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.
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.
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.
This week the 51allout team had to overcome Rolf Harris’s natural resistance to having his work pinched plus Skype’s natural resistance to working properly. Here are the results of their endeavour..