Panesar shines after Hoggard blow
West Indies hit back from 187-5 to end day three of the first Test at Lord's on 363-7 in reply to England's 553-5 declared.
England's most successful bowler was Monty Panesar who again showed what a class act he is by taking four wickets even though the pitch offered him little help.
Player of the day
With Matthew Hoggard off the field for much of the day, Andrew Strauss gave Panesar more of a bowl than he might have expected.
Having bowled Devon Smith, the left-arm spinner then picked up three lbw decisions from umpire Asad Rauf.
This came down to good tactics rather than wicket-taking deliveries because, with Ian Bell hovering two yards away at silly point, the batsmen were all preoccupied with not giving him a bat/pad catch, and were hit on the front pad in front of the stumps while hiding their bats.
Talking point
Three West Indian batsmen trudged away from the middle seriously disgruntled having been dispatched by Rauf.
Not only had the ball touched the inside edge of their bats, but they would argue that they were struck comfortably on the front foot.
But because the ball hit the pad first they were all excellent decisions by Mr Rauf, and it suggests that modern umpires spend a lot of time studying slow motion replays.
Over the years there must have been thousands of lbw appeals from spin bowlers that have been turned down but, thanks to technology, it is clear to see that most straight balls delivered by spinners that strike the front pad would have hit the stumps.
Using Hawkeye as support, umpires should be giving more of these decisions.
Key moment
There is a school of thought that suggests genuinely injured bowlers should be substituted by a fit one.
Injuries are a part and parcel of sport, but when a frontline bowler goes down with a muscle strain that prevents him taking any further part in the game, it has a serious impact on the fielding team and, therefore, on the quality of the match itself.
Hoggard limped off the field with a strained adductor muscle and, instantly, West Indian prospects of saving the match soared.
England were reduced to just three frontline bowlers, and had there been an opportunity for Strauss to enforce the follow-on, he would have declined.
Day four prospects
England will be hoping that Steve Harmison locates the stumps more frequently than he did throughout his wayward spells today, but should wrap up the West Indian innings before establishing a large second-innings lead.
But can they muster enough firepower to win the game on Monday?
Panesar appeals even louder than Vengsarkar and Kumble combined and that is his main strength. Three fron foot LBW's in two hours? Fantastic, just fantastic.
Complain about this postI have to question though the declaration, yes we had a big declaration at 553 but surely batting another hour today would have given us better options.....
You only have to look back at the ashes when we declared for a similar score, and the aussies nicked it... surely it's better to bat once, and bowl the opposition twice out without needing to bat again...
We really need to start playing the game with a little more forethought imho.
Complain about this postprior's wicket keeping was oustanding, and he was tested by harmison and plunkett almost constantly and did'nt put a foot wrong, if he continues in this manner, there will surely be no question over the position.
Complain about this posti see you have changed your stance on monty, before the start of play on day one you were calling (or perhaps very heavily implying) that james anderson should have played.
Complain about this postPerhaps Mr. Agnew would like to comment on the attrocious decision by the same umpire in England's favour at a cruical point in the match. Mr Rauf is winning this match for England. Why is it suddendly against the WI in England that the umpire suddenly decides on a new interpreatation of the lbw law?
Complain about this postSorry Agers,
Did you not say that Monty should not have played and that England should have played four front line seamers?
You have changed your tune considerably
Complain about this postIn what way is my comment malicious? Is this the same democracy that the rich world is fighting for in Iraq and Afghanistan? It's only democratic if you are pro- Ango American and otherwise it is malicious?
Complain about this posthmm the morton one might have clipped the top of a bail, one gets the feeling if warne got that during the ashes aggers would be talking about how england were robbed.
Also im suprised only half a sentense about harmi?
Surely the second innings is now his last chance at saving his test career?
Complain about this postHoggards injury / the general poor bowling from Harmison shows why a balance team of 5 bowlers is so important and maybe Hoggards misfortune has punished our new coaches negative selection (even more so considering our top 5 + prior would have comfortably scored enough runs).
