I think Watling’s been the better keeper the last few years though. But a fair shout
Good game and good series. Proof that test match is still the highest form of cricket.
IPL and T20 were required at that point of time to drum up interest in cricket. Else the game would have down more.
More changes would be required to popularize the game more. Maybe test match and odi between IPL teams?
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I know that the general belief is that T20 is the enemy of Test cricket, but I don’t think it’s that simple. This India win was born out of T20. Some of the shots in that last innings would never have been played in Tests 10, or even 5 years ago. In the past, a team in India’s position would have probably tried to bat the day out, and it would have been a war of attrition. I’m optimistic that the different forms of the game can survive alongside each other. A test series like this is satisfying in a way that a T20 series could never be, but the bolder tactics and techniques of the shorter forms are making tests more exciting too. If it’s managed correctly, it could be a win/win. It is true that we need more quality from the next level of teams, SA, WI, Pak, Ban, SL etc, but not all is doom and gloom.
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Wasn’t really being serious 
All fair points.
The one I would expand on is your last point. Yes it would be great to see more from SA, WI, Pakistan, SL and Bangladesh, but I’d like to see the test nation numbers expand to bring back Zimbabwe, and lets see Kenya, Ireland, Scotland, Holland and Afghanistan start getting regular tests.
A full test series would probably be a bit beyond these countries at this moment, but whenever Aus come over to play an Ashes series, through in an extra test against Ireland or Scotland. Same with the Kiwis, or they can play a test against Holland. When teams go to SA, they can do a 1 off against Zim or Kenya - lets start to build some of these teams, and see if we can’t get a promotion/relegation set up going in the next 5-10 years
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This I do believe is possible. Teams visiting England can easily have a 1 test vs Ireland which can serve as a warmup to the England series. Same case with teams visiting India, I believe that Afghanistan has an unofficial home in one of India’s stadiums , They can easily play a test match there. This is of course assuming that the tours are long enough and the host team is willing to maybe sacrifice a few of the ODI’s (and the revenue therein)
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One off tests is definitely something that would be doable and they have tried it with Ireland a couple of times in the last few years, no doubt about that, but I’d like to see the ICC put in place a plan for these lesser tier teams to be able to grow over the next 5-10 years where they could then look at hosting a genuine 3 test series and eventually being at a stage where you could have 2 tiers and every few years look at promotion/relegation between the tiers.
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I agree that there needs to be a tiered system in tests with the disclaimer that historical series like the ashes etc be still played. Top 6 in one Tier and the rest in the second tier (With promotion/relegation - The bottom team in the first tier plays the top team in the second tier in home/away/neutral … )
Yes, It could mean revenue loss for the teams in the bottom tier as they wouldn’t have test matches against the better teams. But that’s not stopping them from inviting those teams to limited over tours etc which is where the revenue really lies. Also think the top teams are pretty much on their way to having seperate sides for limited overs and tests (with maybe a couple of common players who can play across formats)… Maybe that’s how it needs to be to ensure that the lower teams get the revenue too (which is associated when teams like Ind/Aus/Eng visit them)
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Football is dead to me. Sri Lanka are trying to cheer me up by throwing their wickets away. Thanks lads!
These comments sound a lot like how the post match threads in the main forum are sounding. All doom and gloom.
So India had key players out (seems familiar), a Kohli shaped black hole (VVD), got injuries during the games (check x 1000), went through a poor patch getting all out for a low score (not scoring for however 100s of minutes, check), playing net bowlers (R Williams, N Philips), playing a shoddy glovesman but who has played a blinding couple of games with the bat (Adrian is that you gifting the ball away? but Kelleher giving renewed hope), openers like Shaw not contributing (Ox, Taki, Origi), Australian umpires rather than neutrals (kinda breaks down here as they’re 1000x better than Prem refs), etc.
So to summarize, we’re winning the league on goal difference, and MIlner will play in goal in the champions league final, saving the final penalty in the shootout.
Does Sibley give you the same feeling?
I know I am late to this particular party, but lol Australia. Stop being flogs and people will stop thinking you’re flogs.
I LOVE test cricket, but I simply cannot like my national team.
I feel happy for individuals, never the group…
Good 50 Joe, excellent use of sweeps both ways. Stick at it lad 
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Joe Root up to 6th in England’s all-time Test runscoring list. Goes past Geoffrey Boycott. Only Cook, Gooch, Stewart, Gower and Pietersen ahead of him.
In good company there, but I’m surprised about Stewart. He was obviously better than I remember him.
Another big century on the cards for Root after excellent slip catching in the field and better captaincy from him.
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I wonder if we’ll ever win the league and Ashes in the same year? Now that would be a party
Equally he played for a very long time. 133 tests wasn’t it, at one point England’s most capped player? He wasn’t bad though, just a good England player during a period when we were pretty average.
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He had a pretty average average for someone with that number of runs.
Root masterclass in playing spin. The rest not fit to tie his boots.
Yup Root pretty much won the first game with his knock and we are only close after 3 days due to him this time out.