Key events
16th over: India 47-0 (Jaiswal 13, Rahul 32) As Carse slings down largely unthreatening dots, Ponting suggests that given the time between Tests, the bowlers might’ve put down a mark on the 6.7m length they need to hit at OT, then practised landing the ball on it; who knows if they did or didn’t but, like most of his cricketing opinions, that makes a lot of sense. Anyhow, just when Carse thinks he’s getting away with a maiden, Rahul cuts towards point, just wide of the diving Pope – what an image that is – at point, and the ball just abut forces itself to the rope for four.
15th over: India 43-0 (Jaiswal 13, Rahul 28) Alreet, Woakes resumes after drinks; I assumed he’d go off, but he’s found a groove so it makes some sense for Stoles to keep him going. Meantime, RT Ponting makes his first commentary-box appearance of the series – he’s a great addition – and doesn’t think we’ve seen enough to justify the decision to bowl. But after a single to Rahul, Woakes again moves one away from Jaiswal, again missing the edge, then again. He’s had very little luck in this series.
14th over: India 42-0 (Jaiswal 13, Rahul 27) Rahul again opens the face to earn two then, after as dot, he rips a back-cut through point and to the fence for four. Three singles follow, and at drinks, India will be the happier of the sides.
“Further to my earlier email,” returns Sam Styles, “we joined the queue for gates 11 and 12 at 10.30 and eventually got into the ground at 11/45. The queue was still away over the car park and back across the bridge on Great Stone Rd. Didn’t see or hear anyone outside explaining or actively managing the situation. Good job people stayed civil (though it started to kick off when we got to the gate and were helpfully told ‘there’s no queue at gate 1’). This arrangement isn’t fit for purpose. Big problems to fix for the rest of the test. I think questions need to be asked of Old Trafford re: entrance arrangements. And maybe set off now if you have tickets for day 2.”
If I was going to Lord’s, where I watch most of my cricket, I’d be looking to get there before 10.30 to be sure of seeing the start, but if I got there them, I’d still expect to be in in time. I was, though, scared when you said people stayed civil, so relieved by the kick-off that followed it; Manchester is still Manchester, the Peterloo spirit still keeping things going.
13th over: India 33-0 (Jaiswal 12, Rahul 19) It’s a seventh over for Woakes and his first ball, scrambled seam, hammers the pad and looks adjacent … there’s a noisy appeal … rejected … but will England review? Nope, the bowler appraised an edge, correctly so as the replay shows; good from him, good from the umpire. Maiden.
12th over: India 33-0 (Jaiswal 12, Rahul 19) Carse replaces Archer, Rahul breaking wrist and opening face to shove his second delivery through cover point for two; this outfield is sluggish as you like. Two more dots follow, then the bowler finds a bit more lift, forcing his man back and hitting the splice – that’s a really good length, and if he can up his pace beyond the 77mph which that ball clocked, he’ll be talking.
11th over: India 31-0 (Jaiswal 12, Rahul 17) Four dots from Woakes, then one sits up and Jaiswal drives down the ground for four; again, the bowler responds well, again he misses the edge by the thickness of a blue rizla.
“Re your comment re the anthems,” says Clare Dowding, “‘the camera getting close enough for us to hear individual singing is a pleasing development’ – this has been happening at rugby matches for years, even though it sometimes gives the lie to Wales’ reputation as the land of song. I’m a proud Welshwoman, and the sight of my compatriots belting out our anthem can bring a tear to the eye, but in some cases so does the sound, and not in a good way.”
As the African proverb has it, “If you can walk you can dance, if you can talk you can sing.” But I love to seem players emoting, especially without caring how their voice is perceived.
10th over: India 27-0 (Jaiswal 8, Rahul 17) This is Archer’s fifth, so presumably final over of his spell. Can he make something happen? Rahul will, I imagine, happily see him away, and after three dots, one quickens off the pitch; he defends inside it well, then opens the face with soft hands, gliding two through the slips. A bouncer follows, forcing Smith to vault to collects.
9th over: India 25-0 (Jaiswal 8, Rahul 15) Woakes again beats Jaiswal with one which moves away – that’s the length. So far, though, he’s just missing edges, but what’s this? Again, one ducks in, Jaiswal leaps back to defend with the face … and the bat snaps at the handle! There’s not loads of pace in the pitch but there is bounce. Anyroad, four replacements come out, one is picked, and Jaiswal doesn’t strike me as the type to care; he leaves the final ball of the over alone, when Woakes would surely have been desperate to make him play. Maiden.
“Regarding India’s run of bad luck with the toss,” emails Simon McMahon, “maybe Gill can just do what I think I remember Ed Smith, in his book about luck in sport, saying a (nameless) county captain did every time, and toss a coin himself before the start of play in the dressing room before calling the opposite of what landed when out in the middle. That’ll work.”
Luckily, science has solved this problem for us: tails never fails.
