England Still In Charge

A look at day four in Chennai, including some strange captaincy by Root and some good captaincy also by Root, a fine innings by Sundar and some good bowling from Leach.

This is my account of day four in Chennai, an intriguing day in which we saw two sides of Root the captain and parts of three of the games four innings.

INDIAN FIRST INNINGS

The day started well for India, with Sundar and Ashwin both playing well, but when Ashwin fell to Leach that opened up the tail, and although Sundar continued to play well the remaining wickets fell fairly quickly. Leach got Shahbaz Nadeem, and then Anderson claimed Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah. Sundar was left unbeaten with 85, in an Indian score of 337 all out.

ENGLAND 2ND INNINGS

England chose not to enforce the follow on, opting to leave India a fourth innings chase and rest their bowlers, a correct call as far as I am concerned. They batted well for a time, although losing wickets regularly, an occupational hazard of looking for quick runs, and at tea were 119-5, a lead of 360 overall. I could understand why Root declined to declare at that point, but England’s post tea batting was inexplicable, as was Root’s approach near the end of the England second innings. When Buttler was dislodged, ending a useful if curious partnership between him and Bess, who had most of the strike and signally failed to up the tempo, the declaration seemed virtually compulsory, but Root kept England going with Bess and the tail. Even after Bess fell Anderson was sent out to join Leach, so we briefly had the bizarre sight of England, over 400 to the good, having nos 10 and 11 together at the crease rather than declaring and getting stuck into India’s second innings. Anderson fell second ball, giving Ashwin his sixth wicket of the innings, ninth of the match and 386th of his 78 match test career. Ishant Sharma also took his 300th test wicket during the England innings, and among Indian pacers only Zaheer Khan (311) and Kapil Dev (434) have taken more. This all left India needing 420, a record 4th innings chase if successful, and England needing ten wickets.

INDIA 2ND INNINGS

India started fast, though Root did well to entrust the new ball to Jack Leach on a surface taking spin, and it was a good ball from Leach that dismissed Rohit Sharma, who with two poor scores and horrendous dropped catch while in the field has had a shocking match. Pujara joined Shubman Gill and they saw India through to the close at 39-1, meaning that India need 381 tomorrow and England need nine wickets. England, Root’s unwillingness to declare notwithstanding, are still very much in the box seat, and should take the nine wickets they need tomorrow. If India wriggle of the hook then Root’s tactics in the later stages of the England second innings will undoubtedly be in the spotlight and rightly so. This is a final day not to be missed. For people in the UK there is live TV coverage on Channel Four, live radio commentary on talksport2, the TMS cricket social on radio five live sports extra and of course updates on cricinfo.com as well – I will listen to the live commentary and have a cricinfo tab open for extra detail. This match, the extraordinary game in Chittagong that I mentioned in yesterday’s post and the game in Rawalpindi between Pakistan and South Africa which ended today in a 95 run defeat for the visitors, who lost their last seven wickets very quickly, a collapse which started with Markram and De Kock going in successive balls and then Bavuma who had shared a good stand with Markram falling very shortly after, have all shown that test cricket is doing very nicely thank you.

PHOTOGRAPHS

The snow that we have been forecast for a few days arrived in northwest Norfolk this morning, and dominates my usual sign off…

The England Captaincy

Some thoughts on the England test captaincy, a section on masks including an important link, and some photographs.

INTRODUCTION

With Joe Root due to return I am going to have a look at the question of the captaincy of the England men’s team ahead of Thursday’s second test.

GREAT BATTER, ORDINARY SKIPPER

Root is England’s leading batter at present, and his selection in that role is absolutely mandatory. However, the captaincy has somewhat adversely affected his batting returns, especially in the matter of converting fifties to hundreds, and he is hardly outstanding as a captain. So should be relieved of the captaincy?

STOKES’ FIRST OUTING NO TRIUMPH

Ben Stokes fared reasonably well as a player in his first outing as skipper, twice scoring 40+ with the bat and taking four cheap wickets in the first West Indies innings. However, he was less impressive as a skipper. His biggest blunder was over Bess in the second innings. Having chosen to bat first in the hope of Bess having a turning pitch to bowl on the final innings Stokes then shied at the last. Although Bess did turn the ball and created two definite wicket taking opportunities and other possibilities he was mysteriously given only ten overs, when he should have been kept going at one end while as many of the overs at the other as practicable were bowled by the blitzmen Archer and Wood. So Stokes is a possible, but certainly not a definite.

THE OTHERS

It is no secret that I think that neither Denly nor Buttler should be in the test side, and since with all due respect to the legendary Mike Brearley I cannot recommend selecting a specialist skipper in general that rules them out. Archer and Wood as out and out speedsters devote too much energy in the field to their craft and would therefore probably struggle as skipper. Anderson and Broad are apparently intended to play on a rotation basis, which rules them out, although Anderson could well handle the job decently. Sibley, Crawley, Pope and my choice as keeper, Foakes are all too new to international cricket to be serious candidates just yet, and the combination of keeping and captaincy is a tough one for anyone to handle. So, if you accept that he is the undisputed no1 spinner the only alternatives to Root and Stokes would appear to be Dom Bess and Rory Burns. If I was going to appoint a new captain, then I would follow my instincts regarding slow bowlers who can handle a bat and go for Bess, but I think that I would prefer to stay with Root for the home summer, and then maybe appoint Bess as captain for a winter tour if one happens.

