Give England the benefit of doubt

[King]

Despite India's 1-0 win in the Test series, we should accept the view offered by Michael Vaughan and Peter Moores that England's performances this summer were actually pretty decent, writes Derek Pringle. More... Give England the benefit of doubt By Derek Pringle Last Updated: 12:55am BST 15/08/2007 Have your say Read comments Cricket captains and coaches are forever looking for positives to take from defeat. Most of the time it is artful spin, an attempt to hide the awful truth that their team are a mediocre bunch of ragbags. But for once, despite India's 1-0 win in the Test series, we should accept the view offered by Michael Vaughan and Peter Moores that England's performances this summer were actually pretty decent. Scoreboard: Third Test | Video: The Analyst on Day Five In pics: India win series on English soil Test series averages "I think we bowled and played really well this series," Moores said yesterday. "I think India came with a lot to prove. They had a tough World Cup and were keen to do well. We played well in the first Test but unfortunately weather stopped us winning it. It would have given us a very good start and allowed us to carry on the momentum gained against the West Indies. "We could have batted better and we take that away from the series. "We've also learnt something from Zaheer Khan and Rudra Pratap Singh about their skill and their unpredictability as bowlers. So we give them credit for that. But we did fight back hard at Trent Bridge and the Oval." Luck certainly played its part and if it was not for the weather in that opening Test at Lord's, where England comprehensively outplayed India only for rain to save the visitors when one wicket away from defeat, they might not have lost at all. Yet it was not entirely out of their hands and had Vaughan chivvied his men along to bowl their overs quicker when the weather first threatened, an entirely different result might have prevailed. Most countries would settle for one defeat over a seven-Test summer, though the West Indies, who went down 3-0, only really turned up in numbers once they had lost the series. Trouble is that single defeat, against a well-organised Indian side, who used their resources astutely, cost them their proud unbeaten record of not losing at home for 11 successive series. The Test that got away from them was at Trent Bridge, where India were handed an immediate advantage by winning the toss on a pitch greened up by recent rain. With humidity also raised, conditions were classically English and the home side should have coped. Yet India so obviously outfought and out-thought them, with both bat and ball, that the match remains a blot on all those reckoned to be thinking cricketers. It was England's first-innings batting that let them down most. Happier against the 'bang-it-in' bowlers picked by the West Indies, especially ones sending down two bad balls an over, the batsmen suddenly had swing and accuracy to contend with. The combination tested technique and patience and many were found wanting, especially when driving. The careless nature of some of the dismissals has led to accusations of recklessness, with Geoff Boycott and Graham Gooch calling for England's batsmen to sell their wickets more dearly. Yet if Kevin Pietersen was one they had in mind, the figures tell a different story. His two series brought him 811 runs at an average of 62, a pretty satisfying summer's work even for a wonderbat like him. The pace bowlers, who posed a constant threat until the first innings at the Oval when the pressure to maintain England's home record proved a burden too far, also erred at Trent Bridge. With the ball still seaming and swinging during India's first innings, they bowled just a fraction too short, erring by that three or four feet that is the difference between finding the edge of the bat and missing it. England can point to absentees like Andrew Flintoff, Stephen Harmison and Matthew Hoggard, who would have played but for injury. Yet with James Anderson, Ryan Sidebottom and Chris Tremlett gelling well in their absence, there will be some steely decision-making to be done in October when the squad for Sri Lanka is picked. So often seen as the all-rounder who stabilises the side, Flintoff could unbalance it if, as is rumoured, he needs to be nursed through his bowling. It presents a big problem should England want to continue using a four-man bowling attack, a problem further compounded if two of the bowlers are spinners - a distinct possibility in Sri Lanka. One way of incorporating Flintoff would be to revert to the 2005 Ashes tactic of playing five bowlers, with him batting at six in place of a specialist batsman - one position too high judging from his recent Test record. Another solution would be to pick Ravi Bopara alongside him to share the bowling load. It would mean dropping one of the batsmen, but Gooch, Essex's batting coach, feels Bopara is ready. If the selectors do that, Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell look the most vulnerable, with Vaughan possibly shifting back to open the innings if the former goes. Before that team is picked, England's limited-overs skills will be tested with seven one-day internationals against India, a Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa and five further one-dayers in Sri Lanka. Unless quantum improvements have been made from their efforts against West Indies earlier in the summer, taking any positives might not be so easy.

