Mark Chilton – LiveCricket.in
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14th
Looks like an exciting game ahead but i am still backing our boys. Fantastic effort my Andrew Strauss, i think he becomes only the seventh player in history to score a hundred in each innings on the sub continent and the first England player. He hasn’t played much recently and the preparation for this game was so disrupted that it makes the feat even more impressive.
Straussy has clearly thought long and hard about his gameplan, particularly against the spinners where he looked to sweep on a regular basis but he also played the reverse swinging ball extremely well, playing the ball late and not looking for too many big shots.
Sehwag has played a typically aggressive innings to put India in with a sniff but i reckon Englands attack is well equipped to finish the job off….Flintoff 4 wickets. This would be a huge result for us, India have been in good form and are full of confidence so lets hope the boys finish the job off.
3rd
After the shocking terrorist attacks in Mumbai the England Cricket Team faces a tough decision on whether or not to return to play the two test matches that have been arranged. It is a difficult dilemma for all involved but i personally think they should continue on with the games and try to bring some relief to what has been a dreadful time for the whole of the Indian public. Obviously there needs to be clearance from all the security checks that will be taking place but if that comes back positively then i would encourage the team to tour.
I can understand players concerns and if the tour gets the go ahead they face difficult decisions but hopefully the majority will feel positive about the situation and give the Indian public something to concentrate their minds on after such a terrible time.
Let me know your views, especially you Willo! Englands prospects will be discussed soon.
5th
What a finale….both captains, Ricky Ponting of Australia and Indias golden boy Mahendra Dhoni, have both publicly stated the importance of the final test at Nagpur. After having been comprehensively outplayed in the first three tests, Australia still has a chance to come away from India holding the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
They will be under no illusions though, it will be an incredible result if they pull it off. The pitch will be a huge hurdle for them, all reports suggest a slow, low pitch suited to the spinners….no surprise there then. Australia are still faced with the problem of no Shane Warne, it is time to give Jason Krejza his opportunity. Krejza is relatively unknown but must be there for a reason, he has been selected as the Aussies number one spinner and they have to put some faith in him. Australia have performed well to stay in the series, to follow a huge Indian total of over 600 is never easy no matter how flat the surface and they batted admirably.
Great to see Lancashire new recruit, VVS Laxman, in the runs. He was fabulous in his short stint in 2007 and i am sure we are all looking forward to his arrival. A quick congratulations to him, this will be his 100th match for India….quite an achievement.
My tip….a step to far for Australia. Indian win
21st
India have won the 2nd Test Match by a massive 300 run margin. The Australians were never in it after they failed in their first innings. I have mentioned on a couple of occasions how first innings runs are crucial to teams competing on the sub continent and Ricky Ponting admitted being two hundred runs short. Playing catch up out on Indian wickets, especially with the strength of their spin departement, proved a task too difficult.
The other interesting feature from the match was the difference in the potency of the bowling attacks. Despite a docile surface the Indian bowlers continually tested the Australian batsman with a combination of spin and reverse swing. The Australian bowlers, however, failed to get any assistance at all. They only managed some reverse swing late in the day with a very old ball.
This is the huge advantage the Indians have playing on their own turf, they understand the conditions perfectly and are able to exploit them to the full. It takes a huge amount of skill to manouvre the ball like Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma did. It was a high class display of quick bowling on the sub-continent.
I fear a bit more than a bit of ‘fine tuning’ will be required by the Aussies to bounce back from this crushing defeat.
20th
I thought it would be worth commenting on the Indian Cricket Leagues (ICL) bid to become an authorised competition. This seems quite a complicated situation and one that will be difficult to get to the bottom of so bear with me.
The recent meeting that took place in Mumbai ( in a coffee shop!) between the BCCI (Indian Cricket Board) and ICL proved unsuccessful for the ICL and apparently only lasted a matter of minutes. Clearly, the BCCI will acknowledge this tournament as an absolute last resort and up until then will do everything they can to undermine the ICL. With the BCCI owning the Indian Premier League it seems that they want to try and monopolise the market and rid themselves of any competition.
