***Official*** England in India

[flibbertyjibber]

Scaly will still say Onions should have played ahead of Monty.

[Arachnodouche]

Originally Posted by flibbertyjibber

Well he'd had 37 goes at proving he isn't good enough before, should never have been picked again in tests. An average below 35 after so many games when you have so many other good players shows he is one of the luckiest men playing test cricket. Quality one day player, just not a test player.

Agree so much with this. Good on him for recovering from the disease and all, but sentimentality should have no place in professional sport. Rahane should get a look in..heck, I'm even okay with Rohit Sharma being given a few chances (he's never been tested at the highest level..if you want to take an educated punt, shove him in there and see how he goes). Cancer/no cancer, Yuvraj has no business donning whites after having been nothing but mediocre for 35 odd Tests.

[Arachnodouche]

250 should be enough on this I reckon. 3 spinners don't look so bad now.

[wpdavid]

Originally Posted by flibbertyjibber

Scaly will still say Onions should have played ahead of Monty.

Ahead of Broad is the likelier version.

[wpdavid]

Originally Posted by flibbertyjibber

Well our clueless clowns will no doubt make a mess of it.

3 day test?

I was wondering that. I think that India batting first means that it will probably last into Day 4, but not by very much. Much better to watch though.

[hendrix]

Originally Posted by shankar

Liking this pitch. Doesn't matter if India's lose. Good to see batsmen having to stretch on the front foot and smother the spin and not camp on the back foot and turn it to square-leg 3 times an over. Wish we can have more pitches like this in domestic cricket as well.

Pretty much. Good wicket.

Originally Posted by flibbertyjibber

Well he'd had 37 goes at proving he isn't good enough before, should never have been picked again in tests. An average below 35 after so many games when you have so many other good players shows he is one of the luckiest men playing test cricket. Quality one day player, just not a test player.

Yup, agree with this. He's had plenty of chances ahead of younger, more promising batsmen.

Still, he does technically fill an allrounder's spot so an average of 35 isn't awful.

[benchmark00]

Onions would have played this match if it wasn't for that pesky Cricinfo - Scaly speaks from an abandoned amusement park after being captured by Scooby-Doo and co.

[Flem274*]

[smalishah84]

Originally Posted by benchmark00

Onions would have played this match if it wasn't for that pesky Cricinfo - Scaly speaks from an abandoned amusement park after being captured by Scooby-Doo and co.

[Daemon]

Dhoni's in for a big one imo.

[Spark]

Originally Posted by Daemon

Dhoni's in for a big one imo.

I suspect Cribb will actually kill himself if that happens.

Or spam critical error at us.

[centurymaker]

Originally Posted by Daemon

Dhoni's in for a big one imo.

he has a tendency to play crucial innings in situations like these but it can take just one ball to behave unexpected to lead you to your dismissal on this pitch.

[Stapel]

Am I the only one thinking England might very well have a decent go with the bat? Their second innings of the first Test showed some promise. Would be very good for this series if England bat well!

[Daemon]

Not out in my extremely biased and desperate eyes

[wpdavid]

Originally Posted by Stapel

Am I the only one thinking England might very well have a decent go with the bat? Their second innings of the first Test showed some promise. Would be very good for this series if England bat well!

The problem is that their improved showing in the 2nd innings was only down to two players. The others still didn't really contribute or go on with it after getting a start.