[Ian J]

We managed to show the world how little we learned in Pakistan and how unadaptable we are in different conditions by ending the day on 246-7 on a flat wicket that is probably good for 400 plus runs.

Strauss, Pietersen and Blackwall all perished to dreadful cross batted shots proving that they learned nothing from Pakistan with only debutant Cook plus Collingwood having the application to try and grind out an innings without any of the fancy stuff.

It will take some fairly stoic batting from Collingwood & the tail to get us up to 300 tomorrow but with the new ball available straight away I can't see the liklihood of that happening.

[Monty Burns]

Sad but true, .... so very, very, very true ....

[KevD]

I still think we are in the game if we can crawl over 300, if I remember correctly the tail spared us a few times in Pakistan. Not the ideal start and agreed some of the shots were silly particularly Strauss bearing in mind the solid start thay had made. He should have taken responsibility playing alongside Cook who was Very impressive

[DJT75]

I definitely chose the wrong 90mins to watch this morning before work, the 90mins after lunch in which Pietersen & Cook grounded out about 20 runs for their 2 wickets... From what I saw, Cook didn't look out of place & was handling the pressure pretty well......

[KevD]

Originally Posted by KevD

I still think we are in the game if we can crawl over 300, if I remember correctly the tail spared us a few times in Pakistan. Not the ideal start and agreed some of the shots were silly particularly Strauss bearing in mind the solid start thay had made. He should have taken responsibility playing alongside Cook who was Very impressive

Did I say 300?? I meant £400 !!
Thank You Mr Collingwood
Let me at 'em, Let me at 'em

[DJT75]

393 all out, can't grumble with that after yesterday - just a shame Sky kept losing the feed.......

[Monty Burns]

blimey! Thats pretty good going indeed!

[Opticon]

Yes, at least the England tail-enders remember how to bat! A very good innnings from Panesar by all accounts, and exactly the kind of batting you expect of Steve Harmison!

[DJT75]

Why have we given them 20 extras in 36 overs? That's 20% of their score, we only got 27 extras in 127.5 overs from them....

[Opticon]

Yes, unfortunately while Harmison had a good innings with the bat, he doens't seem to be doing his actual job of bowling very well at the moment!

[Ian J]

India are 190-6 at lunch with Hoggy taking three superb wickets in 11 balls and Monty Panasar claiming the scalp of Tendulkar as his maiden Test wicket.

What a morning and I missed it all as I overslept and didn't get up until 6:30

[JohnG]

Same here. I thought we were going to struggle to get vital wickets without Jones to be honest.

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by JohnG

I thought we were going to struggle to get vital wickets without Jones.

There is no doubt that we have a superb bunch of bowlers when they are on song and all it takes is a purple patch from one of them to turn a game on it's head. It happened in the Ashes series but not in Pakistan where we bowled tidily but not spectacularly.

[JohnG]

190-7 now

[KevD]

Originally Posted by Ian J

India are 190-6 at lunch with Hoggy taking three superb wickets in 11 balls and Monty Panasar claiming the scalp of Tendulkar as his maiden Test wicket.

What a morning and I missed it all as I overslept and didn't get up until 6:30

Same here, Guted about it. I hadnt missed any of the first 2 days

[Opticon]

Originally Posted by KevD

Same here, Guted about it. I hadnt missed any of the first 2 days

Well just be glad you've seen most of it, some of us are stuck at work and can't watch any of it!

Good to see an English bowler step up though, as Ian said, any of our bowlers are capable of turning a game, and good to see Hoggard bowling more overs, i've always thought he was little under-used in the past.

[KevD]

Finally, I was getting a bit worried. We should now have a lead I hope and on this pitch any lead will be useful

[DJT75]

319-7

In the words of Sid Waddell "This game is twisting & turning like a rattlesnake with a hernia!"

[KevD]

Closed at 322 - 9. Great ball from Monty to get rid of Kaif, he looks he could be useful

[KevD]

Pietersen with a possible stroke of luck, But lead od 225 with a session left

[scrapbook]

I like the look of Cook and Collingwood in the team. It is nice to have a couple of grinders to compliment all those stroke players we have.

Will someone please order Ian Bell a taxi to the airport....

