England v India 2011

Cremated

LondonIrish90 wrote: »

Absolutely magnificent innings from Matty Prior. By far the best wicketkeeper batsman in the world at the moment for me, backed up by statistics.

Broad is on fire too. Really important runs and already finding the breakthrough. Tough times for India but these two at the crease can certainly put up quite a stand.

I'd still go with Sangakkara especially if he picked up the gloves again at the test level,

I did like Prior but http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqwEwS8cwzQ makes it hard to like him, and some people might think I'm mad but I think Niall O'Brien is one of the best in the world...

LondonIrish90

Cremated wrote: »

I'd still go with Sangakkara especially if he picked up the gloves again at the test level,

I did like Prior but http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqwEwS8cwzQ makes it hard to like him, and some people might think I'm mad but I think Niall O'Brien is one of the best in the world...

I'd disagree. Prior always comes across as a genuinely likeable character in interviews. I don't think that was cheating in any way, clearly pointing at the foot of Johnson asking for the stumping. Besides, it is against Australia who are no angels themselves

More to the point, he's one of the best glovemen in cricket at the moment, and yet even without that aspect of his game he would be in the team on his selfless, exciting lower order batting alone.

And I'd agree with you about O'Brien being very under rated due to not often having much of a platform to showcase his ability, but all bias aside I don't think I'd swap him for Prior.

booth70

Was at Lords yesterday:)....first time at a test match there....great experience....glorious sunshine and a terrific atmosphere....superb spell from Sharma in the morning but a great partnership between Broad and Prior

Cricinfo says its a full house today as well

Back at work now:( and hoping India grind out a draw today:(

booth70

Any chance of rain today:(

chasenlife

142 - 4.

Think England will secure this game. India have been disappointing.

How long is the series?

booth70

The last time SRT blocked like he is doing today he made a 'painful to watch' 16 of a 100 odd deliveries and India still couldn't hold on against Pakistan I think it was a few years ago.....he's better off playing his natural game

booth70

chasenlife wrote: »

142 - 4.

Think England will secure this game. India have been disappointing.

How long is the series?

4 tests

Tbh India have been hopeless apart from a 30 minute spell yesterday morning when Sharma was tearing in...

Washout

tendulkar gone...game over

booth70

A measly 37 will remain SRT's highest ever score at the home of cricket...

Amazing to think that Ponting , Lara and Tendulkar with all their 100 odd centuries between them have never scored a hundred at Lords:(

booth70

281 needed of 50 odd overs....Dhoni and Raina might as well have a go at the target....cant see them blocking out 50 overs with the techniques they possess!:rolleyes:

Rjd2

booth70 wrote: »

A measly 37 will remain SRT's highest ever score at the home of cricket...

Amazing to think that Ponting , Lara and Tendulkar with all their 100 odd centuries between them have never scored a hundred at Lords:(

While Marcus North got one on his Lords debut...:pac:

Cremated

I can't believe Raina has a decent chance to score more than the big three combined in this second innings, I don't usually question SRT but 12 from 68?, very strange decision by SRT...

dfx-

Well played Dravid...

JustinDee

Well, India. That's what the review system is for.
Nice bowling by Stuart Broad. Amazing how a test match ebbs and flows for a team.

ClareVisitor

Excellent performance by Broad, hat-tricks don't come around that often! He's having a really good series, with bat as well as ball.

booth70

Dravid's innings was easily the best innings I have seen any Indian play......a classy knock against a quality bowling unit:)

Hope the morons at the BCCI were watching today.....pity it wasn't Dravid who got the shocker of an LBW......still it will take Tendulkar to get a shocker like today's for India to change their stance on the DRS

Broad can do no wrong nowadays it seems.....he has singlehandedly kept England in this test match

booth70

Bell looks in sublime touch....this match and the series slowly but surely slipping away from India:(

Hayte

India are always slow starters overseas. They will come back but yeah. Right now they look marooned, clinging to a rock called Dravid in stormy waters.

Bell is looking invincible. Bhaji is looking dejected. Broad is having the series of his life and is turning into the second coming of Beefy. :O

Inquitus

That's just not cricket, unsporting Indian tossers.

dfx-

I don't see any problem there. India played the game to its fair completion and Bell wandered out of his crease. What are they supposed to do?

