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England have announced their team, the only change being that Dawkins
comes in for the injured Bashir. With Smith at 7, Dawkins at 8, Woakes
at 9 and Carse at 10, it must be a long time since England have had so >strong a lower order.
India have a number of injury worries, and we know that the unfortunate >Reddy is out of the series.
In message <iwYhVXCu7ofoFwFY@jhall_nospamxx.co.uk>, John Hall ><john_nospam@jhall.co.uk> writes
England have announced their team, the only change being that Dawkins >>comes in for the injured Bashir. With Smith at 7, Dawkins at 8, Woakes
at 9 and Carse at 10, it must be a long time since England have had so >>strong a lower order.
India have a number of injury worries, and we know that the unfortunate >>Reddy is out of the series.
I seem to have had a senior moment regarding Dawson's name! Sorry about >that.
On Tue, 22 Jul 2025 09:52:00 +0100, John Hall
<john_nospam@jhall.co.uk> wrote:
In message <iwYhVXCu7ofoFwFY@jhall_nospamxx.co.uk>, John Hall
<john_nospam@jhall.co.uk> writes
England have announced their team, the only change being that Dawkins
comes in for the injured Bashir. With Smith at 7, Dawkins at 8, Woakes
at 9 and Carse at 10, it must be a long time since England have had so
strong a lower order.
India have a number of injury worries, and we know that the unfortunate
Reddy is out of the series.
I seem to have had a senior moment regarding Dawson's name! Sorry about
that.
8 years since he last played. Where do the years go?
On 22/07/2025 13:28, max.it wrote:
On Tue, 22 Jul 2025 09:52:00 +0100, John Hall
<john_nospam@jhall.co.uk> wrote:
In message <iwYhVXCu7ofoFwFY@jhall_nospamxx.co.uk>, John Hall
<john_nospam@jhall.co.uk> writes
England have announced their team, the only change being that Dawkins
comes in for the injured Bashir. With Smith at 7, Dawkins at 8, Woakes >>>> at 9 and Carse at 10, it must be a long time since England have had so >>>> strong a lower order.
India have a number of injury worries, and we know that the unfortunate >>>> Reddy is out of the series.
I seem to have had a senior moment regarding Dawson's name! Sorry about
that.
8 years since he last played. Where do the years go?
That's the longest gap between Tests
since Gareth Batty's 11-year gap--
from 2005 to 2016, although not the longest ending in this series, as
Nair's gap was slightly longer.
It appears that he will be the first England Test player to return
after a gap encompassing 3 Prime Ministers' entire premierships
(assuming that none of _them_ makes a comeback).
England have announced their team, the only change being that Dawkins
comes in for the injured Bashir. With Smith at 7, Dawkins at 8, Woakes
at 9 and Carse at 10, it must be a long time since England have had so strong a lower order.
India have a number of injury worries, and we know that the unfortunate Reddy is out of the series.
England have announced their team, the only change being that Dawkins
comes in for the injured Bashir. With Smith at 7, Dawkins at 8, Woakes
at 9 and Carse at 10, it must be a long time since England have had so strong a lower order.
India have a number of injury worries, and we know that the unfortunate Reddy is out of the series.
Dawson has missed 104 Tests, which will be the joint-5th most (Batty's
142 is the record).
https://www.espncricinfo.com/records/most-consecutive-matches-missed- for-a-team-between-appearances-323040
On 7/21/2025 12:03 PM, John Hall wrote:
England have announced their team, the only change being that Dawkins
comes in for the injured Bashir. With Smith at 7, Dawkins at 8, Woakes
at 9 and Carse at 10, it must be a long time since England have had so
strong a lower order.
India have a number of injury worries, and we know that the
unfortunate Reddy is out of the series.
10.30 am "Famous Old Trafford stat: no team has ever won the toss here, chosen to bowl first and won the match," says Matt Roller as the toss is imminent.
- Matt Roller
Hopefully Old Trafford's record remains unbroken AFTER this test :-))
Stokes WON the TOSS 4 times in a row in this series.
