England v India, 3rd Test, Trent Bridge, 18-22 August, 2018

Wow. From the highlights it looked a pretty meek surrender by the Poms. Sure, Pandya wobbled it, but these are English batsmen brought up in English conditions. Very poor batting.

And there is no way Root should have been given out.

India’s bowlers were all on average 3-4mph quicker than England’s as well.

If they’re going to play one-day cricket in the Test arena, they should just go the whole way and play one-day cricket properly. Say “we’re going to bat for 50 overs, let’s see if we can get 350 in that time”. Instead of this halfway house of block and leave a few, in between some streaky boundaries, then play a loose shot and get out.

Of course they could play traditional Test cricket, but the players just aren’t there for that any more, it would appear. Good to see them going with youth, but Pope looks more like a Bell than the gritty Thorpe or Collingwood type player we’ve needed for a while. I thought Little Jimmy Taylor was going to be that player, sadly it didn’t work out that way, but maybe now as a selector he could identify one or two?

For the first time I’m genuinely thinking I’d rather go and see England in a JAMODI than a Test, and that’s a sad state of affairs really.

beamer wrote:If they’re going to play one-day cricket in the Test arena, they should just go the whole way and play one-day cricket properly. Say “we’re going to bat for 50 overs, let’s see if we can get 350 in that time”. Instead of this halfway house of block and leave a few, in between some streaky boundaries, then play a loose shot and get out.

Of course they could play traditional Test cricket, but the players just aren’t there for that any more, it would appear. Good to see them going with youth, but Pope looks more like a Bell than the gritty Thorpe or Collingwood type player we’ve needed for a while. I thought Little Jimmy Taylor was going to be that player, sadly it didn’t work out that way, but maybe now as a selector he could identify one or two?

For the first time I’m genuinely thinking I’d rather go and see England in a JAMODI than a Test, and that’s a sad state of affairs really.

It’s strange that the mindset of English players seems to have changed so quickly in the space of about three years. What a coincidence- since Trevor Bayliss became England coach and they decided they wanted to play cricket like Brendan McCullum’s New Zealand. It worked for about a month.

Take Haseeb Hameed- here was a guy we all thought was guaranteed to play 100 tests when we first saw him in an England shirt. He looked every bit the part, and was a rarity for a young player in that he knew where his off stump was, and was willing to bat for hours on end and see out tough periods. Two years later and the lad is a mess. Averages mid teens in his last 20 first class games and can’t buy a run. What’s happened? How has this been allowed to happen? Was he encouraged by some ECB dimwit to “expand his game”? Did he get seduced by the desire to make it in T20? His fall has been truly alarming, but it seems to be symptomatic of where things are headed, with less and less batsmen being able to bat for long periods of time and see out tough passages of play.

Man, how quickly things have changed from "Engulund, Engulund, Engulund!!!!" to "Farken hell, what a pack of poo tickets this team is!!!"

skully wrote:Man, how quickly things have changed from "Engulund, Engulund, Engulund!!!!" to "Farken hell, what a pack of poo tickets this team is!!!"

Aye, similar to the speed Australian fans went from jubilation after the ashes, to complete and utter despair in South Africa two months later 😉

Henry wrote:

skully wrote:Man, how quickly things have changed from "Engulund, Engulund, Engulund!!!!" to "Farken hell, what a pack of poo tickets this team is!!!"

Aye, similar to the speed Australian fans went from jubilation after the ashes, to complete and utter despair in South Africa two months later 😉

Not all that much jubilation here beyond the fact of winning the Ashes. Our team has been filled with home track bullies. For ages and not just from me there have been calls to not select gcspoc for any overseas tour

horace wrote:

Henry wrote:

skully wrote:Man, how quickly things have changed from "Engulund, Engulund, Engulund!!!!" to "Farken hell, what a pack of poo tickets this team is!!!"

Aye, similar to the speed Australian fans went from jubilation after the ashes, to complete and utter despair in South Africa two months later 😉

Not all that much jubilation here beyond the fact of winning the Ashes. Our team has been filled with home track bullies. For ages and not just from me there have been calls to not select gcspoc for any overseas tour

Well I’m pretty sure your calls will be answered, as I can’t see a way back into the Australian test team for Warner.

I'll be amazed if Warner isn't selected after his ban is over. We are as badly off for openers as England is.

Well his form (albeit only in T20) suggests that he’s still carrying around a fair amount of shame and guilt.....

And despite what they say to the media, I think his Aussie teammates want him gone for good. His previous form in England suggests he won’t be much of a saviour for Aus there either (and the next ashes is when he’ll be available again for Aus).

gcspoc is a proven liability overseas. His passport should be suspended.

Henry wrote:Well his form (albeit only in T20) suggests that he’s still carrying around a fair amount of shame and guilt.....

And despite what they say to the media, I think his Aussie teammates want him gone for good. His previous form in England suggests he won’t be much of a saviour for Aus there either (and the next ashes is when he’ll be available again for Aus).

Not sure about that Trev. I would suggest that there is some respect for him having taken the fall for them. If anything I suspect there is less respect for Smith for trying to throw them under the bus.

