Pacemen key to India's triumph
Thanks to Kevin Pietersen’s brilliant century – his 10th in just 30 Tests, England were good for their
That said, India deserved to win the series. It was a shame that the final match should have been played in a predominately negative manner by both teams, especially as the quality of cricket in this second series of the summer has been so high.
But India did not need to win the match, and it would have been impossible – suicidal – for England to have attempted to score 500. ‘What would the Aussies have done?’ some people have asked. Well, I know that they would not have made a reckless and needless attempt to win and handed the opposition a mid afternoon victory.
A crucial element of Test cricket is battling for a draw.
on the fourth day, but he and his team have become only the third Indian one to win a series in England.
He has a very well equipped side, and the clinching factor has been the manner in which Zaheer Khan, RP Singh and Sree Santh have come to the home of swing bowling, and out-bowled England.
We will never know what impact Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard and Andrew Flintoff might have had – only to suggest that England would surely have been a better team with them fit and firing.
England’s thoughts now will turn to the selection of their Test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka before Christmas.
– Ryan Sidebottom would be a good choice for variation, leaving room for four from Harmison, Hoggard, Flintoff, Liam Plunkett, Stuart Broad and Chris Tremlett.
Matt Prior ends the Test series having failed to convince everyone that he is an automatic choice behind the stumps – James Foster and Chris Read lead the list of likely deputies – and England need at least one more spinner – preferably an off-spinner – to complement Monty Panesar.
It's a great tribute to a team- almost a perfect mix of youth and experience and it works for India. It bodes very well for India now that exuberant youthfuls have tasted victory. They will remember what it takes to win outside India. Brilliant!! Time for a drink!!
Complain about this postfirst if all india totaly deserve to win
Complain about this postengland have to drop strauss and prior, they both have technical claws. Would like to see a veriety in england attack.It is not that they lost the series becoz of bad cricket but because they didnt play smart cricket
Well played India- did the job and the whole team played well- below are my India ratings for the series!
Karthick - 8- Good series with the bat and played well under pressure,
Needs to concentrate in the field more.
Jaffer-7- Solid without being spectacular. Needs to be more consistent with
the meaningful scores
Dravid-6- Led well but could have had a better series with the bat.
Tendulkar-7.5- Deserved a century at trent bridge- played well and seemed to take more reponsibility.
Ganguly- 8- Good comeback on his first meaningful series after his exile (no offence Bangladesh) Had some disgraceful decsions against him.
Laxman-7.5- Solid tour. Good innings at lord and played well In all 3 innings at trent bridge and the Oval.
MS Dhoni-8-Innings at lords showed he's more than just a pinch hitter. Devastating in the first
innings at the oval and showed maturity at lords. Keeping wasnt brilliant but good enough considering his first time in England
Zaheer Khan-9-led the attack brilliantly and was unstoppable at trent bridge. Nobody has led the india attack this well since the great Srinath.
Kumble-8- Bowled well but will be remembered for his century.
RP Singh-7- Like Jaffer in the batting RP was solid without being spectacular, got Prior and Pieterson with crackers at trent bridge.
Sreesanth-6-Showed promise but let himself down at trent bridge. Needs more control.
Complain about this postHighlight of the Series
Demolition of Sachin Tendulkar by J A
Its sound still resonates in my ear
Complain about this postPraise for KP? Surely not Aggers?! Especially not after he deprived your precious Indian team of another victory!
Complain about this postAnderson bowled very well at Lord's but he didn't deserve M.O.S. Sidebottom bowled better. Pieterson and Vaughn played some quality innings as well.
Congrats to India, SUPERB performance. They had their doubters, but as a collective unit they were brilliant.
They should walk the one-dayers from here
Complain about this postHi
Complain about this postCould someone explain what England got out of not chasing the target. Surely it would have been better to go down 2-0 fighting than 1-0 just trying to save a game.
what about anderson? surely him before plunkett
Complain about this postAggers - "That said, India deserved to win the series"
No they didn't. They deserved a draw. India should have lost at Lords but they were allowed to escape because of incompetant umpiring. Their last man was plumb LBW but he was rescued by the way-past-his-sell-by-date, Steve Bucknor.
I'm sure that if the situations were reversed ( India losing the series after being robbed at Lords and only being able to field their second-string pace attack ) then Aggers and the rest of the pundits would be banging on about how unlucky they were! Funny how England never seem to be afforded the same excuses by our media.
Complain about this postCongratulations to India! It was an important away series victory, and one in England after more than two decades.
The series was hard-fought and belonged to the "second-string" bowlers on each side.
Ryan Sidebottom was the outstanding bowler from England from me. Tremlett is serious potential with his height, pace, movement and looks sturdy as well for pitches around the world. Anderson worked in patches, and those patches looked brilliant.
Michael Vaughan's century was the best of the series for me. It is a pity than none of the English batsmen chose to record their highest for the series alongside him. Partnerships, when it mattered most, eluded England and caused their downfall. I know many England players have scored runs but it will have to be asked who stood up when it mattered most?
Fort India, it was partnerships that mattered. None more than that between Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly at Trent Bridge. That was the partynership that was the anvil for India's turnaround this series, and eventual success.
For me, it will also be recorded as one of the best passages of Indian cricket in England, if not among the best it has produced all time, in all venues. The pressures on the field of play were high and those from outside the field were greater. In that context, these two elderly gents produced what many had almost given up expecting from them. They posted a signpost for those who follow about how to succeed in a test match. Instead of signing off with individual performances, they chose to leave the importance of partnerships highlighted as they left.
Zaheer has stepped forward to accept the responsibility of leading. Karthik and Dhoni, two experiments, succeeded and showed they have the game to play anywhere in the world. RP Singh too repaid with more than what was reposed in him. He has work to do, but he looks capable.
Sreesanth is a gem India should polish into a serious weapon. Some successful experiments for India and reassuring for the future.
Well played England, Well played India.
Complain about this postis jimmy anderson a given, aggers?
he bowled well, although 14 wickets at 35, hardly entitles him to man of the series - just proof that KP is mr unpopular with the opposition.
however i'd rather have anderson than harmy as at least he's up for the fight - harmy bottled it last winter then ducked out of the odis-leave him at home to watch the toon at st james's park.
straussy has now gone at least 12 tests without a century, bell has only got one in 13. we can't keep the pair of them in the team if they're not getting centuries - that's their job.
colly is a good team man and useful all-rounder but will he still be doing it in 2 years time, or should we blood bopara and see what he can do in a similar role?
monty appears to have lost something as the summer has gone on and i wouldn't mind him missing out on the odis to sort himself out for the winter.
i haven't been that impressed with vaughan's captaincy especially at lords where he went off twice for bad light on the friday then delayed the declaration by at least half an hour too long on the sunday.
all in all a disappointing summer apart from KP's 3 centuries and a double, once again top scorer by a distance and definitely my man of the summer.
Complain about this postChandra- Surprising that you find Sachin's demolition as a highlight of the series when there was so much else that was of very very noteworthy- Kumble's century, Zaheer's 9 wickets in Trent Bridge, Dhoni's fireworks, KP's 2 centuries....Cmmon, give Sachin a break! It was a thick inside edge anyway- not really an unplayable beauty of any kind from JA.....After 11000 runs, he is still a great player and contrbuted significantly in this series.
Only think I can hear are drums and trumphets of a series victory!!!
Complain about this postGood intelligent analysis as always Jonathan, but no place for Anderson in the four to be considered to tour alongside Sideshow?
Demoting him from Man of The Series to being not worthy of consideration seems a bit harsh surely...........
Incidentally, as well as the two coaches identifying their Man of The Series for the opposition player they feel has turned in the best performance over the series, how about the Sham of The Series for the opposition player they feel has done the most to help them win? Votes for Prior, Strauss anyone?????
Complain about this postwhere's Anderson in your choice of pace bowlers?
Complain about this postTremendous display of team work by India to achieve their only 3rd series victory in England. While many in media have criticised Dravid for not having enforced a follow-on, I thought his decision was the correct one and in fact, I wish he had India played a bit little long on the 4th day, leaving only 10 overs to England. No doubt, the presence of Flintoff, Hogard and Jones would have made English side stronger and the end result might have been different. Karthik, RP, Dhoni are going to be a force to reckon with. England are the # 2 team on the ICC ranking and to defeat them on their own home-soil is highly commendable feat. I wish the matches were played in a more amicable manner from both sides.
Complain about this postTo Richard Calvert - If you talk about one LBW decision, then you shd be honest enough to mention about numberous poor decision that went against india through out the series. Ganguly not out 2 times, Sachin not out once, Anderson shd hv been out in the first innings here, colly not given out, vaughan not given out, KP not given out a ball before he was out.
If you talk about the toss, then i can say the same about lords too where on the first day eng had good conditions to bat.
Complain about this postCONGRATS TO THE INDIAN TEAM
Dravid decision not to enforce follow-on is understandable since his first priority was to record India first series win on English soil in 21 years but I fail to undertand the rationale of England team in grinding out a draw. I saw the match and never did the english players really upped the tempo of their run chase.
My observations about the englands team.
Complain about this post1) since strauss is struggling why not try Ian Bell at the opening position on tour of sri lanka. Bell is wasted playing so low down the order. He is agressive player with good horizontal bat shots, I believe he will be quite useful opening when the ball is new and pitch has more bounce. Also right-left combination with cook will make them an ideal opening pair.
2) Drop Prior ...keeping should be most important criteria for a Wicket keeper and he should have competent batting technique. He need not be a batsman who can keep wickets. Drop catches proves very costly for any team.
An average win, marginally deserved. And I am an Indian. My grouch is that India went back to being a 'play for a draw' team, as during Gavaskar's time (and irony-he was going on about how the team didn't go for a win! Some of us have long memories; pre-TV memories, to be exact!).
Complain about this postAnd about some of the earlier comments - such pique!
Rick,
you seem to be deeeepresseeeed.....
chill out man..what can we do..maybe I will ask ICC to write this series off in favor of England, just for you! can't see you in this condition.. or may be ask ICC to put it in the annals as 1-1, just for you..
Complain about this postengland may have missed hoggard and flintoff,but no way do we need harmison back.i listen to tms at work and the likes of agnew,boycott etc they must have forgotten what they have watched over the past few years,no way does he warrant a place in the team.to say we have been out bowled is way off the mark.harmison struggled against a poor west indies top six,for me his so called hernia injury miraculously came just in time to escape an indian top six whom would have had a field day.
Complain about this postWell I guess anyone could have wrote that column JA because actions speak for themselves and we have been as good as thumped in this match as in the last. After the initial onslaught today it was obvious Vaughan had only survival on his mind, and that suited Dravid down to a tee, and there was a distinct lack of edge to the Indian bowling - maybe thats why Prior survived 60 balls for his dozen not out. If Prior was a bowler, and his bowling was as 'good' as his stumping, his anaysis from the series would have been something like 120.1 overs, 0 maidens, 1 for absolute damage. Why do we have to suffer inadequates behind the stumps (jones at his best nearly dropped us the Ashes) when the best keeper in world cricket is scoring runs for fun at Notts??
Complain about this postRichard Calvert, you are a fool.
First, to complain about bad umpiring simply stinks of bad sportsmanship.
If you'd actually been following the cricket, assessing the balance of power from session to session, and test to test, it would be obvious to you that India deserved to win.
India batted for a draw in the first test just as England batted for a draw in the third. Test cricket is a game to be played both against the opposition and against time. Frankly, if Vaughan hadn't been wasting time, letting the over rate drop below 12 overs an hour on the fourth and fifth days at Lord's, he would have had ample opportunity to bowl the opposition out. He was fully aware of the gathering storm and has no excuses for losing the battle against the time.
