test

Preview of Third Test Match

admin — Sun, 19 Jul 2020 16:08:59 +0000

England Vs West Indies

Test Match 3

Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester

For the first time in the history of English Cricket, two consecutive Test matches will be played on the same ground.

Pitch Report

Since 2002, the Old Trafford has proved to be a batting paradise for the home team (England). Not just for English batsman, but even the bowlers have used their home condition to their best potential. Records England’s winning streak on this ground since 2002 was put on a hold by the mighty Australians last year. Since 2002, England had won 9 out of 13 matches with 2 draws and two ending as a losing side.

Team Preview

England: England will be keen to bring back their trio James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Jofra Archer. It will be the first time that these three pace attackers will play together. It will be interesting to see how they perform. We are expecting Jofra Archer to step up and become a key bowler to watch forward. Ben Stokes could have been rested if England had won 2 out of their 2 test matches. With series on stake, England is expected to play with their full-strength team.

Expected XI

1) Rory Burns

2) Dominic Sibly

3) Joe Denly / Zak Crawley

4) Joe Root

5) Ben Stokes (C)

6) Ollie Pope

7) Jos Buttler (WK)

8) Dominic Bess

9) Jofra Archer

10) Stuart Broad

11) James Anderson

West Indies: The West Indies team will again be depending on their bowling department. The team’s batting appears to be weak in front of the experienced England batsmen. A likely replacement for out of form Alzaari Joseph is Raymon Reifer. Shai Hope and John Campbell are yet to show their true colours. We are expecting them to fire in this match.

Expected XI

1) Kraigg Braithwaite

2) John Campbell

3) Shai Hope

4) Shamarh Brooks

5) Roston Chase

6) Jermaine Blackwood

7) Shane Dowrich (WK)

8) Jason Holder (C)

9) Kemar Roach

10) Raymon Reifer

11) Shanon Gabriel

Our Fantasy Cricket Team choice:

Batsmen

1) Shamarh Brooks

2) Ollie Pope

3) Joe Root

All Rounder

1) Ben Stokes (C)

2) Jason Holder

3) Roston Chase

Bowlers

1) Jofra Archer

2) Kemar Roach

3) Raymon Reifer

4) James Anderson

Wicket Keeper

1) Shai Hope

- Written by Harshit Aggarwal (@HarshitChesser)

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Preview of second Test Match

admin — Sun, 12 Jul 2020 10:16:58 +0000

England Vs West Indies

Test Match 2

Date: 16 July, 2020

Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester

One of the most beautiful places to play cricket in England is Old Trafford, Manchester.

Pitch Report

Since 2002, the Old Trafford has proved to be a batting paradise for the home team (England). Not just for English batsman, but even the bowlers have used their home condition to their best potential. Records England’s winning streak on this ground since 2002 was put on a hold by the mighty Australians last year. Since 2002, England had won 9 out of 12 matches with 2 draws and one ending as a losing side.

Team Preview

England: England will be keen to bring back their experienced Stuart Broad and leaving out Mark Wood will be an ideal option. If England bowls first, all the three pacers (Anderson, Broad and Archer) will be their key bowlers. However, there is a possibility that Archer would be more troublemaker for the West Indies squad as they surely would be better prepared against the duo of Anderson and Broad. Joe Root will be back and bat at number four position. Joe Denly must need to pull up his socks as there is a high possibility of him getting replaced soon.

Expected XI

1) Rory Burns

2) Dominic Sibly

3) Joe Denly / Zak Crawley

4) Joe Root

5) Ben Stokes (C)

6) Ollie Pope

7) Jos Buttler (WK)

8) Dominic Bess

9) Jofra Archer

10) Stuart Broad

11) James Anderson

West Indies: The West Indies team will again be depending on their bowling department. The team’s batting appears to be weak in front of the experienced England batsmen. Kemar Roach who was off-colour in the first test might be dangerous on this ground. We expect Roach to get Burns wicket early in both the innings. Alzaari Joseph would be crucial on this wicket. Overall, we are expecting the test match to end in a draw.