India have lost 14 international tosses in a row.
On 7/21/2025 12:03 PM, John Hall wrote:
England have announced their team, the only change being that Dawkins
comes in for the injured Bashir. With Smith at 7, Dawkins at 8, Woakes
at 9 and Carse at 10, it must be a long time since England have had so
strong a lower order.
India have a number of injury worries, and we know that the
unfortunate Reddy is out of the series.
It got WORSE for India.
Pant may NOT be able to bat in the remaining test.
So it's Indian 10 vs England 11 it will be.
On 7/21/2025 12:03 PM, John Hall wrote:
England have announced their team, the only change being that Dawkins >>comes in for the injured Bashir. With Smith at 7, Dawkins at 8, Woakes
at 9 and Carse at 10, it must be a long time since England have had so >>strong a lower order.
India have a number of injury worries, and we know that the
unfortunate Reddy is out of the series.
It got WORSE for India.
Pant may NOT be able to bat in the remaining test.
So it's Indian 10 vs England 11 it will be.
On 23/07/2025 22:02, FBInCIAnNSATerroristSlayer wrote:
On 7/21/2025 12:03 PM, John Hall wrote:
England have announced their team, the only change being thatIt got WORSE for India.
Dawkins comes in for the injured Bashir. With Smith at 7, Dawkins at
8, Woakes at 9 and Carse at 10, it must be a long time since England >>>have had so strong a lower order.
India have a number of injury worries, and we know that the
unfortunate Reddy is out of the series.
Pant may NOT be able to bat in the remaining test.
So it's Indian 10 vs England 11 it will be.
They'll still have 11 when they are fielding, and Jurel will be able to
keep again.
On Tue, 22 Jul 2025 09:52:00 +0100, John Hall
<john_nospam@jhall.co.uk> wrote:
In message <iwYhVXCu7ofoFwFY@jhall_nospamxx.co.uk>, John Hall
<john_nospam@jhall.co.uk> writes
England have announced their team, the only change being that Dawkins
comes in for the injured Bashir. With Smith at 7, Dawkins at 8, Woakes
at 9 and Carse at 10, it must be a long time since England have had so
strong a lower order.
India have a number of injury worries, and we know that the unfortunate
Reddy is out of the series.
I seem to have had a senior moment regarding Dawson's name! Sorry about
that.
8 years since he last played. Where do the years go?
In message <b0c5002a-54fb-4c67-b70d-9352b7adf1a7@america.com>, FBInCIAnNSATerroristSlayer <FBInCIAnNSATerroristSlayer@america.com> writes
On 7/21/2025 12:03 PM, John Hall wrote:
England have announced their team, the only change being that Dawkins
comes in for the injured Bashir. With Smith at 7, Dawkins at 8,
Woakes at 9 and Carse at 10, it must be a long time since England
have had so strong a lower order.
-aIndia have a number of injury worries, and we know that the
unfortunate Reddy is out of the series.
It got WORSE for India.
Pant may NOT be able to bat in the remaining test.
So it's Indian 10 vs England 11 it will be.
Yes, that would be very unfortunate. Clearly his batting would be badly missed. At least Jurel seems to be a very good keeper, though clearly nowhere near Pant as a batsman.
On 22/07/2025 13:28, max.it wrote:
On Tue, 22 Jul 2025 09:52:00 +0100, John Hall
<john_nospam@jhall.co.uk> wrote:
In message <iwYhVXCu7ofoFwFY@jhall_nospamxx.co.uk>, John Hall
<john_nospam@jhall.co.uk> writes
England have announced their team, the only change being that Dawkins
comes in for the injured Bashir. With Smith at 7, Dawkins at 8, Woakes >>>> at 9 and Carse at 10, it must be a long time since England have had so >>>> strong a lower order.
India have a number of injury worries, and we know that the unfortunate >>>> Reddy is out of the series.
I seem to have had a senior moment regarding Dawson's name! Sorry about
that.
