And that was that, very disappointing & to be 100-0 & then blown away, some good balls but we lost this with drop catches & letting them get away when in good position to bowl them out reasonably
No, it was an embarrassing capitulation after some good batting from our openers. I'm doubting Root's capacity to captain following what's happened here and at Lords.
Who was an excellent captain, but couldn't bat. I would have liked to have seen Stokes get the captaincy, but his current leave of absence suggests that he might not handle the extra stress particularly well. I'm not sure there's any obvious alternative choice, which is probably why Root still has the job.
He couldn’t bat, but finished having captained England 31 times, winning 18, drawing 9 and losing just 4. Poor Joe, who we all agree isn’t really up to it, has somehow captained 56 times, winning 27, drawing 8 and losing 21. Which tells us that the draw is a dying result in Test matches involving England, and that we must be desperately shy of captaincy talent for Roooooot to retain the role for so long. I have no idea who could replace him. The different formats of the game are now so specialised that although some talent is transferable the strategy side doesn’t seem to be. If we can’t have them in one person we need a leader and a strategist on the pitch. Genuine question - would you prefer a winning captain with an average of 22 like Brears, or a 50/50 one who can be a sublime player like Root? Actually, though the question was genuine it’s a bit stupid. But hey ho.
Is he certain of his place in the team as a batsman?* We might be further restricted for the Ashes if some players decide not to go. *****ing hell another stupid question. Who else is there?
Sadly England's tactics not to really go for it was their undoing. In the first session Hameed only scored twenty off one hundred deliveries. The run-out was the catalyst for the demise, although fair play to Kohli & co for upping their game and applying great pressure to the tail Have to concede the better team won.
I think that I heard or read that Hameed and Burns have been our best openers since Cook and Strauss. I may of dreamt this of course.
Shame that Test has been cancelled but it seems that the IPL starting in 10 days time might have been a contributing factor in the decision..............
Michael Vaughan Former England captain on BBC Test Match Special If you go back to the start of the summer, the India team didn’t want to play this Test due to how close it was to the IPL. The difference between The Oval and this match is that the IPL starts next week. These players are absolutely petrified of getting Covid, having to isolate and missing out on the IPL.