International cricket thread

Gillespy

It was a remarkable win by the West indies. I don't think it's been neglected by the cricket media at all though. Both ended the same day and a lot of time was donated to it and it reopened the whole discussion on the bigger picture of the game.

It reminds me of 2019 when Stokes played that amazing Headingley innings, people were complaining that Kusal Perara didn't get enough praise for his equally great innings in South Africa. For people on this side of the world one is higher profile than the other and will get more of our attention.

What is something to look forward to is the West indies coming to England in a few month. That attack now is very exciting. Always have a chance with good bowlers.

VillaMad

It was a wonderful weekend of cricket and definitely it warmed the heart.

The West Indies win in Australia has to go down as one of the biggest surprises in recent times in test cricket. A really inexperienced side brought with them a potential superstar of the game in Shamar Joseph. Many of us have grown up to the tales of the great West Indies quicks of the 80s and 90s and that has really been a thing of the past and many West Indies sides since have failed to produce genuine stars. I don't know if Shamar Joseph can bring back that vigour of the great West Indies sides but I'm sure he is going to try! His back story is unbelievable and he only turned professional last year and had just played 2 first class games before getting the call for the West Indies A side and then graduating to the senior side for the Australia tour. Problems aren't solved overnight for the West Indies with one win, but the love around the world for them spoke volumes about what cricket has been missing and needs to do. Apart from the massive funding deficits, hopefully a number of youngsters from the Caribbean will be inspired to take up the game.

England's victory was astonishing in many respects also at the weekend. You could argue that in the first innings, that Pope and Hartley were England's worst performers and to see them then both be vying for player of the match was all you needed to know for the comeback victory. The turnaround was incredible and the positive mindset in that 3rd innings unsettled India. The old approach of defend and defend and wait for a bad ball was thrown out on a variable pitch and England just got on with it. Once the Foakes-Pope partnership got moving, the Indian heads just started to drop and they never really regained control of the match. The pressure of a 4th innings chase got to them on what remained a pretty ok batting strip as Bumrah and Siraj showed with their last wicket partnership.

Last time out England won the first test and then India prepared pitches that turned square from the first day which changed the series. Doesn't look like India's batting line-up is quite as strong as it was then particularly with Kohli missing for this the next one as well. England could pick an Anderson to keep the run rate down if the spinners get whacked around a bit. There wasn't really a need for an extra spinner in the first test match due to Root's performance and they could swap Rehan Ahmed for Anderson although they would lose a bit in the runs department. Jack Leach seems to always have something go wrong for him, and he didn't look great on Sunday so obviously his selection is in doubt. India would still be favoured to turn it around despite their injuries, simply because they are at home but England certainly gave them a shock and it will be interesting to see how they respond.

Strumms

Forecast had suggested it might be a day lost due to weather but that’s improved now which is great….

I think I’ll be forgoing the AM session and setting the alarm to catch up with play after lunch.

Strumms

Leach ruled out due to injury according to the BBC.

who to replace him, the other spinner Shoaib Bashir or Jimmy Anderson ? Interesting to see who they choose

Gillespy

Pitch is looking more seam friendly according to Zak Crawley so Anderson or Robinson you'd imagine. Pitch could look totally different the morning of the game so who knows.

Mysterypunter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121703179#Comment_121703179

For all the impact he has, you could stick a green bin on the boundary

Mysterypunter

Anderson and Bashir in for Wood and Leach

Gillespy

So they went with both Bashir and Jimmy. Wood dropped. It will be Rehan’s third game, Hartley’s second and Bashir will be making his debut. India of a few years ago when they were like a machine with Rohit, KL, Pujara, Kohli, Rehane, Pant, Jadeja and Ashwin would be making life a living hell for them. Now you’d give them a chance.

Strumms

In that first test Wood bowled 17 overs in the first innings, just 8 in the second was wicketless for the whole test…. Bowled very economically though 2.76 and 1.88 were his economy rates respectively. But if you ain’t taking wickets I guess. Brave move by Stokes…. Anderson almost 42…. Bowling in temperatures of 31°….. wonder if Wood has a niggle and they are resting him… nothing in the media that I can see. He is 34 so maybe it’s seen as necessary across a 5 test series in very hot and challenging conditions.

InsideEdge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121704112#Comment_121704112

Just for accuracy, Wood isn't dropped, he is being rested and it was always the intention to rotate him and Anderson, especially with two sets of back-to-back tests.

Gillespy

Dropped, rested, rotated, managing his workload all amount to the same thing. He didn't bowl that much, 25 overs in total. Put it this way, had been as effective as Bumrah was he would playing again tomorrow.

Mysterypunter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121707163#Comment_121707163

He bowled well and was unsuited by conditions, he hurried the batsmen and nobody looked comfortable against him. Jimmy Anderson will take 0/40 off 20 or something like it. He's less of a wicket taking threat in Indian conditions, but won't get hit

Gillespy

Wood was fine, economical and had a chance dropped. Bumrah, his direct rival, clearly out bowled him however. He’s a strike bowler and they need someone to bowl longer spells.

If Anderson can replicate what he did in India last time he will bring more to the team. It’s often said it’s roles reversed when in India, spinners attack and the seamers dry up an end. After a poor Ashes there’s questions about Anderson too.

