Fourth Test: India v England, 8-12 Dec.

[Dr Cricket]

don't remember any indian player calling opposition players crap though like anderson did.
If I am a sore winner then Anderson is a sore loser.
anyway I will end this.

[Durhamfootman]

Typical student... I think bhave is trying to distract himself so that he doesn't feel the need to knuckle down to some hard studying.... in this case working out who to select in his big bash fantasy league XI

knuckle down, bhave.... get your team in.... stop trying to get out of it!

[rich1uk]

I enjoy how Duckett is already been written out of England's Test cricket. It's little wonder that we can't replace players is it.

i would have duckett in the squad but i'm not sure how he makes the first XI now, if everyone is fit, after what hameed and jennings has done

we can only pick 11 players, those 2 have taken their chances and he hasn't, i thinking leaving out either of them to fit duckett in doesn't really make much sense does it ?

with the next test cricket not being til july tho alot can happen in the first 3-4 months of county cricket

Jennings has made a ton and a duck, Hameed had a decent few tests, they've not done anything to suggest they've nailed down a spot in the team long term.

Duckett had a pretty decent series of Bangladesh across all the games he played.

i didn't say they had nailed down a place but on the basis of what the three have done over this tour duckett is 3rd in line imo

are you suggesting either jennings or hameed should be dropped to fit duckett back in if all three were available ?

[Making_Splinters]

I enjoy how Duckett is already been written out of England's Test cricket. It's little wonder that we can't replace players is it.

i would have duckett in the squad but i'm not sure how he makes the first XI now, if everyone is fit, after what hameed and jennings has done

we can only pick 11 players, those 2 have taken their chances and he hasn't, i thinking leaving out either of them to fit duckett in doesn't really make much sense does it ?

with the next test cricket not being til july tho alot can happen in the first 3-4 months of county cricket

Jennings has made a ton and a duck, Hameed had a decent few tests, they've not done anything to suggest they've nailed down a spot in the team long term.

Duckett had a pretty decent series of Bangladesh across all the games he played.

i didn't say they had nailed down a place but on the basis of what the three have done over this tour duckett is 3rd in line imo

are you suggesting either jennings or hameed should be dropped to fit duckett back in if all three were available ?

Jennings has had a single good innings, if he gets two more low scores then he'll end up at roughly the same place Duckett is, or does making a ton count for more than the five 50s Duckett made in Bangladesh?

I'd have had Jennings in Bangladesh over Hameed to start with. Hameed hasn't done all that much in India to justify the craze about him.

[rich1uk]

duckett only made one 50 in tests and we are talking about a position in the test side

i repeat my question, if all three were available for the next game would you leave out hameed or jennings and pick duckett ?

is it maybe harsh on duckett after getting the first crack to now see others move in front of him in the pecking order, yeah it probably is but we can only pick 11 players and it would be even harsher on jennings or hameed to be left out to bring duckett back, and all we were doing was guessing what our best XI might look like next year and imo there is no room for duckett in that XI

i still think he has a future in the side, what happens in the first half of the county season may shake things up again, especially as we may also have gubbins or bell-drummond in the mix as well, but i dont its fair to have a go at people for leaving him out of a hypothetical best XI going forward

[Arthur Crabtree]

Looks at the moment that Duckett is set up for limited overs. Like Vince, he has a tendency to reflexly get his pad out of the way to play big strokes. I don't see why he shouldn't stay around the ODI side in the the short term and then work on his longer game. He's pretty raw.

[bigfluffylemon]

Geez this is depressing. Every time I check the score, I think 'what is the worst likely result', and it's always worse than that. England have been really poor apart from the first two sessions (and maybe briefly third session of day 3).

[Arthur Crabtree]

The journalists I read and England players are always saying that that England are an inexperienced team. Over and over. Until very recently they used to say Cook was an inexperienced captain, and young, even when it blatantly wasn't true. Anderson has said again England are inexperienced, but they have five players to India's seven with fewer than 30 caps. He does add 'and in the conditions' though it is inevitable that the touring side will have less experience in the conditions than the home side.

England are playing their sixth consecutive Test in Asia, and played three last winter in UAE. Broad, Anderson and Cook have an unusual amount of experience in Asia. Cook has played more games there than any other England player, Anderson and Broad more than any other England pace bowlers. Bairstow, Moeen, Root and Stokes have placed 9+ games there, which is more than Botham, Atherton and Boycott played in their whole careers.

And it gives England an excuse. It is a little defeatist. I hear it all the time, but English players play a lot of cricket, more than most. They play more Test cricket than most. They lost in BD largely because of a debutant,18 year old spinner. I think they should have alook at themselves and embrace reality a little.

[rich1uk]

i think its a trait that has become more prevalent not just in cricket AC

looking for excuses to defend poor performance rather than just accept they weren't good enough

no-one ever wants to take responsibility it seems, its always someone or something elses fault

[bigfluffylemon]

The journalists I read and England players are always saying that that England are an inexperienced team. Over and over. Until very recently they used to say Cook was an inexperienced captain, and young, even when it blatantly wasn't true. Anderson has said again England are inexperienced, but they have five players to India's seven with fewer than 30 caps. He does add 'and in the conditions' though it is inevitable that the touring side will have less experience in the conditions than the home side.

England are playing their sixth consecutive Test in Asia, and played three last winter in UAE. Broad, Anderson and Cook have an unusual amount of experience in Asia. Cook has played more games there than any other England player, Anderson and Broad more than any other England pace bowlers. Bairstow, Moeen, Root and Stokes have placed 9+ games there, which is more than Botham, Atherton and Boycott played in their whole careers.

And it gives England an excuse. It is a little defeatist. I hear it all the time, but English players play a lot of cricket, more than most. They play more Test cricket than most. They lost in BD largely because of a debutant,18 year old spinner. I think they should have alook at themselves and embrace reality a little.

Well said, Arthur.

Like most sides, England's is a blend of youth and experience. In Cook, Anderson and Broad we have three of the most experienced players ever to play for England. We tend to think of the likes of Root, Finn, Stokes, Bairstow, Moeen etc. as young and inexperienced players, but they've all been in the side for at least 3 years and have more than 30 caps, as you point out.

England play on the subcontinent at least every second year. They can't be that inexperienced.

[Gingerfinch]

Morning

Truth is, we have one world class batsman, average spinners, and two very good but injury prone pacemen, whilst India are almost unbeatable at home. Two or three spinners, five or six bowlers? It's not going to make any difference.

Can we avoid an innings defeat this morning.

[bigfluffylemon]

Can we avoid an innings defeat this morning.

Nope. Third over of the day, and another wicket gone.

[rich1uk]

Can we avoid an innings defeat this morning.

chances of that have just diminished

[hopeforthebest]

This isn't going to last long.

[Gingerfinch]

The tail against Ashwin. This may be over shortly.