India produced stronger performances over the sessions that followed. For what it's worth, had England won the first test, India would surely have had the motivation to bury England quickly in the last test.
Congratulations, India.
Complain about this postDespite the not-so-good performance of the much vaunted Indian batting lineup, England are defeated in their own backyard. Wonder what could have happened if they succeeded a little more..
Rick,
you said India escaped a defeat at Lords because of incompetant *in your own words* umpiring. I promise to inform you the next time when I see an ad wanting umpires on ICC website. You seem to be very competent to me for the job.
In the meanwhile, I think you are forgetting the same incompetent umpires were also standing when Indians were batting/bowling. I don't know, maybe Sky people deceived my eyes...
Complain about this postIndia needs credit for many reasons
First of them it was a great team performance, no hundreds by any of the batters but they still won the series
India's strength has been spin but they won with their pace attack
India won one day and test series against the 2nd ranked teams (South Africa and England) outside India
Inexperienced pace attack, guys you're trying to find lame excuses are'nt you. Sidebottom, Anderson and Tremlett knows about english conditions better than Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Sreesanth. The same inexperienced batting and bowling was praised for drawing in India in Indian conditions, hence they deserve the credit for doing it in England
English press does not give credit to England, guys you must be joking. Mark Nicholas even after having lost the series was asking KP and Vaughan, do you really believe you have lost series!
Radio 5 was running speeches for Rahul being negative, turn back history, this was exactly you did for retrieving the ashes last year at the same ground. Helped by rain, delayed declaration until reaching an unachievable target.
Their series win achieved without a coach outside the subcontinent, no team in world cricket history has done it and for that last reason they deserve the ultimate credit. The 3 muskeeters of Indian cricket (Sachin, Sourav, Rahul) combined together to drive the team for a great team performance and please do not belittle them for any reasons.
Complain about this postWhy is anderson not int he list of fast bowlers for the winter series against Sri Lanka. Wasnt he man of the series ?? Although he is inconsistent he is one of englands better bowlersa and is still quite young. Yet he always seems to be the forgotten man
Complain about this postIf you lose 1-0 or 2-0 its just the same - its a loss.
'It would not have been reckless to try and get 500',
No it wouldn't. It would have shown that England were not prepared to accept getting beaten and losing their proud home record lying down. Instead they went for a draw and to be honest embarrassed everyone who was watching.
Complain about this postWell done India in a deserved series win.
However its not all doom and gloom for us (Engalnd!)
We have a good side but were just too inconsistent.
Complain about this postWell done india, Engalnd lost the series with their 1st innings at trent bridge.
Complain about this postI think the only pity about the series was that it was not 4 tests long! Its only early August, instead we have to watch all these ODI's. Instead we played 4 tests against a poor West Indies team who were barely equipped to tour in England. It would have been nicely set up for a fourth test and I think anything could have happened (hopefully an English victory!). Yet again, poor organisation from the cricketing authorities who made us sit through that debacle in the West Indies, completely ridiculous!
Complain about this postcking wrote: Rick,
"you seem to be deeeepresseeeed....."
Are you refering to me? If so then you seem to be a bit confused. I long since ceased to become depressed at sporting results, although I do like to deal in facts. One simple fact is that that England would have won the first test if not for useless umpiring.
Sorry if this puts a dent in your celebrations but it is true. The series would have been drawn but for sub-standard umpiring!
Complain about this post5 seamers for Sri Lanka:
Sidebottom
Broad
Tremlett
Hoggard
Flintoff
Harmison does not have the fight in him, especially away from home. Anderson's place is taken by the return of Hoggard. Plunkett with the emergence of Sidebottom does not go.
Complain about this postNo getting away from it, this was a series England should not have lost. A lot of criticism has been levelled at Prior and some of the batsmen this series. But the biggest failure in my view has been Monty, of whom I'm a big fan. Just 8 wickets at 50 apiece from England's most experienced current bowler (seriously!) has meant England have failed to bowl India out when it counted.
Complain about this postWhy is it that even after I can see the blurb for this blog it takes 2-3 hours for the link to start working? In this day and age is it not important to ensure that the web link works correctly before you post it on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ site?
Complain about this postI want to thank the English Team, the English Fans and the English Commentators for being good hosts and providing us with an excellent Cricket.
In fact i want to thank you all so much that i want to send jelly-beans as my thank you gift. Jonathan Agnew, may i have your mailing address please.
Complain about this postHaving Scored 600+, Dravid should have enforced followon and won the game.. his negative spineless tactics was quite evident. Test cricket should be played with a spirit to win. He screwed up a game which India should have won..
Complain about this postAdam wrote:
"Richard Calvert, you are a fool."
This just illustrates that the ones who resort to personal insults are the ones who have lost the argument.
To Prasad - Yes, India did have some woeful decisions given against them but none of these affected the outcome of any match. England should have won the first test - simple as!
Complain about this postTo any other Indian fan. My original post was having a go at the English media, not India. There was nothing at all ambiguous about it.
I am absolutely devastated and heart-broken to see England lose this Test series but I have to admit that most of the time India were the much better team in both bowling and batting. England couldn't finish the job first Test, completely outplayed second Test and were left clinging on for dear life in the third Test. So I think on the whole I am grateful for the 1-0 defeat, because it could have easily been 2-0.
Complain about this postWell done to India who just about deserve their victory. It is true that their pace bowlers outbowled ours, and their batsmen applied themselves well when ours failed to. However, it was a lot closer series than the mauling at Trent Bridge and here suggested. The fact that James Anderson got man of the series for England shows that he bowled well as did Sidebottom and Tremlett without their due reward. The odd thing about your comment about Hoggard, Flintoff and Harmison being missed is that of those three only Flintoff has consistently looked like taking wickets in the past year and a half. It would be difficult to drop any three of the current seamers in that regard.
Where do England go from here? Much was made of how the 5-0 thumping might make the players battle harder. Now they know what it takes to be the best and the motivation that was supposed to come from that has not really materialised. We have fine individual players but only Pietersen and Vaughan have consistently produced when required this summer. Ian Bell looks wonderful with his cameo knocks but does not go on to big scores which ultimately marks out a very good or great player, Collingwood looks an able player but should lose his place to Flintoff long term, and most dissapointing of all Strauss looks to be out of his depth. This is an amazing comment to have to make after his first two years as a test cricketer but a break and a return for Rob Key may be the best thing for the winter tour. Cook should be given a break and told not to think about batting for two weeks.
My team for Sri Lanka assuming Flintoff is fit.
Complain about this postKey, Cook, Vaughan, Pietersen, Bell, Flintoff, Prior, Swann, Sidebottom, Hoggard, Panesar. That would strengthen the tail a bit if you are a glass half full kind of person (the worry would be that you could say the tail starts with Flintoff).
Team India is growing in stature all the time. The two openers have done a decent job in the series. The experienced middle order of Rahul, Sachin, Saurav and Laxman still have plenty of cricket in them. WK Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Anil Kumble and the tailenders have shown plenty of sting in batting and bowling. A strike bowler like Harbhajan Singh could have provided more options to Dravid. The first two days of the final test were dominated by the Indians but for the last three days England were certainly not far behind. The high point of Day Four was the glorius half century by the elegant Saurav Ganguly. KP and all the English batsmen showed exemplary courage on Day Five. Well played England. Well played Team India.
Complain about this postAggers, how can you do this? You forgot man of the moment for England -Jimmy Anderson. The guy who demolished the stumps of Sachin Tendulkar. I guess people who edit your blog are not doing a very good job. Anyhow, Tremlett, Anderson and Sidebottom performed very well. Bell proved his detractors wrong and as I have said all the time that he is future of England. All in all, Strauss would struggle in Sri Lanka and I guess his place is up for grabs. Cook succeeded in India and I expect him to do well. KP is star in making and I guess time is ripe that he takes over reins as best batsman from Tendulkar. Vaughan played gem of an innings in Nottingham and showed that he still has some 3-4 years of cricket left. The only worry aspect is spin, Monty failed big time against India, but, they are best players of spin. Sri Lanka too are good players, so, expect tough times for him, but, this will truly prove if he will be star of English cricket. Flintoff, Harmison and Hoggard will strengthen the English attack. England have great fast bowling options and if all stay fit, they can challenge the Aussies in 2009. The only issue is Wicket keeping and I guess at least in Test matches you need specialists and Reid is way better than Prior. Prior is good for one day but not ideal for test matches
Complain about this postI agree with your comment that Australia would not have made a needless and reckless attempt to win, but they would surely have had a more positive attitude and would only have shut up shop when a win was clearly out of the question. England on the other hand set out with an entirely negative attitude from the start.
Don't forget that records are there to be broken. Why not us?
For my part I would have preferred to have seen England score 450 all out and lose the match. At least that would have been honourable unlike this dismal draw. I pity the spectators on the last day.
Complain about this postDisappointed that neither team (especially England) chose not to go for a win - would have been a classic.
Complain about this postFor England played for a 1-0 series loss - I would have more respect for them if they tried to win the test and lost the series 2-0. Other than Bell, Colly & KP, it was a gutless batting performance. Prior made 12 runs of of 64 balls with nothing to lose - how sorry is that.
There's no point asking, "what would the Aussies have done?"
A. They wouldn't have reached 500. There's a reason no team ever has.
B. We don't' have their batting line-up.
C. We don't approach cricket the way they do.
I read an esteemed cricket journalist writing about the World Cup not three months ago, saying what horrible ugly cricket Hayden & Gilchrist played at the top of the Oz order, 'just bashing it about, no style...etc'. I knew at that point, we could forget about winning any one-day or 20/20 comps for the next 20 years.
The established English ethos says Hayden stepping down the track and dispatching bowlers over long-on for 6 is ugly caveman cricket. I say it's beautiful, but I'm in the minority when stacked against esteemed 'knowledgeable' fans and commentators who'd rather people didn't behave with such hooligan abandon.
500 on a fifth day? Probably not for anyone and certainly not for England I'm afraid, although there's a reason our wildest dreams latched onto KP as the answer. He's uber-talented no question, and he's English alright (his mum & half his whole family is, so he is too) but he's not quite as hamstrung as a lifer would be, fed from birth with a diet of pessimism and caution. And good job too.
Complain about this postI can completely understand you Richard.
Let's sack the umpires, who are the biggest obstacle between your self-proclaimed fact and the rest of the world's reality.
And for all those who are dissatisfied by Dravid's tactics during this test, I guess he himself 'sympathized' saying that those who are sitting in their living rooms watching TV and venting their anger would not really know what it takes to play out in the middle for the Country.
He's cool, as ever!
Complain about this postRichard,
tsk tsk. I did not know that the sporting englishmen had become whiners. Would you like some cheese with that whine of yours??
If England lost the series because of "sub-standard" umpiring, what about the crappy decisions given against the Indians when england was batting in the first innings. Surely 345 would not have been managed then....
so suck it up.... its a sport, and your team lost. :)
Complain about this postit's a shame that this test series had only three matches. i think it would have been more competitive if it was longer. having said that england were undone not just by good bowling from the opposition but because they didnt bat as a team. strauss and cook combination not good enough against good test opposition. you just feel that either one of them will get out quickly.on the final test it seemed that england didnt have a good gameplan. bowling dept england did ok but still didnt have enough venom, low 1st inn score didnt help as well. hopefully this defeat can only be a lesson to the team to improve on both aspects of the game.come on england!
Complain about this postAbsolutely well deserved win for India.
sure england had chance at Lords but thing is everyone knew rain is coming and they could not bowl out India. Actually rain was supposed to arrive around middle session.
BUT after that test they were completely outplayed in remaining series.England had not scored 400 in any innings tells that story. Difference in total runs scored by last 4 in both teams is huge, too.
