England in India

First topic message reminder :

England main side is in India from Nov 2012 thru end of Jan 2013.
The schedule below....and interestingly Eng Performance Side ( meaning A side?) will also be in India overlapping with the senior sides tour.....
I believe Netherland will also be playing the Eng Performance side in 3 games at Poona club.......why at Poona club ?

Tue Oct 30 - Thu Nov 1
09:30 local | 04:00 GMT
05:00 CET TBC v England XI
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

Sat Nov 3 - Mon Nov 5
09:30 local | 04:00 GMT
05:00 CET TBC v England XI
Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai

Thu Nov 8 - Sun Nov 11
09:30 local | 04:00 GMT
05:00 CET TBC v England XI
Sardar Patel Stadium B Ground, Motera, Ahmedabad

Thu Nov 15 - Mon Nov 19
09:30 local | 04:00 GMT
05:00 CET 1st Test - India v England
Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad

Fri Nov 23 - Tue Nov 27
09:30 local | 04:00 GMT
05:00 CET 2nd Test - India v England
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Wed Dec 5 - Sun Dec 9
09:00 local | 03:30 GMT
04:30 CET 3rd Test - India v England
Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Thu Dec 13 - Mon Dec 17
09:30 local | 04:00 GMT
05:00 CET 4th Test - India v England
Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur

Thu Dec 20
20:00 local | 14:30 GMT
15:30 CET 1st T20I - India v England
Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium, Pune

Sat Dec 22
20:00 local | 14:30 GMT
15:30 CET 2nd T20I - India v England
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Sun Jan 6 TBC v England XI
Feroz Shah Kotla, DelhiDelhi

Tue Jan 8 TBC v England XI
Harbax Singh Stadium, DelhiDelhi

Fri Jan 11
14:30 local | 09:00 GMT
10:00 CET 1st ODI - India v England
Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot

Tue Jan 15
14:30 local | 09:00 GMT
10:00 CET 2nd ODI - India v England
Nehru Stadium, Kochi

Sat Jan 19
14:30 local | 09:00 GMT
10:00 CET 3rd ODI - India v England
HEC International Cricket Stadium Complex, Ranchi

Wed Jan 23
14:30 local | 09:00 GMT
10:00 CET 4th ODI - India v England
Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala

Sun Jan 27
14:30 local | 09:00 GMT
10:00 CET 5th ODI - India v England
Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh

Without injuries to Anderson, Broad or Finn, I don't see Onions playing though, at least for the first couple of tests.

ShankyCricket wrote:Monty better than Jimmy?

He averages 56 in India. Very suited to the conditions.

Anderson did well with the old ball in UAE and SL. No reason why he can't do it against us. I'd pick Onions over Broad personally.

he averaged very high in India.....but wasn't that his debut series ?

how much did shane warne average in his debut series against India ?...and where did he finish his career ?

you want to remember anderson's performance in UAE......OK what about Monty's figures in UAE?...let's give that also weightage

Monty would be remebered for his wicket taking deliveries in that debut series againt India....decieved Dravid and Tendulkar two of the best players of spin in the their prime in flight and clean bowled them with his away spinners.

one of the most difficult to get dismissal in cricket is for an away swing or away spinning bowler to clean bowl a right handed batsman.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-england-2012/content/current/story/587531.html

Jonathan Trott has decided he will bat at No.3.........and not open the batting.

yes that's how it shoud work in happy dressing rooms...players decide where they want to bat.....and announce it to the media

He hasn't said that at all, that is a terrible misquotation from you KP_Fan.

He said he will move up to open if necessary, but would prefer to bat at 3. Nothing wrong with that.

we can split hairs over word and verbatim.....but the CI headlines...sums it up well.......Trott prefers to bat at No. 3

so he declares his preference...and in the media.....

it is unbelievable...the entire English dressing room prefers to speak throuhg media or twitter

What a good team man should have declared......" I prefer to bat anywhere my team wants me to" Period.

or are such displays of--team before self, country before club....only imposed on "him"

Fair enough on Trott's part and sensible as well from an England point of view. Trott at 3, Pietersen at 4, Bell at 5. Bell has mental problems batting at 3, KP is best at 4 and Trott has done well at 3. Neither Bell nor Trott I don't think are long term opening material.
They do have a very promising youngster in their squad in the form of Joe Root, and last time when England forced by circumstances, tried a youngster at the top against India it produced superb results as Alastair Cook can tell you. Root may or may not have the similar kind of success, but I think England should give him a good run in the side at the top to see if he could crack it at the highest level. Already they have problems a plenty playing spin and other stuff, no need to unsettle Trott, who despite his struggles to go on in last summer, did a fairly decent job against Ajmal and co last winter.
Besides, playing Root would provide them with a half decent parttime spin option along with KP. And believe me, they would need it if there are some typical roads involved.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/

Suncontinent the Final Frontier----Matt Prior

Prior announces (to the media obviously).....in CI's screaming headlines

echoing Waugh's famous words and only unfullfilled desire ---India the final frontier....which Ponting, Warne etal fullfilled after his reitrement.

