Fourth Test

The fourth test was a belter.  Joe Root went back to playing his normal game and scored a great unbeaten ton, with crucial support from Foakes and Robinson.  Then the young spinners got stuck in and Bashir took his maiden Test five for.  After five sessions England were cruising, at this time I was listening to Talksport which was just rubbish. Whole overs went by while the “commentators” just waffled amongst themselves and failed to inform us what was going on in the middle.  At close of play the team of “experts” had totally written off any chance of an Indian win even though the beginnings of a fight back had already stared.  Day three was all India who not only fought back but found themselves favourites by the end of play.  On the fourth day England scrapped but India hung on to clinch the match and the series.

Another defeat for England but one which didn’t smart as much as the previous one because this was not a poor performance, it was just India were better.  The home team has an inexperienced batting line up but on these pitches they have the edge over England’s inexperienced spinners which is not to say Bashir and Hartley have bowled badly.  Picking these two and Ahmed has been an inspired choice and further endorsement for the Stokes / McCullum method.  England may lose this series 4-1 but we are still the best Test team in the world.

Uproar

The House is in uproar because the Speaker broke protocol over a vote.  Of course, of all things, this vote was about a call for a ceasefire in Palestine.  Now over fifty MPs are calling for the Speaker to resign, which is probably fair enough.  But if all inside the House are held to the same standard, how many Tories would there be left?

Third Test

As soon as I proclaim England as the best Test team in the world they have arguably their worst performance of the Stokes era.  A game that thanks to Ben Duckett was pretty even after two days swung dramatically in India’s favour.  Duckett aside all the outstanding individual performances came from Indian players; Rohit, Jadeja twice and Jaiswal who looks like a future star.  In the second England could take pride in defeat but not so here, this was a piss poor performance.  Going forward it would help if Joe Root would just play his own game, his current batting shows about the same intelligence as his captaincy and hopefully someone in the management will realise Barking mad Bairstow’s golden 2022 was an anomaly.  There I said it.

We’ve been here before, a chastening defeat sees all of us thinking “BB couldn’t really work…” but so far under Stokes England have managed to bounce back. Being 2-1 down away should be a bridge too far anywhere, let alone in the most difficult conditions a visiting cricket team can face.  We’ve seen recent England teams crumble in Australia and here in India many times before.  But if there has ever been an England team that can turn it around then it’s this one.

Concerned

David fucking Cameron was the PM that gave us austerity and promised the Brexit referendum in an attempt to control his own party now he’s Foreign secretary he twiddles his cock while genocide is committed in Gaza.  He is “deeply concerned” apparently…

All square

The second test has been and gone, another really good match but this time India got on top early and didn’t release their grip. In the end the home team won comfortably enough on paper but England fought back hard and the hosts were never comfortable until the last wicket fell. This time the key individual performances all came from Indian players; Jaiswal, Gill and especially Bumrah.  But even in defeat England still look a good, confident team, the brave selection of young unheralded spinners has been a success and Stokes’ team doesn’t seem to feel any pressure.  If England can get ahead of the game at any future stage we know India will definitely feel it.  I still fancy England to win this series but whatever the final result it’ll be fun.

I actually tuned in to Talksport for the final session and it was even more awful than I remember.