SOME THOUGHTS ON MASKS

I am still seeing far too few people using protective masks when out and about. As someone who less than two years ago was in hospital and among other things receiving extra oxygen and who always wears a mask when going out (I have recently emerged from several months of shielding, but I continue to take great care) I can tell you which is the greater inconvenience. There are some minor difficulties associated with masks, and I know that not everyone can cope with them (being autistic I would be did I choose to claim it exempt from wearing one), but for most of us the difficulties associated with mask wearing (they don’t combine well with spectacles, a difficulty I freely acknowledge) are as nothing compared to being in hospital and receiving extra oxygen. So, for yourself and others, please wear a mask whenever you go out. Charlie Hancock has an excellent piece in Spyglass Magazine about the type of people who throw hissy fits about being asked to wear masks, titled “100 Years of Anti-Maskers“.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

100 Cricketers – The Seventh XI Numbers 3,4 and 5

The latest in my “100 cricketers” series, featuring numbers 3,4 and 5 in my seventh XI. Also contains some of my photographs.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the latest installment in my “100 cricketers” series, delayed as it has been by cirucmstances (see here for more details). The introductory post to this series can be found here, the post in which I introduce the seventh XI here, and the most recent post in the series here

RICKY PONTING

13,378 test runs at 51.85 and 13,704 ODI runs at 42.03 are testament to Ricky Ponting’s outstanding quality as a batter. His first ashes hundred came as long ago as 1997, when he scored 127 at Headingley in a match in which England were absolutely marmalised. At Old Trafford in 2005 his 156 saved Australia when they looked certain to lose and go 2-1 down in the series, although the way in which Ponting and team then celebrated that result miade it clear who was now on top, and although there were some nervy moments are Trent Bridge in particular, and also on the final day at The Oval the position never really changed in that series. A crushing revenge was eaxcted in 2006-7, featuring huge scores in the first two matches from Ponting himself, but in 2009 he did little as England again won the series, and in Australia in 2010-11 he had his worst ever series as a batter, with his only score of anything approaching substance being 51 not out at The Gabba when the match had long since been settled as a draw (England 517-1 declared in the second innings). At The MCG after Australia had mustered a beggarly 98 on the opening day he suffered a horrendous on-field meltdown during the England innings over an umpiring decision that was clearly a correct call in any case. This incidcent ended up costing him an amount of money that would have meant nothing to him and no ban of any description. When he took over from Steve Waugh and still had some of the great players who had helped Australia dominate world cricket for a decade he fared well as captain, but as they departed the scene and replacements had to be found cracks appeared that he was able to do nothing. The 2010-11 Ashes was the nadir for Ponting the captain, with two innings defeats on his watch ensuring that England retained the ashes, and his stand-in (he was injured) at Sydney, Michael Clarke oversaw a third loss by an innings to ensure that the series scoreline was a fair reflection of the balance of power. This, and a few other things, such as the Gary Pratt incident at Trent Bridge (when after being run out Ponting made a prat of himself over the fact that it was a sub who had accounted for him) in 2005 and his decision not to go for an eminently chaseable looking 330 off 84 overs at Adelaide in 2009 (I was there and was fully expecting a decent finish), are why although he commands a place in one of XIs for his batting (and how!) I do not even consider him for captaincy honours and have sought to make the position crystal clear by going to the extent of naming a vice-captain for this XI as I have not for others. Here is the Pratt incident:

HASHIM AMLA

9,282 test runs at 46.64 and 7,910 ODI runs at 49.74, the former aggregate including the only international triple century by a South African are impressive testament to both his skill and his appetite for batting. A solid rather than spectacular player, he gives us a nicely balanced top four, with Haynes and himself as stickers and Greenidge and Ponting more inclined to attack.

HEATHER KNIGHT – VICE CAPTAIN

She has only played in six test matches (358 runs at 32.54, with a highest score of 157, made when England badly needed it, and 1 wicket for 40 runs), but she has a very respectable ODI record (92 matches, 2,503 runs at 37,35, HS 106, and 44 wickets at 25.02 with a best of 5-26). It is her batting that earns her selection, but her bowling is a legimate sixth option for this XI. Once I had decided that for this XI I was going to name a vice-captain the only question was which way round it would be between her and Imran Khan, who we will look at in the next post in this series. Heather Knight had a tough act to follow in Charlotte Edwards (see this post for more details) and has done a magnificent job, including leading her team to a world cup triumph (something England’s men have yet to achieve) and achieving many other fine victories, but I think that Imran, also a world-cup winning captain had the tougher task in having to bind together a Pakistan team who were riven by factions, and so I have made him captain and Heather Knight vice-captain.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

	The First Two Days i… on A Successful Auction
	Marizanne’s Mastercl… on From Victory to Rout in Two…
	From Victory to Rout… on An Extraordinary Opening …
	amsutcliffebtinterne… on Thunder v Scorchers
	Thunder v Scorchers… on Brilliant Bray Bosses Sydney…