Is England still handing out passports to Saffers ?
Not so much now they’re a bit rubbish.
But what about the South Africans?
England wasting away a good start… Again.
You would think that they make it a point to justify batting first when they won the toss.
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I’m so over bazball
I’m loving it personally.
We want more bazball!!! 
Mr consistent Zak Crawley (never thought I’d be able to call him that) the only England player who escapes with any credit today. The rest of them absolutely terrible.
Think he and Duckett have had the advantage of facing the new ball. The SG ball is different from the Dukes and the Kookaburra. The seam remains pronounced even when the ball gets older and hence the slightly older ball does get quite a lot of purchase off of the pitch. The SG ball is easier to bat starting up and then increasingly offers assistance to the bowlers.
The Duke’s has a good seam and is generally a great ball though but I prefer the SG in terms of the assistance it gives with the older ball to both spin as well as swing bowlers.
The Kookaburra red is a shit ball and part of the reasons why the other teams are struggling is because the likes of Windies/pak/SL use the kookaburra where the seam disappears instantly in sub-continental or near sub-continental conditions.
Teams can’t play bazball in India. They might have gotten away with it in Hyderabad (1st test) but a team playing suicidal shots isn’t going to do well generally there with the spinners.
Jimmy on 699.
India needs to give him the 700th wicket so that people can finally prod him to retirement.
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With the two three match test series I expect he will play in one and then retire this summer.
I doubt he will retire in India. I do feel he should have gone but it has to be at the latest this summer.
Should have been after the Ashes.
Well quite but I expect they will give him a home series or at least a home test match.
Problem is they still don’t have anyone better to replace him.
Stokes getting a wicket with his first ball in what feels like years was somewhat hilarious.
Increasingly reminds me of Kapil Dev who played matches towards the end of his career just to reach that world record.
Sometimes you have to take a risk, give youth a chance.
It’s safe just going with the same guys even though they evidently aren’t at the level needed anymore.
These two years this summer give you that chance.
Problem is by the time Jimmy retires. He’s 41 I believe now.
That’s 5-6 years of tests that could have been played by a youngster. , Valuable experience lost. England could have atleast tried out different bowlers in weaker series as well.
As far as not having bowling stocks now , Jimmy wasn’t great when he burst on to the scene. He improved as he played high quality cricket.
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Allowing broad and Anderson the length of rope that England have allowed has pushed back England’s long term prospects a fair bit.
Mark Wood for instance is 34 now and hasn’t nearly played the amount of tests he should have.
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Maybe Anderson is looking at playing 200 tests. Completing that record would be stupendous in terms of longetivity and consistency as a bowler.
But that’s 14 tests that England need to be able to sacrifice for individual gain.
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There was a spell today when Anderson bowled unbelievably well, Padikkal somehow got to about 30 by edging the ball alone. I’m not writing him off just yet, a quiet tour of India isn’t really where you should judge a fast bowler.