Fragile.
I’m sick to bloody death of it. He has a fragile temperament. A day when Adil Rashid did not deliver the goods isn’t explained away by any other factor than that he bottled it. That he won’t do well under pressure. That he is fragile. Amazing isn’t it? How someone gets labelled. He was our exciting spinner in the last test. Now he’s some unreliable precious little flower.
Cards on the table folks. I didn’t see any of today’s play. I’m catching up on yesterday’s highlights as I write this, and a debut ton for Keaton Jennings. I noticed how that was lauded and praised, but not in any sense or proportion to the Justin Bieber-esque HH responses that our media giants conveyed. Still, it’s only a hundred on a road, innit? So I’m going to have to wing this a bit, but then you are used to that.
India are playing at home and we are being a little more competitive than some of the other giants of the game over there. We’re not getting skittled for very low scores in every game, and while India are making scores, we’re not getting battered to all parts. We have a bad session or two, and it seems to cost us.
India finished the day still a fair way behind. A lot can happen in making up another 254 runs, so lets not get too carried away. I can remember a test match I was at in 2002 – the infamous Nasser toss game – Aussie got 450+, and at the end of the day England had 160 odd for 1! We all know how that turned out. I also know that although I enjoyed that day, I knew we were nowhere near in the game. Yes, I know it is markedly different but by thinking we’re is total strife at this point betrays our own mental state, just as mine did then. Nick one of these two out early, get Kohli, and then there’s all to play for. Who knows, Adil might not be fragile tomorrow.
I’ll update when I see the highlights, but in case I don’t get time tonight, this can act as the conduit for comments on Day 3. Thanks to Sean for holding the fort, and if anyone gives a hoot, the migraines have eased. Reading Newman is enough to make me want to lay down in a darkened room, though.
Sorry for the lack of analysis/comment, but it’s been madness as usual in life and recreation, and not helped by feeling a bit ropey, and I hope to be able to finish off the series I’ve undertaken. But, as you probably know, I’m a blogger of fragile temperament. Some days I feel like it, others I bottle it.
Comments below.
Being Outside Cricket 
Ha ha ha You fragile, Dmitri, I don’t think so .May feel that way after a wretched migraine but no, would not describe you as fragile.Hope you have recovered enough to keep us up to date with the Test but don’t push it, you need time to get back on your feet. I’m not holding out a lot of hope for England ( some may say I’m a little biased).They just don’t seem to be able to pull together, not a team.Anyway I’ll save my comments for 1 more day and see how it pans out.
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I wonder if there is an agreement ( nothing written down of course, no paper trail) by the so called big 3 not to create pitches that are too rigged in the home sides favour? In the last Ashes England created green seamers at Nottingham and Birmingham, but they also did provide flat roads in both London venues.
It’s a good way for the big 3 to stay top of the pile. Make the dodgy ones when the non big 3 are touring. Tin foil hat stuff I know. These pitches certainly (so far) have been much better to bat on than what we were warned would be coming.
As for Newman, he is increasingly sounding like a mad drunk, staggering round town late at night just shouting cray shit at people. There is no rhyme or reason to it.
England have a good day tomorrow and they can set this game up. If India bat all day with wickets in hand, then it could get embarrassing.
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Nah, tin foil hat I think. Pitches are not the exact science that people make them out to be, and then there’s the factor that groundmen are traditionally independent and do what they bloody well want (although that may be changing), I doubt India would have given England a fighting chance here.
But I do admit I have no other explanation as to why the pitches seem to have been relatively comfortable. It’s a long shot, but I could say English batting competence?
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South Africa regularly skittled India out for 200-odd as well in 2015 in fact in the first and third Test. I have yet to meet anyone who claims that Tahir + Harmer are that much better than Moeen and Tahir.
In fact, it was the worst batting series for India at home in 15 years, since the South African tour of 1999/2000 (which South Africa won). This is despite the Delhi (4th Test) massively improving the batting averages for India. I would not say that the Indian batting has improved that massively in the last year. Nor do I recall India regularly being skittled out that cheaply in Australia (last tour there), on what were definitely good wickets.
