In all trilogies, the middle part is usually the ‘difficult one’, where the protagonists reach their lowest ebb. With a flat Adelaide pitch in prospect, that’s pretty much what we’re expecting here.
Jean-Paul Duminy’s Achilles injury may have been a simple accident but it’s opened a can of worms in South African cricket as the past and the future go head to head. Plus it gives us a chance to talk about what Pete Townshend does with his credit card.
England rose to the pressure of a tiny bit of expectation by collapsing in a heap before anyone had even finished their first gin of the day.
Alastair Cook, eventually supported by Matt Prior, made England’s last stand in Ahmedabad as a heroic rearguard action took the Test into its final day.
Two more sessions of India crushing England into the dirt were followed by some actual sensible batting, giving everyone a smidgeon of hope, that most dreaded of emotions.
In perhaps the greatest sporting shock of modern times, England’s top order imploded in the face of some mild turn to virtually lose the game in the last hour.
Despite their best efforts to lose the game inside the first hour, England just about clung on to India’s coat tails thanks to a heroic performance from Graeme Swann.
Millions of words have been written about Sachin Tendulkar, but have any of them before included Martika?
It’s England, against spin, away from home. If you can’t wait for Jethro’s new DVD to be sitting under the Christmas tree, this will have you rolling in the aisles.
It might not exactly have been a classic, but the first Test provided more talking points than an episode of your typical American primetime soap.