The ICL are considering legal action against the International Cricket Council (ICC), who need the blessing of the BCCI to authorise the tournament, and believe they have a strong case. The ICL has some powerful backing and they have said they will “not be going away” I don’t think it will be long before we have some answers to this contentious issue.
16th
It seems there is no stopping India and Australia in spicing up their fixtures with a little friendly better between tests! It is safe to say that their relationship has been a little fraught with tension for some time now, and the build up to the test match in Mohali is no different.
Words have been exchanged between the two Captains, Ricky Ponting and Anil Kumble, both having their own little digs. There are question marks over Kumbles position both as player and captain and Ponting has commented on his ineffectiveness with the ball. The Indian Captain has spat back with a dig at the Australians lack of potency on a fifth day wicket……all tame stuff really.
After a fairly flat end to the 1st Test Match i think all will hoping that there is a bit more life in the pitch and the battle can continue on the pitch. There were some fine performances in Bangalore, namely Ponting and Hussey, who proved they are the two best batsmen in the world at the minute. Hussey in particular has been outstanding since making the step up to Test level, and no one deserves this opportunity more than him. A remarkably consistent performer over many years now and great to see him in the limelight.
7th
It is the eve of the first test match between India and Australia in Bangalore and there is much anticipation here in freezing cold Melbourne! Thats right, i have made it to the land of down under and have been surrounded by aussies bigging their side up since i arrived last Friday.
There have been the usual taunts before such an important series, largely based around the pressure surrounding the experienced ‘big four’, in the Indian batting line up. There certainly seems to be alot of talk on the future of Tendulkar, Laxman, Dravid and Ganguly with the latter already announcing his retirement post series.
My own thoughts are that they will still make runs and the pressure will be on the Australian batters to make big runs in the first innings. I am also looking forward to the battle between Ricky Ponting and Harbahjan Singh, the spinner has had the upper hand up until now, but i think Ponting will back up his prematch talk and overcome his nemesis. Let battle commence!
27th
Durham became county champions yesterday with a resounding win at Canterbury to send Kent to division 2. After a season that has been heavily interrupted by the weather it is the geordies who have shown the most resolve in the last few weeks. Although i cannot begrudge Durham their victory it has been disappointing that Lancashire have been unable to impact the top of the table. If you look at the final positions one more win could have been enough for the red rose but unfortunately the games called off made life very difficult. I think most of us at Lancashire would hold our hands up and say some of our performances could have been better and we just weren’t consistent enough.
Over the last two or three seasons Durham have found a good mix of experience and youth and have been very competitive in all competitions and in my opinion are fully deserved of this victory. They play their cricket in the right way, hard but fair, and are well led by their captain Dale Benkenstein. Congratulations to all involved, a county season takes a lot of effort from a lot of people and i am sure they are enjoying their celebrations.
27th
The Yorkshire and England fast bowler, Darren Gough, has decided to retire from the first class cricket. With one game left in the season and Yorkshire fighting relegation Darren felt it was best for all parties to call time on an entertaining and successful career.
He has always played the game with a smile and boyish enthusiasm and has been a great personality for the game of cricket over the last 20 years. He has never suffered from a lack of self belief, even to the point where he claimed the strictly come dancing crown! I don’t know Darren particularly well, but the times our paths have crossed, he has been full of charisma and fun and been great company. I would like to wish him well for the future although something tells me his time in the limelight is not over yet!
22nd
Andrew Symonds, the world class Australian all-rounder, has been dropped by Australia just prior to their test series in India. The reports seem to suggest disciplinary reasons and clearly the Australian management are making a strong statement about the attitude required to be an Australian cricketer.
I played with Symonds at Lancashire and he is clearly a rough diamond, however, his attitude and commitment to the cause was second to no-one and he proved to be a huge asset to our side. Clearly there are a few commitment issues he is facing but I am sure after missing this series his hunger for the game will be back. Whatever the problems are, I hope to see Symo back out on the pitch playing all forms of cricket as soon as possible, he is one of the games great entertainers and it would be a shame for his career to come to a premature end.