India tour of Eng, June 20 - Aug 4

[Arthur Crabtree]

Slow going. India not getting a flyer.

Of course they'll be happy to get to lunch with wickets intact. But not much harm done for England either.

[andy]

Slow going. India not getting a flyer.

Still dangerous though....setting a platform....if pant comes in with big platform set then it's huge danger....

[andy]

Jaiswal hits stokes for 6 and is looking more settled....problems for stokes and England here....wicketless in this morning session...really would love to know why stokes has a fascinating with bowling first

[andy]

78-0 at lunch

Archer has bowled really well not overly quick but got the ball moving and has jaiswal in trouble...but disappointing session for England having won the toss

[Arthur Crabtree]

26 overs bowled is a bit better than usual.

Handy session for India.

[sussexpob]

India rode their luck a little, but they have hung in there. Jaiswal hasn't looked comfortable, but if he resets in the afternoon a big score is on the cards. Some swing around, some uneven bounce, but other than Archer bowling tight and Woakes firing in some good balls, nothing else has paid.

Cricketing adage tells you win the toss, you have to take 2 wickets in the first session.... in that regards, England's choice at the moment is looking shaky. But one wicket, and you have an inexperienced 3 coming in who looked rubbish first test, so England won't be too phased yet

[andy]

Stunned by the decision to start with carse after lunch....surely had to be woakes and archer?!

Wouldn't leave it too long before having a look at Dawson either

[sussexpob]

Brings Woakes on, and he gets Rahul... big breakthrough

[sussexpob]

It's strange that Brydon Carse continues to get praise for his bowling efforts during this series, when his figures are starting to become more and more of a disaster. I agree he probably bowled at times better than his numbers have suggested, but it cannot be understated at this point how bad those figures have been.


To put his performance in context, if he does not take a wicket in about the next 30 runs he concedes, we will have the worst series average ever recorded in English test history (both teams at home + England performances away) for a pace bowler who has taken as many wickets as he has so far. Even reducing it to 5 wickets across a series doesn't drop him many places at all.

These figures aren't just bad, they are historically bad. He needs to pick up some wickets before the end of this series, or England really should think about dropping him for the Ashes.

[sussexpob]

Jaiswal passes 50. He at times looks ominously good as a player, Woakes gave him a serious working over this morning but he's managed to grind out a score . He's proven he can smash people around when it goes for him, but this is another type of innings

[Arthur Crabtree]

5-fer for Leach v Durham. In case England have second thoughts.

[sussexpob]

5-fer for Leach v Durham. In case England have second thoughts.

Dawson strikes 2nd over....

[Arthur Crabtree]

Spin twins...

Getting Gill quickly would be an unexpected bonus.

[sussexpob]

Got to love England fans heckling Gill as he came out, and booing him every time he faces up. If I were Gill, I would have my bowlers mankad every English batsman that leaves their crease, and have the keeper target the stumps every time the batsman leaves their crease, if only to underline the rather confusing standard English cricket seems to set people. Run out a batsman, its all about spirit of the game.... time waste on purpose an its all about, well I don't know actually..... because purposefully wasting time is against both the spirit of the game and the rules, a fact England fans seem not to understand while trolling Indians this week to justify it.

But yeah, that Shubman Gill.... how dare he be offended by that.

[sussexpob]

Smith drops Sudharsan...