[King]

How much whinge can anyone pack in an article??? :hysterical: You will see any many excuses as possible in one single article. Pringle sure does have some talent. He sounds a fantastic excuse for a team that were subdued all but for a couple of days in the entire test series in their backyard. Wake up Pringle, smell the defeat. The series is done and dusted. The records have tumbled and England team with its full batting strength struggled to cope against the so called inexperienced Indian bowling attack.

[sm332]

yeah excuses excuses ... blah blah ... end result is what is recorded in history ...

[Donny]

against the so called inexperienced Indian bowling attack.

Zaheer Khan and Anil Kumble are inexperienced ? Zaheer alone has played more Tests than the entire English bowling attack. :regular_smile:

[King]

There were more than just 2 bowlers comprising the bowling attack Donny. None would be silly enough to term Anil Kumble as inexperienced. Out of the 6 bowlers India choose to take to England only 2 had played in England prior to the just past test series. The bowling attack that was chosen to tour England just in case you didn't know was Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumlbe, RP Singh, Sreesanth, Ramesh Powar and Bose. Did I mention about England bowlers' inexperience? I mentioned only about Indian bowlers inexperience.:regular_smile:

[The Outsider]

The best part is he follows up each whine with a "Yet" to sound balanced.:hysterical:

[Ram]

What i predicted will happen is happening.. The media has started its campaign to make the english team look better

[Donny]

The English media, mm. There's no 'campaign' involved but of course they will write favourably of the Pommy team. Who mainly buys their papers and watches their news broadcasts? All countries tend to do this, especially England, Pakistan and India. :regular_smile:

[Ram]

Yes Donny, it is understandable why they are doing this. They need to look after their constituency. I am not saying the media shouldnt do this , but merely saying , we, as Indian cricket fans , shouldnt let that downplay our series victory even in a small measure.

[vamsi chalapathi]

Well....that is a real great excuse....blah blah.......

[Gaurav]

It`s as if by default eng is supposed to win all tosses

[coffee_rules]

Everybody is assuming that weather was the sole reason why they couldn't win. Knowing the weather, Eng still bowled at such an alarmingly slow over-rate, they have to blame themselves for not getting the Indian team out in 95 overs. They could have easily packed 8-10 overs more. Also with the series level 1-1 into Oval (hypothetically), I am sure India wouldn't have been so cautious about safety-first, and I am pretty sure Dravid would have enforced the follow-on to win the series 2-1. Since India were already 1-0 up, he played it safe to keep the series win record safe.

[bigdhoni7]

english trash!! :hysterical: btw does the bbc air its filth in india?

[coffee_rules]

english trash!! :hysterical: btw does the bbc air its filth in india?

yes on Shortwave. It has a Hindi service also.

[Salu 86]

Moores is right.Englad didnt perform very bad.Had it not been rained in Lords england wouldnt have lost the series. Dhondy its not Offensive.If it is offensive to anyone SOrry in advance.

[Salu 86]

Zaheer Khan and Anil Kumble are inexperienced ? Zaheer alone has played more Tests than the entire English bowling attack. :regular_smile:

you are abs. right Donny dear. Dhondy its not an offensive post.If it is to anyone sorry in advance

[Predator_05]

Dhondy its not an offensive post.If it is to anyone sorry in advance

It's hilarious how you keep writing this at the end of every post...:haha::haha::haha: Besides, Dhondy isn't online right now. To agar thoda bahut gaali-waali dena hai to de sakte ho. Koi nahin dekhega aur kisi ko nahin pata chalega... :regular_smile:

[King Tendulkar]

you are abs. right Donny dear.

What is it with male pak posters calling others dear:confused_smile: These new pak jokers make me realise how good MP is!

[bigdhoni7]

yes on Shortwave. It has a Hindi service also.

well i hope no one india bothers to take the bbc seriously. they are the one of the more agggressive anti-india "news" outlets around.

[Cricketics]

It's hilarious how you keep writing this at the end of every post...:haha::haha::haha: Besides, Dhondy isn't online right now. To agar thoda bahut gaali-waali dena hai to de sakte ho. Koi nahin dekhega aur kisi ko nahin pata chalega... :regular_smile:

haa aur saat mein jitni gaaliyan bhi usko humze khaani padegi woh toh batade predz..