Enough of this "Aus have had 4 bowlers and won everything" attitude. Aus had 2 of the best bowlers of all time in the same generation (quite remarkable).
Without Flintoff fit (e.g. if he cant bowl a proper quota of overs he isnt fit) we could consider the likes of Stuart Broad for number 7 with Prior batting @ 6, not ideal but far more balance than those who have suggested playing Flintoff as part of a 4 man attack.
Harmison, as always, is a concern and must not try too hard, just treat this game like his Durham county games and dont put too much pressure on himself (anyone else notice his first 5-6 overs were ok but he got worse AFTER hoggard went off injured).
From an Eng point of view its very important we get as near to a 150 run lead as possible from the first innings and then look to bat aggressively for 60-70 overs to set WI an unreachable target of 450 and to have hopefully 100 overs to bowl them out.
Well play Monty though and its nice to see some brave and fully correct umpiring.
Complain about this post"Panesar appeals even louder than Vengsarkar and Kumble combined and that is his main strength. Three fron foot LBW's in two hours? Fantastic, just fantastic."
why is this not malicious and mine is although I'm saying the same thing without using any four letter words. Is it because I'm implying that the upires are in favour of England and that makes it malicious?
Complain about this postLords certainly is an odd wicket now. I remember watching a county game on Sky either last year or the year before and the fourth innings score was over 400. It seems a lot deader than it used to be and a lot better for batting on. As a now crippled slow bowler facing a season of rehabilitation before coming back next year, it does cheer me up to see umpires giving people out on the front front. It does however makes Mr Rauf's decision not to send Paul Collingwood back to the pavilion yesterday look even worse than it looked at the time.
Given how the English seamers have performed since Kevin Shine took over as bowling coach, is it not unreasonable to think Kevin might be moving on in the near future and one A A Donald be replacing him? I hope that's the case. Maybe he can give teach Monty the ultimate left arm tweaker's quicker delivery, the 85 mph arm ball. In all seriousness though, the seamers look woeful. Given that it's likely Hoggard will be out of the next Test and Flintoff surely won't be up to filling the role of a full bowler, that would leave us with Harmison, currently bowling with the predictability of a small pedigree dog ripped to the eyeballs on LSD, and Plunkett, still learning his trade. Monty performed superbly today as stock bowler and attacking bowler. Is it worth bringing an experienced county seamer in for a Test match in a similar vein to Martin Bicknell against South Africa a few years ago? I feel we need one seamer who can take control and act as the stock seamer, particularly as the next Test match is at Headingley.
We're odds on to win this Test and a victory at Headingley would almost secure the series. I feel having a dependable seamer rather than blooding a new player would be a good move. Broad's injured, Mahmood and Anderson are in and out of form, so why not pull a Bicknell-type figure out of the closet? I'm all in favour of building for the future but a 'horses for courses' approach at times is a good thing. Maybe Caddick or Gough... I feel someone with some experience would be a good thing just for that one Test.
Complain about this postMonty Panesar is progressing continually. His self-confidence and the confidence of the team in him is evident and has contributed considerably to his wider range of guiles and experimentation on the batsmen. These are essential attributes of a good spinner.
The coming times are certainly bound to be better for him...with his increasing experience and maturity, he'll feast on the transitional newbies most teams will have in their teams very soon. Look forward for high times with Monty; we already look forward to his high fives!
Complain about this postCan't agree with the substitute bowler idea Aggers!
Complain about this postIf substitutions were allowed and Harmison's bowling degenerated as it did today, I could just see the twelth man coming on with some 'advice' to pull up as soon as was not suspicious so England could give Stuart Broad or whoever a go...
It's not really a goer is it?!
Well it's a good job Monty wasn't dropped for this match as many had advocated. I said at the start we should always play a balanced attack, Warne & Murali are never not selected because of the pitch. Sure Monty isn't in their class, but he's the best we've got.