But note the caveat......Prior is talking about the " entire" subcontinent unconquered.
and that sums up the diffrence between Aus and Eng at their peaks in modern eras.

and offcourse SA also needs to be conqured at home

and Australia of course

What are the English poster's views on Root? Will he get a game or is Compton the prefered replacement for Strauss?

a good solid batting and pace bowling component in the India-A side declared o face England......that will have all the potential candidates competing for the No6 and possibly an opening slot.

all the ones in blue are the first(s) in line for an India call should a vacancy arise.
I don't see any spinners in that squad though......so all that Eng will get by way of spin practise is Yuvraj and Raina's spin

Suresh Raina (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, M Vijay, Abhinav Mukund, Manoj Tiwary, Robin Bist, Ashok Menaria, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Irfan Pathan, Ashok Dinda, Vinay Kumar, Parvinder Awana

^ no specialist spinner....is a srategic omission
no Ishant sharma...means he is a given for the squad of 15 ?

from the 14 above Menaria, Vijay and Vinay will sit out

If 1 of the 4 seamers are to sit out, does that mean Yuvraj will be playing as a propper all-rounder forming part of a 4 man attack? Now that would be very interesting. Yuvraj has to make it back to the test side as an all-rounder, mostly a decent 5th bowler, and this would be a good test.

Praveen Kumar should have played in place of Vinay. Of the 2, its the former who has test class about him.

Linebreaker wrote:and Australia of course

What are the English poster's views on Root? Will he get a game or is Compton the prefered replacement for Strauss?

Very hard to know at this stage LB. Although what I can tell you is that Root's end of season form has been woeful - that includes the CL. At a guess, I'd say it's likely to be Compton if either.

msp83 wrote:If 1 of the 4 seamers are to sit out, does that mean Yuvraj will be playing as a propper all-rounder forming part of a 4 man attack? Now that would be very interesting. Yuvraj has to make it back to the test side as an all-rounder, mostly a decent 5th bowler, and this would be a good test.

i think selectors are strongly inclined to give Yuvraj......a fair run at the no. 6 slot
His spin bowling is better than part time...and will allow India to occassionally play 3 seamers at home....when the pitch shows a tinge of green and / or bounce such as Mohali.

Just Like Irfan will allow India to play 2 spinners overseas at oval or Sydney type venues.....


Yuvraj if fit...and I think with his 200....he did show his fitness........needs to be given a run in the middle order......and he is amuch better choice than raina

KP_fan wrote:a good solid batting and pace bowling component in the India-A side declared o face England......that will have all the potential candidates competing for the No6 and possibly an opening slot.

all the ones in blue are the first(s) in line for an India call should a vacancy arise.
I don't see any spinners in that squad though......so all that Eng will get by way of spin practise is Yuvraj and Raina's spin

Suresh Raina (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, M Vijay, Abhinav Mukund, Manoj Tiwary, Robin Bist, Ashok Menaria, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Irfan Pathan, Ashok Dinda, Vinay Kumar, Parvinder Awana

Rayadu has replaced Dhawan in that squad...and that's an excellent move....no Rohit still.

very pleased with the line of thinking of the selectors

It wouldn't surprise me if not picking a spinner was deliberate... although that could backfire - if England wrack up a big total v the seamers, it could get the batmen up in confidence and allow them to play better v spin.

LB, the feeling is that Root will be preferred - he's younger and clearly rated highly (I'd go with Compton, but England can justify Root on the grounds that he's opened this season whilst Compton was at 3). But to be honest its anyone's guess and its not totally out of the question that Trott will open and Samit Patel will play...

I really want Root to open, im a huge fan of him, but asd we closer to the series, i feel they are more likely to go with compton

however

If KP wasnt around i think they defo would have gone with compton, however KP being back in there, brings root back into it IMO.

Rayudu in for Dhawan would be an excellent move. Hopes he gets his chance in the middle.

msp83 wrote:Rayudu in for Dhawan would be an excellent move. Hopes he gets his chance in the middle.