ALSO Monty had been made look ordinary in last 2 matches.
AT LAST Rahul Dravid was given wrong LBW at Lords, AT TRENTBRIDGE Sachin and Ganguly got laughable verdict while at OVAL Howell gave Ganguly out for one of worst decision ever made,,,NOW that makes 4 totally wrong against their top 3 players!!!
THANKS TMS.....
Complain about this postThanks Aggers for bringing Harsha Bhogale on TMS today.It was timely recognition for man with great passion for cricket who was not allowed to enter Lords during last tour by stewards!!
Complain about this postCool performance by india,
They were found somewhat struggling at lords, but bounced back brilliantly to win the next test and come strongly at the third... much has been said about Dravid's decision not to follow on, but my guess is he was more practical and wanted England to go all out scoring 500 on last day, rather than having his bowlers continue bowling and tiring themselves up on last two days!! - just my guess.... he knows his team and his tactics much better than me.. so i would leave it at that...
England has had a few close ones in the last 2 years, but thats the nature of the game... The wonderful ashes here in 2005 would have been 2-1 other way around had the last 2 australians scored 4 more rather than getting out to a superb bouncer from Flintoff... India managed to battle a draw and weather seemed to be with them at lords,, where the last wicket survived while it did till the lights went dim!!!
Trentbridge was one-sided from day one, and though India went 3 wickets down chasing 73, i dont think you can take anything away from Zaheer & Co and a good batting display...
Oval was also one-sided till day 4, when Dravid made that practical (as i would say c.f negative) decision, they could still have got all out for 60 odd, but didnot and did good to bat long and hard for their 180,, surely India wasn't going to do any blunders and undo all their hardwork this summer by one decision or one bad day and I think that is a safe decision asking England to take all the risks....
Vaughan was perhaps more defensive of the two captains with letting the first match slip away and not fighting setting an attacking field in the second...
in the last testmatch and last innings, for once the england openers seemed somewhat solid and brave, i was still thinking they would have stayed till lunch and tried going berserk and pieterson being promoted for the same, but England wanted an ICC second rank rather than trying to win the test ( just as India wanted a Series win rather than trying to win the test - again my guess..i m not a mind reader)
and so they came as they did and batted watchfully and wonderfully....
For me the ideal man of the series would have been KP for his 3 centuries, had he got out cheaply today, it would have been definately 2-0 for england, and though he may not be the most technical batsman, he is a great delight to watch...
I believe India will take many positives from this side, as for once the team has started to look solid, and it no longer remains a one-man army as it did in the past where one person's heroics had to save the team or else they would collapse...and I think the Indian Board will have a more difficult future than the English board...
Kumble is almost impossible to replace at any level in any game, and I wonder whether India will have any other spinner who would have the match winning potential as much as he does and has had...he has not only been a great bowler but has been quite a useful test batsman for India, something that not everyone reckons,, he does hold his own and brings lot of stability at the tail...
I wonder if Ganguly and Tendulkar will retire simultaneously,, there are many young cricketers who are bubbling to come up,, but the void they leave will be unfillable...Tendulkar has had a mediocre series, and ganguly came lovely to score consistently throughout though was denied good scores by the hopeless umpiring...
Laxman also came in good towards the end, and dhoni and karthik both have started to look reliable which is good for team india... I think its time the BCCI prepares a very good team B, considering the near future and the 2020 and 5050!! world cups....
a could-have-been-much-better series,, but good fights nonetheless..... as someone said above,, would have liked a 4 test series... but 1-0 is a win good enuf....
Complain about this postFirst of all, I appreciate the sportsmanship of Vaughan in accepting that the Indian team were better and deserved to win the series. No doubt England played some good cricket but couldn't force a series win. Its a game and someone has to win or lose depending on the consistency of their performances. Clearly Indians edged in this department so I think they deserved to win and we should give them due credit.
As for those cribbing what would have happened if Freddie, Matty and Steve would have played this series or if the weather was good or if we had robot umpires, we should plan to host future test series only when all these criteria are in place. If not, we should'nt hold any future fixtures.
Valid Reason for canceling a series: We can't get the players we need, weather we want or even the error free umpires!! lol.
Complain about this postNishant,
I totally agree. ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Cricket page Webmaster needs a wakeup call. I see this problem everyday after the play is over.
Looks so naive for a big news agency.
Complain about this postEngland must pick the best wicket keeper that we have Chris Read and give him a protracted run
Complain about this postYou've left out Jimmy Anderson - surely he's a certainty, or do you know something we don't Aggers?
Complain about this postHow can Anderson not be on the plane for the test series with Sri Lanka. Just been England's man of the series and has experience of bowling in the sub-continent
Bigger concern is who will be the second spinner.
Adil Rashid? Is he ready
Gary Keedy? another left-arm spinner
Chris Schofield? Very brave selection
Or are we going to try and develop Pietersen as a better than average spinner.
Complain about this postI feel this series should have read 2-1 in Indians favour.
Reasons:
1. Engalnd should have won the first test as they played better. Also the rain and Mr Bucknors decsion not to give Sreeshant lbw just before bad light stopped play was very very unlucky!
2. India should have won the oval test as again poor umpiring decsions by MR Howell all went against the Indians + Mr Dravid is the worse captain at the moment of an International team. I am sure Sachin, ganguly and co mout be thinking what a shame!
Complain about this postAfter notching up 664 in the first innings in under two days, it is a real shame that India was complacent enough to draw the series. Most teams would have won from that position. India may have won the series but Dravid sure lost a lot of fans. It brings back memories of India's 1-0 win in Windies last year when India could have won 3-0 with a more positive approach. Or India's defensive tactics against Aus in Sydney 2005 when India narrowly missed out on a series-winning victory.
Complain about this postPerhaps benevolence is in the Indian DNA
"This just illustrates that the ones who resort to personal insults are the ones who have lost the argument."
I can't help but smile at the irony of this comment, in addition to your inability to respond to any of the reasonable arguments against your point. Grow up and get over it.
Complain about this postYES INDIA WON, AND I CONGRATULATE THEM. BUT IT IS IMPORTANT TO REALIZE, THAT THEY PLAYED ESSENTIALLY A SECOND ELEVEN SIDE[THROUGH NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN,LET IT BE SAID]. TO THEREFORE RANK THEM AS SECOND ALONG WITH US, IS HIGHLY QUESTIONABLE IN LIGHT OF THE AFORE MENTIONED REASON.
Complain about this postAggers,
What exactly did the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ want Dravid to apoloise about? Whom should the apology be rendered to? Why should a touring team captain be apologetic about trying to win a series?
Vaughan has every reason to be proud of his side and it was heartening how gracious he was in defeat. The attitude and tone of the English media though, left much to be desired.
Complain about this postHey, get off monty's back
Vaughan is a poor captain when it comes to spin, getting monty to bowl outside leg stump on the 1st day shows his failings as a captain. Seems that strauss when captain and freddy saw the benefit of monty attacking and got rewards, and if you back that up by a decent wicket keeper, (not prior) and your batsmen doing a job for the team so you have something to bowl at!
These guys have got to get it into their heads that Monty attacking will win you matches.
Yes players will go after him but the guy is not afraid and will come good against the best, like pakistan last summer and the Oz boys in the winter.
Look what happened when they dropped him from the one day series against the windies this summer after winning first game, they lost the next two with the hopeless sussex Moores pick Yardy!
Have faith in monty, along with rashid who will go on the A tour to india in the winter and be back up, along with many more talented young spinners we have coming through in this country that will be the envy of many test playing countries in the future.
Vaughan as captain has been poor this series, good bat, but getting poorer as captain and believing his own hype.
Monty is the answer, its unlikely the bowling attack from 2005 will play together again so use spin as your new weapon and use it well.
Finally Broad for the bowling spot and to bat no.8 where I think he will do great job and will be more of a long term threat than Anderson who turns up a couple of times a series and the mass of Lancastrian commentators end up telling us how this is finally his big break....no it wont be!
Complain about this postHe cost us the last two games with poor first innings bowling so get real and think out side the box a bit more!
Be square!
Congratulations to both England and India for playing good, absorbing cricket (I think we can ignore some of the unsavoury gamesmanship incidents). We got to see good swing bowling and we got to see good batting. While the cricket was not always 'entertaining' like the slog-and-hammer-away one-day cricket matches, we saw some elegant cricket (and some ordinary cricket as well) and a fair bit of steely determination to steer the side out of rough waters and also to consolidate the team’s position.
While many folks may complain about the 'negative' approaches of India (and some say England had a negative approach in not chasing 500 even after they lost their openers!!! Wow!! Do we have optimists in this merry world!!), I congratulate Rahul Dravid (and others in the Indian think tank) for the courage he showed in his convictions (no matter who and how many arm-chair analysts and know-all ex-cricketers attack his decision). His assessment was that his bowlers were tired and needed rest. I also agree with the general opinion that it typically is better to be bowling on the fifth day than batting. And the Indian team is perhaps a little more susceptible to pressure while batting on the last day. I feel a captain needs to base his strategy on his team’s strengths and weaknesses as well as the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. It is much wiser to safeguard areas of the team’s weaknesses rather than naively believe that ‘positive approach’ will miraculously overcome the weaknesses.
I would go a step further and say that there is nothing wrong in India first ensuring that it would not lose the test, as then it could ensure that it won the series. Perhaps that makes for poor 'entertainment' and therefore lesser revenue, and as money makes the world go round, many would say that such approaches must be condemned. I think one-day cricket provides this kind of 'entertainment'. Test cricket is a test of cricketing ability, character and strategy, and test series victories are not so easy to come by.
I enjoyed the last day of this match even though there was ‘no result’ because of the determination and resolve England showed in forcing a draw. I congratulate Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen for fighting with their backs to the wall and emerging triumphant in saving this test. I also appreciate their realistic assessment to go for a draw after England was not able to build a solid platform for the sustained rocket assault that would have been needed to reach 500. Aiming for 500 without an appropriate platform may look like a very ‘entertaining’ and perhaps heroically positive approach but, in all probability, that would have led to England losing the match. And I congratulate Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen in not getting swayed by all the ‘positive approach’ arm-chair management and psychology ‘gurus’. I also enjoyed Ian Bell's aggressive knock after Pietersen's departure despite the opposition smelling blood and going in for the kill. It exemplified the saying, ‘Offence is the best form of defence’.
England deserved to draw this match and the lack of a result in this match did not take away any of the pleasure that I derived from this match. Can only wins and losses give satisfaction??? Watching/hearing Dhoni and Sreesanth battling away at Lord's and Ian Bell and others do the same at the Oval thereby denying their opponents victory was as satisfying to me as a victory would have been. Perhaps there is something more heroic (and so more satisfying to watch and enjoy) in someone battling tenaciously against the odds and denying an opponent victory than in someone achieving a facile victory.
Many thanks to Vaughan & team, and Dravid & team for giving Test Cricket lovers an interesting and entertaining series of Test Cricket. Thanks also to the analysts and psychology gurus who bring in so many diverse views and thereby make following the game more fascinating even if that leads to a some amount of arguments and heartburn :-).
Complain about this postWell done India deserved the series victory & must surely be considered the 2nd best team behind the Aussies. They reminded me of where England were a few years ago, everyone pulling together for the team, always had someone putting their hand up to be counted at different times .
Complain about this postI think it is time for Strauss to be dropped, it pains me to say it as I'm a big fan of his but he is completely out of form. Over the previous 14 months or so luck & form have deserted him & only having a break will do him any good. We have other options to open so I think a winters rest will see him right.
