England V India Clash of the Heavyweights Test, T20 and ODI Series

TheCenturion · 10 Jul 2011 at 23:04

Right, this series was a huge anti climax, so this thread is being retained for the series in India.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-india-2011/content/current/series/474450.html

Now that the India v West Indies series has concluded, it's time to start counting down to the biggest event this summer

This series is being hailed as bigger than the 2005 Ashes!

V

Squads:

England

India

First Test: Lords 22nd July - 25th July

Second Test: Trent Bridge 29th July - 2nd Augst

Third Test: Edgbaston 10th August - 14th August

Fourth Test: Oval 18th August - 22nd August

Anyone got tickets? I've got Day 4 at Lord's, Day 1 at Oval, and hopefully a mate has a spare for me to see day 3 at Lord's and the ODI at Lords too

Really can't wait for this test series

TheCenturion · 11 Jul 2011 at 10:11

Oh yes, I'm playing this song every single day in the buildup to the tour:

TheCenturion · 11 Jul 2011 at 12:32

Alpherah said:
Day 1,3,5 at Edgbaston here gonna be a cracker!

Just noticed that there's day 4 and day 5 tickets still available for Oval! Might have to get some more!

TheCenturion · 11 Jul 2011 at 20:18

oli collett said:
Can't wait for this! Going to days 2 & 3 at Trent Bridge

Can anyone believe there is still a debate between Broad/Bresnan? I can't believe people are even suggesting that Broad should be the preferred choice

The one thing I'd give in Broad's favour is experience. He might be out of form, but he's played a hell of a lot more cricket than Bresnan. Remember that they will be bowling at the world's best batting line up. Should Bresnan be picked, he'll need to be carefully guided by Anderson as to what areas to bowl at.

TheCenturion · 11 Jul 2011 at 21:40

I see what you mean.

If we're talking about balance, bresnan fits in. Bresnan and Anderson to bowl swing, and Tremlettt to be a 'bang it in' type guy.

TheCenturion · 11 Jul 2011 at 22:29

It'll be interesting to see whether India go with a 2-2 bowling attack or 3-1.

Looking at the squad, they've gone with 5 pace bowlers and two spinners, so I'm guessing they're preparing for 3-1. Mishra is a decent spinner, but I don't really think that he's quite ready to operate alongside Harbhajan.

It's fairly predictable that the 3 seamers will be Zaheer, Sharma and Sreesanth. Zaheer pretty much picks himself, and Sharma's form in the West Indies tour pretty much guarantees that he'll start at Lord's. I'm just not sure about Sreesanth. He's a fiery character, which will be good against England, but unfortunately his bowling sucks imo. He can often bowls unplayable deliveries. Those deliveries are unfortunately in a sea of absolute crap. I don't think it's worth having Sreesanth smacked around in order that he 'might' produce some magic.

Me personally, I'd look towards Munaf Patel or Praveen Kumar as the 3rd seamer. Praveen has a lot of control and can generate a mighty amount of swing. He's a little lacking in pace, but he makes up for it with his other skills. Munaf Patel is a little quicker and he is extremely consistent, his skill is in being able to constantly put the ball in the same spot. He can get some swing, but he can also cut the ball.

Rich_L said:
Nice OP

Cheers, just shows you how much I'm looking forward to it eh?

TheCenturion · 12 Jul 2011 at 15:10

Brilliant interview with Harbhajan if anyone is interested

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/522530.html

TheCenturion · 12 Jul 2011 at 21:33

YES!

I thought that Oval ODI tickets were sold out. But I went on their website and there was ONE ticket left. And I bought it!!!!

Also just bought some oval day 4 and day5 tickets! [day 5 tickets are not for me]

So now I'm going to:

Lords day 4
Oval day1, day 4
Oval ODI

I'm so happy right now

TheCenturion · 12 Jul 2011 at 21:55

sigma said:
Nice! I'd love to watch a whole test from start to finish.

I wish I could too

But I've got too much going on this summer, need to prepare for university applications, so I had to limit the amount of cricket I watch. I'll still catch the other tests on TV though

TheCenturion · 14 Jul 2011 at 16:21

Sehwag out for the first 2 tests, definitely

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-india-2011/content/current/story/523283.html

It's a shame, he's our best batsman. The equivalent would be Cook or Trott being injured for England.

TheCenturion · 15 Jul 2011 at 12:28

Wow, Strauss is just digging into India

60 off 73 so far :

Everyone who didn't play in the Windies series is playing today. Also Mukund, Munaf, Dravid and Mishra are being given some extra match practice.

TheCenturion · 15 Jul 2011 at 12:58

Dave said:
I think the series will be tight and don't want to predict a winner now, but it should be a very enjoyable summer of cricket. The comments from the Indian fans on Cricinfo are hilarious to read, it's almost akin to English football fans in their massive over-optimism. Claiming that Munaf Patel will tear through the batting line-up - I think Kahn is much more likely to do that! Although so far at Taunton Strauss seems to be playing him well (that'll curse it!).

Yeah, most of us have a huge over inflated opinion of our team

But that's not very common among the more knowledgeable Indian fans. For example, as I wrote above, Munaf Patel might not even be playing.

Munaf Patel is a very talented cricketer though, that cannot be denied.

Caffrey said:
It's quite embarrassing to read at times. This also extends to many other areas too...

--

@TheCenturion Having no pressure on you makes a big difference though. Also they won the toss, so batting conditions must be good.

Is the match streaming/on TV anywhere?

4 no balls by a spinner is laughable. By that I can tell they aren't taking it very seriously.

Yeah, I don't think it's a very serious match

It's probably more to give match practice to people like Zaheer, Sachin etc who haven't played in a while.

Mishra was having a few problems with no balls in the west indies as well

It's not on TV anywhere, nor is it on any stream

In terms of the toss, I'd say that it's almost always preferable to bat first in the longer format, barring a few exceptional situations.

TheCenturion · 15 Jul 2011 at 13:02

Caffrey said:
Well he can still get wickets it seems

Nope, Dave got that wicket

TheCenturion · 15 Jul 2011 at 14:08

India's well and truly arrived in England. Rain stopped play

TheCenturion · 15 Jul 2011 at 15:45

Sreesanth getting buttraped - thank God!

WillyNelson said:
Ive just been given a ticket for day 2 at the Oval Sooooo chuffed!

Awesome, you'll love it! [as long as it doesn't rain!]

TheCenturion · 15 Jul 2011 at 16:58

LolIndia, this is awful

237/1

TheCenturion · 15 Jul 2011 at 18:28

Strauss' contribution isn't looking very impressive now!

TheCenturion · 15 Jul 2011 at 19:45

Dave said:
I disagree - the fact that he survived against (and wasn't dismissed by) Kahn is excellent news! Although I seem to remember he played very well against SL in the warmup games and then slumped in the actual matches.

Hopefully Cook keeps up his excellent form, if only just to troll the fervent Indian fans on Cricinfo who say that Sreesanth will bowl him early on every time

After today, I sure as hell hope that Sreesanth won't even play!!

But knowing the ridiculousness of the Indian team, he'll probably get in ahead of Kumar and Munaf :rolleyes:

TheCenturion · 16 Jul 2011 at 16:02

LOL ^

Somerset declares on 425/3, either India will fold now, or if this pitch is as much a batting paradise as claimed, will make a quick 500.

13 off the first over

TheCenturion · 16 Jul 2011 at 16:30

first wicket down

32/1 after 4.5 overs

England V India ***Clash of the Heavyweights*** Test, T20 and ODI Series

England V India Clash of the Heavyweights Test, T20 and ODI Series