Cricket 2014
Oh Dear! Here we go again!
July 11th 2014
When India
were 304-4 shortly before lunch they must have wondered if they would be facing
500, or even more when batting. Going into lunch at 342-5, England would have
reflected that they had exercised control and that with an early wicket after
lunch India could be restricted to under 400. They would never in their wildest
dreams have imagined that India would be 346-9 fewer than five overs later. For
once, something had gone very seriously right for Alistair Cook.
Before
the Test Stuart Broad had talked about the importance of dismissing Kohli
early. That had worked but, instead, Vijay and Dhoni scored the runs from a less
expected direction. Maybe they should also have made serious plans to dismiss
the tail, because are getting into a nasty habit of doing the hard work and
then letting a tail-ender undo all the good that had been done previously.
Two
wickets for Stokes, a brilliant run out by Anderson, a wicket for Broad and,
suddenly, India were facing being dismissed for under 350 and having wasted the
Toss quite dismally. Thirty-eight overs later, Kumar and Shami were still
batting, both with fifties to their name and the second new ball was due. It is
the third time that the tenth wicket has put on a century partnership against
England in the last year. Since the start of the 2012 summer Test series,
England have conceded a century 10th wicket partnership three times
and a fifty partnership a further five: that is eight partnerships of 50+ conceded
in just 26 innings.
England
threw everything at the batsmen except a straight full-length ball. It was
utterly depressing and, with five Tests compressed into just six weeks, the
last thing that England’s attack needed after being worked hard by Sri Lanka in
back-to-back Tests, was to have to bowl an average of 35 overs each here.
Finally, Moeen Ali, who has been treated with some contempt by the Indian
batsman, got Kumar to hole out.
When your
luck is out, it is out. Cook was one straight ball from being hailed as a hero
after lunch. After Tea there was only one topic of conversation and it was not
Cook’s brilliant tactical nous. The punchline was obvious and inevitable. Out
came the captain to bat on a pitch that was as flat and lifeless as any opening
batsman could hope for, against an attack that does not have anyone near the
pace of the Sri Lankan seamers. It was made for a big century, until a fairly
innocuous ball ricocheted off the thigh pad onto the stumps. It is the sort of
dismissal that only happens to a batsman desperately out of form and in need of
some luck.
Another
failure for Cook. Another tiny partnership for the first wicket turning the #3
into a virtual opener. And all on the back of another tail-ender scoring big
runs against a frustrated attack that the captain was unable to chivvy into
restoring order. When you have a bowler in Liam Plunkett whose fastest ball is
as far the high side of 90mph as the opposition’s fastest bowler is below 90mph,
it is frustrating that he is being asked to drop the ball a third of the way
down the pitch instead of ripping out the tail with Yorkers.
The
danger for England is obvious. While India’s seamers have been given a very
light load in the warm-ups by Duncan Fletcher, England’s seamers broke their
hearts in the 2nd Test against Sri Lanka having had only three days of
rest from a supreme effort in the 1st Test. With so much cricket in
so little time, the England attack will be exhausted by half way through the
series. You suspect that Duncan Fletcher is saying to his players “hang in
there for three Tests, tire out the bowlers and they’ll be ready for the taking
in the last two”. Unless the England batsmen can make some big scores and give
the bowlers some proper rest, India could easily take advantage and win two of
the last three Tests.
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