A Test Match Showcase

Has everyone calmed down yet?

It’s been a couple of days since the 2000^th Test Match in the History of the game and the 100^th between England and India came to an end. A capacity crowd on all five days, lengthy queues, extra security (mainly for Sachin Tendulkar) and a parade of old players - the first Test in the current series certainly lived up to the hype, while the cricket wasn’t bad either. A great advert for the longer format of the game, the match had a number of ebbs and flows; though, in the end, the tide of England proved too strong for an out of form India (some of their key players including Tendulkar himself, as well as Zaheer Khan, have only played one Test match since January). To add to the fact that India are notoriously ‘slow starters’, they also suffered a couple of injuries (most notably to Zaheer Khan who failed to bowl a single ball after the first days play), while the ‘little master’ was struck down with a virus. While India’s Captain, MS Dohni, was quick to point out all these unfortunate events, nothing should detract from that fact that England played exceptionally well.

Put in to bat on a damp, overcast morning, India surely had designs on having England at least four or five down by lunch. While they claimed England’s openers fairly cheaply, they hadn’t banked on the resolve of Jonathon Trott and Kevin Pietersen. OK, so the fact that Trott dug-in in the face of adversity may not have been a total shock, but the way KP played out his innings was a total revelation. Often lambasted (mainly by CricketChicks) for giving his wicket away and playing exciting but lose shots, Pietersen’s double hundred showed a mark of maturity and an understanding of his responsibility within the team. Cautious, watchful and measured are words which seem to juxtapose with the image of ‘Kevin Pietersen the batsman’, but they are surely central to the formation of ‘Kevin Pietersen, one of the greatest batsman of all time.’ While this may seem a total exaggeration, when KP first burst onto the International scene in 2005, that’s exactly what people were saying he had the potential to become - an all time great. In the past few years he has seemed anything but. Yet, if he can consistently put in innings, not only of flare and skill but also substance, there is no reason why he cant achieve such grandeur.

Another player much lauded in their early career but suffering for form of late, is Stuart Broad. Not guaranteed of playing in the starting eleven (the return to full fitness of Tim Bresnan putting serious pressure on his Test place), Broad finally managed, with devastating effect, to find the right, fuller length. Claiming four wickets in the first innings and at times looking virtually unplayable, Broad made all those who had doubted his selection look incredibly stupid. Not only was he brilliant with the ball, but he also contributed an excellent seventy runs to help England set up their declaration and assisted the magnificent Matt Prior in reaching another hundred.

Indeed, one of the key features of this Test Match has been how well the England team have gelled as a unit. Confident in each others abilities, the batsman know the next man in can get the runs, while the bowling unit consist of an effective and varied attack. The swing of James Anderson, the bounce of Chris Tremlett, a combination of the two from Broad and then the spin of Graeme Swann, must be one of, if not the best, bowling line-ups in world cricket.

History in the Making

Today marks the start of a momentous Test match. Here’s why:

1) It is the 2,000^th Test match in the History of the game.

2) It is the 100^th Test match between England and India.

3) It could see Sachin Tendullkar reach his 100 hundredth in all international cricket at the ‘home of cricket’.

4) If victorious, it could see England well on their way to becoming World Number 1 (a feat which would be achieved should they beat India by a margin of at least two games).

All things considered then, this Test promises much. Indeed, it is not just the opening match, but the whole series which brings with it great expectation and anticipation. Make no mistake, while this is a mighty challenge for England (perhaps the greatest they have yet to face), it should also be difficult for India. Ranked the number one Test match team for the past eighteen months, India have gone unbeaten in 11 series and have only lost 3 times in 30 tests. Impressive stats. Though, equally impressive is the fact that England have not been beaten in their last 8 series. They are most definitely a team on the up. What this means then, is that it should be a close fought series. Our money is on an England victory. Whether or not its by a margin of two games, however, remains to be seen.

For England and Captain Cook

Beating Sri Lanka (who were after all World Cup finalists) is no mean feat, especially when you have to come from behind. In the last two One Day Internationals then, England managed to do the unthinkable and turn a 2-1 deficit into 3-2 victory. A good win for England and an even more monumental one for their new ODI Captain, Alastair Cook. Under enormous pressure from the get-go (in fact from the minute he was announced as Andrew Strauss’s successor), Cook has not only handled himself impeccably in a wave of media negativity, but shown his true class as a One Day batsmen. With his total series runs amounting to 298 and a with a strike rate of nearly a run a ball, surely Captain Cook has silenced many of his detractors. To add to his well constructed hundred at Lords, Cook shared an unbeaten partnership of 171 with Craig Kieswetter at Trent Bridge, with the same opening duo then smashing 83 runs off the first 13 overs at Old Trafford. If these two innings are a sign of things to come, England’s One Day prospects look considerably more promising.

