The traffic continues to flow one way. With just a few minor
diversions England dominated their opponents once again and the game is
way ahead of schedule. After two days England lead by 237 runs, which
means that India’s batsmen will have to show the sort of resolve that
has only be discernible from their captain in this series to have any
chance of saving the Test match.
Joe Root, positively impish in the evening sunshine, pressed the accelerator alongside an eager and gifted tail and there was not much that a resigned Indian side could do about it. A capacity crowd, determined to enjoy themselves cheerfully chanted Root’s name as the lead mounted rapidly.
Suddenly there is much to smile about for England supporters.
Root seems like one of the veterans now even though he is only 23. After all, this is his 22nd Test. After a tricky winter and numerous roles in this England team he is now established as the No5 and he knows how to marshal the lower order to good effect. It is probably best to leave him there for a while. In the final session, when England added 139, old Joe was in charge and his timing was sweet. He ended the day unbeaten on 92.
However it is the happy baptism of the newest recruits to the England side which brings the greatest joy at the end of a season that for was for so long so tense and fractious. In June it was obvious that England had lost some major players; towards the end of August they can at least reckon to have discovered a few new ones with a realistic chance of success at the highest level.
It is debatable whether Sam Robson falls into this category.
In the morning England he departed with the addition of just four runs. Robson lost his off-stump – rather too easily – to Varun Aaron as he played around a full-length delivery.
Despite his Headingley century against Sri Lanka he has yet to convince.
Now in his seventh Test match Robson averages 30, hardly a disaster, but if there was another Test this summer – in fact England do not play Test cricket again until next April in the Caribbean – there is no guarantee that Robson would be in the side.
He cover drives pleasingly but Test opening bowlers do not mind that much. An eagerness to cover drive opens up possibilities for the slip cordon. There are alternatives, notably in Yorkshire. There is even the possibility down the line that England might play one batsman less, in which case Moeen Ali, who has been adept at taking on a new role this summer, might be tried as an opener. Of all the newcomers Robson has the flimsiest hold on his place.
Thereafter Alastair Cook and Gary Ballance shepherded England through the first session: a more imperturbable pair it is hard to imagine. We have grown accustomed to Cook in his own world, going for a little wander between deliveries; we are rapidly getting used to Ballance doing something similar. He will be around for sometime.
Ballance was the more reassuring of this pair. In fact Cook’s innings deteriorated gradually. There was a soporific spell in which Ishant Sharma bowled wide of his off stump. In two overs Cook left 11 deliveries and blocked the 12th. It was hard to say who was winning this duel.
After lunch Cook’s timing evaporated. On 65 he was dropped by Murali Vijay at slip off Aaron; on 70 Ajinkya Rahane dropped him at slip off Ravi Ashwin. But on 79 Vijay hung on to a trickier chance and Cook plodded off.
His personal crisis is over even if that 26th Test century is proving elusive. Only the diehards query his right to be leading the Test team after the last three weeks. However if Cook was auditioning for the job of one-day captain yesterday, doubts would still remain about his suitability.
England will be announcing their ODI squad this week and the anticipation is that, while there may be a bit of a shake-up, Cook will continue as captain. In which case his leadership skills must be deemed so important that they override the current lack of fluency or flexibility in his batting.
By contrast Ballance’s credentials for any form of the game grow stronger with every match. It was a surprise when he became Ashwin’s first victim of the series, caught from the splice of his bat at silly point.
Now the middle order drifted in and out like confetti in the wind. Ian Bell departed suggesting that he had received a snorter from Sharma though it was hard to discern why from the TV replays. The face of his bat was open again and Dhoni accepted a simple catch.
Then Moeen, after two exquisite leg-side boundaries off Aaron, fell tamely to Ashwin. Belatedly he tried to withdraw his bat; the ball took the under edge and then dribbled on to the stumps.
Jos Buttler and Root regained the initiative in an 80-run partnership. Buttler’s 45 is his lowest score yet and he must think that this Test cricket is a simple operation. He always comes out when England are in the ascendancy; he plays a few shots, the runs flow and he ends up on the winning side. He is shrewd enough to recognise that it will not always be so easy and that the upturn in England’s fortunes is not entirely down to his presence.
Even so the advent Buttler, along with that of Ballance and Moeen, has brought a smile back to English cricket. It will be trickier next summer but this trio has already demonstrated that they relish the flavour of Test cricket.
