Fourth Test match thread

fcblackpool said:
Don't think it's as over as people think. The difference so far has been Pant with his inns. (one man) and there's no reason why Root et al can't produce an inns. equalling Pant's

OK, India's spinners are much more of a threat, but given some luck and more importantly good shot selection it's still far from over.

You need to limit India to 110 lead, tops and then if IF the top 3 can do OK, you may find parity with 2 down. India 4th inns, even with Leach as the main man, won't find it easy.

6:40 start for me in the morning 👍
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As I said above hope springs eternal and fcb right on cue perfectly illustrates that.Who knows, perhaps Ben Stokes will once again bat like Superman with of course the necessary support from Leach !😜
 
Shame we couldn’t shift Pant earlier. Still in the game provided we can remember how to play spin.
 
Scaramanga said:
Shame we couldn’t shift Pant earlier. Still in the game provided we can remember how to play spin.
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Petulant mode on, it doesn't help when you've got to get him out twice. It seemed Every Indian lbw appeal was given in their favour yesterday, whereas 50% of a ball hitting the stumps is given not out in his 40's , and that cost us.

Petulant mode off, we've bowled far too many poor balls and given India a way out, especially after their 6th wicket fell. Throughout the 2nd and 3rd tests and this one so far, India have simply bowled and batted better.

Apart from the quality of their players, overall I have been very disappointed with Indian cricket: inconsistent umpiring (particularly the video umpire showing more angles when India appeal), poor pitches (a test match over in less than 2 days FFS), and that commentator Bhogle sounds like a kid whenever anyone questions the pitch or 50/50 decision. Sorry for the rant.
Edit - on a positive note Jimmy is up to 614 test wickets, 5 more and he's the 3rd highest of all time 👍
 
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Dave62 said:
Petulant mode on, it doesn't help when you've got to get him out twice. It seemed Every Indian lbw appeal was given in their favour yesterday, whereas 50% of a ball hitting the stumps is given not out in his 40's , and that cost us.

Petulant mode off, we've bowled far too many poor balls and given India a way out, especially after their 6th wicket fell. Throughout the 2nd and 3rd tests and this one so far, India have simply bowled and batted better.

Apart from the quality of their players, overall I have been very disappointed with Indian cricket: inconsistent umpiring (particularly the video umpire showing more angles when India appeal), poor pitches (a test match over in less than 2 days FFS), and that commentator Bhogle sounds like a kid whenever anyone questions the pitch or 50/50 decision. Sorry for the rant.
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Agreed on all points, I’m not going to be too critical of England despite not playing too well, India have been better even if we have been on the end of some suspect umpires and dodgy pitches. It’s not over yet although I suspect this lead they have already will be too much for us. Hope I’m wrong. There’s always the revenge mission this late summer to look forward to. Hope it’s swinging round corners.
 
Yes there is no way we can win this, I reckon India will have a lead of around 150 and we will lose six or seven wickets before we're even close to that. don't get me wrong I think the red ball team are going in the right direction, we have some very good young talented players coming through like Crawley, Pope and Lawrence and these players will just get better and better, however I don't think this rotation nonsense has done us any favours whatsoever, you have a situation where players are getting used to the very difficult conditions and next minute they're on a plane out of there with a fresh faced newbie expected to instantly be match ready to play India and Indian conditions, sorry that's just not happening fella's, it takes time to acclimatise and there are not lots of easy county games like a touring side has here to be able go out and put some runs on the board and build up your confidence, it's hard enough to win on the sub continent without that clueless strategy hindering us.
 
Just to balance things up a little, although the pitches have definitely been below par we have won the toss in 3 of the 4 Tests which on these pitches that deteriorate faster than normal, should have given us a huge advantage the fact that after the first Test we have been unable to make the most of that demonstrates how far behind the Indians we are, out there at least.
 
Raging_Bull said:
Yes there is no way we can win this, I reckon India will have a lead of around 150 and we will lose six or seven wickets before we're even close to that. don't get me wrong I think the red ball team are going in the right direction, we have some very good young talented players coming through like Crawley, Pope and Lawrence and these players will just get better and better, however I don't think this rotation nonsense has done us any favours whatsoever, you have a situation where players are getting used to the very difficult conditions and next minute they're on a plane out of there with a fresh faced newbie expected to instantly be match ready to play India and Indian conditions, sorry that's just not happening fella's, it takes time to acclimatise and there are not lots of easy county games like a touring side has here to be able go out and put some runs on the board and build up your confidence, it's hard enough to win on the sub continent without that clueless strategy hindering us.
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Will there be county games this time round, because of COVID?
 
Already secured my T20 tickets against Yorkshire. 🙏🏻I get to go this year and it doesn’t piss it down.
 
