Rootin' for Joe etc...

[liquidfootball2]

Quite cloudy down south this morning. 

If England can get a few more runs to give something to bowl at, they'll feel they can do damage with these overheads - presuming they stay. 

Jimmy is also 5 away from overtaking McGrath's total wicket figure, which would give him more than any other seam up pace bowler in the history of test cricket. It would be lovely if it were a nick to Cook at first slip to seal it. 

I recall last year's Oval test v SA. England batted first and again, didn't go brilliantly, but for an exceptional Ben Stokes hundred amassed with the tail. The clouds rolled in and Toby Roland-Jones ran through them to give England a lead. England batted again and Moeen spun them to victory with that famous hat trick. 

The same sort of game isn't impossible here.

[hancockjr]

What a great session for England. Imagine if the batsmen could bat as well.

[liquidfootball2]

What a great session for England. Imagine if the batsmen could bat as well.

The top three did very well in tough conditions

Wonderful effort yet again from Buttler, with stoic support from firstly Adil Rashid and then far more enterprisingly and for that matter surprisingly, Stuart Broad, who these days is really only a batting rabbit, coming in late and usually going in no time at all.

On a cool and overcast morning, the ball has swung and shaped, ideal for bowling you would have thought, but the indian bowlers have had lots of overs in their legs from yesterday and at times have just looked lethargic despite every help with so much swing and movement.

I don't think England would mind getting their bowling boots on when it gets around to their turn. It's moving and the clouds are overhead.

Well beyond England's wildest dreams at 304-8, this looks an extremely strong position now.

Buttler has once again shown the selectors that looking beyond the county championship and to those with hardly any red ball cricket can be well worthwhile if he's judged to have the quality.

Well done Ed Smith who has faced down his loud critics on the radio and in the media in the best possible way, most of his picks and hunches have come off.

[forestfan]

Yeah, his picks have mostly come off... but now for solving cricket’s version of Fermat’s Last Theorem, finding a functional top three who can give that strong middle/lower order a platform on a regular basis.

[baganboy]

Buttler has done fabulously.
The two decisive players for England this series have been Buttler and Curran.

[liquidfootball2]

England are now so far ahead in this game that India have pretty much lost all sight of them, at best they're just a dot on the distant horizon.

The runs from England's middle order and tail end batting has been the predominant theme of this series, and when combined with an impressive seam quartet they've usually managed to wrestle control of the session and the match. 

Now it seems just a matter of the final death throes to be performed and a 4-1 series margin confirmed.

[liquidfootball2]

I'd say that was a pretty even day, but England remain in a supremely commanding position. 

India's lower order, especially Jadeja excelled, how generous it was of Kohli to hide him until now, and so a subsequent lead of just 40 was a little less than expected, but England have rallied again and batted nicely to move the lead on to a sizeable 154 with only 2 wickets lost.

With the weather set fair for the remainder of the game, we have in theory 180 overs and 8 wickets in hand, so could be looking at Joe Root making a declaration tomorrow - unless we suffer another collapse and are bowled out (it would be foolish to write that off). 

As for when he should make that declaration, I'd want to set India around 400 runs off 100 overs. So if we batted 80 overs tomorrow and scored at around 3 runs per over, we'll get that. However, with our aggressive players to come, I imagine we might even see a bigger lead established to give us more overs at them.

[liquidfootball2]

There's speculation England could name four spinners for the touring party to Sri Lanka which possibly means a seamer missing out and having a rest. Stuart Broad even mentioned as a possibility, as has previously found it very tough in those conditions.
(I personally think that a big call and unlikely but it could make sense)

So Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and Jack Leach may be selected in all the tests with Dom Bess also probably touring. 

The Somerset wicket at Taunton has been so 'prepared' recently, using that word in its most loosest sense, that its possibly resembling a Galle wicket at it's most vicious, and the Somerset spinners will be well used to using such advantageous conditions.

Rory Burns is likely to be selected to partner Jennings and Pope possibly taken along too at least as part of the squad.

Possible squad,

Jennings, Burns, Moeen, Root, Bairstow, Stokes, Buttler, Curran, Rashid, Leach, Anderson, Woakes, Pope, Bess plus one extra top order batsman*

* anyones guess really but Vince has been in the squad recently and maybe favourite.

[DavidLloydIsAHero]

Have they already announced it will be a 15 man squad?

Denley is an option as well as he bowls a bit of leg spin which might be useful. Could he even be the 4th spinner mentioned with Bess missing out and Vince going as well?

[liquidfootball2]

Have they already announced it will be a 15 man squad?

Denley is an option as well as he bowls a bit of leg spin which might be useful. Could he even be the 4th spinner mentioned with Bess missing out and Vince going as well?