Last year a proposed excuse for the state of the wicket was global warming. While undoubtedly it would have some effect, I doubt the effects would be the difference between 200 as a par score and 500 as a par score.
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If you’re feeling a bit bruised and battered Dmitri then there’s nothing like a flash of canary yellow to cheer you up.
Smith has done it again. Randall eat your heart out.
http://www.cricket.com.au/video/steve-smith-classic-catch-watch-video-australia-new-zealand-mcg-third-odi/2016-12-09
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Pfffff, says Punter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_ANBewmvhA
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As we used to say in the Wagga Wagga seconds, arse beats class every time.
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First session: 101/1 off 31 overs.
Some, er, odd bowling changes – Ali bowled 10 consecutive overs (a spell described by Atherton as “reasonable but unthreatening”) whereas Anderson didn’t get on until after 75 mins and Rashid until 85 mins.
Two facets of yesterday’s play that have barely been mentioned – 1) England were 230/2 so lost 170/8. Moeen Ali needed to go on or one of Stokes, Bairstow, Woakes or Rashid make at least a fifty. 2) Rashid created the only chance to dismiss Vijay when Bairstow missed a stumping (on 45). It was very similar to a stumping off Hafeez that Bairstow missed in the 3rd Test in UAE which had an enormous impact on that game (which might be mentioned if the UAE series hadn’t been flushed down the memory plughole).
When Rashid came on, Gavaskar said the batsmen had been going after him because they saw him as the danger. Hussain immediately said, “but is it because they see him as a confidence bowler?”. At least he didn’t use the f-word.
Does anyone know why Saqlain isn’t with the team for this Test?
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Love it. Cook goes off the field and Root takes over as captain. He puts himself on to bowl and immediately takes two wickets!
Get better soon, Dmitri!
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Blatant insubordination on Root’s part. Clearly not ready for the captaincy…
Yes, get well LCL!
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I can’t “like” a comment as I don’t belong to WordPress, but believe me I would have liked it if I could…
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I think the strapline should come back:
Being Outside Cricket:
The Home of Fragile and Bilious Inadequates, Vile Ignoramuses, Social Media Zealots.
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Brilliant captaincy to bring Root on to bowl!!!
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Second session: 101/4 off 30.
Crowd given as 19,400.
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I missed the Rashid chance to get rid of Kohli as I was in the shower. Was it a difficult one?
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I wouldn’t call it easy, but it also wasn’t that hard. It was low just to his left but wasn’t hit that hard. If it helps I can put it in commentator’s terms; it was a catch you’d take eight times out of ten.
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Bloody hell!!!!!
. The score card on cricinfo says that England are 1 over ahead of the minimum requirement.
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Just woke up. That bad?
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Must be referring to the bowling options in the first session (see my earlier comment). The field placings have been okay – nothing inspired but nothing horrendous.
One of the oddities of today is that Rashid’s hardly bowled a googly. Difficult to understand why – or where that idea’s come from.
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Nick Knight quoted at tea on the Sky Twitter commentary:
“”I think Cook had a better session as captain – not taking the new ball”.
I think you can read that as an implied criticism of the captaincy in the first session (especially the bowling options – see my earlier post). Sky turned that into “Nick Knight’s impressed by Cook’s captaincy”.
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And first over with the second new ball and Kohli’s dropped (Root at second slip)….
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Batsman dropped was Jayant of course.
Kind of seeing Kohli everywhere by now!
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Jake Ball looks good. This is the first time I’ve seen him bowl. He can reverse it and get quite a bit of bounce even with the old ball. His pace is decent as well.
I’ve only seen a few overs from him, but he reminds me of Chris Tremlett.
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I note that the fragile marked card is only the second English leg spinner to take 20 wickets in a series?
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Absolutely fucked off with twitter and pundits over Rashid. Even the journo I grew up with on my council estate was at it today. It’s a bandwagon. Salisbury was useless on sub continent tours but noone questioned his temperament. But it’s open season on Rashid. Sickening.
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Wasn’t Salisbury useless in England as well? Or anywhere else for that matter?
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Bowled really well for Surrey. But never had his mettle questioned – rather he was a plucky old trier.