[Ian J]

Pietersen had a couple of strokes of fortune today as he was clearly out caught & bowled by Kumble and a couple of overs later gave a fairly simple catch that was dropped.

The Indian team fielded very poorly today dropping several catches and England capitalised well. I'm sure that India won't bat as poorly tomorrow as they did in the first innings and it would be great to see Panasar with a five wicket haul on debut to go with Alastair Cook's debut hundred.

[Dubster]

Pietersen is a bit of a chancer and imo more suited to od cricket but still good to watch even if he does ride hes luck a bit too much

[KevD]

Pietersen is a bit of a chancer and imo more suited to od cricket but still good to watch even if he does ride hes luck a bit too much

While I agree he has the ability to go and be a great ODI player, his game is far more than that and he is well suited to the longer form of the game.

Take todays innings for instance he got set and then went on to take chances to boost the scoring. He is much like Flintoff a few years back, and if he learns the way Flintoff has he will be some Test match player. India and Australia have Sehwag and Gilchrist who are the biggest chancers in the game but they have the confidence to back themselves and it comes off.

I also think hes is a great team player, he was great helping out Cook.

Here his young test match record and his first class record which are both impressive. Remember he has only played against Australia and Pakistan/India away, which is about as hard as start as you can get.

A Test Match player for the 7/8 years at least


Test Match Record

mat..inns...no...runs...hs.....ave.....bf......sr. ....100..50....4s...6s...ct..st
..9*...18.....1......766...158...42.56....1109.. 69.07...2.....4....81.. 20....4....0


First Class Record

mat..inns...no...runs...hs.....ave.....bf......sr. ....100..50....4s...6s...ct..st
..88...143....13....6661..254*..51.23....----..------...23....28...--.. --....83...0

[Ian J]

Pietersen was one of the main catalysts for winning the Ashes as it was he that blasted Warne and McGrath all over the place in the Oval Test when the others were just poking and prodding and he showed them that you should play the ball and not the reputation.

Also if it wasn't for his century in the Lord's Test that forced the draw we would have probably drawn the series and therefore not regained the Ashes.

Whilst I love watching him bat when he's in full flow ( I was at the Bristol game when rescued us from a losing position on his own) he can be a liability in a tight game as he showed in the first innings at Nagpur playing on with a crossed bat trying to play a shot that should never have been tried.

Another conundrum for the selectors is what will happen to Collingwood when we have a fully fit squad

[Ian J]

Interesting that India had to scrap so hard for a draw yet who would have given us odds on that result a week ago when everyone expected India to beat us within three days.

Nasser made an interesting point during commentary that two years ago Alastair Cook was opening the batting for Bedford School yet here he was playing Test cricket for the first time and making a century against India on the types of pitches that he has probably never played on before, facing the quality of spinner that he probably hasn't encountered either in his eight first class matches for essex last season.

The next match will be interesting as the pitch will probably be faster. That will suit our seamers but it could also make Kumble a bit of a handful. Let's hope that we win the toss again.

[scrapbook]

Originally Posted by Ian J

Nasser made an interesting point during commentary that two years ago Alastair Cook was opening the batting for Bedford School yet here he was playing Test cricket for the first time and making a century against India on the types of pitches that he has probably never played on before, facing the quality of spinner that he probably hasn't encountered either in his eight first class matches for essex last season.

Wow he only played 8 first class matches last year? Top performance.

I assume we are going to drop Blackwell for Jones in the next match?

[KevD]

Originally Posted by scrapbook

Wow he only played 8 first class matches last year? Top performance.

I assume we are going to drop Blackwell for Jones in the next match?

Is Jones back for Thursday??

[Ian J]

I don't think that Jones will be fit but Liam Plunkett may come in at the expense of Blackwell.

[Opticon]

I think for India to end up having to battle that hard for a draw given how badly england started the match shows how far england have come as a team. I think that a few years ago, if they'd made a start like that, they would probably have lost the match.

I also think Pietersen is a real asset to the side, coming in where he does, he has the ability to take the game very quickly away from the opposition. A player like that is always going to get out playing rash shots now and then, but i don't think you could ask him to play any differently. Hopefully, he will mature over time as freddie did, and begin to learn exactly when to go on the attack.