8 years since he last played. Where do the years go?
It's almost as long since Stokes took a 5-for (6-22 v WI, Sep 2017).
On 24/07/2025 09:50, John Hall wrote:
In message <b0c5002a-54fb-4c67-b70d-9352b7adf1a7@america.com>,
FBInCIAnNSATerroristSlayer <FBInCIAnNSATerroristSlayer@america.com>
writes
On 7/21/2025 12:03 PM, John Hall wrote:
England have announced their team, the only change being that
Dawkins comes in for the injured Bashir. With Smith at 7, Dawkins at
8, Woakes at 9 and Carse at 10, it must be a long time since England
have had so strong a lower order.
-aIndia have a number of injury worries, and we know that the
unfortunate Reddy is out of the series.
It got WORSE for India.
Pant may NOT be able to bat in the remaining test.
So it's Indian 10 vs England 11 it will be.
Yes, that would be very unfortunate. Clearly his batting would be
badly missed. At least Jurel seems to be a very good keeper, though
clearly nowhere near Pant as a batsman.
Surprisingly, Jurel's FC average (48.73) is higher than Pant's (47.06, including today), although obviously a much lower proportion of his FC matches have been Tests, so his non-Test average is not as high (50.40
vs 52.38). Also, he only has one FC century - 249 vs a weak Nagaland
side. That accounts for 17% of his FC runs, and skews his averages significantly (41.83 otherwise, 42.12 outside Tests).
In message <b0c5002a-54fb-4c67-b70d-9352b7adf1a7@america.com>, FBInCIAnNSATerroristSlayer <FBInCIAnNSATerroristSlayer@america.com> writes
On 7/21/2025 12:03 PM, John Hall wrote:
England have announced their team, the only change being that Dawkins
comes in for the injured Bashir. With Smith at 7, Dawkins at 8,
Woakes at 9 and Carse at 10, it must be a long time since England
have had so strong a lower order.
-aIndia have a number of injury worries, and we know that the
unfortunate Reddy is out of the series.
It got WORSE for India.
Pant may NOT be able to bat in the remaining test.
So it's Indian 10 vs England 11 it will be.
Yes, that would be very unfortunate. Clearly his batting would be badly missed. At least Jurel seems to be a very good keeper, though clearly nowhere near Pant as a batsman.
Talking about fielding, though Sai has clearly justified his selection
(I'm not going to try to spell his last name from memory), I wonder if
India will miss Nair's slip fielding. Going by the first three Tests,
he's an excellent slip and easily India's best.
There seemed to be an effort on day 1 being made by both the umpires and
the England side to have quicker change-overs between overs. Also I
didn't see any attempts to have the ball changed or any unofficial
drinks breaks, and there were only two DRS reviews all day. Given all
that, and that there were a fair number of overs by the spinners, it's disappointing that, even after allowing for the delay caused by Pant's unfortunate injury, the rate only improved from about 12 overs an hour
in the previous Test to about 13 overs an hour yesterday.
On 23/07/2025 10:54, FBInCIAnNSATerroristSlayer wrote:
India have lost 14 international tosses in a row.Yes, but of the 13 matches before this, they have won 11 and lost 2,> so it's worked out very well for them. They won 8 of the previous 9
tosses; of those 8, they won 4 matches and lost 3.
Andy Zaltzman mentioned that England have won 22 tosses in their
last 26 Tests v India. I think he said that the odds against that
were something like 3,700 to 1.
On 24/07/2025 14:30, David North wrote:
On 22/07/2025 13:28, max.it wrote:
On Tue, 22 Jul 2025 09:52:00 +0100, John Hall
<john_nospam@jhall.co.uk> wrote:
In message <iwYhVXCu7ofoFwFY@jhall_nospamxx.co.uk>, John Hall
<john_nospam@jhall.co.uk> writes
England have announced their team, the only change being that Dawkins >>>>> comes in for the injured Bashir. With Smith at 7, Dawkins at 8, Woakes >>>>> at 9 and Carse at 10, it must be a long time since England have had so >>>>> strong a lower order.