Expected XI

1) Kraigg Braithwaite

2) John Campbell

3) Shai Hope

4) Shamarh Brooks

5) Roston Chase

6) Jermaine Blackwood / Nkrumah Bonner

7) Shane Dowrich (WK)

8) Jason Holder (C)

9) Kemar Roach

10) Alzaari Joseph / Raymon Reifer

11) Shanon Gabriel

Our Fantasy Cricket Team choice:

Batsmen

1) Dominic Sibly

2) Shamarh Brooks

3) Joe Root

All Rounder

1) Ben Stokes

2) Jason Holder

3) Roston Chase

Bowlers

1) Jofra Archer

2) Kemar Roach

3) Alzaari Joseph / Raymon Reifer

4) Stuart Broad

Wicketkeeper

1) Shai Hope

- Written by Harshit Aggarwal (@HarshitChesser)

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Review of The Test

admin — Sun, 15 Mar 2020 17:13:16 +0000

It’s a difficult period which we are trying to survive not just as a cricket fan but as a human being. The coronavirus scare has put our world into a halt. All meetings, matches, shows, movies everything has been cancelled and suspended for future. As a cricket fan though we are still left with The Test that was released on Amazon Prime Video at just the right moment. Being an Australian cricket team fan, this was a big treat for me on a Saturday when I couldn’t go out due to shut down of literally everything.

It comprises of eight episodes summarizing the journey of Australian cricket team from the Sandpaper cheating scandal to retaining the Ashes. Every cricket fan who has been curious to know more about the cricket players, their management, coaches and support staff beyond the game of cricket would love to watch this show and will fulfil their childhood fantasy. You will know the Australian team beyond the cricket ground. You will move on from hating Tim Paine for just being lucky of getting the captaincy without deserving it to respecting this lad who led the team at a crucial time when Australian cricket was in crisis with no great players by his side.

You have always admired Justin Langer as a player who was a part of the best cricket team of the history but you will start respecting him more knowing and understanding his journey as a coach of an inexperienced squad. By looking at their emotions, hard work and growth in the game would make you relate with each player of the Australian team!

This is an honest show that displayed both the victories and defeats of the Australian team equally. It was a bit strange to see not so aggressive and emotional Australian team but you would connect with them easily. They appreciated Kohli, Stokes and every good cricketer that made this show completely unbiased. It has everything, right from the feeling of patriotism to loving this game of cricket, from bromance and bonding between Zampa and Stoinis, Steve and Marnus to the concussion episode that shook every cricket fan. Whether it was the nightmare at Headingly when Stokes and Jack Leach final wicket partnership ruined the chance of Australia to win the Ashes to becoming better in the game, it kept me glued to the show! It is for every cricket fan who is emotionally connected to the game of cricket and not just a show only for Australian fan!

It shows the journey of Steve Smith from being called a cheater to being applauded by the same English audience! His mindset dealing with the abuses from the English spectators taught everyone that he is completely focused towards his game and there is nothing that can break his talent and hard work. David Warner was a bit vulnerable in the starting during his return to the squad but he managed to excel once he started believing in himself and stopped fearing.

The most important character in the whole series is of Justin Langer. From Handling a fearful, vulnerable squad to making them better at their game, this man was the best choice for Australian’s coach. He is the hero of the show; his anger, emotions, determination, hunger for a win, everything was so real about him and not like actors who imitate!

Watch it to celebrate cricket, to celebrate hard work and to celebrate the growth of Australian cricket.

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The four days Test Match

admin — Sat, 25 Jan 2020 12:06:17 +0000

Is it to popularize or making space for more matches?

The huge popularity of the T20 format in cricket and the steady decline of the viewership of Test and ODI format when compared to T20 has started the talks of shortening the test format into four days. The supporters of a four-day test match consider this to be a pragmatic approach.