I've not seen any of the action today, not having sky, instead followed it on TMS, it's seems Harmison's had another bad day. 'Nothing to prove' of course. With Hoggard out, of the 3 pace bowlers he's the one you wouldn't have chosen to get injured, it's going to be tough, but we should still be able to finish them off tomorrow morning and look to set a challenging total.
Having suffered from a groin strain myself I'm pretty certain that Hoggard will be out of the next test.
Interesting to see who replaces him at Headingley, I guess they'll go for Anderson if Flintoff's still unfit. It would be a risk to go with the latter and be a bowler short again.
Complain about this postThat said I don't think we should go in with 5 bowlers, nor do I think the suggestion of bowler substitutes broached on TMS today is feasible. It would always be liable to foul play.
Dutchred clearly is a very biased individual, incapable of being at all fair. No bad decisions were in favour of England today. All three lbws were as plumb as you can possibly get. Powell was also out plumb twice in the last over, which Dutchred hasn't mentioned..
Complain about this postAgnew Sahib,
Sat Shri Akal and Jai Ram Ji Ki,
In spite of sounding a tad vicious, I cannot resist the temptation of comparing Madhusudan Singh Panesar with another Singh, Bishen Singh Bedi of India. At times Bedi could be loud, sarcastic and outspoken, yet on the cricket ground he only allowed his subtle spin and guile to do the talking while he spun his web around the likes of Ian Chappell, Doug walters and Geoff Boycott. Monty, sadly, lacks Bishen's sublime skills, so screaming appeals to the heavens makes up for lack of finesse in spinning the ball.
Sorry, if I have offended anyone.
Complain about this postDutchred
I dont think anyone is disagreeing that the decision not to give Collingwood out was wrong. Having made a complete hash of one decision though should the umpire have not given the first lbw not out to make up for it? The game is played and umpired by humans not robots and they do and will always make mistakes. It is part of the game. I can think of other matches where the decisions havent gone England's way. Don't be such a loser complaining about the decision; the West Indies batsmen should have looked to play the ball with their bats. The fact that they didnt is the reason they are out. Do you want batsmen to be able to stay in just by padding away all day? Far better to have Bravo's approach and actually play the ball; that might be more in line with the aim of the game.
As to Rauf winning the match for England it seems to be only Monty who can do that from a bowling perspective. The problem with our team as it has been throughout the winter is that the fast bowling is nowhere near good enough. Plunkett, Anderson and Mahmood are all inconsistent, Harmison maybe needs a stretch in county cricket and to decide what he wants from life and now that Hoggard is injured there is no reliable paceman in the England team. Come back Troy Cooley!!!
Complain about this postI think that you are right. though i think england should have batted like a 20-20 game for the first hour, to get another 100 or so and at leat make sure we dont lose like the ashes.
Complain about this post"There is a school of thought that suggests genuinely injured bowlers should be substituted by a fit one."
Wow. What an amazingly lunatic idea. Then we would have bowlers finishing a spell and then diving for the turf like footballers, so the skip could bring on a fresh 'un.
As others have noted, Monty did alright, didn't he? But luck about Hoggy. Shame about Harmy. Can you imagine how insipid the England 'attack' would have been with 4 seamers? Bit like the Windies, I imagine.
Complain about this postThere is also a school of thought that says your opening bowler should be able to bowl a better line than a schoolboy cricketer. Instead of suggesting someone should have been able to come on to take Hoggard's place - in 130 years of cricket other teams seem to have managed, and even won, when one of their bowlers has broken down during a match - perhaps the emphasis should be on playing bowlers on form/ability rather than making excuses. Or would we rather take an American football policy of defencive team/attacking team and have 11 batsmen, 10 bowlers and 1 wicketkeeper? Clearly England's problems start at the grassroots and go all the way to the players and on to the commentators if this is the current attitude.
Complain about this postPanesar would get into any test team in the world, maybe except Sri Lanka. He has the potential to be the best spin/slow bowler in the world for a good decade yet.
Complain about this postCouple that with Alistair Cook and we have a world beating opener and bowler. Pietersen will never ever be properly regarded as world class, he is feared, but unless he gets properly in he will carry on making starts and getting out for less than 50.
