Johan
International Coach
The BGT series had one, so thought this one should have one as well, I'll start off with rating the English players from the first Test
1. Zack Crawley (7.5/10) – should have played better in the first inning, though it was Bumrah but played wonderfully in the second inning, played against his usual attacking nature and saw off Bumrah with maturity, made 50+ but that 180+ partnership with Duckett was definitely what won England the game. I'd like to see more consistency from him, if he can do what he did on day 5 consistently throughout the series, he would be an asset.
2. Ben Duckett (10/10) – can't really complain now can I? Saw off Bumrah, provided great start in first inning, and then the knock on day 5 was just amazing, became a mini Greenidge with how ruthless he was, especially to Jadeja with reverse sweeps. MOTM for me (only Pant competing) and just exceptional in this game, dropped a catch but more than made up for it by his batting.
3. Ollie Pope (8/10) – hundred in the first inning, I think scoreboard pressure and the Bumrah pressure was definitely there and his performance was very important to take us where we eventually got, cancelling out India's first innings took lots of work but I think we also got significantly harder batting conditions due to cloud cover, good inning, got out to a genuine jaffa in the second inning.
4. Joe Root (7.5/10) – Got out playing a rather silly shot in the first innings, wasn't a great ball, had gotten a start, nicked it, not saying he was terrible but never looked comfortable there. In the second innings, he definitely shows up, it's really easy to collapse from a situation like that, lots of 4th inning chases simply fall apart after the breakthroughs but he kept it steady and led the game to the end, nice one.
5. Harry Brook (6.5/10) – huge fan of the guy, but I think the second inning dismissal from him might be one of the most braindead things I've seen under Stokes and I've seen a lot, it was worse than the shot Duckett played in NZ when we were asked to chase 600+, his 99 was good but patchy, did have an amazing stepout shot against Bumrah, should have really made that hundred, not very inspiring with his fielding either. Did instigate Prasidh into trying a six though, funny.
6. Ben Stokes (7.5/10) – Might be overrating him but genuinely think he bowled brilliantly on this pitch, I genuinely think if he didn't get Yashasvi he probably would've made 200+, good bowling, good effort in the field, good seeing off Bumrah's final spell. Terrible against Jadeja/spin though, that's a concern, should've made more of his starts genuinely.
7. Jamie Smith (7/10) – really threw away a hundred in the first inning, was good in the second, I think he's a very good batsman. Strong on the offside, good player of spin bowling, a good hitter, solid defence, decently patient and comes clutch very often. Not great with the gloves though, could use some work there and please for the love of god, they need to stop throwing their wicket after getting a start and getting 40 on the board.
8. Chris Woakes (3.5/10) – was really bad with the ball wasn't he? never seen him look THIS harmless in English conditions even under the clouds, some good balls but mostly didn't bowl straight enough, didn't hit the right line and length. Was completely useless with the ball and a large reason why I think India scored so much, was pretty good with the bat though, that Carse partnership was crucial, adds an extra point or two for that.
9. Brydon Carse (6.5/10) – some good wickets but he bowls too much shite, it was a hard pitch for a bowler like him and he was bowling out of position but did reasonably well. Good with the bat too though a very bad dismissal, definitely bowled much better than Woakes which was a surprise. Decent but nothing special.
10. Joshua Tongue (7/10) – important as he cleaned up the lower order, didn't bowl well to the bats but on such a batting wicket cleaning the tail is very important and Tongue did that well, the ball to Risabh in the first inning was also pretty good, he was very much the architect of the first collapse by taking out Jadeja and Pant, second inning he had the three wickets over, did okay with the bat too. Has to work on his bowling to the actual batsmen though.
11. Shoaib Bashir (2.5/10) – genuinely don't get this guy, he bowled okay I guess...but nothing he did ever made me think he'd actually get wickets on a batting wicket, there's no control, if a bat is patient and doesn't make mistakes...I don't think they'd ever get out to him, really, the streets will forget what he has done for us.