Chris Woakes was snaffled down the leg side without scoring but Chris Jordan provided stout support for Root in the last hour, leaving India requiring a minor miracle to find an escape route.
Joe Root, positively impish in the evening sunshine, pressed the accelerator alongside an eager and gifted tail and there was not much that a resigned Indian side could do about it. A capacity crowd, determined to enjoy themselves cheerfully chanted Root’s name as the lead mounted rapidly.
Suddenly there is much to smile about for England supporters.
Root seems like one of the veterans now even though he is only 23. After all, this is his 22nd Test. After a tricky winter and numerous roles in this England team he is now established as the No5 and he knows how to marshal the lower order to good effect. It is probably best to leave him there for a while. In the final session, when England added 139, old Joe was in charge and his timing was sweet. He ended the day unbeaten on 92.
However it is the happy baptism of the newest recruits to the England side which brings the greatest joy at the end of a season that for was for so long so tense and fractious. In June it was obvious that England had lost some major players; towards the end of August they can at least reckon to have discovered a few new ones with a realistic chance of success at the highest level.
It is debatable whether Sam Robson falls into this category.
In the morning England he departed with the addition of just four runs. Robson lost his off-stump – rather too easily – to Varun Aaron as he played around a full-length delivery.
Despite his Headingley century against Sri Lanka he has yet to convince.
Now in his seventh Test match Robson averages 30, hardly a disaster, but if there was another Test this summer – in fact England do not play Test cricket again until next April in the Caribbean – there is no guarantee that Robson would be in the side.
He cover drives pleasingly but Test opening bowlers do not mind that much. An eagerness to cover drive opens up possibilities for the slip cordon. There are alternatives, notably in Yorkshire. There is even the possibility down the line that England might play one batsman less, in which case Moeen Ali, who has been adept at taking on a new role this summer, might be tried as an opener. Of all the newcomers Robson has the flimsiest hold on his place.
Thereafter Alastair Cook and Gary Ballance shepherded England through the first session: a more imperturbable pair it is hard to imagine. We have grown accustomed to Cook in his own world, going for a little wander between deliveries; we are rapidly getting used to Ballance doing something similar. He will be around for sometime.
Ballance was the more reassuring of this pair. In fact Cook’s innings deteriorated gradually. There was a soporific spell in which Ishant Sharma bowled wide of his off stump. In two overs Cook left 11 deliveries and blocked the 12th. It was hard to say who was winning this duel.
After lunch Cook’s timing evaporated. On 65 he was dropped by Murali Vijay at slip off Aaron; on 70 Ajinkya Rahane dropped him at slip off Ravi Ashwin. But on 79 Vijay hung on to a trickier chance and Cook plodded off.
His personal crisis is over even if that 26th Test century is proving elusive. Only the diehards query his right to be leading the Test team after the last three weeks. However if Cook was auditioning for the job of one-day captain yesterday, doubts would still remain about his suitability.
England will be announcing their ODI squad this week and the anticipation is that, while there may be a bit of a shake-up, Cook will continue as captain. In which case his leadership skills must be deemed so important that they override the current lack of fluency or flexibility in his batting.
By contrast Ballance’s credentials for any form of the game grow stronger with every match. It was a surprise when he became Ashwin’s first victim of the series, caught from the splice of his bat at silly point.
Now the middle order drifted in and out like confetti in the wind. Ian Bell departed suggesting that he had received a snorter from Sharma though it was hard to discern why from the TV replays. The face of his bat was open again and Dhoni accepted a simple catch.
Then Moeen, after two exquisite leg-side boundaries off Aaron, fell tamely to Ashwin. Belatedly he tried to withdraw his bat; the ball took the under edge and then dribbled on to the stumps.
Jos Buttler and Root regained the initiative in an 80-run partnership. Buttler’s 45 is his lowest score yet and he must think that this Test cricket is a simple operation. He always comes out when England are in the ascendancy; he plays a few shots, the runs flow and he ends up on the winning side. He is shrewd enough to recognise that it will not always be so easy and that the upturn in England’s fortunes is not entirely down to his presence.
Even so the advent Buttler, along with that of Ballance and Moeen, has brought a smile back to English cricket. It will be trickier next summer but this trio has already demonstrated that they relish the flavour of Test cricket.
Chris Woakes was snaffled down the leg side without scoring but Chris Jordan provided stout support for Root in the last hour, leaving India requiring a minor miracle to find an escape route.
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