8th over: India 25-0 (Jaiswal 8, Rahul 15) Archer is still at 85mph as, in comms, Ravi chides their lengths, saying they’ve been too short too often but when they’ve hit a fuller spot, they’ve beaten the bat. In this over, though, Rahul defends well both when asked to come forward and pushed back, playing out a maiden.
7th over: India 25-0 (Jaiswal 8, Rahul 15) Rahul looks in decent touch, sending two towards cover, but then Woakes finds late movement off a good length, exactly what he’s trying to do, and the batter is beaten. A dot follows, then the batter unloads the suitcase at a drive but, when the outswing takes the ball further away from him than expected, the connection sends it high … and between gully and point, running away for four. That means he now has 1000 runs in England, and a single towards midwicket means seven runs off the over. Woakes, though, is looking dangerous.
“Currently in the queue to get in to Old Trafford,” says Oliver Deed. “Forty minutes so far and the gate is just about in sight. I watched England in Rawalpindi a few years ago and passed through four military check points, and it took less time than this. Shambles!”
Yeah, that isn’t good. I wonder how much of it is because they’re searching bags for illicit pop.
6th over: India 18-0 (Jaiswal 8, Rahul 8) Rahul waits for Archer, driving square and running; Pope sets off in pursuit and saves one, sliding at cover to prevent the boundary. Those are the only runs from the over and India will be happy with this start.
5th over: India 15-0 (Jaiswal 8, Rahul 5) Woakes’ first delivery is short and Jaiswal is never missing out, creaming a pull to the fence for four. But Woakes comes back well, four dots followed by a beauty which seams just too much, darting away from the proffered outside edge. That was very, very close.
“Hi Cousin Daniel,” begins Neil Harris; word up Cuz. “Funny how you remember things. That 2012 series v SA would be way down on my list. “We got trounced at the Oval when South Africa scored a million, the infamous Headingley test was lost to super Saturday and the third test was the KP fallout. One to forget.”
Yeah, I love my t&f but I’m not letting Greg Rutherford get in the road of one of the greatest knocks I’ve ever seen. And the Lord’s match was some of the most intense sport I’ve ever seen live, with, unusually for Test cricket, something tangible at stake.
4th over: India 11-0 (Jaiswal 4, Rahul 5) Bit of bounce for Archer, forcing a hurried Rahul to play down into the ground. Meantime, we see footage from earlier this morning of two Lanky heroes, Sir Clive Hubert Lloyd and Farokh Engineer, who’ve had tiers of the same stand named after them. I’m too young to have seen Engineer, but Lloyd is one of the first cricketers I got to know, a great of the game and a great of menschlichkeit. Both fully deserve their recognition. Meantime, Archer sullies what would otherwise be a maiden with a wide, still not up to full pace – his final delivery was 86mph. Pathetic.
3rd over: India 10-0 (Jaiswal 4, Rahul 5) Woakes hasn’t taken any time at all to settle, and he’s now bowling to three slips and a leg slip … none of them any use when Rahul collars a pull, hauling it around the corner with his toe-end for four. I’m not sure that as Woakes’ pace, the pitch will be receptive to the shorter stuff; he needs to look to hit the stumps. A leg bye completes the over.
“I do think Ben Stokes’ claim about over rates needing to be adjusted depending on location a little rich,” writes Liam Crowley. “Considering to my eye the biggest problem is a the fielding change every three balls, constantly badgering the umpires for a ball change, general faffing about, physios on the pitch and drinks breaks overrunning or being taken whenever the batsmen fancy changing their gloves, because God forbid they have to spend two hours in them (at best).”
So we’re saying field changes should defer to over rates? And that spin from both ends doesn’t take a lot less time than pace from both ends? In any event, responsibility for the ball-changing situation, and drinks, lies with umpires not players.
2nd over: India 5-0 (Jaiswal 4, Rahul 1) Archer might extract a bit more from the surface than Woakes, but at Lord’s it took him a while to ease into his pace, and shonuff he’s roundabout 85mph here, Rahul playing his fourth ball down into the on-side and sprinting through for a single. That brings Jaiswal on to strike, twice dismissed by Archer at Lord’s – in the first dig, with a beauty – but he sees out the over comfortably enough.
1st over: India 4-0 (Jaiswal 4, Rahul 0) Woakes, who has 35 OT wickets at 17, opens with a pearler, coming at Jaiswal from around, moving the ball away ad beating the edge. Two further dots follow, then Jaiswal pushes at one, edging … and the ball drops short of Crawley at three, the lack of pace writ large. Gosh, and after another dot, Jaiswal edges again, this time between two and three, the globule scuttling away for four.
Chris Woakes has the ball, Yashasvi Jaiswal will face, and … play.
“Is anybody in there?” wonders Sam Styles. “Just nod if you can hear me, is there anyone home?” “Queues outside for miles in every direction!”