It's a strange old world when tampering with a game ball, or rather someone else tampering with a game ball is deemed ten times as bad as a physical attack on another human which could easily have ended in that person's DEATH. In Newcastle last year a man died from a single punch to the head. If Stokes can play then so can Warner and Smith. I don;t care what a court decided, we all saw the incident on cctv. Tampering has gone on for ever and a day in one way or another and still does to a lesser extent.

skully wrote:Man, how quickly things have changed from "Engulund, Engulund, Engulund!!!!" to "Farken hell, what a pack of poo tickets this team is!!!"

We were lucky in the first one, and India didn’t turn up for the second. Nothing to suggest we have overcome the ongoing problems.

I wonder what odds you could have got on India winning the series before the first ball of this one? Do I remember correctly that no team has ever won a 5-match series 3-2 from 2-0 down?

whitburn wrote:It's a strange old world when tampering with a game ball, or rather someone else tampering with a game ball is deemed ten times as bad as a physical attack on another human which could easily have ended in that person's DEATH. In Newcastle last year a man died from a single punch to the head. If Stokes can play then so can Warner and Smith. I don;t care what a court decided, we all saw the incident on cctv. Tampering has gone on for ever and a day in one way or another and still does to a lesser extent.

It’s not so much comparing apples and oranges, as comparing apples and doughnuts... two completely different offences that are impossible to compare.

One is cheating at cricket, and it’s up to cricketing authorities to decide how to punish it, to deter others and restore the public’s faith in their team. The other is being a qunt off the pitch, and is a matter for the legal system of the country it happens in. The ICC can’t play judge and jury to override decisions made in that sense, though they can discipline players for damaging the reputation of the sport and team, as may happen with Stokes and Hales here.

What happened to the much vaunted #six, seven and eight that are allegedly nonpareil?

Henry wrote:

beamer wrote:If they’re going to play one-day cricket in the Test arena, they should just go the whole way and play one-day cricket properly. Say “we’re going to bat for 50 overs, let’s see if we can get 350 in that time”. Instead of this halfway house of block and leave a few, in between some streaky boundaries, then play a loose shot and get out.

Of course they could play traditional Test cricket, but the players just aren’t there for that any more, it would appear. Good to see them going with youth, but Pope looks more like a Bell than the gritty Thorpe or Collingwood type player we’ve needed for a while. I thought Little Jimmy Taylor was going to be that player, sadly it didn’t work out that way, but maybe now as a selector he could identify one or two?

For the first time I’m genuinely thinking I’d rather go and see England in a JAMODI than a Test, and that’s a sad state of affairs really.

It’s strange that the mindset of English players seems to have changed so quickly in the space of about three years. What a coincidence- since Trevor Bayliss became England coach and they decided they wanted to play cricket like Brendan McCullum’s New Zealand. It worked for about a month.

Take Haseeb Hameed- here was a guy we all thought was guaranteed to play 100 tests when we first saw him in an England shirt. He looked every bit the part, and was a rarity for a young player in that he knew where his off stump was, and was willing to bat for hours on end and see out tough periods. Two years later and the lad is a mess. Averages mid teens in his last 20 first class games and can’t buy a run. What’s happened? How has this been allowed to happen? Was he encouraged by some ECB dimwit to “expand his game”? Did he get seduced by the desire to make it in T20? His fall has been truly alarming, but it seems to be symptomatic of where things are headed, with less and less batsmen being able to bat for long periods of time and see out tough passages of play.

What’s happened is he’s had to play County Championship cricket in April, where if you face 20 balls from a 70mph seamer you will get an unplayable one in there so you just have to get as many runs on the board as you can before the one with your name on it arrives.

beamer wrote:

skully wrote:Man, how quickly things have changed from "Engulund, Engulund, Engulund!!!!" to "Farken hell, what a pack of poo tickets this team is!!!"

We were lucky in the first one, and India didn’t turn up for the second. Nothing to suggest we have overcome the ongoing problems.

I wonder what odds you could have got on India winning the series before the first ball of this one? Do I remember correctly that no team has ever won a 5-match series 3-2 from 2-0 down?

I think Australia did against England in about 1937.

So 306 lead to India. What sort of target? 500?

Late swing after the bat whacks Jonny on the finger. Could be a busted digit.

It's quite grim here at Trent Bridge both weather-wise and this game's destiny. A fella at the bar (Indian) backed his team to win this series when 2-0 down at odds of 80-1 and i'm not totally sure he's wasted his money. Bowl first on a lovely 300+ pitch, then bat like a girl choir's second 11 on an admittedly difficult pitch and we're certainly keeping that young man interested in his wager.

Propitious conditions have certainly played a big role in this series.

Red wrote:What happened to the much vaunted #six, seven and eight that are allegedly nonpareil?

Yeah strange. Also for such an apparently good spinner, Warne occasionally went wicketless. So much for being a great spinner!

Henry wrote:.........

Once conditions are even slightly against this lot’s hard hands, counter-attacking, aggression at all costs mindset, they collapse in a pathetic heap.  

No different from India then.

Rashid now has the most wickets by an English leg-spinner in a home Test series for over 50 years. Takes some effort to surpass such legends as Ian Salisbury and Chris Schofield (not forgetting Mike Atherton of course!)