Prediction - clean up the last of the Windies wickets well before lunch in the morning, then bat until an hour before the end of play with them needed 400 in a day and us having 3 and a half sessions to bowl them out.
I don't believe Aggers was against Monty playing in the match - he merely observed that he was likely to give way to a fourth seamer due to the (expected) seamer-friendly conditions the pitch was supposed to offer.
As much as England want to win this series, I somehow feel that the West Indies have far more to play for, and will show a far greater fighting spirit than expected. England got knocked out of the world cup in the 8s and got thrashed by Australia in the Ashes. Only 4 international teams made it past the World Cup 8s, and virtually all nations get thrashed by Australia anyway - the pain England feel cannot surely be stronger than what the West Indies have gone through in the past 15 years? Despite being underdogs, the way all the West Indian batsmen managed a good start today was very encouraging - and I think we have a good series on our hands.
I adore cricket and the first series I watched which started this love was the Eng/WI series in 1991 where Gooch's 154 no, Richards six to ensure he never lost a series as captain, Smith's rearguard action with the tail at Lord's, Ramprakash's consistency in reaching the 20s, Tufnell's deadly spin, the lethal Ambrose and Walsh in their prime and Marshall in his sunset years tormenting Atherton, Hick and Lamb almost without fail and Botham's hit wicket (and of course, Mr Johnston and Agnew's colourful commentary on it) gave me a very lasting impressions. The series ended in a draw, but cricket emerged as a real winner - let's hope that something special happens this series, and both parties will achieve something special.
Complain about this post
Complain about this postwell done Panesar but the west Indies batsmen have been seen wanting 3 x LBW , RABBITS caught in middle of the road with full the beam on.
Mr Agnew,
I thought you a bigger writer than this...
Try to read your 'player of the day' section AGAIN.....
Were you really suggest Monty as the player....Well.....you tried hard not to do it...instead you tried to waste all those line almost defending your article where u advocated a team without monty in this test.....
Complain about this postWhy is it England do not learn from their mistakes ? 550 is NOT a match killing score. Why declare when you have two guys on unbeaten hundreds and five wickets in hand ? It must be easier to score runs then than two days later which is what were (and now are) going to have to do if they needed more than two days to bowl the Windies out. They did it in Adelaide and lost. Given the opportunity again today to show they've learnt and acquired a clinical killer attitude they failed to take it - and the hand now is far from safe as a result.
Complain about this postWith monty claiming most of the wickets today surely its time we used KP i know he is part time but its worth a go especially since we are a bowler down
Complain about this postTime to drop Harmison he is a disgrace just good to see Monty bowl well getting wickets by bowling a good line can't Harmison do the same
Complain about this postSome pundits and fans have implied Monty was a bit lucky to get 3 LBW's but he actually had at least 5 others turned down that looked out at the time and which replays and hawkeye confirmed should have been given.
Complain about this postHmmm....
A big slice of humble spinner-induced pie, Aggers?
Four seamers, eh?
Complain about this postAaqib Javed is in discussions with PCB on taking over as their national coach, according to a local daily, PCB CEO: N Ashraf has met him over a dinner and held a closed door meeting thereafter.
His credentials include a coaching certification, which impressed the PCB. PCB in a statement later said they are still in discussions with other applicants but Aaqib has found support from many former Pakistani players including his former captian I.Khan.
Complain about this postSome optimistic soul writes that Monty is a world class spinner, and that Cook is a world class cook etc etc.
Pray tell what happened in Australia and then in the Caribbean? A world class broth?
Today, the West Indies may be the only REGULAR Test team that England can beat and that is all there is to the World Class broth.
Complain about this postAh yes, Monty would surely be a World Class spinner of the caliber of Jim Laker when a new way of getting out called Bat Before Wicket is introduced.
Unless I am mistaken, umpire Rauf had not given a single LBW secision during the two days England batted that included a plumb back foot appeal.
Complain about this postAggers
If Hoggard's dusted for the second test, and Flintoff's ankle is still dodgy, I think it's time for the windmill from Middlesex, to expertly put line and length back in the test match equation.
