Ok. I’m going to take a deep breath before writing this. First of all, lets deal with the pitch … It’s flat, and it got flatter as the first day progressed. Bumble, the one member of the Sky team with local knowledge, doesn’t think it will break up as the game progresses. Let’s hope he’s right. In theory, it won’t be easy for either team to take 20 wickets on this. When it does occasionally offer a bit of seam movement, it’s so extravagant (and seemingly random) that it misses the bat by a...
The countdown and the conundrum – day four at Nagpur
England 330. India 326-9 dec. England 161-3 Well you didn’t think we were going to breeze it, did you? Much as we’d have loved Kevin Pietersen to score a run a ball hundred and take the game away from India completely, it was never going to happen on this abysmal pitch. All things considered 161-3 was a pretty good effort – even if the cricket was duller than a dinner party involving Duncan Fletcher, Gordon Brown and Prince Charles. The fact of the matter is that we’re still edging – quite...
India: a different sporting planet
If you have a thick skin, and the ability to ignore countless uneducated, one eyed and quite frankly aggressive and anti-English comments, check out the comments under cricinfo.com articles. They’re flooded with Indian fans that appear to either know nothing about cricket or have a habit of consuming narcotic substances before they sit down at a keyboard. Initially, it’s hard not to get worked up by what fanatics in Mumbai and Delhi write, but after a while your enduring mood will be one of...