India have a number of injury worries, and we know that the
unfortunate
Reddy is out of the series.
I seem to have had a senior moment regarding Dawson's name! Sorry about >>>> that.
8 years since he last played. Where do the years go?
It's almost as long since Stokes took a 5-for (6-22 v WI, Sep 2017).
I thought Andy Zaltzman said that that is the longest gap between
successive 5-fors in Test history, but it isn't, e.g. Charles Macartney
of Aus only took 2, 1 in 1909 and the other in 1921.
Maybe it was the longest gap in term of matches played; this is Stokes's 76th Test since his previous one. Here's a lost of those with at least
77 Tests and 2 5-fors; I checked those with a small number of 5-fors,
and couldn't find a larger number of Tests between 5-fors.
https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html? class=1;filter=advanced;orderby=player;qualmin1=2;qualmin2=77;qualval1=five_wickets;qualval2=matches;size=200;template=results;type=bowling
On 24/07/2025 09:50, John Hall wrote:
In message <b0c5002a-54fb-4c67-b70d-9352b7adf1a7@america.com>,
FBInCIAnNSATerroristSlayer <FBInCIAnNSATerroristSlayer@america.com>
writes
On 7/21/2025 12:03 PM, John Hall wrote:
England have announced their team, the only change being that
Dawkins comes in for the injured Bashir. With Smith at 7, Dawkins at
8, Woakes at 9 and Carse at 10, it must be a long time since England
have had so strong a lower order.
-aIndia have a number of injury worries, and we know that the
unfortunate Reddy is out of the series.
It got WORSE for India.
Pant may NOT be able to bat in the remaining test.
So it's Indian 10 vs England 11 it will be.
Yes, that would be very unfortunate. Clearly his batting would be
badly missed. At least Jurel seems to be a very good keeper, though
clearly nowhere near Pant as a batsman.
Surprisingly, Jurel's FC average (48.73) is higher than Pant's (47.06, including today), although obviously a much lower proportion of his FC matches have been Tests, so his non-Test average is not as high (50.40
vs 52.38). Also, he only has one FC century - 249 vs a weak Nagaland
side. That accounts for 17% of his FC runs, and skews his averages significantly (41.83 otherwise, 42.12 outside Tests).
On 24/07/2025 14:59, David North wrote:
On 24/07/2025 09:50, John Hall wrote:
In message <b0c5002a-54fb-4c67-b70d-9352b7adf1a7@america.com>,
FBInCIAnNSATerroristSlayer <FBInCIAnNSATerroristSlayer@america.com>
writes
On 7/21/2025 12:03 PM, John Hall wrote:
England have announced their team, the only change being that
Dawkins comes in for the injured Bashir. With Smith at 7, Dawkins
at 8, Woakes at 9 and Carse at 10, it must be a long time since
England have had so strong a lower order.
-aIndia have a number of injury worries, and we know that the
unfortunate Reddy is out of the series.
It got WORSE for India.
Pant may NOT be able to bat in the remaining test.
So it's Indian 10 vs England 11 it will be.
Yes, that would be very unfortunate. Clearly his batting would be
badly missed. At least Jurel seems to be a very good keeper, though
clearly nowhere near Pant as a batsman.
Surprisingly, Jurel's FC average (48.73) is higher than Pant's (47.06,
including today), although obviously a much lower proportion of his FC
matches have been Tests, so his non-Test average is not as high (50.40
vs 52.38). Also, he only has one FC century - 249 vs a weak Nagaland
side. That accounts for 17% of his FC runs, and skews his averages
significantly (41.83 otherwise, 42.12 outside Tests).
He has taken the 4th and 5th stumpings by substitutes in Test history. Previously:
Nigel Tufnell stumped Tip Snooke off George Thompson while subbing for Herbert Strudwick, Eng v SA, Lord's, Durban, 1909/10.