Alan Richardson is the man. Superb the season before last, wickets again this summer. Let the windmill loose!
Complain about this postwhat a joy it is to see Monty leading the english attack and defense, if "the simple joy of playing" was enough to win matches england would never lose a match with Monty playing!
Complain about this postDutchred this is a cricket site, keep politics out of it. If the ball hits the batsman in line and would have hit the stumps, he should be given out. It's not a conspiracy by the colonial masters. Powell should've been given out last ball of the day as well.
Complain about this postIs Tom Riley (comment #21) serious? Pieteresen "keeps getting out for less than 50?" He averages 50 in tests! He must go past 50 occasionally!
Complain about this postThe similarities with Adelaide at the same stage are striking. In Strauss's place I would have batted on for another hour or so and got 600+, which would have killed off any chance of losing. That might then have put more pressure on WI. Obviously Hoggard's injury was unforeseen and didn't help. Just part of the game, though; I wouldn't go with allowing a replacement mid-match. We might struggle to win this one. Even after Adelaide, I can't see England losing. WI have no Warne & McGrath. If it were Oz, they'd think they had us, and they'd probably be right.
Complain about this postHow far from fit is Jones.
Complain about this postSurely we can only analyse Harmison so much before we except that he just aint up to it. He may have had a couple of good seasons but so did Frank Mckevenie.
Harmy needs everything in his favour to bowl well and even then its fifty fifty.
surely this series must be the last chance
I fully agree on your comment of the umpires decisions on the LBWs for the ball hitting the front pad.Have you also commented on the Collingwood's LBW decision which was not given out when TV replays show it to be plumb.More so it was at a crucial time of the innings as if he was given out the outcome of England's 1 st innings would have been different.
Complain about this postIts not the wrong decisions per se but made at crucial times of the matches that change the whole course of the match that is daunting to real cricket lovers!
We should really win from here with aggressive cricket. What worries me are 4 things.
1.Will Strauss push for the win as the Aussies would have. Last year at Lords I nearly bust a gut screaming at him to get on with it. He accepted a tame draw when a win against Pakistan was possible. It was his first captaincy hence understandable I suppose.
2. Can Plunkett and Harmy perform in the 2nd innings or will Harmy continue to give up as soon as any pressure is on him?
3. Will W.Indies finally collapse as they tend to in 2nd Innings under pressure or will they show the same resolve as they have in the 1st Innings.
4. Monday's weather.
I think if 3 or more of these matters go England's way we will win. If only 2 or less go our way it will be a draw.
Complain about this postI concur with an earlier poster. Aggers attitude towards Panesar seems to have changed.
Granted a man is allowed to change his mind, but I cannot conceive of a good reason for having wanted to drop Monty in the first place.
Speaking from my own personal perpective, I saw him as a key member of the team from the very first time I saw him bowl in his debut Test and I was astonished when he was dropped in favour of Giles at Brisbane.
As I recall, Aggers was in favour of dropping Panesar on that occasion too. Last Wednedsay, he seemed to think Panesar would be dropped again.
I, for one, would like Aggers to devote some time on this blog to explain exactly what his concerns about Panesar are.
Complain about this postAggers, you were very uncritical of Harmison, who (as we all know) has 'nothing to prove'.
I am wondering if he might have a at least a tiny thing to prove - that he can see the sticks in the ground that are behind the fellow holding the bit of wood at the other end of the pitch...that is the wi-cket, Steve, the wi-cket, and there are some nice bowlers out there who deliver the ball somewhere near it or occasionally hit it. You are not one of them.
You have tripped over your big mouth yet again, Harmy.
Complain about this postCome on Strauss give KP a bowl he is more than a part time spin bowler in fact he started out in his cricketing life as a spin bowler. With a bowler down and Monty reaping the rewards lets give him a chance to turn his arm over
Complain about this postI think the suggestion that a genuinely injured bowler be replaced by a fit one is sensible. Surely what we all want from Test matches is the best standard of play possible and we are not going to get that when the team is severely weakened by injury.