Richy Richy Richy. For the past few weeks I have been sitting at home watching the test series. I reckon I have watched most of the balls bowled. Lots of poor umpiring decisions. Dravid was not out given out in the first test
now im no pundit but India deserved to win.
and as for your rubbish arguement about how India's bad decisions didn't effect the game. Well Collingwood was plumb second ball in the first innings. 63 runs and plenty of balls later its a draw. The umpiring evened itself out and i must say Howell was up there with the worst i have ever seen.
Complain about this postMr. Agnew, I will tell you exactly what impact Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard and Andrew Flintoff would have had if they had played.
It would have been the same as Munaf Patel, Irfan Pathan, Harbajan Singh and Virender Sehwag! Injuries and players out of form is a fact of cricket. What's the point in focusing on excuses for England?
Wasn't it media pundits like yourselves that questioned whether the very same Indian Pacemen who you are now praising, could even manage to take 20 English wickets in a test match? India out bowled England without some of their own best in Pathan, Harbhajan, Patel etc so please spare me the excuses.
Give credit where it's due without qualms.
Complain about this post"We will never know what impact Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard and Andrew Flintoff might have had"
Complain about this postI was just expecting this excuse, once India wins the series.
Engalnd have great batting and bowling line-up but their problem is they don't perform when the team requires them to, especially in the 2nd test.
Also throughout the series the umpiring was abysmal.
Lastly Congrats to India they deserved to win.
Complain about this postWhy doesn't James Anderson get a mention?
Complain about this posti thought that the england seamers, with the exception of sidebottom, consistently bowled far too wide of the off stump to the indian batters.
Complain about this postrarely did the indians have to consistently defend their stumps when they first got to the crease.
i thought anderson and tremlett in particular wasted their early overs, especially in the first innings, bowling to wide and sometimes not full enough lengths, especially at trent bridge and at the oval.
the indian seemers, on the other hand, bowled consistently well, apart from the first innings at lords.
i think the jury is still out on alan donald's role as england bowling coach, too.
anyone heard of this bloke called glenn mcgrath who used to be quite handy for australia. let's get him on the training ground with tremlett, anderson and co, please!!
India should have won the series 2-1. To claim that they should not be ranked alongside England is a rather unfair claim. England are only missing 2 key bowlers, namely Flintoff and Hoggard. India have brought in a number of new players who are hardly experienced in the international game.
Complain about this postAfter England's shameful performance in Australia it is just as questionable whether England deserve to be second in the test ranking. I would be the first to commend England on playing well etc but to make excuses for England not winning or drawing the series is just poor sportsmanship. Teams have to deal with injury. If one relies on the same 11 man squad then that makes them rather restricted and far from a good side. To say England "should" have won the first test is another excuse. Prehaps they shouldn't have let the 9th wicket partnership go as far as it did? India had some pretty appauling decisions go against them, moreso than in England's case.
Absolutely spot-on.
As an Australian, I would be mortified if Australia risked losing a series to chase a meaningless win. I think people saying "it's not what Australia would have done!" are betraying their ignorance of the Australian cricketing mindset.
Australians place winning the series above everything else. This is why our dead-rubber record is normally so abysmal - the job is done.* We'd rather win the series by batting out a draw than going for a meaningless win every single time. That's the mindset of a winner.
Dravid knew that there was no reason to risk the series for a little bit of bragging rights, and he was entirely correct to do what he did. By not enforcing the follow on, he made a draw (and a series win) the most likely result. By stonewalling, he made it a certainty.
He played the Australian way.
*The last Ashes was a little different of course. We didn't just want to win. We wanted to rub your noses in it.
Complain about this postI think 1-0 is a fair result. Ideally, it should have been 2-1 in favor of India. Finally, some really good test cricket between evenly matched teams. The umpiring has been horrible throughout the series and both teams have suffered or enjoyed let-offs at times. I don't think Dravid erred in not enforcing the follow-on. If India was down by 1 and needed to even the series or if it had been 1-1, it would have made sense to go all out and try to win the last one. There was no point in risking a loss when the series win was at stake. However, I cannot understand why a batsman of his caliber had to bat like that in the second innings - almost like he was trying to save the test.
Complain about this postI am glad Dravid is not captaining my country.
Complain about this postWell i don't agree with that...remember that England were only denied victory in the first test by the weather...a draw in the series would have been a fairer result...England weren't that bad and weren't at their best either...i still think we have the players to be a great team.
Complain about this postCongratulations to the Indian Team On their well desrved series win against England. I am little disappointed at India not asking England to follow on and try to win the test. I think India should develop the killer instinct like Australia to have more vicories at home and abroad. In the absence of a"COACH", Indian team did really well, winning two one day internationals and two test match series outside India. This shows the boys are playing well individually and as a TEAM.
Complain about this postWell done TEAM INDIA
I would say India did played well but were reasonably lucky first with england not having their front line bowlers and second England should have won the first match.
Focusing on what exactly Harmison & Flintoff could have done one should aways remember one thing, the Indian batsmen are quite vulnerable to genuine pace and short pitched bowling.
In my opinion it would have made a huge difference having Flintoff and Harmison in English squad.
A good proof for my conclusion is statement of Indian captain Dravid, who said at the beginning of series that absence of Flintoff can make a big difference.
Not only a genuine pace bowler like Flintoff can rattle the top order batsmen but they can make sure that the lower order batsmen don't hang around and get a hundred.
Complain about this postI agree that India bowled well but in the last two test matches England were always on the back foot once the toss had been lost and it was always going to be difficult to win the series against a quality team from that position, I'm sure had the tosses gone the other way the whole situation would have been reversed, which is a shame that the series has to be influenced so much by the toss of a coin. And lets not forget the decision by Buckner in the first test not to give the LBW decision to Panesar which was not much different to the decision of giving Bell out yesterday. England battled brilliantly and I'm sure if they keep up this type of improvement they'll be very competitive in the next ashes series which has got to be the real aim, all England need is more runs from the openers.
Complain about this postA fantastic series win and good cricket by the team representing India at international level.
Complain about this postI agree with Chandra, Jimmy's demolition of Tendulkar was awesome....I made the Mrs jump with my cheer....he absolutely destroyed the stumps! Other than that, KP's two centuries, and being at Trent Bridge for Vaughan's century was pretty good too! Disappointing outcome for the series, but looking forward to the one dayer's.
Complain about this postSo a series was won because the end of the first test was rained out. India are welcome to celebrate but more their luck with the weather than anything else. Had rain not decided the Lord's game, they couldn't have sat back and drawn the Oval test with a totally negative approach. In a five game series I'd back them to lose again and again.
Complain about this postIndia would have won the series if Rahul Dravid put the English team on Follow-on .He would have two days to England team all out and India would have 2-0 win in the series.I still couldn't guess what prompted Dravid to take such foolish decision.Or is there more to it? I hope,some sort of inquiry takes place to find out the real reason.
Complain about this postI am sorry but I can tell you England Team will have devastating defeats in Sri Lanka as Sri Lanka team is far far superior to England team,even much better than Indian team !
What impact Harmison, Hoggard and Flintoff would have had?
Complain about this postMy answer: Same as they did in the last world cup! You English fans seem to have a very short memory.
it is phenomenal to see such passion from india and england fans. some fans taking time to write such long views (very riveting) about the game we love and cherish. to me cricket has been a winner.
as for winning and losing. india had more drive and inspiration to win. like in life anything can be achieved if you u need it badly enough. from india's performance it was evident they wanted to win it. india had the hunger and conditions became favourable to us.
so more cricket like this anytime.
Complain about this postGreat series win for India, though they weren't clinical enough to finish off England here.
But while that final day meanderings were on I happened to switch channels on my TV and lo and behold they were showing the series tagged "Caribbean Kings" over ESPN, and they were playing in England.
Not a bad lot the English had in their lineup, er, Gooch, Gower, Lamb, Fowler, Tavare and of course Botham. Unfortunately they were facing an attack the likes of which no modern day batting will never get to face. Coz Messrs. Garner, Marshall, Holding supported by Eldine Baptiste were making that pretty good English batting line-up look like a third rate county side.
Complain about this postAnd I couldn't help but wonder what that West Indian bowling line-up would have done to this English side, who struggled against a little above average Indian pace attack. Mind you no discredit to England but those Windies men would have blown off any modern day batting line-up in no time, the so called "mighty" Australians included.
Mr Richard, who advocates an England victory at Lords needs some strong antacids,ashe seeme sto be having severe acid reflux.
Nexium is a good one to try
India won the series hands-down
Complain about this postRavBalky
I cannot believe there are people complaining about Dravid's decision to not ask England to follow-on. Do you guys really know how the game works? C'mon fellas.
Dravid was going for a series win. Maybe your thick skulls cannot digest that fact. If in fact, he had them follow-on & if England did make over a 100/200 runs more than India, India would have been in deep $#it trying to chase that down. Remember Trent Bridge or India's 2nd innings in this game? India were 11/3 at one point.
So, like Aussie Chris said Dravid could not leave anything to chance. He had to make a series-win an absolute certainty. He did not want India to come back & chase whatever target England could have set India.
Some fool was asking for inquiry into why Dravid did not enforce follow-on. Are you for real? He won the series for India. You know what would have happened if England came back & won the game if India enforced follow-on. You'd be asking for Dravid's head.
Richard Calvert, England did not win. Period. Don't give excuses on playing a second-rate team or umpiring. Your bowlers did a great job. It's your first rate batsmen who stank. And what was that about umpiring decisions? Have you been nappin' while watching the game. Crappy umpiring affected both teams, more so against India than England.
All the Indians complaining about Dravid need to suck it up & recognize the feat his team achieved. Give them some credit for Pete's sake. 1-0 or 2-0 India won the series you dumb-asses.
Complain about this postThis to Post No. 9 - Richard Calvert
More often than not, and at the risk of generalizing, I believe that comments posted here by the English are more balanced and reasoned.
Unfortunately, when you bemoan England’s 'bad' luck in the first test match, what you choose to ignore is the fact that the umpiring has been poor throughout the series. Both teams have had their share of howlers - and both can argue that umpiring has robbed them of the match or series.
By now means is India the finished article. The bottom line is that one team played better cricket than the other. Live with that.
Complain about this postSreeshanth showed what he was capable of when bowling without a cluttered mind--yesterday was perhaps the best he has bowled in the series. Even now, despite the Indian victory in the series, I am not sure of their 7 plus 4 formula. Maybe they should have a regular fifth bowler--could they have rolled England over quicker with Powar in the side? Coming now to England, Tremlett has impressed with his bowling and even on the Lankan pitches, he should be an asset because of his high bounce. As far as batting is concerned, should England continue with Strauss at the top? Would it also be better to push Vaughan to 4 or 5?
Complain about this postIt gives me immense pleasure when we beat England in their own backyard or in our back yard. What people don't realise is that today's India is very vibrant, intellectual, prosperous, proud and has no apologistic attitude. This is what happens to any country when they kick the occupiers and exploiters out of their country and establish a true Democratic society.
Complain about this postMany congrats to India on the series victory! Overall, however I think a draw would have been the most appropriate result, bearing in mind that England were extremely unfortunate not to have won the 'weather-spoiled' first test!
Complain about this postAnyway, good luck to India also on their 60th Independence Day Festivities! The result here is 'icing on their cake!'
Richard,
Complain about this postLets count the umpiring blunders agaisnt both teams. If you count properly (if you know how to that is) you will see that India got more bad decisions than England. Ganguly twice both when he was going great guns, Tendulkar once when he was nearing in on a century. It was like India were playing againt 13 players.
Anyway you are right, the result of the series would have been different had the umpiring decision been spot on. I think India would have won the series 2-1. SO in any case England loses.....sory to burst your bubble of false consolation. Unless you like to find excuses in mediocre performances. Face up to reality my friend......learn to accept...its a game.....ifs and buts dont matter.....the final result does and that is a series win for India over England in England after 21 years......thats what goes down in the books....not what your crying mind thinks....