On 24/07/2025 08:31, David North wrote:<big snip>
On 23/07/2025 10:54, FBInCIAnNSATerroristSlayer wrote:
India have lost 14 international tosses in a row.Yes, but of the 13 matches before this, they have won 11 and lost 2,>
so it's worked out very well for them. They won 8 of the previous 9
tosses; of those 8, they won 4 matches and lost 3.
This is in accordance with the "Hitting Against The Spin" [Jones
and Leamon] result that historically teams winning the toss have lost more >Tests than they have won.
In message <105u7cs$kivn$1@dont-email.me>, Andy Walker
<anw@cuboid.co.uk> writes
On 24/07/2025 08:31, David North wrote:<big snip>
On 23/07/2025 10:54, FBInCIAnNSATerroristSlayer wrote:
India have lost 14 international tosses in a row.Yes, but of the 13 matches before this, they have won 11 and lost 2,>
so it's worked out very well for them. They won 8 of the previous 9
tosses; of those 8, they won 4 matches and lost 3.
-a-a-a-a-a This is in accordance with the "Hitting Against The Spin" [Jones >> and Leamon] result that historically teams winning the toss have lost
more
Tests than they have won.
I wonder if that's applied throughout Test history, or whether in the
early days pitches tended to deteriorate a lot more during the match,
and so it was easier for captains winning the toss to make the right decision, which would usually have been to bat.
On 25/07/2025 20:00, John Hall wrote:
In message <105u7cs$kivn$1@dont-email.me>, Andy Walker
<anw@cuboid.co.uk> writes
On 24/07/2025 08:31, David North wrote:<big snip>
On 23/07/2025 10:54, FBInCIAnNSATerroristSlayer wrote:
India have lost 14 international tosses in a row.Yes, but of the 13 matches before this, they have won 11 and lost
so it's worked out very well for them. They won 8 of the previous 9 >>>> tosses; of those 8, they won 4 matches and lost 3.
aaaaa This is in accordance with the "Hitting Against The Spin" [Jones
and Leamon] result that historically teams winning the toss have
lost more
Tests than they have won.
I wonder if that's applied throughout Test history, or whether in
the early days pitches tended to deteriorate a lot more during the
match, and so it was easier for captains winning the toss to make the >>right decision, which would usually have been to bat.
In total, teams winning the toss have won 963 Tests and lost 838.
Breaking it down by decade, the 1990s was the only decade when they
lost more than one Test more than they won (W108, L115). Results in the >2000s and 2020s were slightly positive (W/L ratio < 1.025), but in the
2010s they won 200 and lost 149. Up to the 1980s, they won 382 and lost >306.
https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;filter >=advanced;groupby=decade;orderby=start;template=results;toss=1;type=team
Teams electing to bat first have won 700 and lost 592, but have lost
more than they have won in every decade from the 1980s on except the
2010s, when they won 153 and lost 90.
https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?batting_fieldi >ng_first=1;class=1;filter=advanced;groupby=decade;orderby=start;template >=results;toss=1;type=team
Teams electing to field first have won 263 and lost 246. Results in
decades from the 1950s on have alternated between positive and
negative. Before the 1950s, they won 7 and lost 13.
https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?batting_fieldi >ng_first=2;class=1;filter=advanced;groupby=decade;orderby=start;template >=results;toss=1;type=team
Teams batting first (whether winning the toss or not) have won 946 and
lost 855, but they have lost more than they have won in the 1980s,
2000s and 2020s, and only won slightly more than they lost (W113, L110)
in the 1990s. The outlier was again the 2010s, which was the best
decade for batting first (W212, L137) since the 1900s.
On 25/07/2025 20:00, John Hall wrote:[...]
In total, teams winning the toss have won 963 Tests and lost 838.-a-a-a-a-a This is in accordance with the "Hitting Against The Spin" [Jones >>> and Leamon] result that historically teams winning the toss have lost more >>> Tests than they have won.<big snip>
I wonder if that's applied throughout Test history, [...]
