Test cricket is alive

Having been trapped in Bedford for the past four weeks in rubbish hospital accomodation without a TV anywhere or internet in my room I haven't seen any cricket for a while. I get to come home at weekends and have spent today watching one of the best days of test cricket I've seen in a long while.

England have been surprisingly good in this game following their fractured build up. Strauss has reminded me why I've rated him so highly over the past few years. He's never going to look the most stylish of batsmen but he's effective and knows what he can and can't do. His hundred in the second innings was exactly what England needed, given the pathetic performance of the rest of the top order until Collingwood turned up. He paced himself and picked up runs where he could with a few aggressive shots when needed and avoided any stupid shots. I could attempt to praise Collingwood but the man is so boring to watch I can't be bothered.

India started the chase better than they could have expected - Sehwag destroyed Harmison and Anderson to make 83 runs off 68 balls and cause KP a few problems. He was dropped by Cook in the 20s and took advantage of his second life. India look as if they believe they can win this game and much will depend on Gambhir to stick around and play the anchor role tomorrow allowing Tendulkar, Laxman and Dhoni to come in and play freely. If they can get through the first session for the loss of only one wicket, maybe two, then they will be in a very strong position.

The game is set up nicely although I won't be able to comment on how it finishes because I'll be back in bloody Bedford until the 19th. There are no words to describe how gutted I am to be missing this and the start of Aus-SA.

Chaos in Mumbai

The situation in Mumbai at the moment is truly awful. The suffering family and friends of the injured and murdered must be going through is too extreme to imagine. My condolences to any readers who have lost someone or know someone in hospital and I hope all the Indian bloggers out there are safe.

It feels a bit silly, vacuous and shallow almost, to sit here typing about cricket but that is what I'm here to do. England have a choice - abandon the ODI series and stay for the test series, play the ODI and test series as planned or come home. While I understand that the players are scared about their own safety and their families must be worried as well, I think they should stay.

I have no problems with them pulling out of the ODI series and staying out in the East of the country but I would like them to play the Tests. Not for the sake of cricket as such but to show these terrorists that the world is stronger than they are and that mindless acts of violence will not scare us into stopping living our lives. The security forces in India that are currently guarding the England team in their hotel/fortress are brilliant at what they do - they look after foreign VIPs, politicians etc. If they feel confident that they can keep the players safe then I would take their advice.

India is unlike England - its size and diversity means events in one state can be completely unrelated to what may happen elsewhere. The location of the second test could even be moved from Mumbai if necessary. I don't think that's a great option but the possibility is there.

A truly cynical person would point out that Australia played in England two weeks after the London bombs in 2005 and that players from all over the world stayed in India for the IPL after the bombs in Rajasthan. I didn't want to be that person, nor finish on such a negative note so I'm stopping there.

Mumbai has experienced too many of these attacks for me to count and the city always rises up stronger, more united and braver. It would be nice for cricket to play its part in helping to heal a city that is currently hurt, confused and chaotic.

ETA: England have confirmed that they are playing the Test series which is good news I think. The second Test may be moved from Mumbai to southern India but discussions are ongoing.

Dhoni continues his winning streak

India won the second test against Australia today by 320 runs. The victory margin is that big for various reasons:

1. India batted well in the first innings with Ganguly's hundred and Dhoni's 92 getting India past an average score to a good score once Tendulkar had led the way with 88.

2. Australia bowled averagely. Bowling in India is hard. Ask Warne. Lee hasn't played in India before and is dealing with off-field problems and the other bowlers haven't really played test cricket before. Siddle and White are doing very well given their inexperience. Johnson appears to be able to bowl well against and in India but can't take wickets against anyone else. Which is kinda backwards but Ponting isn't going to complain at the moment.

3. Australia batted like idiots. For Watson to rescue the first innings and then Clarke to be the last batsman standing in the second indicates that there are problems. Hayden, Hussey and Ponting are the players you would expect to make hundreds when the team is up against it and they were MIA.

4. Dhoni's luck/karma/good captaincy inspired India and especially the bowlers to improve on their performances in the first test and achieve a deserved win. The bowlers out-performed Australia's attack with the pace of Sharma and Khan and the spin of Misra and Harbajan managing to get good batsmen out.

The first and second tests have shown that test cricket is alive and well despite all the 2020 hype. Here's hoping Australia fix their problems in time for the third test and make it a close series.

Aussies in India

After a month of hype and build-up the series between India and Australia has started. The first two days have been tightly fought and the series looks like it may live up to the hype.

Ponting was magnificent on day one. His 123 was exactly what the team needed and just as importantly what he needed. His average of 12.7 in India has been well documented but let's remember that he missed the last series in 2004 and the series in 2001 was before he became the brilliant player that he is now. He was disciplined but not scared of playing his shots. I think he'll end up with plenty more runs in this series and on current form is likely to end up with the most runs in the history of the game.

Day two was the Hussey show. His ability to minimise risk and set up games for Australia is almost freakish and a test average of 70 is pretty much unbelievable. He doesn't play in the classical attcking way that we've come to expect from Australia but is effective anyway. Having had to wait so long for a chance at test level it's nice to see him doing so well.

India were average in the field apart from Zaheer Khan who got five wickets. Kumble started off badly with the ball but came back well and was unlucky not to have picked up any wickets. His captaincy was by the numbers, which may work against lesser teams but you need to have flair against Australia. A couple of odd bowling changes or field positions for a few overs may get you a wicket.

Bombs vs Money

I was going to write a bit about how Australia are touring India despite all the bombs actually going off but refused to tour Pakistan where the bombs haven't gone off but are threatening to go off. The obvious reason being money - India have it, Pakistan don't.

I'm not going to say much more though because JRod over on CWB summarises the whole thing much better than I could.