Sorry to be boring, but I'm going to echo the cries for Jimmy Anderson to be in the touring party, even if it was an editorial oversight in leaving him out of Aggers column. He's beginning to look like the bowler that everyone thought he would be a few years back and his resurrection will hopefully lead to the dispense of Harmy. I don't like to be critical of a fella that has done the business in the past for England, but as much as I hate to say it he hasn't had the self-belief (or bottle) to be effective for at least a year and a half.
Congrats to India on a fine performance, despite the intervention of the Englisg summer. ;)
Complain about this postI have sent comments 3 times today and the site will not accept them...and they are NOT shown..can you please tell me why..the instructions are not clear..I have not had trouble previously. Please advise...clephane9@sbcglobal.net
Complain about this postThanks
Ron Jaques
Let's not talk about weather and umpiring decisions as these are beyond a cricketer's control.
What a cricketer controls is his bowling, batting, fielding and gamesmanship and in all these departments Indians were better than England. So it only fair that they have won the series.
It was all set up so nicely for the fourth test which wasn't to be.
Complain about this postWhat do you mean by Website? and what does POST mean.. my comments will not go through
Complain about this postplease advise..I have sent comments in the past and
they have all gone through just find.
Hoggard, Harmison and Flintoff would not have made any difference to the outcome of the series. Flintoff would have contributed something with the bat though.The three seamers namely Sidebottom, Tremlett and Anderson that England used jelled so well that in bowling department the presence or absence of the first named three was rendered immaterial.
Complain about this postYour observation that the aussies would not have gone chasing 500 runs for the win is correct, but they would have certainly asked England to follow on and would have won comfortably before tea on the fifth day,which India failed to do inspite of over 300 runs in kitty and entire second innings batting yet to come. What a great sigh of relief England must have felt when Dravid deciced not to enforce the follo on.
so pleased at india's win in the series. it's been a long time coming (21 years to be exact).
have to admit we were slightly fortunate at lords but since then india have been the better side. i can understand dravid's caution in not enforcing the follow on. i'm sure england would've done it too in the same circumstances.
i was a little puzzled at the choice of england's man of the series though. surely it ought to have been pietersen?
Complain about this postIndians deserve win but it was a bad move not following on, heiring the post match comments by Dravid ,surprisingly he said the bowlers were not in state of bowling again,shows lack of motivattion .
Complain about this postI'm sorry Aggers but the FACTS are that India was very lucky to win the series.
Yes, they played well but India had a 12th man called the weather which saved them from certain defeat in the first match (not to mention critical umpiring mistakes), gave them a huge advantage on day 1 in the second match and also gave them the best of the batting conditions in this match.
The result of this series was as much to do with the weather and winning the toss than any batting or bowling prowess.
To definitively claim that India deserved to win the series is suffering from selective amnesia - A draw would have been a far more just result.
Complain about this postRegarding accusations of being negative, I can't blame England for not having a go at the target of 500. No side has ever achieved that to win in a fourth innings run chase. To get those runs in just over a day against good Indian bowlers was never on. To those who think we might just as well lose 2-0 as 1-0, you don't understand test cricket. Equally I don't blame India for batting us out of the match. They deserve to enjoy their series win, especially as they don't indulge in Aussie-style triumphalism! And please, don't anyone in the England setup say you'll take the positives. Every time you do, we lose again.
Complain about this postQuote from Aggycodbot:
"There is a surfeit of pace bowlers to choose from – Ryan Sidebottom would be a good choice for variation, leaving room for four from Harmison, Hoggard, Flintoff, Liam Plunkett, Stuart Broad and Chris Tremlett."
Is Jimmy not good enough to even be considered for a place. He bowled much better against a top class Indian batting line-up than either Harmison or Plunkett did against a very mediocre West Indies side. I trust this is a mistake on your part.
Complain about this postWell played India. Although it could have been 1-1 but for the Lord's weather and a credible lbw shout turned down, etc., etc., that wouldn't have been a fair result. And special credit to their much-maligned seam attack, Zaheer Khan in particular. I'd say Dhoni also deserves a special mention for some effective lower-order batting and at least competent glovework.
On the Eng side, it strikes me that their bowling performances dropped as soon as the weather improved. In May, June & most of July they were bowling mostly in conditions which made them look as dangerous as the Windies circa 1985. A brief interlude of pseudo-summer and, oops, there's no-one who can reverse-swing the ball consistently & thus no penetration on a dry wearing pitch. That's the reason Freddie & co were missed.
Prior has quickly become a joke: his keeping technique is rudimentary at best and his batting at about Giles's level (ie no.8-ish). The quest for the new Alec Stewart is starting to look as pointless and prolonged as the quest for the new Beefy was. So how about 6 batsmen, Freddie at 7 and a decent keeper at 8? Trouble is that against SL they'll need 2 spinners, so unless KP or MPV fancy stepping up, that won't work.
Complain about this post1). Consider putting Ian Bell though a crash course in wicket keeping (he's done it before) and behold problem solved.
2). No more 'bring back' cries for Plunkett, Harmison, Joyce - they don't have the belly for the fight.
Complain about this postJust wanted to say congratulations to India, they outplayed England over the last two games and thoroughly deserved their series win. Exciting times ahead with Sreesanth, Khan and Singh. They just need to gradually introduce some new batsmen to prevent a complete overhaul in a few years.
England need to find batsmen who can make hundreds consistently. I'm afraid Strauss needs a break.
Complain about this postI would like to be all magnanimous and say how wonderful India are (as seems to be the politically correct and polite thing to do) but I can't, and not because of national bias. I am really trying not to sound bitter, because that's not at all how I feel, honest. I just don't think that this three match series really produced a clear cricketing winner. It may very well be (indeed I believe) that five games would have proved beyond doubt India's slight edge in both batting and bowling. A 1-0 win out of 5 might have been fair. However, I really think that some commentators think they have to be especially nice to India rather than admitting that this was by and large a fairly evenly matched series.
What I can say is: the better team won. Maybe that sounds paradoxical given what I said above, but over the series India were indeed marginally the better team. However, in cricket when the quality gap is marginal that usually results in a drawn series. So I really can't subscribe to the "worthy winners/weak England" line, and I suppose my reaction might well be exacerbated by some OTT comments in favour of India.
I do not agree with Richard Calvert about the umpiring decisions which, while not always good, probably went against both teams evenly across the series.
Instead I think the weather and the toss made all the difference. Yes, that is part and parcel of cricket, and a wonderful excuse, but looking back these things advantaged India far more than their slight cricketing superiority, and ultimately won them the series.
So often in the past England have been saved by the English summer weather, but this year the pendulum swung the other way. But for the weather England would have won the first test easily. (Yes, India were undercooked for that first game, but that was their problem). And the moist Trent Bridge pitch set up nicely whichever team won that toss and chose to field, before the pitch resumed normal service. Then at the Oval I am confident England would have piled on the runs if they had batted first and put India under the kind of pressure where they usually crack.
If Vaughan had won either of the last two tosses or Lord's had stayed bright for another hour then the series may well have ended 1-0 to the hosts. Again, this would not have been a fair reflection of the qualities of the two teams. A drawn series would have been fairer to England and cut out the excessive lauding of India and excessive criticism of England (which has problems, nevertheless).
Sorry guys, but on average it was the luck of the toss and the weather that won the series, not the fact that India were slightly better, so let's have a bit of perspective please.
Complain about this postSome people are saying that the series deserved to be a draw as England were robbed in the 1st test at Lords, but if it had been 1-1, Dravid would have enforced the follow-on at the Oval and played more positive cricket and would have probably won the 3rd test, and the series 2-1.
Complain about this postHi Aggers
I assume you left Jimmy anderson out of your 'four from . . .' list by accident. I hope so anyway after the manful way he has performed for his country this summer.
Hugh
Complain about this postMichael Vaughan says he is proud of his young bowlers.Unfortunately he is way off the mark here.The bowlers are the problem with the England squad and have been for the past two years.Basically, Anderson,Mahmood,Plunkett and Tremlett are not international standard.Harmison has not bowled properly since the 2005 Ashes series.Hoggard and Panasar are ok and it looks as if Sidebottom can make it.I still support the theory that you pick your best players at all times unless its a toss up between an older or younger player and in that case you pick the latter.Anderson,Mahmood,Plunkett and Tremlett have not even achieved anything at county level so how can they succeed at test level ?
Complain about this postBatting for a draw will hold them in good stead for when England have 1-0 seies leads to defend surely.
Who will stand in for Strauss during his sabatical? Denly for England!
Complain about this postSorry Aggers but I disagree about not going for the win. Alright, it was nigh impossible but playing for a draw was analagous to a football team who were losing 1-0 playing the ball around at the back for the last ten minutes. Better to burn brightly and die than fade out quietly....
Complain about this postThe decision over whether or not to follow on can be argued both ways, but what cannot be disputed is the very negative way that India - and Dravid in particular - batted in their 2nd innings, scoring runs so slowly after a rejuvenated England attack having frightened Dravid into playing for a draw above all else.
A series win is not everything, the result of individual tests also matters, and that is why they count in the world rankings. England remain 2nd in those rankings because they measure consistency in performance over a number of years. India had the chance to overtake England by going for 2-0 and chose not to, instead they remain 4th below Australia, England and Pakistan.
England can take some pride in battling back from a disasterous 2nd day at this test match and their 2nd innings batting means they were well worth the draw after being forced to field first on an excellent pitch. They deserve to have held on to their world ranking.
Complain about this postI can't understand why James Foster is suddenly being talked about again. He hasn't set the world alight this summer and he is still a 'keeper with very hard hands. He is nowhere near the 'keeper Read is and there's no way in my mind that he's a better batsman either. The occasional big innings on the Chelmsford featherbed should not fool anyone.
If there's anyone challenging Read for the deputy spot (not that Prior deserves to be number 1, but there's no doubting Moores will stick by his pet), it's Durham's Phil Mustard. He's a highly competent 'keeper and an extremely effective left-hander who has improved year-on-year. He has been exceptional this year, especially in one-day cricket.
But ultimately, wicketkeeping is crucial in the subcontinent and that dictates that you take your best wicketkeeper, regardless of whether you think someone else might get 10 more runs per innings. That statistic is, or at least should, be completely redundant. Chris Read is the best 'keeper we've got and one of the very best in the world - he absolutely MUST go to Sri Lanka and, in my view, he should be straight in the side.
Complain about this postI can't understand why James Foster is suddenly being talked about again. He hasn't set the world alight this summer and he is still a 'keeper with very hard hands. He is nowhere near the 'keeper Read is and there's no way in my mind that he's a better batsman either. The occasional big innings on the Chelmsford featherbed should not fool anyone.
If there's anyone challenging Read for the deputy spot (not that Prior deserves to be number 1, but there's no doubting Moores will stick by his pet), it's Durham's Phil Mustard. He's a highly competent 'keeper and an extremely effective left-hander who has improved year-on-year. He has been exceptional this year, especially in one-day cricket.
But ultimately, wicketkeeping is crucial in the subcontinent and that dictates that you take your best wicketkeeper, regardless of whether you think someone else might get 10 more runs per innings. That statistic is, or at least should be, completely redundant. Chris Read is the best 'keeper we've got and one of the very best in the world - he absolutely MUST go to Sri Lanka and, in my view, he should be straight in the side.
Complain about this postWhy does Vaughn keep saying "we are a young and inexperianced team"? This excuse really doesnt hold water.
You cant have players in the same team complaining they are playing too much. These two views dont sit together.