1. Zack Crawley (7.5/10) – should have played better in the first inning, though it was Bumrah but played wonderfully in the second inning, played against his usual attacking nature and saw off Bumrah with maturity, made 50+ but that 180+ partnership with Duckett was definitely what won England the game. I'd like to see more consistency from him, if he can do what he did on day 5 consistently throughout the series, he would be an asset.
2. Ben Duckett (10/10) – can't really complain now can I? Saw off Bumrah, provided great start in first inning, and then the knock on day 5 was just amazing, became a mini Greenidge with how ruthless he was, especially to Jadeja with reverse sweeps. MOTM for me (only Pant competing) and just exceptional in this game, dropped a catch but more than made up for it by his batting.
3. Ollie Pope (8/10) – hundred in the first inning, I think scoreboard pressure and the Bumrah pressure was definitely there and his performance was very important to take us where we eventually got, cancelling out India's first innings took lots of work but I think we also got significantly harder batting conditions due to cloud cover, good inning, got out to a genuine jaffa in the second inning.
4. Joe Root (7.5/10) – Got out playing a rather silly shot in the first innings, wasn't a great ball, had gotten a start, nicked it, not saying he was terrible but never looked comfortable there. In the second innings, he definitely shows up, it's really easy to collapse from a situation like that, lots of 4th inning chases simply fall apart after the breakthroughs but he kept it steady and led the game to the end, nice one.
5. Harry Brook (6.5/10) – huge fan of the guy, but I think the second inning dismissal from him might be one of the most braindead things I've seen under Stokes and I've seen a lot, it was worse than the shot Duckett played in NZ when we were asked to chase 600+, his 99 was good but patchy, did have an amazing stepout shot against Bumrah, should have really made that hundred, not very inspiring with his fielding either. Did instigate Prasidh into trying a six though, funny.
6. Ben Stokes (7.5/10) – Might be overrating him but genuinely think he bowled brilliantly on this pitch, I genuinely think if he didn't get Yashasvi he probably would've made 200+, good bowling, good effort in the field, good seeing off Bumrah's final spell. Terrible against Jadeja/spin though, that's a concern, should've made more of his starts genuinely.
7. Jamie Smith (7/10) – really threw away a hundred in the first inning, was good in the second, I think he's a very good batsman. Strong on the offside, good player of spin bowling, a good hitter, solid defence, decently patient and comes clutch very often. Not great with the gloves though, could use some work there and please for the love of god, they need to stop throwing their wicket after getting a start and getting 40 on the board.
8. Chris Woakes (3.5/10) – was really bad with the ball wasn't he? never seen him look THIS harmless in English conditions even under the clouds, some good balls but mostly didn't bowl straight enough, didn't hit the right line and length. Was completely useless with the ball and a large reason why I think India scored so much, was pretty good with the bat though, that Carse partnership was crucial, adds an extra point or two for that.
9. Brydon Carse (6.5/10) – some good wickets but he bowls too much shite, it was a hard pitch for a bowler like him and he was bowling out of position but did reasonably well. Good with the bat too though a very bad dismissal, definitely bowled much better than Woakes which was a surprise. Decent but nothing special.
10. Joshua Tongue (7/10) – important as he cleaned up the lower order, didn't bowl well to the bats but on such a batting wicket cleaning the tail is very important and Tongue did that well, the ball to Risabh in the first inning was also pretty good, he was very much the architect of the first collapse by taking out Jadeja and Pant, second inning he had the three wickets over, did okay with the bat too. Has to work on his bowling to the actual batsmen though.
11. Shoaib Bashir (2.5/10) – genuinely don't get this guy, he bowled okay I guess...but nothing he did ever made me think he'd actually get wickets on a batting wicket, there's no control, if a bat is patient and doesn't make mistakes...I don't think they'd ever get out to him, really, the streets will forget what he has done for us.
