Day Four
It’s ok for you lot. You can just ignore the cricket when it’s boring and utterly depressing. But unfortunately I can’t. I’ve got a bloody blog to run. So here goes …
Day four in Chennai caused a mixture of tedium, embarrassment and then eventually mild annoyance. India piled on the runs, as you’d expect in these totally benign conditions, and England’s bowlers looked hopeless. The fact our spinners only managed six maidens combined (out of a total of 113 combined overs) says it all. They’re crap. End of.
Although Rashid has done well at times – and he’s the only one worth persevering with – his wickets have cost 37 runs each and he’s conceded nearly 4 per over. The fact he’s our one bright spot shows how desperate we are. As for Moeen, his bowling isn’t getting better; it’s getting worse. And Dawson didn’t look any better than Ansari – unless you like darts.
I don’t want to be too harsh on our bowlers, as there was precious little turn (maybe a smidgeon) and they were bowling to very good players of spin. However, they’ve been poor all series. I’m trying to highlight a long-term malaise here. Moeen should play as a batsman or not at all.
The two big talking points of the day – and this is where the ‘mild annoyance’ comes in – were (a) Kohli’s unnecessary decision to delay his declaration and (b) the decision to schedule five tests in five weeks. In my opinion there was no need for either.
I’ve heard people argue that Kohli delayed his declaration to make sure India couldn’t lose the game. What utter baloney. A lead of 200 was plenty. If you think Kohli really feared that England might score 300 in less than three sessions, declare at tea tomorrow, and then blow India away in thirty overs, then you’ve obviously not been paying attention.
England have been nothing but negative on this tour. We’re knackered, we’ve been comprehensively outplayed, and we want to go home. The captain, in particular, has nothing left in the tank. There was no way our batsmen were going to go on the offensive in a dead rubber (when they’re 200 behind) and risk another embarrassing defeat when there’s only an extremely slim chance of victory.
In my opinion Virat Kohli, being the aggressive and somewhat arrogant champion that he is, wanted to rub our faces in the dirt. He was sending a message “hey England, we thrashed you, and I’m going to make you suffer now”.
No matter how Kohli tries to justify his approach after the game I think everyone knows what he was really saying: “I’m going to toy with you … make you suffer the indignation of a rookie scoring 300 … going to make you suffer indignation of conceding 759 runs … I can do what I want … and I’m quite enjoying the forlorn look on your faces”.
Were his tactics ‘ruthless’? I don’t think so. A ruthless captain would have wanted twenty overs at England at the end of the day. A ruthless captain wants to win the game as quickly as possible, not delay a declaration so that one particular batsman can (ostensibly) reach a specific milestone. If the truth be told, Kohli could have declared when Karun reached 250.
If Kohli wants to be this way – and I think his approach probably stems from the bad blood there’s been between the sides this series – then fine. Be like that. But if he thinks anyone in England was actually watching then he’s probably mistaken. We’d all switched over long ago. I sense this was more about shoving two fingers up at James Anderson and Ben Stokes than anything else.
Now for my final whinge: the bloody schedule. Five test series are brilliant when the teams are evenly matched, and the tourists can go away and work on their games (and perhaps play some practice matches against local XIs) between tests, but it’s a ridiculous idea when one team is likely to lose heavily. All that happens is one team gets on top and we see a succession of one-sided affairs.
Obviously the schedule created by the ECB and the BCCI prioritises money. I doubt they care one iota about the players or the supporters. Therefore the boring and predictable nature of this game is partly on them. What a shame that they either don’t realise (or again don’t care) that test cricket is the loser in the long run.
As cricket fans we much prefer quality not quantity. Just like the players us supporters can become fatigued too. I hardly watched a ball today. And yet I’m one of the most passionate cricket followers you’ll ever encounter. I think the general disinterest in this test match says it all.
Day Three
There are times in a blogger’s life when you can’t wait to post something. The pulse is racing, there’s much to say, and motivation is no problem whatsoever. On other days you just can’t be bothered. There’s very little to say – well nothing you haven’t said before a million times anyway – and the game is ambling along without incident.
Today, in case you haven’t guessed, falls into the second category. I feel totally uninspired because there’s nothing to be inspired about. This pitch is too slow, too benign, and too utterly boring. It’s the kind of surface that does test cricket no favours whatsoever.
I guess England tried manfully to eek out some wickets but it just didn’t happen. Their task was like trying to mow a meadow with a cheap electric Flymo. If Aswhin struggled to take wickets on this surface then it’s hardly surprising that Rashid, Moeen and Dawson struggled.
The only real talking point of the day – other than the fact that Kohli decided to go easy on us for a change – was that Rahul was out for 199. He scooped a very wide half volley straight to cover. It was probably the worst shot of his professional career. I’m sure some people were devastated. Others laughed out loud.
This game is now intriguingly poised. Sorry, did I say intriguingly? I meant boringly. India are now 80 odd behind (I forget exactly how much) and the only chance of a result is if they go well past us tomorrow, and then bowl us out for peanuts in the second innings. I guess this could happen – hey, it’s England we’re talking about here – but the odds are probably against it.
After the generally entertaining cricket we’ve seen this winter, on pitches that gave the bowlers some sort of sniff, this final test is proving to be a damp squib. If only that cyclone had arrived a few days later and saved everyone the trouble.
Day Two
The nets were unusable at Chennai before this game so Joe Root had to practice in the street. It was the perfect preparation. This pitch is an absolute road.
There has been no seam movement whatsoever, precious little spin (Ashwin taking just one wicket in 44 overs says it all), the outfield is too damp to encourage reverse swing, and we’ve seen bugger all conventional swing all winter. What’s more, the surface is slower than slug making its way through molasses. The bowlers have got no chance.