A terrific performance by Rahul and Gill yesterday. They have given
India a real chance of avoiding a defeat that had seemed inevitable at >lunch. About 15 minutes before close of play, Sky showed that the
Winviz forecast was then running at 63% England, 36% a draw and 1%
India, though goodness knows where that 1% came from - there isn't
enough time left in the game for India to get a lead of any size and
then bowl England out.
The commentators have kept on talking about increasingly uneven bounce
and more turn but, though a few balls bounced unevenly, for most of the
time the batsmen looked comfortable. England badly missed Stokes'
bowling.
England will have to hope they can take at least one wicket early on
before the batsmen have had a chance to play themselves in again. There
will also be the second new ball available after an hour or so's play.
It might help that when the overnight pair are separated, the next few >batsmen will all be left-handers, and Archer is much more successful
against those.
There hasn't been a single use of the ball hoops so far in this match,
at least that I could see. I wonder if they've managed to find a batch
of balls somewhere that keep their hardness and shape much better than
those used previously. Otherwise you'd think that, even if the players
have been told not to harass the umpires for a ball change, the umpires >would have changed the ball a time or two on their own initiative.
A terrific performance by Rahul and Gill yesterday. They have given
India a real chance of avoiding a defeat that had seemed inevitable at lunch. About 15 minutes before close of play, Sky showed that the Winviz forecast was then running at 63% England, 36% a draw and 1% India,
though goodness knows where that 1% came from - there isn't enough time
left in the game for India to get a lead of any size and then bowl
England out.
On 27/07/2025 08:16, John Hall wrote:
A terrific performance by Rahul and Gill yesterday. They have given
India a real chance of avoiding a defeat that had seemed inevitable at >>lunch. About 15 minutes before close of play, Sky showed that the
Winviz forecast was then running at 63% England, 36% a draw and 1%
India, though goodness knows where that 1% came from - there isn't
enough time left in the game for India to get a lead of any size and
then bowl England out.
The largest difference between a team's 1st and 2nd innings in Tests is
551 (Pak v WI, Bridgetown 1957/58, when Hanif Mohammad made 337). That >record would probably need to fall for India to win.
https://www.espncricinfo.com/records/biggest-difference-between-a-team-s >-first-and-second-innings-283985
A terrific performance by Rahul and Gill yesterday. They have given
India a real chance of avoiding a defeat that had seemed inevitable at lunch. About 15 minutes before close of play, Sky showed that the Winviz forecast was then running at 63% England, 36% a draw and 1% India,
though goodness knows where that 1% came from - there isn't enough time
left in the game for India to get a lead of any size and then bowl
England out.
The commentators have kept on talking about increasingly uneven bounce
and more turn but, though a few balls bounced unevenly, for most of the
time the batsmen looked comfortable. England badly missed Stokes' bowling.
England will have to hope they can take at least one wicket early on
before the batsmen have had a chance to play themselves in again. There
will also be the second new ball available after an hour or so's play.
It might help that when the overnight pair are separated, the next few batsmen will all be left-handers, and Archer is much more successful
against those.
There hasn't been a single use of the ball hoops so far in this match,
at least that I could see. I wonder if they've managed to find a batch
of balls somewhere that keep their hardness and shape much better than
those used previously. Otherwise you'd think that, even if the players
have been told not to harass the umpires for a ball change, the umpires would have changed the ball a time or two on their own initiative.
On 7/27/2025 12:16 AM, John Hall wrote:
A terrific performance by Rahul and Gill yesterday. They have given
India a real chance of avoiding a defeat that had seemed inevitable at
lunch. About 15 minutes before close of play, Sky showed that the
Winviz forecast was then running at 63% England, 36% a draw and 1%
India, though goodness knows where that 1% came from - there isn't
enough time left in the game for India to get a lead of any size and
then bowl England out.
If the odds are ZERO, nobody will bet money and bookmarkers WON'T be
able to PROFIT.
If they gives odds of 1%, at least some lottery loving suckers will bet money on India to win and bookies will profit.
