India V England 2021 Tour

(07-02-2021 13:19 )winsaw Wrote:  Can't believe Bess did so well watched him for years at Somerset doing nothing where he was our 4th choice spinner

He went wicketless in his 1st class debut against Pakistan, but took 6-21 in his championship debut at Taunton or Ciderabad as it's known, I think I could rock up their & turn a few on that deck.
Graham Swann was critical of his bowling in Sri Lanka when he got a lucky 5 for. but struggled in the 2nd innings of that match. But he admitted that Bess was a better bowler than himself at the same age.
I don't think he is that different that Moeen Ali was in his early England career, he has the knack of taking wickets, in Bess's case often with bad balls. Moeen spins the ball more, but similar to Leech he lacks self belief. The greatest asset Bess has is his confidence, he relishes challenge & a fight, I'd compare him to a Gareth Batty, he's got a bit of mongrel in him.
All we can hope is that he keeps improving, & taking more wickets with deliveries like the one that got Kohli out. Root has already suggested that he needs to play more regular first class cricket. It is a shame that covid struck, as he was due to share the same dressing room as Ashwin at Yorkshire last season. I doubt that the International calendar will allow this to happen again.

Anderson and Broad are being rotated as I understand it. Bearing in mind the first two tests are both being played in Chennai in pretty much the same conditions it gives each of them one test at that venue before moving to Ahmedebad.
Anderson bowled well in the 2nd test in Sri Lanka as Broad did in the first test over there.
Unless armed with a crystal ball it would have been impossible to know which way round to organize the rotation but I digress.

Jack Leach did not actually bowl all that badly imo.
Pant was intent on not letting him settle into a rhythm. Sometimes you have to give credit to the batsman.
India bat a long way down.
And it's worth taking a look at the top eights test batting averages for India by the way. Mighty impressive.
6 wickets taken in Indian conditions against the might of that batting order is no mean feat.

The game is there to be won.

^which means thr only way you think India will save it if it rains solid for two days...

Pant is going to be India's new superstar. He did much the same to Australia's top bowling attack. He's not the best keeper, Saha is way better, but Pant can chance a game in an hour.
You have to be careful with Test averages, England's are lower due to the bowler friendly wickets that they face in home Tests. Although India have Gill & Sundar with 4 Test caps between them going into this match, India's top 8 have 365 caps & England 277. man for man India have a better & more solid looking line-up. India are picking their strongest side, England are without Bairstow's experience & will lose Buttler, with 50 Test caps to his name after this match, to be replaced by the inexperienced Foakes.
On paper India should wipe the floor with England, just as well that cricket is played on grass

(07-02-2021 17:29 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  

(07-02-2021 13:19 )winsaw Wrote:  Can't believe Bess did so well watched him for years at Somerset doing nothing where he was our 4th choice spinner

He went wicketless in his 1st class debut against Pakistan, but took 6-21 in his championship debut at Taunton or Ciderabad as it's known, I think I could rock up their & turn a few on that deck.
Graham Swann was critical of his bowling in Sri Lanka when he got a lucky 5 for. but struggled in the 2nd innings of that match. But he admitted that Bess was a better bowler than himself at the same age.
I don't think he is that different that Moeen Ali was in his early England career, he has the knack of taking wickets, in Bess's case often with bad balls. Moeen spins the ball more, but similar to Leech he lacks self belief. The greatest asset Bess has is his confidence, he relishes challenge & a fight, I'd compare him to a Gareth Batty, he's got a bit of mongrel in him.
All we can hope is that he keeps improving, & taking more wickets with deliveries like the one that got Kohli out. Root has already suggested that he needs to play more regular first class cricket. It is a shame that covid struck, as he was due to share the same dressing room as Ashwin at Yorkshire last season. I doubt that the International calendar will allow this to happen again.