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Yep, I saw him bowl for Surrey in the early 90s and he looked pretty good but was rubbish when he played for England. What I remember from the commentary for the test matches he played in was that it was good to see a leg spinner bowl for England but he simply wasn’t talented enough, but he should be encouraged.
Now we have a talented leg spin bowler but when he has a bad session it’s down to his temperament. Rashid is not a new Warne (I remember people saying Salisbury was) so use him properly and don’t destroy his confidence.
Apologies for the rant and also for the unusually high number of comments from me! I’ve been able to watch live test cricket again after a couple of decades so am probably a little over-excited…
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Rashid is knackered, he has to come off. 28 overs on the trot. This is ridiculous.
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Well, he has finally come off after a 28-over spell.
It should be noticed that India were 307/6, and have now moved to 405/7. England struggling to get the lower order batsmen out, again.
So in the 130th over, England finally take the new ball. Anderson sees Jayant promptly dropped by Root.
And in the 131st over, Woakes finally bowls his seventh over of the innings.
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A fragile 28-4-88-2.
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New ball. Anderson. Nick. Dropped.
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Surely not even Alice could defend this level of fuckwittery?
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Second Test running where Cook’s pissed away a review when hardly anyone else thought there was a nick (certainly Bairstow didn’t in both cases).
Tell me it’s a coincidence that on both occasions the bowler was his mate?
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I’m absolutely steaming over it. If you were getting them back in five minutes time, fine. But we now pray nothing happens where we need this in the next 30.
PS Genius Anderson now has 4 wickets for 200 after his “he must play” pieces in the media, and none since Vizag.
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I don’t think reviews get topped up after 160. Unless that has recently changed.
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I thought it was every 80 overs, but may be wrong.
But if so, made the review even more fucking stupid.
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Needless to say, Jayant edges one through from Moeen to Bairstow. Umpire did not pick it, England can’t review it.
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And Cook just tried to review a decision when England had no reviews left. I didn’t see the delivery but heard the commentary which suggested England might have had a chance of winning it. Anyone see it?
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Was out. Definite edge.
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Media of course are blaming the umpire.
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Thanks, that’s what it sounded like, although haven’t seen anything about the umpire, but it doesn’t surprise me.
Time for bed. Believe it or not, it’s snowing here, albeit on top of a couple of 14,000 ft mountains. It means I probably don’t have to work this weekend so can watch more of the match which will be nice. This time I might just have a bottle of whisky next to me though…
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He’s back on!!!!!!
Get back to your sheep, Sheep. FFS….
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Seriously, Root (2-17) comes on for last over of day.
No-one bar Cook would get away with shockers like today. Nobody.
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In the post-match discussion between Ward, Botham and Hussain there was not a mention of the leadership on the field. All about team selection. Common view is we “stuck at it”.
Dean Wilson being controversial….. for Dean Wilson.
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The different ways he’s found to show what a shithouse captain he is are really quite awesome.
In the next Test, he should win the toss, put India in and watch them score 700 just for the full house. Or perhaps save that one for Brisbane 2017?
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If I have not counted wrongly, I make it 66 overs of spin today. England still need a few extra minutes to get the 90 in.
India are 451/7 at stumps, and England really need a miracle to share the series from here.
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That booming sound you can hear rolling around Wankhede stadium is actually the echo of England shooting itself in the foot with a large bore shotgun.
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There are many large bores in our MSM, currently in indecision as to which foot to shoot themselves into next,,. much depending on the russian roulette crap-shoot for getting the ghosting ‘honour’ of our Craptain’s next ‘autobiography’…
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In the first test the TMS live feed had a poll asking who was better Root or Kohli. I voted Kohli but to my shock the poll showed something circa 70% in Root’s favour. I commented on it here. Anyway, I am a massive Root fan don’t get me wrong but the one eyed blinkeredness of some English fans winds me up. I mean honestly look at Kohli, look at his innings today, would you honestly have Root over him….it’s the same with people’s views about Pietersen, Rashid, Compton etc. completely blinkered and uninformed. Open your eyes and make your own decisions based on evidence and sound judgement…..
Anyway managed to watch lots of the play today and it was great!