The ground looks maybe half-full.
Our players come out, and it’s anthem time. There are better voices in the world than Zak Crawley’s, but the camera getting close enough for us to hear individual singing is a pleasing development.
Email! “The weather forecast looks OK,” begins Andrew Goudie, “so we should get a full day of 60 overs.”
I find the prescriptive nature of over-rates a bit odd. As Stokes has noted, the rules need to be different depending on location as on the subcontinent, there’s more spin bowled, which obviously takes less time. It’s rare I finish watching or attending a day’s play and consider myself cheated, and though it’s true that in England the summer light means we could easily finish off the allocation, I’m also conscious of how mentally and physically demanding the game is and that, after a long day, the players need some respite.
Is this the best series in England since 2005? To borrow Shenseea’s line, “that’s a no for me” – I’m going for South Africa 2012, as that was two great teams playing for the mace, not to fine teams playing for the trophy – but it was only three matches, and we’ve got two more for this to usurp it.
On Kuldeep, Athers notes that England were always going to bowl – and when did describing it that way replace calling it fielding in the cricketing lexicon –if they won the toss, so Gill could’ve guaranteed having him wheeling away in the fourth innings. I bet England are pleased he’s not there.
India have lost 14 Test tosses in a row. The odds of that are, apparently, 16,384-1.
Gill was confused as to what to do, so thinks it’s a good toss to lose. He’s happy with how India have played, winning more sessions and days than England, they’ve just lost a few “crunch moments”. The surface looks “nice and hard” and he makes three changes»: out go Karun Nair plus the injured Akash Deep and Nitish Reddy; in come Sai Sudharsan, Shardul Thakur and Anshul Kamboj, making his debut.
He is not asked what the point of bringing Kuldeep Yadav on tour was; Old Trafford accepts wrist spin, India are behind in the series, and he’s still sat at the side.
England win the toss and bowl
Four our of four for Ben Stokes, who thinks the overhead conditions will be good for bowling and everyone’s had a good opportunity to relax and recharge. Everyone left everything out on the field at Lord’s, both sides have been excellent with little between them, and he thinks the wicket is typical Manchester, quite firm with a bit of grass coverage. It’s been a while since dawson played a Test, but he’s thoroughly earned his chance.
Toss time…
Do England even need a spinner? I can’t say I’ve no visions of either Dawson or Bashir getting hit all over the show in Australia, and it might be that an all-seam attack is currently England’s best option. It won’t happen, I don’t think, but if you’ve constantly got a pair of fresh quicks, that’s not a lot of respite for opposition batters.
So what do we make of Liam Dawson’s return? His batting and fielding are obviously like the Swiss flag – England have been uncharacteristically lax in the latter department this series – but I’m mainly looking forward to seeing how his bowling holds up. He might not have Bashir’s raw talent, but his nous, variety and comfort with his game make him an interesting addition.
It’s overcast in Manchester – [insert gag here]. I remember staying in Broughton Park with my gran as a young child and noting that a) it was always raining and b) the chat was always about who’d died recently. I’ve been more popular.
Otherwise, the pitch looks like it’s pretty dry, so there should be a bit of uneven bounce and perhaps something for the spinners later; the outfield is lush, so boundaries might be harder than usual to come by. Stuart Broad would bat but thinks Ben Stokes will want to bowl.
Preamble
It’s been 17 hours and eight long days since you took your love away …. aaah aaah aaah aaah aaaaaaah. But we got through it, flowers that we planted in the backyard contriving not to die – mainly because we didn’t actually plant them to begin with. Clever, eh?
Earlier this week, we learned that sports coverage is to be prescribed on the NHS for people struggling with depression – a move that makes perfect sense. Sport is community and sport is company; sport is story and sport is inspiration; sport is joy and sport is love.
As it happens, the specified endeavour was football, but that only lasts 90 minutes. On the other hand, we have in front of us a full five days in which our world ascends, expands and intensifies. The simple fact of being us is better; so much better.
And that’s even before we consider the particular brilliance of this series, now animated with bonus needle. Somehow, England hold a 2-1 lead despite having lost more days and sessions than they’ve won, a hardened team growing at crucial moments, revelated by the curious notion that winning beats losing.
India, meanwhile, are – on the face of things – in trouble, needing to win the last two matches to take the series, shorn of the injured Akash Deep and Nitish Kumar Reddy. But where there’s Jasprit there’s hope, and the pitch at Old Trafford might just be in their favour: if it’s dead, as has been the way this season, it’ll favour the fastest bowlers and best spinners; if it’s a more usual OT track with bounce and turn, it’ll favour the fastest bowlers and best spinners. Nor should it be forgotten that, after the painful loss at Headingley, India retorted by clobbering England at Edgbaston and now, fired by a sense of unity and injustice, they will be coming to get it, trying to have fun no matter what they do.
Test cricket, nothing compares to you.
Play: 11am BST