Englands bowling is weak at the moment and there are too many players with their feet under the table being carried by the likes of KP and MV who appears to be back to near his best.
Complain about this postMark Smith wrote: "I do not agree with Richard Calvert about the umpiring decisions which, while not always good, probably went against both teams evenly across the series."
You make some fair points Mark but I only mentioned one umpiring decision.
If Steve Bucknor had got it right then people would have been talking about how perfectly Vaughan timed the win at Lords instead of how he wasted time with a slow over rate. Its a fine line.
Complain about this postAlastair Cook again out to his "fatal flaw": trying to clip to leg off straight balls. Will he never learn? Strauss is just fatally flawed. Bell hasn't the mental capacity to go on and consistently make big scores when they are needed. Vaughan a good(ish) player who had one great series (in Australia).
I've said this before. If a World XI was being picked EXCLUDING Australian players only Pietersen of our lot would get into it. On the fringe, possibly Sidebottom, and that's it!
Anyway, well done India. You beat a poor side but nonetheless you won well in the end.
Complain about this postEngland outplayed India in the first test but were beaten by the rain. Hats off to India in the second test for a comprehensive and thoroughly deserved victory. In the third test, just as everyone predicted beforehand, the toss decided the outcome of the test. India may have been slightly the better team over the three tests, but a large part of their 1-0 victory has to be attributed to good fortune.
Complain about this postA draw would probably have been a fairer reflection of the two sides. I don't think there is too much between the two sides. A bit less rain at Lords and England would have won comfortably. Similarly, if England had won the toss at Trent Bridge, they would likely have won as easily as India did.
Complain about this postDespite the result, I was very pleased to see England team finally show a bit of spirit over the last couple of days of the final test. Pieterson again showed the rest of the batting line up how to score a classy century although I am sometimes concerned that Pieterson occasionally goes into the mindset of 'playing for himself' rather than the team, once he gets to a milestone he feels his job his done - although I would never question his commitment to the England cause. I have always been a big fan of Strauss but I beleive the time has come to give him a break from the test side and let his confidence in his ability grow again, at the moment he looks nervous and devoid of ideas.
Complain about this postOf course the fact that England's unbeaten run has ended is disappointing but I don't think we should lose sight of the fact, that run in itself was very impressive including series wins against Pakistan and Australia. India did deserve their victory because they outplayed England in the second test and did just about enough in the third test although of course it may have all been different had the rain stayed away at Lord's and the toss went the other way at Trent Bridge. I believe the underlying point that can be said of this series is that the quality of cricket from both sides was far superior to that of the earlier summer series against the West Indies, it was a pleasure to watch great swing bowling from Kahn and Sidebottom (with varying amounts of success) and great strokeplay from Pieterson and Ganguly. As a final plea, I would just like to voice my desire for Stuart Broad to be given a bigger role in the winter tours, I believe he could be a huge influence on the England team and could also fill the troubled 8th spot in the batting line up. In last weeks county match against Derbyshire he scored 96 with the bat and then took 5 wickets to win the match - He is a special player.
All the matches were won at the toss. Our bowlers did ok but we clearly lack bowlers who can take wickets with the older ball. We need to find another Simon Jones or get him back fit.
Still the one dayers are coming up now. Hands up who thinks Freddy has earned his place in the side? Let him play county cricket until we go on tour.
Complain about this postLet us not forget that, but for the intervention of rain and bad light at Lord's, England would have won the First Test. In other words, to all intents and purposes, this series has unofficially been a draw.
Complain about this postGuys - calm down, it's only a game.
Complain about this postWell done India.
Buck up England.
I don't mind people saying india were lucky with toss or weather etc. But in the same message they also say England dominated india in the first test. I find it hypocritical. In the first test, England won the toss, and had the good batting condition on the first day. So weren't they lucky then? Again when they played their second innings on 4th day they had good batting condition.
Complain about this postSo to blame indians were lucky sounds to me like sour-grapes. Indians used the condition and luck to their advantage and England failed to do that. So india deserved victory in the series
#82 Navin:
Seeing as neither Harmison nor Hoggard played at the last World Cup, it would appear that you are the one with the short memory.
Complain about this postGood series at last. India fully deserved thier series victory. Two points. What would happen to England if Peitersen was to get injured and out of action for a test series, he contributes a large amount of runs who would replace him?
Secondly, The much vaunted attack has been depleted, but there has to be a line drawn as to stop calling it a young team on a learning curve. Anderson and Sidebottom have playing for years. Anderson is not consistent and is not a leading wicket taker, there has been much fawning by the experts over Anderson. based on what? Ther 2005 team will not happen again for another 25 years. Will Flintoff, Jones and Vaughn still be playing at the highest levl in 2009? If the answer is no when are the replacements going to be introduced. As we speak the Ausralians are planning for 2009 and beyond. The critics who said England will be facing an aging team are going to be surprised particularly with the Australian attack
Complain about this postIf you take away Pietersen's centuries in the Lord's Test and at The Oval, the final result might well have been 3-0!
Complain about this postAnd remember, if Ganguly hadn't got the two rotten decisions while he was in full flow, he might have gone on to scoring big hundreds!
So, although the Indians will be very happy with their series win, the 1-0 margin doesn't tell the full story.
It was a great series, sure I would have preferred an England victory. The main thing for me was that we were not completely outplayed for 3 tests; unlike the ashes!
Personally I think 1 all would have been a fare score but we didn't win at Lords so well done to India.
Looking at the team I think there are some great prospects; the batting line up, minus say Strauss who I think needs a break look good & should only get better, some of them just need to apply themselves once set (Cook, Colly, Bell?)
I think it's right to say it may have been different with the likes of Flintoff, Harmisson and Hoggard playing if only for their experience; however, they weren't and the other boys bowled well without much luck at times.
Prior; I feel sorry for him and any other keeper who gets a game, it's almost become the same as the 'new Botham' position was a few years back. Give the guy a break! That said I think Foster deserves a chance, maybe in the one dayers?
Complain about this posthas John Lewis from gloucestershire completely dropped out of the reckoning?
Complain about this postwhy is it suicidal to go for unlikely win? surely if there is a 10% chance of winning the captain should go for it. how is losing 2-0 better than 1-0? that's nonsense
Complain about this postPartha, the fact is that the toss and the weather made the critical difference in each test. They *were* the advantage. England had the luck to win the toss in the first test but so did India have luck on the final day.
On three belting flat and firm wickets under hot sunshine I could not have seen a 1-0 victory separating the teams either way. But that's only my conjecture, subtracting the influence of the conditions.
Sure, those two factors are all part of the game, but take them out and the difference between the teams is not so great as many people are saying, that is my only point. There was not a huge gulf between them: India won fair and square, but only because of the uncontrollable factors that came down in their favour this time.
Complain about this postI think most of the relevant points have been covered but one observation is this:
It is a shame that a series against a team with the quality of Dravid, Tendulkar Ganguly etc etc is played over three games. If this is the price for Banlgledesh maintaining test status and a one day series that admittedly, will probably turn out to be well supported by Indian fans then for me (and I know I may be in a minority) I would opt for a five match series.
Imagine the thought of two more matches between an England side which began to find its feet in the last two days at the Oval and an Indian side that scored 600+.
Having written this I now realise I am very old fashioned. But what the hell.
Complain about this postRahul Dravid had a message for armchair fans who were critical of his decision not to enforce the follow-on at The Oval. "If I was sitting in an armchair then I'd be disappointed as well."
Lots of so called supporters created such a hue and cry about bieng negative,and not playing in spirit etc etc. Most of captains would have done what Dravid did. He simply ensured a 1-0 series win would not be lost in greed of 2-0. For all those fans who criticise him,most of them have never played cricket,except with a softball and with a 15-20 over roadside game. They have no idea of the stamina, mental willpower and other thnigs that players have to undergo while playing a 5 day test match at the highest competive level. Its easy to sit down in an arm-chair and say thnigs in hindsight on what would have been a correct decsion. They have absolutely no idea of the pressure an Indian captain has when he has a billlion expectations and your own career at stake. These armchairs crtics would have found out a reason to crticise Dravid even if he had won 3-0 because thats just about only thing what they know to do.
Dravid was not negative. He used safety first policy. A bird in hand is worth 2 in the bush.
Complain about this postI think India played very well but in all honesty should have lost the first test, so i don't think we can set too much blame against England. The lost the toss at Nottingham, where they were put in in favourable bowling conditions, and they lost the toss at The Oval, where India batted on a shirt-front in glorious sunshine.
India played really well, but I don't think I've ever seen England have such wretched luck .. .. just look at Vaughan getting bowled off his thigh pad when 124 and cruising !!
Complain about this postEngland should have won the first test, but were outplayed in the second and narrowly clinched a draw in the third. England might have won the third test had Matt Prior not dropped Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman and conceded a huge number of byes. Chris Read should become England's permanent wicketkeeper again. All in all though, a very solid Indian performance.
Complain about this post'the best keeper in world cricket is scoring runs for fun at Notts'?!!!
Do me a favour, anybody who thinks Chris Read is a top-class 'keeper is outrageously misguided. Does nobody remember his clangers last summer when he consistenyl let the ball pass between himself and first slip? It's all well and good catching edges that come straight through to you, but he let at least 3 or 4 go between himself and Tresco and it was pathetic to watch.
If we really want a top class wicket-keeper, then why not go for some of the young lads on the circuit rather than re-hashing failures from the past, such and Read and Foster? people on here say Prior has had his chance, well then what do you call the 20 or so matches Chris Read has played?
Yes, Prior has dropped two catches, but this whole thing is being blown well out of proportion. Give the guy a chance to improve. For the record, it is worth noting that both Alec Stewart and Moores say he has been a better 'keeper than he is currently showing - he is no mug.
Complain about this postIndia deserved to win the series?
I'm not sure how that can be justfied.
They clung on & were helped by the weather in the 1st game & made the most of a very good toss to win at Trent Bridge. I guess you could argue that the follow on would have been enforced if the 3rd game was crucial, but these days the follow on isn't the 'gimme' that it once was.
It seemed to me that both teams were evenly matched & I'd have been a very confident punter on a drawn series if it had lasted 5 tests.
I also can't see any point in battling for a draw, when it doesn't achieve anything. In reality, I wonder if it has more to do with gaining an improved level of prize money?
Fair enough, if it is. The players are pro's & need to make a living, but lets not dress it up as something it isn't.
If the players need to learn how to battle for a draw, then let them do it in the county championship. Surely playing is the only sure fire way of seeing if someone has the ability to adapt to different conditions?
As for England's changes, the series has shown that there is good competition for places. Knee jerks are never too clever. With a different roll of the dice, we could have been 2 up prior to The Oval. Lets not bring back a tabloid mentality to English cricket.
We weren't world beaters in 2005 & we aren't lame ducks now.
Complain about this postAll this rubbish about how England should have won the first test. India should have won the third test. Since there was no doubt about who won the second test, that would still make it a 2-1 series win to India.
People saying that bad umpiring decisions only affected one team are also talking rubbish. Both teams had decisions which affected their chances of winning matches. Crucial decisions dont just happen on last days of matches.
Personally I feel that Vaughan has been a poor captain during the whole of this series. He had numerous chances to force a win in the first test when he had India with their backs to the wall. Why England's over rate so slow? surely the more balls you bowl at your opponents the more chance you have of getting them out.
India on the other hand had England on the back foot in the second test and they rammed home their advantage.
The third test was a different scenario. India were in a position where they hadn't won a series in England for 21 years. They had a choice of making sure of a draw on the fourth day and enjoying the fifth day, or spend the fourth day bowling at England who may have thought that with 2 days of the match left they had a sniff of levelling the series.
