England Are Lucky: Can They Make It Count?

 

 

Cricket 2014

 

Luck starts to turn

 

July 29^th 2014

 

In the end, 569-7d looks pretty good, but it involved a fair slice of luck. Alistair Cook made 95, but was dropped off an easy chance on 15. Ian Bell made 167 but, had DRS been in place, would have departed for a duck and Jos Buttler was walking when he gave a low catch to slip before the matter was referred to the Third umpire who, as usually happens in such cases, found sufficient doubt in the foreshortened view of the TV camera’s telefocal lens to give the batsman a probably unmerited lifeline – Buttler made 85 at a rattling pace. Take away those 332 runs and it would have been business as usual for England and a battle to save the game, even if Gary Ballance can fairly say that he got a pretty poor call.

There are times when a side needs a little luck. Last winter, in Australia, England lost the toss in the first three Tests and was right on the back foot from the start. What luck there was all went Australia’s way until England were too battle-scarred to be able to take advantage.

Here, India can feel hard done by in several senses, but certainly did not help themselves. Dropped catches, poorly directed bowling and lax fielding all helped to make England’s job easier. While the bowlers were persistent, many pundits thought that they did not deserve to do much better than they did.

While both Bell and Cook got runs, neither should have done. However, they took their chances well. Better to have a life and take full advantage, than to have one and fall a few balls later. Bell looks back to his best although, for Cook, it is still a struggle. Similarly, Jos Buttler was extremely lucky not to start his Test career with a duck however, as he took advantage of his luck, India surrendered and the unfortunate Jadeja went for 21 in one particularly violent over. This score has probably ensured that Jos Buttler’s place will not be disputed for the rest of the summer at least. Even if his ‘keeping is deficient, it is as well to remember that neither Alec Stewart no Matt Prior were anywhere near Test-class wicket-keepers initially.

Things are looking better but, until England have bowled on this surface, we do not know how good England’s score is. If the bowlers can do a bit better than in previous matches in terms of line and length and put India under some real pressure, we can start to talk of the corner being turned. So far this summer though, England have got themselves into some very good positions, but not been able to exploit them. The corner will not be turned until they are exploited and a win results.