Suresh Raina (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, M Vijay, Abhinav Mukund, Manoj Tiwary, Robin Bist, Ashok Menaria, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Irfan Pathan, Ashok Dinda, Vinay Kumar, Parvinder Awana


My team would be following:

1) Rahane
2) Mukund
3) Robin
4) tuvraj
5) Tiwari
6) Raina
7) Rayadu +
8) Pathan
9) awana
10) Dinda
11) Vinay Kumar

winn the toss....bat first...bat for 2 days......and then throw 4 seamers, and Raina / yuv's spin

vaughan is complaining about no spinners in the team selected by bcci.
well....he is right.....he must blame ECB for spoiling their relationships.
bcci will find legal ways to hit back for all the bashing they recieve.

you reap what you sow

KP_fan wrote:vaughan is complaining about no spinners in the team selected by bcci.
well....he is right.....he must blame ECB for spoiling their relationships.
bcci will find legal ways to hit back for all the bashing they recieve.

you reap what you sow

?

I'd suggest Vaughan should be worrying about his quickstep right now

Mumbai A squad: Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Cheteshwar Pujara, Shikhar Dhawan, Hiken Shah, Bhavin Thakkar, Sufiyan Shaikh (wk), Nikhil Patil (Jr), Abhishek Raut, Kshemal Waingankar, Balwinder Singh Sandhu (Jr), Sagar Gorivale, Javed Khan, Neelkanth Parab, Bravish Shetty, Shardul Thakur

that's a pretty good Mum-A side thrown against Eng.....with Pujara and Dhawan not even in Mumbai, given a chance to practise against top class bowling.

England won't tbe able to complain they have no spinners......Bhavin Thakkar is one and I guess there are 1 or 2 more

Twenty-year-old legspinner Sagar Gorivale will be assisted by part-time offspinner Abhishek Raut are the tweakers England will face

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/series-tournament/england-in-india/top-stories/Its-absolutely-fair-to-play-England-on-rank-turners-says-Virat-Kohli/articleshow/16981046.cms?

Kohli's interview explains the rationale behind what selectors are doing....paying back for the flat pitches and 120kph bowling that was served to the indians in the practise games.

NEW DELHI: Prolific middle order batsman Virat Kohli reckons that it will be "absolutely fair" if India take advantage of home conditions and make the visiting English side play on rank turners during their upcoming tour.

"Why not? We were given flattest of tracks during practice matches in England and Australia and then suddenly presented with a green-top during Tests.

During practice matches, we would face those 120 kmph bowlers," a candid Kohli said during a freewheeling chat after a net session with the Delhi Ranji Trophy squad on Saturday.

"If they (England and Australia) wanted to be fair to us, they could have provided us with same kind of tracks for practice matches like what were used in Tests.

Especially, when they knew that visiting teams get very less time to practice. Now they would be playing on turning tracks and definitely would know where they stand," he said when asked about the fairness of playing on turners.

Kohli also sought to play the mind game ahead of the series by stating that Kevin Pietersen will be "under a lot of pressure to perform well" as he is one of their key players who has a good record against quality spin attacks.

"There will be huge pressure on KP as he has been playing in India for quite some time and considered to be a good batsman against spin.

You may say that the senior England cricketers have an understanding of these conditions but let me tell you, it's not that easy.

for such a big test match series, its a disspaointing prospect that these test matches will most likely be played in front of empty grounds...unlke the scenes we saw last year when we played the indians at home.

I'm hopeful of good crowds, at least at the weekends and in those cities with a long association with Test cricket - Mumbai and Kolkata in particular. Certain;y I'd expect something verging on full when Sachin's batting in Mumbai.

Full houses all of the time are obviously unrealistic, but I have some sympathy: the stadiums in India are bigger and most fans in India don't have the flexibility to take time off work during the week that English fans do.

one thing for certain is that, its going to be a cracking series and i cant wait for it to start!

can anyone in india shed any light on ticket prices in india please?

The Kolkata crowd usually would turn up big for test matches, and the experience of even watching an Eden Gardens test on TV is a massive one.

The only thing is that they could be a touch volatile at times, and the fuse could just go off now and then!.

how much roughly are ticket prices in india msp?

Has to be around 500-600 Rupees range.

how much is that in pounds do you know?

Still backing England to win this 2-1, their middle-order and bowling attack massively trumps what India have. Having said that, India's home advantage will pull it back a bit for the Hosts.

Not much idea of conversion in terms of Pound, but it has to be around 10-12 dollars.

Roughly £6 to £8 I believe.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-england-2012/content/current/story/588451.html

Graeme Swann suggests his bowling can't be expected to be the decisive factor in determining England's prospects.
Realisticly and logically speaking from the point of a cricket analyst that is correct to some extend as the Indians have played the turning ball much better than other sides have managed. But if Swann has a good series with the ball, then England stands a decent chance to put up a strong challenge.

on a badly attended day there will be 15000 people in a test match.
on good days such as Sat , Sun or holidays the stadium can get upto 50,000 people.