If England hadn't won a series in Australia in 21 years would they throw away their chances of ensuring a series win on the fourth day of the last test?
Dravid made the decision that the series win was much more important to him than entertaining any chance of England drawing the series.
Whats wrong with this decision? I'm an England supporter but I have to admit that if I was captain of my country, in his situation I would have made the same decision.
On the point of England missing Flintoff and Hoggard. Yes we missed them, of that I have no doubt. But India also had players missing. Players of the calibre of Sehwag And Harbhajan Singh. With the success that India's batsmen have had, how destructive would sehwag had been? And how would Singh have bowled considering that Kumble caused our batsmen so many problems?
India deserved to win this series. Neither team played to their full ability, but all real cricket lovers should accept that we have just seen a highly competitive series between two very good and evenly matched teams. Makes a nice difference from the recent Australian and West Indian series.
Complain about this postHi guys :-)
Complain about this postTell me ...is the greatest and most accurate umpire ever born ;-) Mr. "Howell" (I mean his name) the origin of the word "howler" (as in wrong decision)?? as they look ,sound ,mean and are almost same in most of the senses ;-) ??
To
"Richard Calvert"
You have a tunnell view. What about the clearly wrong decision against Rahul Dravid in the same Lord's innings you are referring to? He is the premier Indian batsmen and you never know India might well have win the 1st test, but for that poor decision against him.
Stop looking for excuses. A lot more bad decision went against India throughout the series. Some examples:
In Trent Bridge.
1. Vaughan was out twice, once LBW to Kumble and then clearly nicked RP (snicko confirmed) even before he got to 10, he then went on to make 100 he didn't deserve.
2.KP was not given when he clearly nicked the ball. Luckily for India, he was out again the next ball.
3. Collingwood gloved the ball to the keeper, not given out.
4. Sachin given out LBW wrongly and was denied a deserved 100.
5. Saurav given out when he clearly didn't nick the ball, again denied a deserved 100.
At Oval.
1. Cook was plumb LBW in 1st innings, not given out.
2. Collingwood was plumb LBW in 1st innings against Kumble when he had not even opened his account.
3. Ganguly given out LBW when he was not.
4. Jaffer given LBW in 2nd innings when he was not.
The list can go on and on.
Do you remember? (probably not as you have tunnell vision), England won the Ashes on the back of a poor umpiring decision when Kasprowich was given out with Aus needing just 2 more to win.
Complain about this postChill out mate. India deserved to win the series.
It's absolute hilarity reading all these posts blabbing on about "England should have won the first test and then it would have been a draw" etc etc etc. They presume that England winning the first test would mean the series would be drawn had all things remain equal.
Complain about this postBut consider the fact that maybe Dravid would then have taken the follow on in the last test, unlike England, he would have at least gone for the win. Chances are India would have won given their demolishing first innings total and then Englands inability to post a high enough second innings total. They would have been bowled out in two days for sure. Indeed as much as I respect Dravid's decision to rest his players I too was hoping he'd enforce the follow on.
In short, if everyone is obliged to say "England SHOULD have won the first test and drawn the series" then I am just as obliged to say "India should have won the third test and won the series".
To those who think i'm wrong and speculating about what could have been, well I ask you the same question. Everyone assumes England would have taken the ninth wicket in the first test had rain not stopped play. In the first innings, third test, india's last wicket partnership was 73 runs. Who is too say they couldn't have gone all the way and won (as unlikely as it is).
Basically live with. England had another 2 tests in which to win. In the last test they made no attempt to chase down the total which is their own fault. There will be times when England will be saved by bad light and I for one shall not be claiming that "England should have lost that test" when they haven't. Maybe I should argue that the rain and bad light taken by Vaughan reduced the time for the Indians to bowl England out? No I won't because its part of the game.
From being present at the Trent Bridge test it is clear Prior stands two yards too far back and his batting has failed to fire in this series.
Strauss needs a break to focus and work on his game his movement and shot selection is that of a man not at ease with his game.
I also feel Cook may well have been found out.
Its great to see Anderson start to show the promise he showed when he first appeared on the scene and I would pick him ahead of Sidebottom for Sri Lanka due to his ability to reverse swing ball
Complain about this postIf you take out the weather, toss, poor umpiring decisons affecting both sides, my view as an England supporter is that India did just shade the series on merit, but based on a more solid batting display.Englands batting never seemed secure, with a very long tail. India seemed much more solid, and it's no surprise when you look at the batting line up.
At the end of the day although it hurts, it is just sport and we live to fight another day. Well done India.
Complain about this postSurely the toss was crucial in the second and third Tests after England were denied victory in the first by the weather. In the 2nd England had to bat in overcast and poor conditions while India had the best of the pitch and the weather in the 3rd.
Complain about this postThe one bowler I think England miss the most is Simon Jones. Is he coming back at all? Also Chris Read must be feeling like he never gets a fair chance -his batting average isnt that different from Prior or Geraint Jones and he's a better keeper than both.
Complain about this postThe one bowler I think England miss the most is Simon Jones. Is he coming back at all? Also Chris Read must be feeling like he never gets a fair chance -his batting average isnt that different from Prior or Geraint Jones and he's a better keeper than both.
Complain about this postYou didn't include Anderson in your list of pace bowlers for the winter tours. Surely, an oversight?
Complain about this postMy 16 for Sri Lanka if all properly fit & proven
Cook
Vaughan
Bell
Pieterson
Collingwood
Shah
Flintoff
Prior (glovework under serious scrutiny in 1 days)
Anderson
Hoggard
Sidebottom
Tremlett
Panasaar
Batty/Swann (close call)
Rashid (opportunity to learn)
Read
Harmison just isn't a proven tourist - he seldom wants to be there and has no track record on sub continent pitches. Strauss needs a break but I wouldn't write him off just yet, I am sure he will regroup. If Prior's glovework continues asis, Read should get the nod with Foster as deputy.
Complain about this postAggers what on earth are you talking about? Suicidal to play for a win? Its suicidal playing for a draw when you need to win the game in order to rescue the series.
The series victory is what countries play for, not one-off test matches. I've been watching test match cricket long enough to know that scoring 444 runs on the final day is seriously difficult, but whats the difference between losing 1-0 and 2-0? Only the English (and possibly South Africans) can see the value in marginal defeat instead of a heavy defeat.
Rant over. Congrats must go to India who played some great cricket over the last 2 tests.
Complain about this postpaul franks.
What a ridiculous series of comments from you. to criticise Ian Bell for not scoring centuries every time is just a bit of deliberate sledging. By far the most stylish player in the team and has grown into a different player since the Ashes triumph. you need to sort out your ideas before posting any old rubbish.
Complain about this postCome on Aggers - what's happened to Jimmy Anderson? He's had a very good summer, and as Graham Gooch (a more 'constructive' cricket commentator) noted, he has come on leaps and bounds since being thrust into the 'front line'. Leaving his name off your list was a gross oversight.
Complain about this postI think England did well to claim a draw at the Oval, although that was probably down to Dravid's tactics as much as a decent batting effort.
In my mind, the best team probably won, but I'm disappointed that the teams weren't 1-1 going into the last test. Dravid would surely have enforced the follow-on and then England would have had an even greater test of nerve and skill. 1-0 doesn't reflect the series that well. It felt more like 2-1.
Its really wicketkeeper that we are still looking for although Prior probably deserves a bit more time. There is no outstanding candidate demanding selection.
I have to say that Dhoni played well. On form, he is a hell of a batsman.
Complain about this postGood for leaving Anderson out Aggers, a couple of decent spells doesn't make up for the rubbish he bowled most of the summer.
Too short too wide, trying to break the byes record and how many wickets does he take with rank bad balls? The tough guy posturing from a weed was also laughable.
Complain about this postSorry, Aggers, I don't think that Harmison, Hoggard or Flintoff would have made any difference to the result of the series, because I think the BATTING let England down.
Complain about this postGiven more experience, this young bowling attack of ours is going to be very, very effective. It was good that they got tested and have had a taste of the hard side of test cricket; they will be better bowlers for that. The batting, though, has lacked consistency for long enough for it to be a worry.
Although India played well throughout the series, I can't help feeling they had a little luck along the way. Poor weather denied England a certain victory at Lords (although England's inexcusably slow over rate hardly helped their cause) and India were fortunate enough to win a practically match deciding toss at Trent Bridge. I do not want to take anything away from India and do not want to offer any excuses for England, but I feel these were among the deciding factors of India's series win.
As I stated before, I do not want to take anything away from India and they should be congratulated on their series win. I felt it was a fascinating series and I only wish it could have played over the full five Tests. I think most cricket fans would agree that a couple of the horrible mismatches against the West Indies could have been sacrificed to allow the full five Tests to be played.
Complain about this postI would have liked England to have made more of a go of it.
I take your point, Jonathan:
‘What would the Aussies have done?’ some people have asked. Well, I know that they would not have made a reckless and needless attempt to win and handed the opposition a mid afternoon victory.
A crucial element of Test cricket is battling for a draw.'
Yes, getting a draw is a crucial element of Test cricket, when you are fighting to save a series or a match that actually means something. But that was not the case in this instance. We were 1-0 down anyway, so a draw would have made no difference.
I also disagree about the Aussies. If they were already losing a series 1-0 and had to score 500 in 3 1/2 sessions on a good batting track (however unlikely that sounds!), I think they would go for it. They wouldn't see it as a reckless and needless attempt to win, but as an opportunity to try to break a world record and give the crowd a damn good time in the process.
That Strauss and Cook played so positively at the end of the fourth day and then so negatively at the beginning of the fifth says much for the England management's mindset. We were 56-0 with a day to play on a very true fifth-day pitch. While we would have shattered the Windies record run chase, that doesn't mean it couldn't have been done.
While no English supporter wants to see England lose, a loss would not have made a jot of difference to England's Test World Ranking and it would have made for much better vieweing for the fans.
The media would also have had no justification to criticise England for going for it in those cicrcumstances. We all know that England were massively unlucky not to thrash India in the Lords test and not wanting to take anything away from an excellent all-round performance by India, the toss in the other two Tests played a huge part, especially in the second Test when combined with the huge slice of fortune the Indians got with the weather change.
I'm with Geoff Boycott (for once!) - if you're already going to lose a series 1-0, and you've got a chance to entertain the crowd and MAYBE even win, what difference does losing it 2-0 make?
Complain about this postEnglands main problem at the moment is the lack of consitency in the batting.
This test match was a prime example for 2 reasons:
1) No one apart from KP went on to get a ton
2) In all the test agains India, England tend to have one or two batsmen who score runs and not 4 or 5. So have been unable to post the scores we need.
Strauss should definately be dropped, he has now had 11 test matches without scoring any worthwhile runs or looking like it.
Starting XI for Sri Lanka: Cook, Vaughan, Bell, Pieterson, Collingwood, Bopara, Flintoff, Prior, Hoggard, Anderson or Tremlett, Panesar
Complain about this postAlso, well played India, their bowlers adapted well to English conditions after first innings of first test and proved a testing unit.
Their batsman were also a little inconsistent, but still showed more than ours did. It will be a shame that some of the great batsmens of my generation will probably not been seen in England again.
Great batsman: Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid.
Complain about this postRaj wrote:
"Do you remember? (probably not as you have tunnell vision), England won the Ashes on the back of a poor umpiring decision when Kasprowich was given out with Aus needing just 2 more to win."
England should have won that match by around 50 runs. Kasprowich was 'out' plumb lbw shortly after he first came out to bat.
Strange that you forgot about that. Sounds like tunnel vision to me...!
Complain about this postSuperb performance from Team india and specially from our hero zaheeeeeeeeer kahn...
Complain about this postEngland could do alot worse than look towards James Tredwell for that second spinner.
