Should England have delayed declaration?

[vvvslaxman]

Hindsight is 20/20. I think England under-estimated the resolve of West Indies. They probably thought they would fold under pressure.It was a decent batting surface. You think India would have done a declaration like that or would have set like 400 and attacked all out?

[Trichromatic]

Watched last 2 hours of the game. Pitch was good  for stroke making, but it wasn't easy to bat on. There were some balls rolling along the ground - Blackwood tried to pull one and keeper had to stop it at toes and then there were some just shooting from good length around off stump like real jaffa. Surviving those deliveries was more challenging than scoring 300 in last day.

 

Brathwaite and Hope somehow managed not to throw wickets on those deliveries. 9 out of 10 times, good accurate bowling would be enough to bowl out teams there. Apart from avoiding those balls, they consistently played their strokes and kept runs coming. I think England lost the plot in last session where they were visibly frustrated and couldn't control themselves.

 

Then there were drop catches, 5 runs on overthrows, wides, wayward bowling and Broad kicking up the pitch. I think what we witnessed was top class batting and an average bowling performance.

[rageaddict]

I don't understand the need for declaration,  it's not as if England were a Test down in the series and hence their desperation to win the Test could be justified. 

 

Your team is leading in the Series so why even give an outside chance to the other team,  who would do everything to even up. It all reeks of so much overconfidence on part of England. 

 

Had they scored 40-50 runs more and only left 70 overs for WI to chase 360, no way in hell would WI chase that without losing quick wickets where either they get All Out for a cheap score or give up their innings half way. 

 

A Team should never declare in such a case unless it is one test down or if the Run Rate required to win the match is over 4 rpo for 90 overs.  And even then don't declare at all,  just let your batsmen get a full smack at the end,  get as many runs as possible so that only results possible would be Draw or their own victory. 

 

It's not worth to go for a victory even if there is 1 % chance for WI to go at the victory. 

Edited August 30, 2017 by rageaddict

[vvvslaxman]

Even the great Australian side made that mistake (twice declared in the same test) and went on to lose it. Mark Butcher made 173 during an epic chase.  

[Trichromatic]

6 minutes ago, rageaddict said:

I don't understand the need for declaration,  it's not as if England were a Test down in the series and hence their desperation to win the Test could be justified. 

This was probably 4th largest chase by West Indies. 300+ chases are rare for a visiting team. 

 

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;filter=advanced;home_or_away=2;innings_number=4;orderby=start;qualmin1=300;qualval1=team_score;result=1;template=results;type=team;view=innings

 

It has happened only 15 times in test history. Considering the bowing resources of England and fragile WI batting line up, it wasn't that bad decision. Everyone expected WI to collaspe.

[vvvslaxman]

After the run out everyone thought WI would dramatically fold. Yup. It was a calculated risk. Another 20 runs it would have been a different ball game.

[coffee_rules]

Maybe the declaration was a bit over-confident even with hindsight, but this is a rare come-from-behind victories in test cricket, esp when touring. Given the series was already led by Eng, there was no need to declare with such risk. It is epic test match but engineered by poor judgement.

[Trichromatic]

7 minutes ago, coffee_rules said:

Maybe the declaration was a bit over-confident even with hindsight, but this is a rare come-from-behind victories in test cricket, esp when touring. Given the series was already led by Eng, there was no need to declare with such risk. It is epic test match but engineered by poor judgement.

This happens like once in 100 times that too with good batting line ups. Seeing how WI had done so far, no one expected them to even repeat their first inning heroics.

[Trichromatic]

I am a man of logic. WI collapse is imminent. That's their track record. But hoping for a surprise, for Test cricket's sake.#ENGvWIN

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) August 29, 2017

[coffee_rules]

1 minute ago, Trichromatic said:

This happens like once in 100 times that too with good batting line ups. Seeing how WI had done so far, no one expected them to even repeat their first inning heroics.

I acknowledged that already, but I don't see an Indian captain or even me declaring with this risk, given that we are already ahead in the series...is my point. Such declarations are reserved for the last test when the series result is in question.

[Trichromatic]

2 minutes ago, coffee_rules said:

I acknowledged that already, but I don't see an Indian captain or even me declaring with this risk, given that we are already ahead in the series...is my point. Such declarations are reserved for the last test when the series result is in question.

At home, probably yes. Outside India, no way. None of our captains would have done it.

[Pollack]

A curse in disguise. 

[Lannister]

WI batsmen do reasonably good against fast bowlers as opposed to spin. It was England's mistake underestimating their opponents and overestimating their bowlers.