Agnew on the radio speculating that our bowlers lost their heads because of the 10 ball over of bouncers that Anderson faced in the first innings. If true, Root right to take the blame. Shame we lost, but I love five day tests that get a result in the last possible few minutes of play.
The bowlers certainly overdid the short stuff, but it was Root's fields that I found puzzling. Only one close catcher for a lot of the time and at one point none at all. Root is a great batsman, but not a very good captain imo.
I always liked Ian Chappell as a captain. He didn’t always get it right but l give him credit and admired him for playing attacking cricket and to force a result. Fielding whilst having no close fielders in and or slips cordon will never get the desired result. As you say, Joe Root is a very good batsman and probably only fair as a captain. He could be a late bloomer and he still has time on his side. To have a quality batsman and equally brilliant captain don’t come around all that often. When they do, they are normally spotted at an early age. Like him or loath him, l always thought Ricky Pointing equally brilliant.
The best pure captain in Test cricket from my perspective was Mike Brearley, and that was mainly the psychological handling of his own team, especially Botham and Willis, than tactics on the pitch. Shame he was only really a decent county standard opener. I suspect Clive Lloyd was rather good too, but with that team who can say?
3rd test at headingly..... India won toss and decided to bat.... Jimmy strikes in first over to remove Rahul...... 1/1
Now Jimmy's got Pujara as well. Great start for England. I reckon Root would have had a bowl if he'd won the toss.
What a great start by England and Anderson, he's completely unplayable when he's in this form. 21/3 with Kohli out for seven.
56/4 at lunch...... England's session me thinks....... Need to win next 2 sessions then should be in a good place for days 2 & 3 when batting usually gets easier....
The way their tail performed today against pitch-up bowling just emphasises how badly wrong Root got it at Lord's.
Sensational from England. Fantastic reaction by Anderson in getting motor mouth Kholi out and what an atmosphere at Headingley. Kholi really prodded the English lion with his pre-match bollocks. Must, must capitilise now. I fear for Hameed.
