Sticking the opposition in and conceding 1000 runs in total is where it went wrong IMO
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Decision at the toss was a bad one but the really worrying thing is how much more a Bumrah-less India got the ball to do. Really rank bowling display from England
Should have played Jofra Archer
Brook and Smith can come out with their reputations intact/improved respectively. Everyone else D- or worse, a really horrible outing.
Was always going to be tricky in a post-Anderson/Broad world but I do think weāve got enough good fast bowlers for some of them to separate themselves at some point. Really not sure what we do with Bashir though. And unfortunately it might be time to put the curtains up round Woakes.
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Was there for 2 days and everything Siraj and Deep bowled looked dangerous.
Bar a few over spell from Carse, our bowling was totally non existent.
Woakes bowled nicely for the first hour on day one, couple of very tight umpires call decisions.
Slim pickings for 234 overs in the field
I do think the result is a bit harsh on the bowlers, the wicket wasnāt great for bowling on, but then Akash got 10, so clearly it wasnāt impossible.
My kneejerk team for Lordās
Duckett
Smith
Bethell
Root
Brook
Pope (ā )
Stokes
Atkinson
Rehan Ahmed (but realistically itāll be Bash)
Carse
Archer
Thereās a seamer up at Lancashire taking wickets. Might be worth a look
With him in the team, nameās already on the trophy.
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Yeah thatās true. We could have had 30-4 day one
It wasnāt just the bowling that felt different to me, but also the sustained pressure. India looked switch on in the field but we were uncharacteristically loose.
And I didnāt feel there were too many periods where you felt we were tightening the screws. Whereas it felt from the field placements and team reaction like India could get a wicket at any moment.
There was a point yesterday where it felt like weād given up. Bashir was just making up the over count and we were bowling Tongue into the ground. Without any real plan
Will be interesting to see how much they rotate the bowling options next test and fitness of them. I could see a possibility of Woakes, Carse and Tongue all being replaced for rotation and rest. Although if Woakes is fit enough maybe theyāll push through with his Lords record.
Iād be replacing Bashir as well, Root does a better job and I dread to think what will happen in Australia if they persist with him as the Aussies will really attack him. Really hope we take some alternatives and itād be ideal to get them involved in the last two tests.
On the bowling performance I was more disappointed in Tongue and Carse given expectations for Australia attack and hitting the deck hard. Feel like if Woakes had the decisions go his way itās a different discussion, but he was never a bowler for the wicket at Edgbaston. Surprised they picked him, as heās played so little cricket and felt like he needs more overs to find his rhythm (not all in one innings!).
On the wider fantasy changes where Smith moves up the order, I wouldnāt be giving the gloves to Pope because his position should still be questioned with his lack of consistency, hopefully he returns with another big score in the series. Crawley and Pope are the batting question marks with how they expose Root that Iād look to address but theyāve stuck with them for so long it wonāt happen.
Also really need a knock or just time at the crease for Stokes in the remaining tests.
Anyway, makes for a very interesting next test
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Wiaan Mulder currently on 364 against Zimbabwe.
https://www.youtube.com/live/XTBbXWBdl4k?si=U-BcvGVWWEEczHRy
Suryavanshi teeing off again already
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Apologies to our guy Mulder but i really donāt want him to knock off Laraās iconic 400. Doesnāt feel right
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They declared on him! Oof
Edit: or it could be lunch and cricinfo went too early
626 at lunch on day 2 feels like a fairly early declaration even without the 367*
Heās captain though so guess he agrees with you
It is lunch and I donāt see anything about a declaration?
EDIT: oh.
Mind blown. I was thinking that he had time to have a pop at Laraās 501 if he wanted to
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