Alastair Cook proved himself a useless tosser before England battled back into the series in Mumbai.
The 51allout preview takes an unusual form this week, as we turn both barrels on England’s selection policy. Then we re-load those barrels and unleash them again.
Children’s TV and charts: the natural ways to describe England’s lower order failings.
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.
England’s hammering in Ahmedabad was the main topic of discussion this week, although the prospect of Sven-Göran Eriksson managing in the A League was close behind. Plus NZ got their traditional kicking, despite Aussie Matt’s growing infatuation with Tim Southee.
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.