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So far, it’s been looking a bit Stella – stronger than most, but you’d really rather have something else if at all possible.
That said, context is everything in cricket and batting hasn’t been all that easy this summer. England’s bowling has generally been very good, but there have been helpful conditions as well. To some degree, India’s batting looks worse simply because England have scored more runs – for which the Indian bowlers have to take quite a lot of the blame.
That said, for every peachy delivery that’s got rid of Dravid, someone else has done something demented. It was VVS Laxman’s turn yesterday. He played a shot that we immediately branded as being ‘fully spasticated’. That’s just cricket though. It’s half about outplaying your opponent and half about making fewer balls-ups.
Less than stellar
The biggest culprit has been Suresh Raina, of course. If India had picked a fifth bowler instead of him, they might have fared a damn sight better. They wouldn’t have lost any runs and they might not have suffered such flagging bowlers in the second innings. England went from 62-5 to 269-6 in the first Test and the second Test saw unremitting flaggery from those running in.
To be honest, if they’d replaced Raina with no-one whatsoever – just a blank space – India’s batting would have looked better. His own bowling in England’s second innings at Trent Bridge created context – it made batting look like a piece of piss. However, when India batted, we saw that batting was actually pretty tricky.
Raina’s bowling was bad enough to take the gloss off Dravid, Laxman and Tendulkar. Now that’s bad.
29, 32, 38, 38, 36
All good things must come to an end. You’re only young once. Night will always follow day. Nothing lasts forever. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Er, watched pots don’t clean themselves, or something.
Anyway, you get the point. Meanwhile, England’s Tennants Extra batting line up are blazing a fiery trail of fire through convention, casting mediocrity to the roadside as James Dean would cast aside the folorn cigarette end of failure, towards a brave new world of hope, glory and superb greatnessity. Oh, and bethwart something as well, probably.
Bethwart the infernal fork prongs of incompetence, indifference and ‘waving slightly fatiguely’ outside the off stump.
43 runs in the five overs leading up to tea. That calls for a biscuit.
It’s just that Sachin is due his 100th century, and everybody else is attempting to avoid stealing the limelight from him if he gets it. Dravid risked doing so earlier in the series, and in revenge he was called up to the ODI squad, so now he’s stopped. Dhoni could get away with a 50, but that’s because everyone knows that he’s fluking it.
As for Raina, he’s just there in case Mishra manages to no-ball himself out of the game.
The galacticos look jaded.They should stick to twenty20.
It’s amazing how many of the world’s top sides find their best players “out of form”, and the fans wanting to restructure their entire set up, after they’ve played England lately.
Funny thing, isn’t it, form? Operates independently of the acts of the opposition somehow.
“England’s Tennants Extra batting line up”
RING-SCORCHERS THE LOT OF THEM.