BCCI realized that test macthes attract enouhg people when held at big centeres such as Banglore, chandigarh, Kolkata , Delhi Mumbai....

the cheapest ticket is still i think 200 rupees that about 2.3GBP
and during the weekdays students with Id-cards are alowed free manytimes.
Getting 10s of thousands of people is not a big problem in India

There are reports that the warm up matches would be played on green tops. BCCI seems to believe that could be a good test and experience for the likes of Rahane, Pujara, Dhawan and Raina.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/green-carpet-welcome/1022992/0

It's not unusual for home countries to prepare completely different wickets for the warm-ups (and even sometimes for the practice nets, which IMO is a bit more dodgy) - India did this back in Hussain's days as captain, and both England and Australia did it to India to some extent on their last tours to those places.

South Africa are famously more hospitable and regularly produce dusty turners for their subcontinent hosts in the test matches (that one against Sri Lanka where Herath ran through them, and the previous home series against India where Harbajhan took a hatful and Kallis scored 2 quite magnificent centuries).

I think there is an issue on what the word "warm-up" means - for me, its purpose should be purely to help the touring team get acclimatised, and as such I favour not only suitable pitches being prepared, but also the touring team should be allowed to win the toss by default. There is nothing worse than seeing the local side win the toss and bat and bat in order to prevent the touring side's batsmen from getting match-rythm (IMO it is harder for a batsman to find his rythm than a bowler, a bowler will usually do so in 5-10 overs which he'll get in any warm-up match).

But I know I'm in the minority, and I'm not sure how to enfore this.

England would do well to rough up their practice nets as much as feasible and find some local spinners willing to bowl at them.

Fair point mike, but like you, I don't see it happening.

Your suggestion of automatically winning the toss reminds me that that is what happens whenever a club plays against the MCC - the MCC always bat first in order to control the game and set a sporting declaration.

This came rather unstuck when my club played against them in 2011, when MCC batted painfully slowly for about 60 overs to set us (from memory) about 180 in 40 overs. They hadn't accounted for us having former Zimbabwe Test player Dion Ebrahim in the XI and wanting to demonstrate his talents to the larger than usual crowd and on the main ground wicket, and the runs were knocked off with ease for a rare case of a club beating the MCC with overs to spare!

At a Surrey members' forum recently, Vikram Solanki was asked what was the most difficult aspect of captaincy. He responded immediately, ''winning the toss.''

guildfordbat wrote:At a Surrey members' forum recently, Vikram Solanki was asked what was the most difficult aspect of captaincy. He responded immediately, ''winning the toss.''

I'm not sure whether there is an initial preference in the England camp for Root or Compton? Or does it all depend on what form they show in the warm up?

[quote="Mike Selig"]It's not unusual for home countries to prepare completely different wickets for the warm-ups (and even sometimes for the practice nets, which IMO is a bit more dodgy) - India did this back in Hussain's days as captain,[ /quote]

Really...I rember the contrary...the pitches all throuhg that series in practise as well as matches... were very slow turners...and Hussain did manage to pull out two draws.

and both England and Australia did it to India to some extent on their last tours to those places.

right...except that underlined bit is more than a bit of understatement

Owais Shah would have been good on this tour, i know he plays a lot of t20 these days, however i always thought he was unfairly treated by selectors..

for example he scored 80 odd against SA in champs toprhy and never played for england again!

My personal view on Shah is that he had a good number of one-day games, and a fair number of Tests.

The conclusion was that whilst clearly talented, he didn't buy into the team ethos and was a poor fielder, awful runner between the wickets and not a proper part-time bowler. His batting wasn't so good that he was indispensable, nor so bad that if the other sides to his game were in order he couldn't have kept his place.

I think this was fair. The likelihood of him developing into a world class player was slim, and those that came into the side in his place scored just as many runs whilst also being good in the other departments.

He is a good player of spin, but he also has a touch of the Boparas - a good run will be followed up by going missing for a long time.

I saw Owais shah in a match winning knock in a test match in India...when flintoff was the captain.
and flexible wrists he looked better than any other Eng player in this team.

that said I haven't followed his career and have no idea about his consistency.

How has he done in FC in this season?

That was pretty much his only Test knock of any note... he was a bit unlucky to get looked over a few times (for Collingwood and for Bopara) but when he did get further Test chances it usually resulted in him running out the captain...

Shelsey93 wrote:My personal view on Shah is that he had a good number of one-day games, and a fair number of Tests.

The conclusion was that whilst clearly talented, he didn't buy into the team ethos and was a poor fielder, awful runner between the wickets and not a proper part-time bowler. His batting wasn't so good that he was indispensable, nor so bad that if the other sides to his game were in order he couldn't have kept his place.

I think this was fair. The likelihood of him developing into a world class player was slim, and those that came into the side in his place scored just as many runs whilst also being good in the other departments.

He is a good player of spin, but he also has a touch of the Boparas - a good run will be followed up by going missing for a long time.

shelsey how is playing 6 tests, a fair number of tests?!