Taunton is a good pitch it don't turn as much as you are saying mate , it only really turns in August and September if we have had a dry summer,
You got that big county mindset always putting down the little county for not making it easy for you
Bess never turned it a lot at Taunton , Leach has far more control and knows how to work over a batsman better, I think Max Waller is a far better spinner who is all about attacking it was no real surprise when Somerset didn't try to hard to keep Bess,

(07-02-2021 20:36 )winsaw Wrote:  

(07-02-2021 17:29 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  

(07-02-2021 13:19 )winsaw Wrote:  Can't believe Bess did so well watched him for years at Somerset doing nothing where he was our 4th choice spinner

He went wicketless in his 1st class debut against Pakistan, but took 6-21 in his championship debut at Taunton or Ciderabad as it's known, I think I could rock up their & turn a few on that deck.
Graham Swann was critical of his bowling in Sri Lanka when he got a lucky 5 for. but struggled in the 2nd innings of that match. But he admitted that Bess was a better bowler than himself at the same age.
I don't think he is that different that Moeen Ali was in his early England career, he has the knack of taking wickets, in Bess's case often with bad balls. Moeen spins the ball more, but similar to Leech he lacks self belief. The greatest asset Bess has is his confidence, he relishes challenge & a fight, I'd compare him to a Gareth Batty, he's got a bit of mongrel in him.
All we can hope is that he keeps improving, & taking more wickets with deliveries like the one that got Kohli out. Root has already suggested that he needs to play more regular first class cricket. It is a shame that covid struck, as he was due to share the same dressing room as Ashwin at Yorkshire last season. I doubt that the International calendar will allow this to happen again.

Taunton is a good pitch it don't turn as much as you are saying mate , it only really turns in August and September if we have had a dry summer,
You got that big county mindset always putting down the little county for not making it easy for you
Bess never turned it a lot at Taunton , Leach has far more control and knows how to work over a batsman better, I think Max Waller is a far better spinner who is all about attacking it was no real surprise when Somerset didn't try to hard to keep Bess,

I respect you know your place well & I would expect you to defend your county. Lanner did sack your groundsman because the wicket was too flat & you were docked points for a poor pitch in the title decider against Essex. Waller deserves a run, I agree, but lets face facts leg-spinners are seen as white ball bowlers, there's only that has played regularly in 4 day cricket in the last 10 years before injuries put him back, & Gale couldn't set fields for his bowling, Rashid was hated by Yorkshires fast bowlers, because he took most of the easy tail-end wickets & even so he's not mastered Test cricket despite being the best in England by a mile.
England have Crane & Parkinson as covid reserves on this tour, as bad as you believe Bess is, god help us if Leach or Bess get injured & we have to call on them, they hardly play first class cricket, it's a joke that they are there.
India have Kuldeep their chinaman, but have played it safe & played 2 off-spinners, because they can't trust him. Shane Warne has made leg-spin popular, every t20 side has at least 1 or 2 on the staff, but historically barely half a dozen leggies have prospered at test level. The bad ball goes for 4, in T20 the bad ball can get a wicket.
Not long ago off-spin was going to be dead at test match level, but that hasn't happened. even after the stopped them throwing the doosra. Ashwin is one of the few that has a delivery that goes the other way.
I forgot to say that Taunton is on my bucket list, then I can see for myself how much it turns. I'm pro Somerset & have been cheering them on to win a 4 day title, sad that Tres couldn't quite do it, a top bloke.
I have no problem when a pitch turns, good for the game, far better than a green-seamer. It isn't our fault that it swings some times at Headingley, our bowlers exploit it & we win back to back Championships & the administrators change the time honored Laws of the game & invent an uncontested toss system to prevent a home side from batting first most of the time, designed to stop us winning.
I'll defend my own county, up to a point, but in light of the Rafiq claims, I can't condone any racism that has blighted our game.

Today it's a case of role-reversal for the England spinners, with Bess struggling for consistency, Leach settled in well when he changed ends. Root was hoping to get to the second new ball quickly, but India scored freely, again he was slow to react, maybe bowl himself or Stokes early.
Sundar is an unknown to England, he looked at home at this level in his debut Test against Australia. At 21 he looks a talent, had only played 12 first-class games before being thrown into Test cricket. Finishes 85 not out. Another stunning Stokes catch at slip to wrap things up.

India 337 95.5 overs)
England lead by 241 runs.

Burns out first ball .

Hmmmmmmm

Burns doesn't play off-spin that well, as long as he's in this side expect Ashwin to bowl at him.

India v England 1st Test Chennai Day 4 Tea
England 578 & 119-5 Root 40 Ashwin 3-49
India 337 (95.5 overs) Pant 91 Sundar 85 no Pujara 73 Bess 4-76 Anderson 2-46 Archer 2-75 Leach 2-105
England lead by 360 runs