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“he’s got all the DRS experience that his opposite number doesn’t have”.
http://www.alloutcricket.com/blogs/india-v-england-predictions
Well okay, we’ve all made bad predictions and I wish I could find Newman saying it. But as, out of six of them, only one went for Kohli as top run-scorer (two went for Rahane and two went for…. you’ve guessed it) and for top wicket-taker two went for Moeen Ali and none for Rashid, I’m not feeling too generous to them.
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The English media are covering themselves with shit this series, with the exception of the ever rational Atherton. Even Shastri is making more sense than Nasser. Recall his comment after the first Test that England had worked out how play Ashwin and had got to him so successfully that he had to change his action. The more logical conclusion would be that the pitch was dead and Ashwin was experimenting. In this current match, if a side gets 400 off 130 overs, the rational conclusion is that the pitch is sound. Of course it has more spice than Rajkot but…. Another rational conclusion would be that England missed their chance, or that the batting was a bit crap. But no, we get pundit after pundit calling it a bunsen and then tacitly but not explicitly saying that it is not a difficult pitch. The fact that Jadeja struggled to bowl maidens is not used to drive any analysis. Was it Nasser who concluded that Vijay had been found out? His century here was a delight to watch. Was it Nasser after the first Test who said that, when Cook gets a ton early in a series, he goes big. Three innings to go, Nasser. Are you going to admit you are a shit pundit?
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Newman is up…. It starts with the niceties of the Kohli innings, but then it descends into, well, read it…
Oh, there’s a but coming…
You knew he’d bring those tweets into it!
There’s also a little pop at Kohli for the referral signal, which in the hands of a Stokes or a Root would be seen as cheeky, but then Newman lets us know that Kohli isn’t the most popular player in England’s dressing room right now. Well, when he’s smashing us to all parts you aren’t going to be too big a fan, are you?
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Ouch, 4 sessions of cricket and we go from a very promising position to near certain defeat. We had our chances today but by the end looked like a defeated rabble tbh and I wonder if their 2nd innings will be one of those where the wheels truly come off.
I think the point was made on here during the Third Test that, whatever the advantages India have in these conditions, they are not unbeatable and a robust strategic approach backed up by good selection could counteract at least some of India’s advantages.
What I’m not seeing from this England team is the mental focus to grind out good individual scores from batsmen who have played themselves in (remember the 3 soft dismissals in our top 4) nor a plan that drives the selection of the bowling attack nor the quality of fielding this team should deliver. Disappointing as well to see little reverse swing or canny, slower off-cutter style bowling from the seamers. I don’t see any evidence of a common approach to dealing with spin in the way that Duncan Fletcher tutored his teams in. In short, it doesn’t look like a well led side carrying out a disciplined plan.
I don’t blame the spinners so much, I think they’re the best we’ve got and have tried as hard as they can. They’re not simply in the same league as Ashwin and Co. as a unit and, sadly, this situation isn’t going to get better given the future planning around the content of the English CC season.
Despite the amazing all-round depth of English cricket, this team is in danger of being destined to be one that only succeeds in relatively seam friendly conditions if or when one of their gung-ho batsmen comes off and a seamer hits a hot streak to bail the team out. If Australia are wise they’ll add some pace to their wickets next year, such is this England team’s discomfort in any sort of alien conditions.
Frustrating, there’s a very good team in there if the right leaders can be found to tease it out. One day cricket, however, is the ECB’s focus now.
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I repeat what I have said before…….
Cook has the easiest job in English sport. There are NEVER any consequences for his idiocy, and incompetency. He bungles along, and his courtiers never question or criticise his actions. The only people who are even more incompetent or corrupt are the English cricket media.
And make no mistake, they are either corrupt or completely clueless. I don’t really care which one they are, but I would like them to come out publicly and admit which of the two they fit into. Either way they are not fit for purpose. They either are so stupid they shouldn’t be stealing a living writing and talking shite or they should be sacked for how rotten and bent they are.
Well they can all f*** off as far as I’m concerned. They have become a laughing stock. We should just point at them at laugh…… “The greatest English cricketer of all time.”….. One of these clowns actualy believes it…. Cretin. You should be picking up dog shit in the park, not making a living out of cricket.
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