Mark_GT said:
Here goes then. It would be great to put one over on Kohli and finish on a high. Anyone feeling optimistic?
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Dont read too much into this series defeat...1 up the Indians panicked and open the gates to supporters risking lives. Then the pitch tampering resulting in surfaces not acceptable for evening league cricket.
 
Fuck off bairstow, can someone please show some backbone. Players constantly stuck on the crease unable to pick it or play it.
 
It’s abject isn’t it? I don’t remember our test team getting such a day in day out hammering in a series since that awful series in Australia?

Let’s blame it on Covid and get on with the one dayers 😊
 
I called it yesterday, a lead of 150 for India and our lot getting skittled by their spinners well short of that and an inglorious innings defeat. Get these bums back on the plane home, put Sibley in rehab with a spin doctor and employ a spin bowling coach to try to impart some knowledge to this lot on how to actually survive for longer than it takes to smoke a fag. Now lets see how Morgan's much vaunted limited over lot can do because this Test series has been f@cking embarrassing.
 
Junior_BentsPlatformShoes said:
Mentally our batsmen were beaten a couple of tests ago, some shocking shots against spin. Bairstow 6 ducks in 9 innings against India, not good enough.
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Bairstow really hasn't been good enough as a test batsman for a couple of years now. And he was called up as a specialist player of spin. Good bowling by India but some awful batting and judgement by England, who don't seem to learn or have the guts to knuckle down.
Also missing Buttler in the middle order
 
Looks like playing an extra batsman is not going to pay off
 
65/5 Pope gone.
As bad has he’s been It’s not just Bairstow though is it the openers have been a disaster Sibley, Crawley, Lawrence, have all failed in this series and when our middle order and tail can’t bat it’s a recipe for disaster.
Edit make that 65/6 the end is nigh and it’s pretty pathetic if I’am being honest.
 
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Yes we couldn't win this with four innings. It is at least mildly amusing that Australia miss out on the final.i wonder how NZ will fare against this lot.
 
Mark_GT said:
Yes we couldn't win this with four innings. It is at least mildly amusing that Australia miss out on the final.i wonder how NZ will fare against this lot.
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It’s at Lords so I think they’ll have a good chance. Can’t see the pitch being prepared as a sandpit.
 
Despite looking wildly out of his depth Lawrence could finish our highest scorer. Says it all about our upper order. That looks out.
 
It's got to indicate something about how strategy, wherein our two best batsmen have had to shoulder a big bowling load.

Oh well.

Tbh, the manner of defeats are the problem, 3-1 in India is no disgrace, but it's the quality of the 3 defeats (or lack of it) that's the issue.

Positives:

Jimmy is still a genius
Joe Root got a score and his bowling has developed a bit further
Stokes has done ok
Foakes has kept well
Butler kept well too tbf
Leach hasn't been bad

Negatives:
Pretty much everything else

The real disappointing thing is we've not really learned anything about anything we didn't know already. No one else has really stood up and as enlightened as it was, the rotation hasn't worked at all.
 
Aren’t England cricket team the most frustrating sporting team to follow?

How do we go from the brilliant first test to this utter shambles, it’s embarrassing 😭
 
td53 said:
It's got to indicate something about how strategy, wherein our two best batsmen have had to shoulder a big bowling load.

Oh well.

Tbh, the manner of defeats are the problem, 3-1 in India is no disgrace, but it's the quality of the 3 defeats (or lack of it) that's the issue.

Positives:

Jimmy is still a genius
Joe Root got a score and his bowling has developed a bit further
Stokes has done ok
Foakes has kept well
Butler kept well too tbf
Leach hasn't been bad

Negatives:
Pretty much everything else

The real disappointing thing is we've not really learned anything about anything we didn't know already. No one else has really stood up and as enlightened as it was, the rotation hasn't worked at all.
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How do we think Root has done as Captain? I haven't seen enough live to make a proper call, but he does seem to have made some strange decisions.
 
td53 said:
It's got to indicate something about how strategy, wherein our two best batsmen have had to shoulder a big bowling load.

Oh well.

Tbh, the manner of defeats are the problem, 3-1 in India is no disgrace, but it's the quality of the 3 defeats (or lack of it) that's the issue.

Positives:

Jimmy is still a genius
Joe Root got a score and his bowling has developed a bit further
Stokes has done ok
Foakes has kept well
Butler kept well too tbf
Leach hasn't been bad

Negatives:
Pretty much everything else

The real disappointing thing is we've not really learned anything about anything we didn't know already. No one else has really stood up and as enlightened as it was, the rotation hasn't worked at all.
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Agree completely there. Think this tour will help the selection considerably as we have seen who can cope with real pressure
 
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