India Collapse and England Emerge

Just under a month ago the Lords test had finished and as far a lot of people were concerned, so was Alastair Cook. Virtually every name in English cricket had been suggested as an alternative to the captain, Anderson looked like he could still get banned and India appeared to be a genuinely decent test match team.

My last post said we had to keep faith with Cook but it was influenced by the lack of alternatives and a general principle that it's best to stick by a captain. Look where we are now. Cook has proven himself both resilient and determined, gritting his teeth and demonstrating exceptional self-confidence. Under immense pressure from himself as well as the press, he stood up and was counted. Three 50s in the last four innings is an ideal way to head into a massive break from test cricket, although he'll be disappointed that he couldn't get a century, especially against an increasingly dispirited and weary Indian attack, lacking genuine test-match class. Which is perhaps a fair summary of the Indian squad in general...

The desperate batting displays have of course taken the headlines and will be the main focus of attention for India going forward but in truth their bowling needs serious work as well. Kumar had a great IPL and was the only bowler to be able to exploit the conditions consistently here. Although Ishant had one good session, he is pretty one-dimensional and bowls too many leave-able deliveries, only really threatening on a hard bouncy wicket or as a change-up from swing/seam bowling. Beyond these two, the likes of Binny, Pankaj and Shami offer so little sustained threat. Aaron is only young and Ashwin never had any runs to work with or a 4th innings target to defend. 

The batting was undeniably abysmal, and progressively worse but I feel like it was more of a mental weakness and collapse than a lack of talent. Pujara, Dhawan, Kohli and Rahane will still be the backbone of an Indian team which will grow and strengthen over the next few years. With a little more maturity and fortitude, a little less Twenty20-style approach, they will be challenging the best again before too long, if they can sort the bowling and bring in a few new names (watch out for Akshar Patel, Sandeep Sharma and Mohit Sharma).

As for England, the signs are of course positive. Turning round a potentially dreadful summer into an ultimately victorious one will give England a massive boost before the Ashes next summer. The issue with who opens alongside Cook remains, as does the reality that we are heavily reliant on Broad & Anderson in the bowling department. Moeen is a batsman with the potential to be a real class act and has demonstrated glimmers of becoming a quality spinner as well but both sides of his game need work to really develop into a high level all-rounder. Anyone who thinks he is a replacement for Swann needs to wait until Warner, Clarke and Watson have come to tea next year. The reality is that we've been flattered somewhat by our opponents collapsing in various ways, something I can't imagine Australia or South Africa ever really doing. 

With India's strength, the limited overs matches, coming up straight away, it is important for England to finish the job and keep the improvements coming.