Strumms

Anderson looking a bit pedestrian in his first over. 81/82 mph… only conceded a single though..up to 85/86 mph in his second…

Root bowling the second over… concedes 8, bowling noticeably faster and flatter in the fourth….concedes a single, better.

Anderson is bowling fast now, at his age, this heat / humidity…. How many overs a spell / day will he fit in… ?

27° from the get go and due to get up to 30°…

decent start by the England attack, one quarter chance that evaded square leg just about…

Mysterypunter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121683711#Comment_121683711

Did it again, should be dropped to be honest, bats on roads and gives it away after an hour whatever the format. 2 ducks in a row against Afghanistan in 2 T20s, then gets a hundred and all is forgiven. He does this too many times.

Mysterypunter

First comment on cricinfo straight after the dismissal was it's very unlike Rohit, from some Indian, wonder does he watch cricket. He does it all the time. Indians are completely blinkered, can't discuss cricket with them, every conversation turns to Kohli or Tendulkar after 10 seconds.

Mysterypunter

Just looked up Rohit in the world cup. In overs 1-10 he scored 401 @80.2. That's very impressive, outside the powerplay overs he made 196@32.66. Again another hundred against Afghanistan 134 to pad his stats. Still think he threw it away too many times

Mysterypunter

Gill out for 34. Wicket for Jimmy Anderson. 89/2

Strumms

second wicket down. Good catch by Foakes to dismiss Gill off the bowling of Anderson.

England needed that. They didn’t create enough this morning… a close LBW shout and an arial shot just evading square leg…were the only close calls besides the 2 wickets .

Lunch 103/2.. India will be very satisfied with their mornings work.

MFPM

Lucky wicket for England - Ahmed 'bowled' Patadir. Match even enough - a couple of wickets and England will be in front, but if Jaiswal sticks around and continues to score, India could build toward a big score.

MFPM

Jaiswal reaches 150 - great innings. Root is not at it today, runs flowing.

MFPM

Bharat has given that away, like a few of his colleagues today. Jaiswal on 179 and yet no one else has even made a 50!

Strumms

India will be quietly satisfied....

English batsmen will be under real pressure to perform... first session tomorrow will be ultra important... England need very quick wickets.....

India get north of 400... be pressure on England

Gillespy

Jaiswal and nothing else for India. He threatened to do that in the first game but couldn’t get going again the next morning. Rohit as the senior batsman and captain has been very disappointing so far. There’s a mob starting to form for Iyer and Gill. And Axar at six is too high. Kohli, KL and Jadeja can’t return soon enough for them.

England will be happy enough. Spinners loose but that’s to be expected given how inexperienced they are. Anderson on the other hand showed all of his today. England missed another pacer, asking too much of Root to open.

Strumms

100% England could really do with the extra pace man…

all about early wickets…. England need to be batting before lunch I reckon.

wont be easy…. Ravi Ashwin has 4 or 5 test centuries even if he is a number 8….that said there is precious little to come after him so if England can make an early breakthrough they are into fellas averaging single digits so they should have them knocked over pretty easily.

given the age of Anderson, Stokes not bowling, should have gone with two frontline seamers.

InsideEdge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121712876#Comment_121712876

Apart from the fact that the wicket is giving no help to seamers and using Atkinson wouldn't make any sense. India have a wicket prepared that will hold for a day and a half and then begin to disintegrate to help the spinners. This game was all about winning the toss, India's game to lose now. England actually bowled well and just waited for most of the Indian batters to give their wickets away. Jaiswal threatened to take the game away from England in the first game, he's doing it now.

Gillespy

Pitch should hold longer than that, three days at least before it goes. I would have went Robinson over Atkinson, he can bat and bowl tight similarly to Anderson.

InsideEdge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121714379#Comment_121714379

The pitch had two covers on it in the last two days before the game, where normally it would have one. That shows the ground staff were very concerned that it was far too dry and would break up by the end of the second day. Robinson is no where near what Anderson can do, even at 42 years old.

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121714282#Comment_121714282

It’s giving little help to these group of spinners… 76 overs of spin bowled. 5 wickets taken by the spinners.

1 wicket every 15.2 overs…. They need a plan B.

you have Joe Root, a part time bowler bowling as a front liner….16 wickets in 27 matches vs India.

not a wicket per innings, not a wicket per match so….

Australia have played a couple of fast bowlers when they play in India…. They’ve also played on occasion just the one. But the difference is they have Nathan Lyon who took 8 wickets in an innings there last year. England don’t have that luxury of having an experienced world class wicket taking spinner in their ranks…

Root… batsman who can bowl, no batsman was ever heard saying… “ shît they are giving it to Joe “

Hartley, Bashir & Ahmed who are woefully under experienced for the task that faces them…. From what I recall there isn’t even 5 test caps between all 3…. Yet they are supposed to go to India, and ‘ because, spinners ! ‘….

a heap of inexperience plus a now medium fast bowler 41 years of age who in 30° heat…… a fair number of overs he’s only in the early 80’s…

Mysterypunter

Day 2 just about to start, India will be looking for around 450.