No just speculation. Yes I agree Joe Denly is a real possibility and has been mentioned a lot, although obviously at 32 he's a little older than their recent selections. He could tour and be another fourth spinner option alongside Bess, although he would possibly be picked primarily as a batsman.

A 15 man squad is speculation but there's a Lions tour to the UAE at around the same time which with the geography involved does give some scope for covering positions.

[DavidLloydIsAHero]

I wasn't aware of the Lions tour, I'd expect Bess to be there then tbh, easy enough to bring him in if needed in that case. I'd like to see them take 3 openers plus Vince but I'm listening to Ed Smith's interview now and I half expect Vince to be the back up opener given his philosophy on selection.

[hancockjr]

There’s a serious possibility that Jennings will be selected. Would this be the weakest selection in living memory? I could not think of a weaker one.

[DavidLloydIsAHero]

Ballance can't have been far away at times!

But yeah it seems almost a given that he is going, just because he happens to be the bloke in possession when Cook retired.

[DavidLloydIsAHero]

BUZZERS!!!

[liquidfootball2]

Marvellous story straight from the Beefy textbook, what an ending to a stupendous career.

England's 'more than' man

More runs than any other Englishman
More runs than any other opening bat
More runs than any other left hander
More caps than any other England player
More centuries than any other England captain

Well played chef, a perfect 147 clearance to finish it

[hancockjr]

World record second innings centuries.

[forestfan]

Marvellous story straight from the Beefy textbook, what an ending to a stupendous career.

England's 'more than' man

More runs than any other Englishman
More runs than any other opening bat
More runs than any other left hander
More caps than any other England player
More centuries than any other England captain

Well played chef, a perfect 147 clearance to finish it

Taking inspiration from fellow Essex men Steve Davis and Ronnie O’Sullivan?

A fairytale ending for a player who has perhaps been underappreciated over the years, he deserved a farewell like this. Opening the batting in Test cricket is a really tough job these days and to do it constantly for 12 years with the results he’s had is remarkable.

Not a showman or a flashy shot player, an old-fashioned cricketer in a T20 era, there may not be another like him.

[liquidfootball2]

What a day it's been, one of England's greatest cricketing heroes has played his last test innings, and what an innings it has been.

Wonderful day, wonderful occasion and a fairytale ending, one to savour and remember. Everyone was loving it, leaving centre stage with everyone wishing for a little bit more is perfect, tomorrow he'll be gone and we'll miss him. We're very unlikely to see an opener of his ilk in an England shirt again.

A mention too for skipper Joe Root, back to four, back to form and back to his imperial best, nice to see.

Tomorrow it'll be all about completing the job, finishing in the right way, and recording a crushing 4-1 scoreline. They have taken more than a few giant strides along that road with the three early wickets, including that of Kohli for a golden duck, which really means it should all be now a mere formality, a matter of when, not if.

Cookies great mate Jimmy Anderson needs just one more wicket to go past McGrath as the most prolific fast bowler in Test cricket, what an achievement that would be, in what has become a test match for notable records and one great farewell.

[Ducks Deluxe]

Everything has been said above...what a wonderful man,in everyway..

Do you remember when he was getting dog's abuse a number of summer's ago...? Media led with MV and "best mate" Swann to the fore? So wonderful that he dug in and burned all the big egos off...Still so young.....

DD.

[hancockjr]

Fantastic day - really wanted both to get centuries (one for the past, one for the future) and for once both did!

Everything has been said above...what a wonderful man,in everyway..

Do you remember when he was getting dog's abuse a number of summer's ago...? Media led with MV and "best mate" Swann to the fore? So wonderful that he dug in and burned all the big egos off...Still so young.....

DD.

I don't recall this, and can't find any on google - can you provide examples?

I do recall times when his form was way off and many commentators thought he may warrant dropping, contributing the opinions they are paid to give, and to their credit they didn't let past relationships cloud this, but that doesn't match the description above so it must have been something else, far worse. Keen to see what that was.

[ooozzzie]

What a day's cricket that was. Had me England Cricket Shirt on and annoyed as many Indians and Aussies as I could find. They were surprisingly very quiet, I was
chirping away all night long. Managed to find 4 bars showing the Cricket. Great night. https://twitter.com/LegB4Cricket/status ... 3978817537

[liquidfootball2]

What a way to end the summer.

Love watching Jimmy bowl. A proper craftsman who just seems a normal bloke.

Guess that's why he's the England fan's favourite.

564 test wickets. 

36 years old, still on top of his game.

Well done Rashid too, justifying his selection, that crucial wicket was Shane Warne-like. 

Not Root's best day today by any stretch but keeping Rashid on when the new ball was available worked well.

Incidentally how absolutely ridiculous and uncalled for was this..