Complain about this postCongratulations to India for a hard fought win. There was only one difference between these very even two sides I thought - application. After being outplayed in the first test, the Indian batsman adapted brilliantly, both in their mental approach and within their techinque. Compare that with their English counterparts. One of the Indian openers (sorry can't remeber which one poss. Karthik?) adapted their stance in the second test to counter the swing. By contrast, Alistair Cook's right leg was his downfall every time he got out. Look at Dhoni's later innings in the series - much, much more disciplined - Compare with Strauss. Atrocious hook shot. Or Vaughan's hopeless waft outside off stump in the final test. These are young guy's playing without a coach who obviously apply THEMSELVES to sort out THEIR OWN problems. That maturity and sense of personal responsibility is something England could do with showing. and the Indian bowlers were very good with their line and length and patience. very impressive. Aside from that, this was a close series, that's for sure. And I can totally understand Dravid (AWAY from home) taking a 1-0 win. England would have done the same in India. The value of England going for the win is debatable - is the gamble winnable? Is there value in players putting innings together to go for a series losing draw? Personally, as a spectator or, if I was a media commentator, I'd like to see them go for a win, but I suspect it may well be different for the Captain of the team who has to lift his troops should we lose.
Complain about this postAs always Aggers is spot on. There are, however, some concerns about the Indian tactics in the 3rd Test. Dravid's refusal to enforce the follow-on will be debated for some time, but it was his 2nd inns batting that concerned me. True at 11-3 some caution was in order, but England batted more positively while trying to save the match!! A 96-ball 12 is outrageous. It, in my view, is indicative of Indian Test cricket in the last 15-years or so: very talented in particular the batting, but very few positive results to show for. England on the other has a lot of work to do before they sail off to Sri Lanka.
Complain about this postExcellent result from India, I was there at the Oval and the support the team received was brilliant. Dravid's captaincy was spot-on, my only fault was that we should have scored more quickly in our second innings and given ourselves another 15 overs at least to bowl at England, but that is the only minor gripe.
The team is shaping up nicely, though i think its naive to think that Tendulkar, Ganguly and Laxman will all keep going for much longer. Laxman's contributins were ok, but not outstanding this series and I would like to see Yuvraj given a run at number 6, he brings a lot with his fielding and part-time bowling as well.
Was very pleased with Dhoni as well, there were serious question marks over his ability to play on swinging, seaming pictches, and he has answered them.
We have capable replacements for the middle order, people like Kaif and Raina can be eased into the Test squads because its unrealistic to think Sachin is going to be around for too much longer.
Our bowling can only be strengthened with the return of Harbhajan and Munaf, and a fully fit and firing Pathan would add another dimension to the team. SO things are looking good !
England shouldnt feel too disheartened, the bowlers deserved a better keeper (especially Sidebottom), and you simply cant drop Anderson for anyone after his performances here. Monty was slightly off-form but is still class. Strauss's position is in question, and Owais Shah deserves a proper run in the team.
Complain about this postWhy is nobody mentioning Robert Key. He is a proven in any form of the game. He is a proven Test Player and has recently shown his talent with the bat and on the field in the 20.20 finals. With Strauss needing a good rest I never hear Key mentioned. Why ?
Complain about this postWhy are you not considering Jimmy Anderson for a winter place - he's come on leaps and bounds this summer and definitely merits a place ahead of Plunkett, Broad and Tremlett.
Complain about this posta graet come back my ganguly he is the only batsman who stood in a pressure situation at 2nd innings of oval test and also a very crucial moment for india's batting that time.
Complain about this postTo All English Fans Feeling Wretched
I am an Indian fan but under no illusion that indian team is great. or even better than England. England was missing some key players - that was the key.
I dont think England had worse of luck - I think both teams had it equally bad.
But more importantly I see it as a deserving parting win for 5 greats of our team who will retire in next couple of years. They have been great players and had some hard luck with Ttests ever since. Specifically I think these batsmen never had equally good bowlers to back them up.
And also I see this as a stepping stone to rebuilding the team which has gone so wayward since Chappell arrived. They lost so much potential under his years.
No illusions - probably full strength england is better - but still happy for India.
xPeacex
Complain about this postJust read your thoughts on the final test Aggers. Well informed and accurate for the most part as usual. Can you tell me though what James Anderson has done wrong to not be included in your list of pacemen options for the winter tours??????? He's took 14 wickets in 3 tests and really benefited from taking the new ball
Complain about this postForgot the Man of Series for England, Jimmy Anderson for the SL tour?
Complain about this postAggers - I am afraid I have to take issue here. If there is a surfeit of England Bowlers, why did we fail to take 20 wickets?
In my opinion there is a dearth of quality bowlers. Much like the dearth of money in my mate Damo's pocket when ever it is his round!
Greg
Complain about this postRain and winning the last 2 tosses were the key to India's success.
Complain about this postWhat would Australia have done?If the question is being pondered then why doesn't some journalist ask Ponting what he would have done.I suspect they would have gone for it.Losing is not an option until the last ball is bowled for RP.He probably would have sent Gilly out to open.
Complain about this postI can't understand why England didn't go for it.The pitch wasn't bad,the bowling was not that good and they were looking at a series loss.They didn't have to go and slog like idiots,but they could have tried for 4 runs an over to start of with and hope for some good overs from a batsman who has his eye in.It was negative cricket from both sides.I will be interested to see how they do in ODI.The batsmen won't be able to block the ball 50 times in those games.
ps to Richard Kaspa was not plumb lbw in the 2nd test all that is in the commentary is this
Complain about this post54.1 Flintoff to Kasprowicz, legbye: one run, full and on the stumps,
Kasprowicz has walked across his stumps and tried to flick, rapped
on the pad, loud shout, turned down
And we also had this in that test
49.4 Lee to SP Jones, no run, full, straight, bang in front of the
stumps, Jones has not got a clue and pads straight up. He's on the
back foot. That is absolutely plumb to the whole world - minus
Billy Bowden
That is an absolute shocker of a decision from Bowden. Ball was
hitting middle and Simon Jones wasn't even playing a shot!
Well Played India.
The Harmisons, Hoggards and Flintoffs would have certainly made England look good on paper. As much as the Irfans, Balajis, Kaifs,Virus, Bhaajjis if they were fit and in fettle.
A team is good because of their consistency and depth in any situations. Neednt be told but please "Learn from the Ozzies".
As far as India is concerned " every leap starts with a small step and the build up is gradual.
They beat Pak in Pak 2004, WI in WI 2006 the series between 2004 and till date they either levelled a winnable series or lost as was the case in SA. Though I am no expert - my two cents worth would be -- India, draw on the positives from 2004, work on the weaklinks and who knows same time next year .......
Complain about this postwhy why why have a third umpire and still accept
council park decisions in world class games
Remember poor decisions spoild good entertainment. I love cricket
mr lovell
Complain about this postEven without the follow-on, India had a good chance of winning the match on the fifth day. Darvid's dropped catch of Vaughn was crucial and his handling of the bowlers were not very convincing either. He went by the pre-conceived notion of the fifth day dry wicket suiting the spinners even though it was not working out that way. The seamers looked more likely to take wickets everytime they bowled. RP Singh was under-bowled while Tendulkar got nearly twice as many overs than him. It was a bad call given Singh's performance in the series with his SR matching that of Zaheer's.
A good win for India regradless. As some people have said, if India HAD to win the third test, they would have.
Complain about this postFROM NOW ON HERE IS HOW ENGLAND WILL PAY CRICKET:
1) WINNING TOSS; If the opposing team wins the toss then they have to forego the test.
2) WEATHER; If weather is going to help the English team only then they would play.
3) MATCHES IN A SERIES: The series will go on till England wins.
4) PLAYERS: Keep on changing players till only fit and in-form players are in the team.
5) UMPIRES: Only umpires that make mistakes against opposing team will be allowed to umpire.
(OR)
Complain about this postThey could:
‘Good Series mate, We lost to a team that played better, longer…Work on weaknesses and beat SriLanka first then Aus Next…………’
FROM NOW ON HERE IS HOW ENGLAND WILL PAY CRICKET:
1) WINNING TOSS; If the opposing team wins the toss then they have to forego the test.
2) WEATHER; If weather is going to help the English team only then they would play.
3) MATCHES IN A SERIES: The series will go on till England wins.
4) PLAYERS: Keep on changing players till only fit and in-form players are in the team.
5) UMPIRES: Only umpires that make mistakes against opposing team will be allowed to umpire.
(OR)
They could:
‘Good Series mate, We lost to a team that played better, longer…Work on weaknesses and beat SriLanka first then Aus Next…………’
Jer
Complain about this postJO JEETA WO SIKANDER, BAKI SARAY BANDAR!
Complain about this post(eNGLISH TRANSLATION: NOTHING SUCCEEDS LIKE SUCCESS! :-))))
TO POST 176 BY JERRY (US)
SPOT ON MATE! BRILLIANT COMMENT!
INDIA DESERVE TO BE WINNERS FOR PLAYING BETTER CRICKET!
HOWEVER:-
ENGLAND WOULD HAVE DEFINITELY WON ALL THREE MATCHES IF THEY HAD WON THE TOSS, AND FLINTOFF & HOGGARD & HARMISON WERE PLAYING AND IF IT WUD HAVE BEEN 100 MATCH SERIES!
AAAAAHHHH!
Complain about this postI think the series should of ended in a draw personally!! England outplayed India at Lords and would of won the first test if bad light hadn't of played a part in India's downfall. It goes to show how much luck plays a part in any sport. I think England will improve but we need to get rid of Strauss!
Complain about this postDravid did very well to concentrate on winning the series, rather than winning one more test. Loads of comments posted on England should have chased 500 (personally I think impossible) but just for a second imagine, if "Miraculously" England were to win Oval, levelling the series, then the English media would have for a thousand years sung their praises, & Vaughan would have taken Nelson's place on the Nelson's column giving us "Vaughan's" Column at Oval (previously Trafalgar) Square.
India outplayed England, as simple as that and "all the excuses" justifying English "supremacy" are ridiculous. Wake up and smell the "tea" from India!
Complain about this postHAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!
Man of the Match should have gone to Bearders!!
The Bearded Wonder was kept on his toes through out the match on any number of topics of run rates, totals, records and time-elapsed.
Complain about this postSend that man home with the magnum of champagne!
england lost because they had only a couple of players of international class and the rest were below average and they did not function as a unit, whereas india also had couple of players of international class but the rest were average players and they played as a team.
Complain about this postThe team, like their footballing counterparts are plain average. It is only the media that makes a big fuss everytime a mediocre side is beaten. India played with passion and pride which their oppnents clearly lacked. The central contracts and selection process have lulled players into a false sense of security and the lack of competition for places along with inadequate participation in the county circuit are serious flaws. James Anderson and Sidebottom's successes highlight this point.
Complain about this postThe selectors need to be ruthless. Just as Beckham rediscovered passion following his sacking, the big guns too need a wake up call. As for the dour Vaughan, I am amazed at the 'excellent captain' reviews he generates. The Ashes victory is a distant memory and was a team effort.He lacks imagination, made some bizzare decisions and should face the flack for the whole 'jellybabies' fiasco which was plain stupidity and only strengthened Indias resolve to prove a point on the eve of their independence.Collingwood needs to be given the dual role and should he fail, Filntoff when fully match fit. Let us not forget,Vaughan's presence was instrumental in Flintoff underperforming during the last Ashes series. His time is up and Ponting, Fleming, Dravid, Smith are all better captains!
Thank you Matthew Prior - I normally would feel sorry for your incompetance, but you had to talk the talk, when you were utterly incapable of walking the walk. Biggest laugh I have had in years.
Complain about this post