Cook at the top of the order. It is difficult to open in Test cricket at the moment for whatever reason, and technical deficiencies are being magnified.

Don't think I'd give Robson another look.

Finding every run Cook scores hilarious now after seeing him plumb LBW yesterday. I almost wish India could win the series in this match and that decision end up costing them a series win. Every shocking decision against India should be applauded until they move into the 21st century.

Brass Monkey wrote:Don't think I'd give Robson another look.

Boycott says he just looks too tense in everything he does, similar to Compton, whereas the best players look relaxed and natural at the crease. I guess that approach works for some, like Trott, but it must have contributed to his eventual downfall in both a technical and mental sense.

Probably is time to look at some fresh candidates, he's had a summer and come up a bit short - if he makes shedloads of runs in county cricket he might get another shot but it depends if anyone else really grabs hold of the place in the meantime.

Looks like it's all coming up Chef.

India has some qunts dressing up as slips fieldsmen

Old fashioned English collapse?

With an old-fashioned 200+ run lead

1-191 to 5-229 a fairish comeback by the Bannies but Root and Buttler steadied. 3 days is still looking good.

This series has been one test too long and Sri Lanka's one test too short. Much like Australia in the Ashes, doubt England would've learnt much about the positives given the substandard nature of the opposition. The flaws do stick out.

I was really disappointed when Moeen got out. I really want him to make runs as he's one of the few natural, free-spirited, instinctive batsmen in this English side.

Already there are signs that this England setup is starting to alter his mindset.

More rubbish umpiring this morning. I've never seen it so consistently bad across world cricket.

[quote="Henry"]More rubbish umpiring this morning. I've never seen it so consistently bad across world cricket.[/quote

And rubbish bowling and fielding too. When India drops its bundle there are no half measures.

Wonder if they can possibly show some ticker with the bat.

Meanwhile, the batsmen...

Henry wrote:More rubbish umpiring this morning. I've never seen it so consistently bad across world cricket.

Elite Panel clearly isn't working...  it's a relentless schedule of travel and officiating for these mostly not particularly young men, especially the few non-English and Aussie names on the list. It must be having an adverse impact on performance and concentration levels, as has been pointed out they can't even be arsed to check for no-balls properly any more unless there's a wicket.

Time to go back to one "home" umpire and one overseas, and widen the pool again?

beamer wrote:

Henry wrote:More rubbish umpiring this morning. I've never seen it so consistently bad across world cricket.

Elite Panel clearly isn't working...  it's a relentless schedule of travel and officiating for these mostly not particularly young men, especially the few non-English and Aussie names on the list. It must be having an adverse impact on performance and concentration levels, as has been pointed out they can't even be arsed to check for no-balls properly any more unless there's a wicket.

Time to go back to one "home" umpire and one overseas, and widen the pool again?

Maybe part of the problem is the lack of FC players coming into the system. How long does it take to go through the system and reach test level?