Typical England looks like the going to struggle again India already 249-4, Vijay batting well on 122 not out and Dhoni looking good on 41 not out, if they get another 100 then England are going to be on the back foot under pressure straight away.

A bit much to criticise them at this stage I think, keeping India below 400 on here will be a good effort. The toss was always going to be massive, this deck unfortunately looks about as dead as they come which is very unlike Trent Bridge.

 

Lets not forget that India's strength is their batting and I would expect us to pile on the runs first innings too against their attack. If we're skittled cheaply on here then you can start criticising.

 

Anyway, a result seems incredibly unlikely considering the forecast for tomorrow and the weekend so hopefully we can at least do a bit with the bat and take some confidence into the rest of the series.

Pitch seems a bit lifeless

A bit much to criticise them at this stage I think, keeping India below 400 on here will be a good effort. The toss was always going to be massive, this deck unfortunately looks about as dead as they come which is very unlike Trent Bridge.

 

Lets not forget that India's strength is their batting and I would expect us to pile on the runs first innings too against their attack. If we're skittled cheaply on here then you can start criticising.

 

Anyway, a result seems incredibly unlikely considering the forecast for tomorrow and the weekend so hopefully we can at least do a bit with the bat and take some confidence into the rest of the series.

Not really a criticism just that England are so low on confidence lately that if India build big score then they will struggle, pressure will be on Cook straight away to get a big score and he is batting terrible at present.

India has a fantastic batting line up. That, plus England's frankly poor team, mean they have no chance of winning a test let alone the series. Cook's last whimper

Meh, "typical England it looks like they're going to struggle" seemed like a criticism but fair enough.

 

Cook was going to be under immense pressure whatever happened so won't really make a difference what we're replying to for me. He won't get a better chance to play himself back into form than on this pitch against this attack though. The rest of the batting lineup shouldn't be particularly devoid of confidence, the new/young lads all made decent scores in the SL series and Bell and Prior have been around long enough to know they're well capable.

 

I actually think this will be a great series, two fairly well matched (both pretty poor) teams. England really need to win it though or things will be looking very bleak.

 

Just hope we get some better pitches than this...

Horrible, lifeless pitch. At the end of day three the ball will be running along the ground.

India has a fantastic batting line up. That, plus England's frankly poor team, mean they have no chance of winning a test let alone the series. Cook's last whimper

 

India don't have a single seam bowler of any merit at all - probably on a par with the Madan Lal / Abid Ali joke of an attack of the 1970's. Put your money on 0-0.

India don't have a single seam bowler of any merit at all - probably on a par with the Madan Lal / Abid Ali joke of an attack of the 1970's. Put your money on 0-0.

I think that is very harsh. They have an ok bowling attack, nothing special. If I had any money, it would be on India

I think that is very harsh. They have an ok bowling attack, nothing special. If I had any money, it would be on India

 

India have a couple of decent spinners - nothing as classy as the Pakistani spin attack though, but their seam attack is very low in quality. Their talisman, Ishant Sharma, has an average approaching 40, Pankaj Singh is nearly 30 and yet to make his test debut, Varun Aaron, a veteran of one test match - and he couldn't even take a wicket against bloody Derbyshire last week - and the other potential opening bowler, Mohammed Shami, has at first glance decentish average achieved against an appalling West Indies side and two tests against New Zealand on the green tops at Auckland and Wellington.

 

I doubt they are capable of taking 20 wickets. 

Really like Trent Bridge as a test venue but this pitch is garbage, India nearly on 450, last 2 batsmen on 50 each, let's hope when England bat they score on this pitch.

Really like Trent Bridge as a test venue but this pitch is garbage, India nearly on 450, last 2 batsmen on 50 each, let's hope when England bat they score on this pitch.

If England don't score on this pitch they should sack the fooking lot of them.

This wicket is garbage, Michael Holding said so ,before lunch , on the first day.

A wagging tail.

Let me guess , we're bowling short at them.

A wagging tail.

Let me guess , we're bowling short at them.

 

Not really.

 

Once the hardness of the new ball has gone, there is nothing in it off the wicket. The new ball is key. There is cloud cover at Trent Bridge now, and all the Indian seamers will give the ball a chance to swing.

 

England had taken 4-4 before the last wicket pair came together, and they didn't do anything appreciable different. The ball was reversing, then it just stopped when it got to 45 or 50 overs old.

 

They do seem to have a thing about No 11s though.

See Cook on form again out for 5 pathetic, 24-1 already, Cook under pressure now.

Honestly don't ever remember seeing someone bowled like that, somehow deflected off his thigh pad down onto the stumps. Usually get 4 leg byes...He really can't catch a break lately, dragged 2 on in the Sri Lanka series that another day would just run away for 4 too.

 

No doubt he'll get the rest of the series and rightly so, but if he still can't find some form his position will be pretty much untenable.

His batting form is terrible but that's not really the main problem. His captaincy isn't good enough, get rid.

His batting form is terrible but that's not really the main problem. His captaincy isn't good enough, get rid.

I don't think his captaincy is anything remarkable, but he is still a top batsman and maybe should be allowed to concentrate just on that.

The thing is though, he captained no differently to this when winning in India or the home Ashes last year and his style is not noticably different from that of Strauss, who lets not forget took us to No. 1 in the world. If he was getting runs we'd be winning more test matches and there would be no problem.

 

So yea, I'd argue his batting is definitely the main problem.

Aussie captains form seldom drops.