It’s always dangerous to make assumptions in cricket but this test has bore draw written all over it. I guess we’ll only see a result if one team switches off. The experts don’t seem to think the pitch will deteriorate either.
Although I’m tempted to sign off at this point, and then hibernate for the next three days, I feel duty bound to report on the day’s events. So here goes …
England’s 477 all out was probably about par – despite the intriguing statistic that the average first innings score in Chennai is about 330. I guess this isn’t your average Chennai surface.
We were up against early on in proceedings when Stokes, Moeen and Buttler were dismissed cheaply. Stokes edge Ashwin behind (deja vu), Buttler walked across his stumps and was plum lbw, and then Moeen was caught at deep midwicket playing the pull shot.
I briefly talked about the difference between good Mo and bad Mo yesterday. Today’s Mo was the bad one. India set the trap and he fell for it hook, line and stinker. I just don’t understand how he can play so sensibly one minute and so stupidly the next. He was almost caught at deep midwicket twice before he finally holed out. It’s like the bloke can’t help himself.
England were rescued by a century stand between Liam Dawson and the wristy Adil Rashid. They played brilliantly (and entertainingly at times) and really put this pitch into perspective. Dawson looked really solid. He’s compact, organised, and looked like the frontline county batsman he is. Why England keep picking spinners for their batting is anyone’s guess but I’m not complaining today.
They say you shouldn’t judge a pitch until both teams have batted so everyone awaited India’s innings with interest. Unfortunately however, it was probably the least interesting hour or so of cricket this series. All it did was confirm just how placid this pitch is.
Cook made matters worse by setting the most negative new ball field imaginable: just two slips and a deep point saving four on the off-side. Somebody give him a slap.
If Kohli makes less than two hundred in these conditions I’ll be bloody amazed.
Day One
It looks like this series might finish the way it began: with England making a big first inning score thanks largely to runs from Root and Moeen. Let’s celebrate a good day and ignore everything that’s happened in between. After that cyclone in Chennai earlier in the week, there’s easily enough water around to wash away the bad memories.
After winning yet another important toss, England looked in all sorts of trouble when Jennings and Cook came unstuck early on. Fortunately, however, our Nos 3 & 4 weathered the storm and then made hay when the sun shone. Ideally I’d like to insert another weather cliche here but one doesn’t immediately spring to mind so I’ll move on.
In many ways it was a typical Moeen innings: he started scratchily, and was lucky to be dropped by Rahul early on, but he looked a million rupees thereafter. I’m guessing that only actually equates to about fifty quid in real terms but you get my meaning.
Mo is such an infuriating cricketer. He infuriates me more than most because he’s one of my favourite cricketers and he plays for my team Worcestershire. Every time you think he’s nailed test cricket he’ll do something brainless. Yet every time he looks like he’ll be dropped he does something sublime.
Sadly I still don’t think Mo’s a test number 4 (and he’ll surely get exposed if he bats there in Australia next winter), but I do think he’s a very good player. Ideally I’d bat him at 6. But then where will Stokes and Bairstow bat? It’s a conundrum few can solve.
As for Joe Root, what more is there to say? It’s extraordinary that he makes relatively few centuries (for a player of his immense ability) yet he still averages over 53 in test cricket. Most people who average over 50 have their stats massaged by frequent daddy hundreds. Not our Joe. He prefers to entertain the crowds for a while and then have a bit of a sit down … although it’s obviously not intentional judging by his reaction to today’s dismissal.
There’s been a lot of talk about Root’s conversion rate, and rightly so, but it’s easy to get carried away. He’s currently scored 11 tons in 97 innings (a century every 8.8 innings) which isn’t bad at all. Alastair Cook, for example, who is famed for scoring hundreds, has 30 tons in 251 innings (a century every 8.4 innings). I don’t hear much complaining about Cook’s ability to score hundreds, do you?
Let’s look at some other test legends too. Steve Waugh, a very fine player indeed, scored 32 tons in 260 innings (a century every 8.1 innings) and Rahul Dravid made 36 tons in 286 innings (a century basically every 8 innings). When you consider that Joe is only 25 years old, and has some maturing to do, he’s not badly positioned at all. He’s more than capable of improving his conversion rate in the second half of his career.
I guess what I’m saying is that you have to judge Root by the highest possible standards if you want to criticise him. One could argue that his ability is off the charts, and therefore he should be compared to these all time greats, but let’s just give him the benefit of time.
Steve Smith might have scored 15 hundreds and 18 fifties (an excellent conversion rate) but nine of those tons have come at home against ‘meh’ bowling attacks, two of them were at The Oval, and two were against the West Indies. I’m not trying to run Smith down, as he’s a very good player too, but I’m saying the sample size is still very small with these young guys. Let’s judge them a few years down the line. Personally, I have no doubt that Root will overcome this ‘problem’.
Anyway, back to the game in hand. It was a shame that Bairstow was out to a fairly soft dismissal at the end of the day, but England are still in a very good position. Let’s hope we really ram the advantage home this time. 400 clearly won’t be enough; Kohli will probably make 300 on his own.
Before I sign off, I’d like to ask what everyone made of England’s team selection. It seems a little odd that Woakes was dropped. I wonder if the management are backing Ball to somehow justify his selection in Mumbai? After his performances last summer, it seems ridiculous harsh to dispense with Woakes.
When it comes to Dawson, I imagine the management didn’t feel they had any other choice. I doubt having a third inexperienced spinner will make much difference but I guess there’s no credible batting alternative. Once again, let’s give the selectors a round of applause for handicapping the team so effectively.
James Morgan