Kumar threw the ball in the stumps were knocked over and Bell was halfway down the pitch. It's out. And it's fair.

Inquitus

Inquitus wrote: »

That's just not cricket, unsporting Indian tossers.

retracted 200%, fair play all round.

Beasty

A bit premature there Inquitus..

Well done Dhoni and the rest of the Indian team for withdrawing the appeal and re-instating Bell

ZonarySonic

Great play from India kept the concentration until the very end unlike Bell who looked like he wanted tea and was over-confident and wandered away from his crease. A real school-boy mistake and must congratulate he Indian fielders for sticking out to the end to make sure

mike65

Don't have Sky so was having to listen to TMS description of events, have to catch it on the TV later (Channel 5)

Guardian mbm report (start at bottom)

MS Dhoni has withdrawn the appeal and Ian Bell is coming back out! This is sensational, and a triumph for the spirit of the game. Well done to MS Dhoni; that's a wonderful gesture, and a classy one too because it takes balls to go back on the original appeal. India were booed onto the field, and now MS Dhoni is getting a round of applause. Only in cricket.

There are two points to make, I think

A) All bets are off for the series now; it will probably descend just as nastily as the Australia/India series in 2007-08.

Let's talk about what the match rather than the Bell run out. If we discuss this it will turn into a risible slanging match. My opinion is that it was air-headed from Bell, and bang out of order from India. If they withdraw the appeal, on the grounds that it was not an honestly earned wicket, we wouldn't be in this sorry mess. I completely understand why someone would take the opposite view, however.

There are a few precedents for this incident: Collingwood/Elliott, Murali/New Zealand, and especially Tony Greig and Alvin Kallicharranl, which is mentioned at the bottom of this article. Rob Bagchi has sent this interesting quote from Greig with regard to that incident.

What about the much-criticised run-out of Alvin Kallicharan on the stroke of the close of play in Trinidad? "Just watch the footage - I was correct, no question. It was the last ball of the day and I was in close, at silly point, to Bernard Julian, who pushed the ball back down the pitch. I turned to pick it up and saw Kalli, who had backed up, just carry on walking to the pavilion. I ran him out with a direct hit, fact. I got a hammering from people like John Woodcock and Henry Blofeld but they had no idea. The game had long graduated beyond 'the done thing', you can't just wander out of your crease."

Hello. I didn't catch the afternoon session. Did I miss much?

TEA: England 254-4 (England lead by 187; , Morgan 18) Great session for England. Stormy end to proceedings. Contact Rob Smyth with your views. Thanks for your company for the two hours' dumbing down of a serious institution.

Wicket!! Ian Bell run out 137 Tin hat time. It took six minutes to decide that the ball wasn't dead and for the umpires to ask whether India wanted to uphold their appeal. MS Dhoni who lobbed the ball to the fielder to dislodge the bails said that it was a genuine appeal and so, Bell was given out. Never assume, is the lesson, and by the letter of the law he was out. That's not going to prevent the bad blood spewing forth this evening.

dfx-

Remarkable stuff from Dhoni. Bell was out fair and square..very lucky.

In the spirit of the game should Harbhajan be called back for the nonsense lbw when footage was seen to avoid conflict since one team would've thought it was wrongly out? Or does it need to be a certain level of boos? Very strongly disagree with the reinstatement.

Morgan gets 50 pretty quickly..

JustinDee

Spirit of the game overshadows Bell's stupidity. It was obvious Bell presumed that play was done. Even umpire was ready to head in.
Well done Dhoni. Few other personalities wouldn't have had the grace to approach their team like he did.
What has transpired is fairest outcome.

dfx-

Spirit of the game is to uphold the laws and give the fair decision. The fair decision was out. Bell made a mistake and was out. Making a mistake and being out is not against the spirit of the game.

Morgan gone fairly quickly after the new ball, Trott remarkably lucky to survive first ball.

JustinDee

Thankfully India don't agree with your sentiments on the matter.

mike65

Ian Bells second dismissal seems to have focused Indias attack.

JustinDee

Excellent new ball bowling by Kumar. If he was a quicker bowler, he'd be deadly.