One debate which this series may not have ended though, is the issue of having two orthodox (i.e. slow) batsmen in England’s top three. As Cook has continued in the same rich vein of form he left the Test Arena in, the focus has inevitably fallen onto Jonathon Trott - England’s frustrating number three batsmen. Trott is a one-off; an expressionless, superstitious, old-fashioned batsmen who gets runs - valuable runs. With a One Day strike rate of 78.4 and with no other batsmen in the world having scored more runs than him this year, Trott simply must play. The issue, however, for me, is that Cook and Trott should never be at the crease at the same time. They are both accumulators who job is it to take the single and rotate the strike while the more expressive batsmen bat around them. To have them both in together then, would, I feel, cause undue problems. Namely, suffocating the scoring rate and putting pressure on each other to up the ante (such a scenario actually occurred in England’s innings at Lords with Trott out for single figures). Flexibility will thus be key. To give an example then, should Cook happen to go within the first five overs, Trott would be the next man in; being able to take over (and hopefully fulfil) Cooks role. If, however, Keiswetter should lose his wicket, then Kevin Pietersen or (judging by current form) even Eoin Morgan should be the next man in. These are two world class players who are more than capable of playing the big shots and keeping the run-rate ticking at a decent level. Such a plan would, however, depend on the willingness and form of Pietersen. Having never previously taken the initiative to come in at three in a fifty over match before, one can only assume he doesn’t much fancy the idea. More importantly, however, his form of late and his ability to go on and score big is of real concern. One feels that the India series will be massive for KP.

As we say goodbye to Sri Lanka then, (who, considering the fact that it pretty much rained for most of their tour, must be glad to leave the English ‘summer’ behind) our attention turns to India. With four Test Matches up first, the issue over who while occupy the number eight spot is intensifying. Tim Bresnan’s performance in the One Day Series has been exceptional. While, in contrast, Stuart Broad has been badly out of nick. It all depends on how bold the selectors want to be.

Just When You Think They’ve Turned a Corner…

Just when you think the England Cricket Team has turned a corner, they take two massive steps backwards. Yes, we’re talking about the two crushing defeats England have suffered at the hands of Sri Lanka in the current One Day Series (which now stands at 2-1 with two more to play). If Friday’s performance wasn’t bad enough, CricketChicks were actually at Lords yesterday and witnessed first hand England’s ineptness in the One Day format. Lacklustre, unimaginative, limp - these are all words which could appropriately sum up what we saw from England yesterday. An excellent wicket for batting, a par score would probably have been in the region of 280 - 300, if not more. Yet, England’s batsmen were stuttering and doddering as though they were playing on a minefield. The result, a miserly score of just over 240 (thanks in no small part to a late impetus from Graeme Swann who hit a six and a four off Lasith Malinga’s last over), which never looked competitive.

So what exactly went so wrong?

Many have laid the blame with Alastair Cook, the new ODI Captain. Firstly, on winning the toss, he should have elected to bowl first and secondly, his scoring rate was far too slow. Personally, I don’t agree with either of these criticisms. Yes, England have a better winning record when they are chasing down a score (the notion being that they prefer to know exactly what is they have to get so as they can plan and pace their innings accordingly) - the idea of setting a target has always sat uneasily with England. They get nervous, flounder, panic and then ultimately lose. Yet, I believe that a decent squad (as on paper at least, England surely are) should be able to bat sufficiently well first off (assessing conditions, over rate etc.), setting a decent and competitive total. Having won the toss yesterday, there was absolutely no reason why England shouldn’t have made at least three hundred runs. With a decent number of runs on the board, not only would England have had their tail up but all the pressure would have been on Sri Lanka.

One of the reasons, however, according to many, why England failed to do so, was Cook’s scoring rate. I strongly disagree with this. In my opinion, Cook’s role within the team is the ‘accumulator’ - the one who bats out nearly all fifty over’s, takes the singles, rotates the strike and puts away any bad deliveries. 119 off 126 balls, at a strike-rate of 83, doesn’t sound too bad for me. Of course, it could be argued that Cooks plodding nature puts pressure on the person at the other end to score more quickly, thus causing errors. Yet, batsman such as Craig Kiswetter, Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan and Ian Bell should be able to comfortably switch gears once established. What we saw yesterday, however, was Kiswetter scratch around for a number of delivers before getting out (isn’t his role to provide the impetus at the top?), KP throw his wicket away once well set and Morgan doing the complete opposite by trying to be aggressive too early. The result was the regular loss of wickets and the stalling of momentum. As Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara showed brilliantly on Friday, partnerships are key. Certain English batsmen need to actually think while they are in the middle and take some responsibility. Without Cook, England’s total would have been even more abysmal.

The bowling department is not, however, completely blameless. Though I would argue this is more the selectors fault than the players themselves. While Jade Dernbach looks a fine player, is he really better than either Steven Finn or Chris Tremlett? Indeed, it was ironic yesterday, that with England attempting to remove Dinesh Chandimal with short pitch bowling, Dernbach was asked to bang the ball in. I thought his skill was the slower ball? And what’s more if one thinks this type of bowling may be effective against the Sri Lankans, why not have one of the two aforementioned men who can more naturally bowl such balls? England are too focused on slow ball variation. Just because that method worked in the Twenty20 World Cup it doesn’t mean it will work now and in English conditions. As Malinga expertly demonstrates, a well bowled Yorker will undo even the best batsmen.

The game of cricket (particularly the shorter format) is constantly evolving and England are proving slow to adapt. If they don’t do something before Wednesday, this series will be dead and buried.