Lol at this take on the BBC's feed -

Amy Lofthouse
BBC Sport at The Oval
It's a long, long way off yet, but a few people have started talking about that County Championship match against Middlesex and Yorkshire a few years ago. Back in 2014 Yorkshire, led by Root, set Middlesex 472 to win their Division One match. Middlesex promptly chased it down to win by seven wickets, and Root had the nickname 'craptain' bestowed on him by the dressing room. I still think England will win, but it's been a very strange tactical display since lunch.

What a way for a BBC journalist to talk about the England captain.

Ludicrous, really need to better their reporting, MV and Swann or Tufnell on TMS, throwing hissy fits when Root doesn't declare seems to be their new speciality.

[hancockjr]

Bemoaning “late” declarations has been around since Boycott started talking about uncovered wickets and the makers name. Hopefully today will shut them up for the future, though Nathan Astle’s innings didn’t.

[liquidfootball2]

Agreed, or Roots declaration when West Indies won comfortably and Root was left embarrassed.

Commentators don't win matches, they can declare when they like, who cares if it all goes tits up and we lose.

[baganboy]

Really glad for Cook. That was a farewell (and the last stand) worth the player that he was.
My all-time XI of the players I have seen, has Cook and Sehwag opening the batting.

[liquidfootball2]

Reading The Times of India and some of these posts.... and Kohli's captaincy comes in for some heavy hits, it isn't liked at all, not one bit.

Hardly surprising as our own baganboy has been pointing out all series.


https://m.timesofindia.com/articleshow_ ... 773724.cms

[forestfan]

Regarding Root’s captaincy, the strange thing seemed to be why he bowled himself for 6 overs when he had two specialist spinners available. Fair enough to try the “golden arm” part-time bowler to break a partnership, but when it goes on for that long the batsmen must just think they’ve run out of ideas or don’t trust the front-line bowlers (of which we had six in this match!)

His captaincy was less crap than Kohli’s, fair enough...

[ooozzzie]

We would have won had he taken the new ball when it was due, we were the better side, breaking the partnership was the key. The ball was turning. It was risky though. He got away with it. But 4-1 is comprehensive enough and all the time he is learning.

[liquidfootball2]

India at times had England in difficulty throughout, if you look at just the first and fourth tests, where England won by 30 and 60 runs, that's just an aggregate difference of 90, so they were closer but overall the better side in the series came out on top. There were certain parts of the Indian team that were absolutely exceptional. This is far and away the best seam attack they've ever had on these shores and Kohli the batsman was just imperious at times. All this though has to be set against their total lack of any support for him with the bat and the impression that England for the most part had, of get Kohli out and they're all out soon after.

There were well documented reasons for why it went so badly, pitifully poor preparation, dreadful selection, notably at Lord's when Kuldeep played under leaden skies, a completely barmy pick, but most of all Virat Kohli the captain.

There is the reality, India with the crown of being the number one test match nation have now lost by a crushing 4-1 scoreline to a supposedly mediocre number five ranked England with a fragile top order, and this on the back of their loss in South Africa.

They may well beat the West Indies but have then got to go to Australia. Home form and the high percentage of home tests will always give them a high ranking, It all leaves their professed aim of being the best tourists in the world as looking more than a little hollow.

England's middle and lower order batsmen outclassed the majority of India's batsmen, and together with white ball specialist Jos Buttler, a balanced attack led by Jimmy, and a phalanx of all rounders, were deservedly victorious.

Curran made crucial runs in difficult situations and added extra variety and menace with his left arm bowling, he made a real difference, a bright future beckons as a real all rounder. All in all they can't be in that bad a place if they've just won 4-1 against the top ranked side in the world, despite so many in the media tearing a strip of them

Moeen with his tighter action must now surely be better equipped for touring, Curran is a real find and uses the angles well as a left armer going round the wicket, has the ability to bowl slower balls and is a batsman who scores runs in big moments. He'll need to show it can work even in Sri Lanka.

This has been a fantastic advertisement for test match cricket, the crowds have poured out to see some marvellous seam bowling, some gritty batting towards the end of the series and an England team where just about everybody made a contribution. England are now on the rise, have exciting young players breaking through, and with the test match version of Buttler and Sam Curran, have new weapons in their armoury.

Lastly, what a wonderful finale and send-off for one of England's all time best and a thoroughly likeable hero, he won't be forgotten.

[Ducks Deluxe]

Good writing as always,liquid....Pleased but surprised at the margin of overall victory...

Despite his supreme skill with the bat and his dedication to Test Cricket,I find it very hard to " like" Kohli, unlike some of his predecessors...a few of whom I have had the pleasure to meet.

A very big " thank you" to Bagan....who has added so much to this debate with his knowledge and insight....I hope you will join us,as we talk rubbish, in Sri Lanka in a couple of months time....I have been to India but not SL....I would hope to rectify that sometime....

Best wishes to all, DD...