Provided that once a player had been substituted he was not permitted to take any further part in the game, I can't see a problem.
Complain about this postThere must be an arguement to allow KP to bowl 10 overs or so of high arm finger spin. WI have been less comfortable against spin than the seamers.
Shane Warne actually highlighted that KP was a good, natural and underestimated spin bowler, capable for doing a fill in rotation, 6th change, job like Collingwood.
Complain about this postExcellent point about injured bowlers not being allowed to be replaced by a fit one. The same is said for batsmen that get injured whilst fielding, they either have to suffer in their following innings or the team bats one man down.
Why is it that cricket doesn't allow this ? All other major sports allow substitutes for either tactical reasons or because a player is injured.
Gaining an injury is rarely the fault of the team affected by it so why should they be penalised ?
I'm not suggesting that test matches should be played with a squad of 16 present (as in football), and that substitutes be used in exactly the same way. But there are always spare players present (12th and 13th man) that come on for fielding duties only, that could be utilised as proper subs in the event of a player being unable to continue. If, subsequently, it turns out that the injured player recovers then his place in the team is still lost to the sub and he takes no further part in the game.
Is it because the 12th man etc are often not players from the original test squad, but local county players ?
This particular test, and England's chances of winning, has been seriously affected by an unavoidable injury to a frontline bowler.
Maybe it's time for a review of the rules. Cricket is a fantastic game but will continue to be stuck in a time warp all the while the powers that be fail to see how to progress it and make it more appealing to the masses.
Complain about this post"There is a school of thought that suggests genuinely injured bowlers should be substituted by a fit one."
This would presumably be the same school of thought that suggests when a batsman gets injured, he should be replaced by someone else to bat for him too. So having exhausted himself reaching 250, a batsman could get 'injured' and call for a replacement to continue.
Hmmm....which school of thought is this? Play School?
Complain about this postPanesar has been our most consistently destructive bowler for over a year. I was totally disgusted when he was dropped before the Ashes to allow the mediocre Giles back in the squad.
To then find people seriously considering leaving him out of this test left me speechless.
So we were going to drop out best bowler to let another average seamer back in the side. Because 3 average seamers in one team is not enough - you need four.
What is the logic behind this? None.
Harmison is gone. He can't bowl anymore. How can he be slected? His display over the last few tests has been the worst I think I've ever witnessed from an England test bowler in the 30 years I've been watching.
Complain about this postlook australia are the best, which spoils competition.
england are ok especially pieterson
collingwood just by far the best player in england
england will lose to west indies i know due to the
Complain about this postgreat performances
with just 190 runs and 3 wickets a lot of time
I have hailed Test Match cricket's return to my television set with the most open of arms and a fervently-protected remote-control that no-one else in the family unit will be laying so much as a pinky on whilst I am at the rudder. My one true love has returned to me at last, and I shall not be allowing anything else to get in the way. I have finally returned to my element (or, to be more truthful, it to me), and I shall definitely be making the most of this long-awaited, refreshing (and, indeed, almost-forgotten) spectacle of my favourite game being played before me as it was truly meant to be played. I am quite certain that I speak on behalf of all hopeless traditionalists when I say that we found one-day cricket's apparently ceaseless treadmill, culminating in a befittingly banal World Cup final, to be absolutely mind-numbing. Long live Test cricket, I say!
Complain about this postGet back and play cricket again and ball again
Complain about this postWell done Monty Panesar yesterday - but oh dear, Harmison and Plunkett were woefully inaccurate - it seems as though Harmison has a major problem when on the international scene. Surely a good bowling coach can help him or is it too late for him to cahnge his action? If it is too late then the selectors should realisie that his international career is over. It will be sad but there are several god fast bowlers waiting to be called up.
Complain about this postI note your radio comments on the size of the crowd. Do you think the fact that becuase there is no coverage on terestrial television, there has been no "free" marketing from a terestrial TV chanel promoting the series, and this is now having an effect. With the ECB having raised so much money with their deal with sky why do they then have to charge so much for tickets? I agree with Geoff Boycott the cost of a day at the cricket for the family is prohibitive.
