We clearly thought that the only way we could win was by sweeping and the batters had clear instructions on that basis. It looked likely to be Shan’s first victory when he won the toss but that’s cricket !!!
Pathetic? Behave yourself. You have noted the scores have gone gradually down each innings one to four? You are aware the pitch was essentially nine days old today? They’ve been outplayed and spun out of the game by two bowlers but the fact is that realistically the game was lost at the toss; batting last on that pitch was going to be a tough ask to either side. It started turning and misbehaving by day two (day seven on the pitch) - it only got worse, as a pitch ought to in all fairness. Fair play to Pakistan, they did little wrong - though as I’ve said for me the main contributor to the result was them winning the toss.
Oh? Please explain why you are saying that. You consider throwing so many wickets away in quick time to be acceptable do you? By the way, no need for the abusive comment. It's just my opinion - if you have a different one let's hear it without the snide comment
All you say is true but look at the way they tossed away those wickets this morning. Stokes, especially, was appalling. I know it's our new way of playing - throw the bat at everything, sweep at will - but honestly, he was made to look a complete fool there. I think we can put it right in the decider though. Well, I HOPE we can
Flat track bullies. As soon as a pitch does anything, it highlights that in test cricket, technique and application is king and how poor we are. I very much look forward to our next test incarnation post Key, McCullum and Stokes. You'd think losing two extremely winnable Ashes in a row will be enough to hasten that.
Interesting take - I don’t necessarily agree but even if you are correct, how many teams would have been able to force a result on that pitch in the first test? By batting with old fashioned technique and application, by losing the toss it is still pretty likely this second test would have been lost. At two an over or five an over - there would have been one with their name on eventually regardless. Yes it doesn’t look good running down the wicket, swinging that hard you throw your bat and are out stumped by five yards - but what would blocking have achieved? A myriad of close catchers snaffling them nearly as quickly and likely for even less runs? I mean we’ll never know but look at the match scores - each innings has got a score between 70-80 less than the previous one. Technique and style didn’t lead to defeat here for me. A used pitch and losing the toss did. The technique and style did win the first game though - we can’t have it both ways. The first test would have been a draw 99 times out of a hundred, but it was won comfortably with time to spare in the end. This second game - I can’t say for sure it would have gone the other way had we had first bat on it but it was still pretty flat for a day and a half at the beginning; we’d have scored quicker than they did that’s for sure. Whether we would have got any more is another thing. We’ll never know. The next test will be played on a proper Bunsen, you can guarantee that. We just need to hope we get first bat on it and that Leach and Bashir can at least match Sajid Khan and Noman Ali.
Whether it's BFC, England football or cricket, the automatic BBS reaction to a defeat is sack the manager/coach/board/selectors. Pathetic really.
Not even remotely. I've long commented this brainless slogfest isn't cricket and leads to plenty of defeats with minimal wins that would otherwise not have been. We lost (drew, but if you don't hold them, its a loss) the Ashes because of ego and this crazy style of gifting pointless wickets. India is an excellent test of technique. We failed spectacularly. And I don't watch International football. Bit pathetic your sweeping assumption was flawed from the get go.
It goes way further back though doesn't it? The only real examples of this brainless attitude working is Pakistan where pitches have often been lifeless needing magic bowlers like Waqar and Wasim to really take it out of the equation. But look how many of our wickets we've thrown away leading to much reduced totals and defeats which we should have won, including the only two real series that matter, in India and against the convicts. I take no joy scoring at 6 an over and being out for half your gettable total, even against some woefully poor national teams. There's time for aggression, there are times for patience, there are times to trust your technique. But when only one of your batsmen have technique, you'll come unstuck when the pitch isn't a pancake.
Abusive comment? I literally used the same word that you did back at you. There’s no way you’re going to block your way to a win on that surface. Of course you’ve got to take chances when the odds are so far in the bowlers favour. Pakistan got the right end of the toss and were overall better than us. It happens. There’s 2 sides trying to win each game and I’m not going to start slagging off our players after 1 defeat in extreme conditions.
Current Bet 365 odds have India at 8/5, England at evens and draw at 5/1. Those odds tell you they aren't expecting the usual sub continent road and that whoever wins the toss will probably bat first and win, so keep the win odds close. They will change a fair bit between the toss and the start. About half our team can spin bowl. It's been quite amusing Pakistan trying to dry the pitch with massive fans when it's drying naturally in 30 odd degrees weather.
Too many rubbish sweep shots. Pope if he didn't play for the ECB golden county would have been dropped by now. Let's see how Pakistan bat on it first, but the shots to get out have been poor. Duckett showed you can get runs on this pitch.
Should Pak have been allowed to doctor the pitch ? Obviously yes but what’s it going to be like by day four ? ( if it’s not over by then ).