As the people these days no longer have the time and patience to wait and watch the end of a match, everyone is looking for an immediate result. Our faster life and automation in technology has already made the T20 format a huge success all over the world. There is a surge of the matches played in this format with a huge crowd at the stadiums. All of these have influenced the thought of modifying the oldest and purest format of cricket - Test cricket from five days to four days.

From past some time, the cricket boards are working on popularizing the Test cricket and they came up with World Test Championship series to raise the interest of cricket fans. Not only this, but we are also witnessing some very close and interesting test matches that are inevitably helping the format. The majority of the test matches are giving results and not ending into draws as it was the case 10 to 15 years earlier.

Truncating the test matches into four days might have an adverse impact as most of the matches would result in a draw. We already have experience of Ranji matches, the domestic tournament of India in which the matches are held for four days and they mostly end up in draws. It is difficult to get a result in such format and there is also a point given to the team leading in the first inning to keep the points table moving in this series.

Instead of looking at the option of reducing a day from the test match, the Cricket board can think of some innovative ideas to promote test cricket; it can be a five-day carnival or a fest so that people can enjoy the test match with their families where they have an option to not just watch cricket but to participate in other activities at the stadium. The trimming of this format would not only distort the oldest format but would also affect the temperament building development of a batsman i.e. to stay longer at the crease or of the bowler to bowl long hours with the same line and length.

While the Cricket Australia and England Cricket board are supporting the idea of the four-day test, the big players like Virat Kohli, Glenn McGrath, Nathan Lyon, Faf Du Plessis and Vernon Philander are completely against and want the test match to stay in its purest form.

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Are we witnessing the third era of Test Cricket?

admin — Sun, 20 Jan 2019 09:06:35 +0000

After looking at the style of how Test cricket is played today, we realized witnessing the third stage of this format. So far, we have distinctively seen three different phases of Test cricket. The differences have majorly occurred based on the approach of playing the game and the mindset of players.

Let's categorize these three different phases of this format into Era's and see how they differ from each other-

First Era: Before 1985 (the starting of Test Cricket)- During this time period, the mindset of the players was to play conventional cricket. The strike rate was extremely slow as this was the only dominant format of the game and the strength of the players was majorly displayed based on their patience level. This was a phase when scoring 150 odd runs with five wickets down was considered domination over the opponent. The average score in an inning was around 250 runs and most of the matches were close. We also witnessed such matches where a team needing 200 runs to win on the last day ending up drawing the match rather than winning.

Second Era: Around 1996 to 2010 (the middle stage)- This was a period when ODI was becoming fairly popular and the cricket teams were efficient enough to score around 250 to 280 in 50 overs. The practice of ODI games helped the teams to put a score of 400 to 500+ runs on a scoreboard easily in a test inning. The teams were capable enough to play for five consecutive days without getting tired. The teams which had to bat second in test cricket were equally efficient in scoring more runs than the team who played the first innings and putting up a lead. And it never ended up there. Even in the third inning, most teams were capable to score big runs like 400. This depicts how mentally strong were the test players. They were the true examples of carrying the never give up attitude. During this era, we even witnessed a TIED test match between West Indies and Australia when more than 400 runs were scored in the fourth inning.

Third Era: 2011 to Present (Current stage)- This is the time period when Twenty20 format has taken control over the whole cricketing world. Playing the T20 format very frequently has drastically reduced the mental strength of the teams and they have majorly become inconsistent. In other words, we can say that they have become more fearful and it's clearly visible in their test cricket performance. If a team batting first puts up a total of 400 to 500 runs on the scoreboard, the opponent teams automatically lose its morals. They start believing that they lost half of the test match already and their mental hardness is reflected by their low scores. Almost all the teams had surrendered themselves when their opposition scored big in their first innings.

- Written by Harshit Aggarwal

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