Complain about this postDear Lord... Harmison's having a 'mare...
At this rate England may as well sign up me as their front line pace bowler... I'm sure I could do better then he is right now...
Complain about this postI cannot understand the 'logic' of England taking the light at the end of their innings. It was obvious that they would declare overnight. It was equally obvious that if the light was indifferent that the West Indies would not bat.
In this situation they had nothing to lose and might have scrambled at least another 50 runs.
With Hoggard now unable to bowl just how valuable would those runs now be ?
Frank A.
Complain about this postI would hope that any movement towards having substitute bowlers can be nipped in the bud. There was no reason why we couldn't have had a more potent bowling attack selected from the outset but the selectors took a chance and it has backfired.
In my opinion you have to go into a test match with 5 people capable of bowling a decent number of overs . Allowing substitute bowlers or batsman for that matter will just be abused no matter what you say.
I dont want to go down the road of football with spare goalkeepers loads of subs etc etc etc
If it ain't bust .... don't fix it
Complain about this postWhen will someone in this country acknowledge that good sides don't lose a test match series 5-0?????? England needs a major revamp and, let me say, Aggers might forget about the supposed fragility of the Australian bowling attack and look closer to home!! Even without Warne and McGrath it is hard to see the Australian bowlers struggling like this against a very ordinary batting order. Come on Aggers put the glasses on and take a good hard long look!!
Complain about this post*If the below has been mentioned I apologise*
People talking about batting on in the morning are being ridiculous. If England had continued there innings then another group of people would have started up saying that England were not being positive enough and that we should have declared and backed ourselves to bowl the other team out twice for under 550.
I am in that camp as well, if you just bat and bat and bat then what message is that sending to the opposition? That you don't believe that your bowlers are good enough to bowl the team out twice for what is a pretty big score.
Also what happens if we had come out the ball had moved around like it does most mornings in England, they had taken a few wickets and we had wasted two hours and got 50 more runs? The we come out all the moisture is gone and the ball doesn't move for the rest of the day.
Summary - Batting on would likely have been a worse decision
Complain about this postDutchred makes a good point these lbw appeals by england are getting tiresome and clearly influencing the umpires. The tactic is to appeal loud and long even if you are at square leg or on the boundry, England have learned to copy the Aussies.
Complain about this postWith regards Dutchred, Mr Rauf got a decision wrong against Colly (all umpires do occassionally). But given he was one of 4 centurions, it seems reasonable to say England would still have posted a good score. As for the decisions against WI, from the replays I saw, not only did they offer no shot but all seemed to be hit in line.
The umpire got one wrong in England's favour, does that mean he should get DELIBERATELY get one wrong in WIs favour to even things out?
Complain about this postI suppose its time for some to eat humble pie for suggesting that Lords does not take spin and Monty should have made way for a seamer. True, Lords has not taken spin. But class bowling from Monty has rewarded him with 6 wickets. Go on Monty, keep proving the experts wrong. Best wishes to you from all at your old Luton Club.
Complain about this postIf you score 550 and declare, you might reasonably hope that of the three best English seam bowlers in the country:
a) one wouldn't break down with an injury
b) one would be able to bowl around off-stump or outside instead of spearing the ball down the legside
c) one would be able to bowl around off-stump without bowling so wide that batsmen didn't have to play at the ball.
Hoggard's injury shows up how poor our current crop of seamers are. Time for Harmison to be consigned to the county circuit, and Plunkett to follow him. We need new blood urgently.
Complain about this postHARMISON MUST BE DROPPED! bring in stuart broad and build for 2009.
Complain about this postJonathan,
As always I enjoy reading your articles but why have you not eaten your hat for not backing Panesar. the reality is it is obvous he should start every match.
James
Complain about this postThe captain set a good attacking field for MONTY and it pays off....what an amazing bowler! he has a great future in english cricket.
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