The commentators have kept on talking about increasingly uneven bounce
and more turn but, though a few balls bounced unevenly, for most of
the time the batsmen looked comfortable. England badly missed Stokes'
bowling.
England will have to hope they can take at least one wicket early on
before the batsmen have had a chance to play themselves in again.
There will also be the second new ball available after an hour or so's
play. It might help that when the overnight pair are separated, the
next few batsmen will all be left-handers, and Archer is much more
successful against those.
There hasn't been a single use of the ball hoops so far in this match,
at least that I could see. I wonder if they've managed to find a batch
of balls somewhere that keep their hardness and shape much better than
those used previously. Otherwise you'd think that, even if the players
have been told not to harass the umpires for a ball change, the
umpires would have changed the ball a time or two on their own
initiative.
In message <rODO8DBfJdhoFwn0@jhall_nospamxx.co.uk>, John Hall <john_nospam@jhall.co.uk> writes
A terrific performance by Rahul and Gill yesterday. They have given
India a real chance of avoiding a defeat that had seemed inevitable at
lunch. About 15 minutes before close of play, Sky showed that the
Winviz forecast was then running at 63% England, 36% a draw and 1%
India, though goodness knows where that 1% came from - there isn't
enough time left in the game for India to get a lead of any size and
then bowl England out.
The commentators have kept on talking about increasingly uneven bounce
and more turn but, though a few balls bounced unevenly, for most of
the time the batsmen looked comfortable. England badly missed Stokes'
bowling.
England will have to hope they can take at least one wicket early on
before the batsmen have had a chance to play themselves in again.
There will also be the second new ball available after an hour or so's
play. It might help that when the overnight pair are separated, the
next few batsmen will all be left-handers, and Archer is much more
successful against those.
There hasn't been a single use of the ball hoops so far in this match,
at least that I could see. I wonder if they've managed to find a batch
of balls somewhere that keep their hardness and shape much better than
those used previously. Otherwise you'd think that, even if the players
have been told not to harass the umpires for a ball change, the
umpires would have changed the ball a time or two on their own
initiative.
One other thought. I think every match in this series has gone well into
the fifth day. Hopefully this will silence those who have been calling
for four-day Tests. Four day matches may be sensible for fixtures such
as England v Zimbabwe, but not when two "major" Test sides are playing
each other.
England have announced their team, the only change being that Dawkins
comes in for the injured Bashir. With Smith at 7, Dawkins at 8, Woakes
at 9 and Carse at 10, it must be a long time since England have had so strong a lower order.
India have a number of injury worries, and we know that the unfortunate Reddy is out of the series.
On 7/27/2025 12:16 AM, John Hall wrote:
A terrific performance by Rahul and Gill yesterday. They have given
India a real chance of avoiding a defeat that had seemed inevitable at
lunch. About 15 minutes before close of play, Sky showed that the
Winviz forecast was then running at 63% England, 36% a draw and 1%
India, though goodness knows where that 1% came from - there isn't
enough time left in the game for India to get a lead of any size and
then bowl England out.
If the odds are ZERO, nobody will bet money and bookmarkers WON'T be
able to PROFIT.
If they gives odds of 1%, at least some lottery loving suckers will bet money on India to win and bookies will profit.
On 28/07/2025 10:55, FBInCIAnNSATerroristSlayer wrote:
On 7/27/2025 12:16 AM, John Hall wrote:
A terrific performance by Rahul and Gill yesterday. They have given
India a real chance of avoiding a defeat that had seemed inevitable
at lunch. About 15 minutes before close of play, Sky showed that the
Winviz forecast was then running at 63% England, 36% a draw and 1%
India, though goodness knows where that 1% came from - there isn't
enough time left in the game for India to get a lead of any size and
then bowl England out.
If the odds are ZERO, nobody will bet money and bookmarkers WON'T be
able to PROFIT.
If they gives odds of 1%, at least some lottery loving suckers will
bet money on India to win and bookies will profit.
Are you suggesting that WinViz/CricViz is being funded by bookmakers?