*Official* 2nd Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, 13 - 17 Feb 2021

[Howe_zat]

We've won all the tests on tour with this approach, and some people think it's therefore a bad approach. Can't win sometimes.

I remember when the visiting Australians in 2019 decided to rotate their pace attack, I think only Cummins played the majority of the tests, and Starc/Hazlewood/Pattinson/Siddle played 2-3 each, and it was widely praised even in The Before Times. Genius when other teams do it, wasteful and incompetent when England do it, apperently.

I'm not really sold on the thinking that Broad/Anderson won't bowl well together in India, but I can see the argument. Broad and Anderson don't complement each other so much as compound. If they get the ball swinging great, that's your best best for dumping a side out for 150, but you have to go with the assumption that two of India's top five will always make it through the opening session ad then you need to turn to other things and find ways to chip away. Variety is usually your best bet.

 

[Woodster]

Talking of variety, this is why Archer is included, much in the same way as Wood was in SL, to give an option on flatter/dead pitches to blast a few out with pace or unsettle them at the least. His average speed was below what Chris Woakes would deliver and certainly lower than where you’d expect Olly Stone to be.

For me, when Archer sees its flat or dead he thinks ‘what’s the point in bending my back on that?!’ I know he has more skills than just pace, but that is the main thing that separates him from some of the others.

I do appreciate his fitness may not be quite there yet but this isn’t the first time I’ve observed this.

 

[Prince EWS]

I know the policy is to rest and rotate Broad and Anderson so they'll be there for the next Ashes, but are you really going to DROP Anderson after that performance (especially if the pitch is as abbrasive as that pic suggests)?

Dropped.

 

[Howe_zat]

Talking of variety, this is why Archer is included, much in the same way as Wood was in SL, to give an option on flatter/dead pitches to blast a few out with pace or unsettle them at the least. His average speed was below what Chris Woakes would deliver and certainly lower than where you’d expect Olly Stone to be.

For me, when Archer sees its flat or dead he thinks ‘what’s the point in bending my back on that?!’ I know he has more skills than just pace, but that is the main thing that separates him from some of the others.

I do appreciate his fitness may not be quite there yet but this isn’t the first time I’ve observed this.

Yeah the theory of getting pace bowlers in the team often dominates the reality. Wood's been the beneficiary of this his entire career, and to be fair he has justified it from time to time.

 

[Woodster]

Yeah the theory of getting pace bowlers in the team often dominates the reality. Wood's been the beneficiary of this his entire career, and to be fair he has justified it from time to time.

It makes sense to have some variety in the attack and of course pace isn’t everything, you need to have a general idea of where it’s going. I sometimes think Archer values his skills over his pace, and in terms of balancing the side and on certain pitches I don’t entirely see it the same way.

 

[Burgey]

Dropped.

D R O P P E D
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[ParwazHaiJunoon]

Sure

Surely you would rather India make the final than England or Australia because if it is the latter two I give NZ a very low chance of winning the WTC. On the other hand, if it is India, I am sure NZ will be more or less favourites in English conditions, especially after having two matches against England and India having a joke of a record in 1st Tests away and vulnerable against the swinging ball.

"Don't make mountain out of a molehill." VK

This time, Indian players will have a lot of match practice in IPL just before WTC Final. So, they are 99.9% favorites.

 

[silentstriker]

We better be playing on the same pitch as the first one.

 

[Pup Clarke]

As someone from the UK, I've often thought playing sport in 30-35 degrees must be absolutely brutal and energy sapping - even for professional athletes. Probably a factor I greatly underestimate when taking into account performance and stamina, and being able to maintain that for the entirety of a test match - especially for quick bowlers

 

[trundler]

Genius when other teams do it, wasteful and incompetent when England do it, apperently.

Sounds like a woefully self-victimising over reaction but ok. It's one or two guys questioning its validity which I distinctly recall happening during the Ashes too.

 

[Shri]

As someone from the UK, I've often thought playing sport in 30-35 degrees must be absolutely brutal and energy sapping - even for professional athletes. Probably a factor I greatly underestimate when taking into account performance and stamina, and being able to maintain that for the entirety of a test match - especially for quick bowlers

in jan/feb the weather in chennai tops out at 30-32 and has pleasant evenings and mornings

not cold but nice

tests after april is when the weather hovers in the mid to late 30s

this is the best time to play in chennai

 

[Adders]

this is the best time to play in chennai

Said no one ever.

 

[Shri]

zip it ****

anyway:

 

[ankitj]

What a crazy statistic.

 

[Pothas]

Talking of variety, this is why Archer is included, much in the same way as Wood was in SL, to give an option on flatter/dead pitches to blast a few out with pace or unsettle them at the least. His average speed was below what Chris Woakes would deliver and certainly lower than where you’d expect Olly Stone to be.

For me, when Archer sees its flat or dead he thinks ‘what’s the point in bending my back on that?!’ I know he has more skills than just pace, but that is the main thing that separates him from some of the others.

I do appreciate his fitness may not be quite there yet but this isn’t the first time I’ve observed this.

Thing is that even when Archer is slower than Wood he just looks so much more difficult to play. There is such a weird obsession with how fast every delivery is with him, I really wish it would stop.

 

[Howe_zat]

Thing is that even when Archer is slower than Wood he just looks so much more difficult to play. There is such a weird obsession with how fast every delivery is with him, I really wish it would stop.

I think the reason why it's relevant is that it raises the question of what he does that Broad can't do. The answer - 'he bowls faster and gets people out in a different way' might not hold up to much scrutiny if he's not pushing the clock.

 

[Pothas]

For sure, but so often it is 'he is bowling this speed or this speed' rather what the ball has actually done. He sometimes bowls bouncers that look horrible that don't actually show up as being that quick. Wood is the opposite, bowls 92mph ball that look totally innocuous.

 

[Woodster]

Agree that there is a focus on Archer’s speed, but when England talk openly about having a varied attack as part of the reason for leaving one of Broad/Anderson out (and it is only part of the reason) then the obvious thing that Archer brings that not many can is pure pace.

But when you can bowl close to 90mph with apparent ease, even though I’m sure it’s hard work, why would you not do it more consistently? It’s more difficult playing a ball that does a bit at 90mph than it is at 85mph.

I know it’s an unpopular opinion but there are games when I’d go for Wood ahead of Archer, purely as that different pace option.

 

[Blenkinsop]

Who else could have bowled the ball that got Rohit in the first innings?

 

[Arachnodouche]

Who else could have bowled the ball that got Rohit in the first innings?

But he was charging in during that spell. His pace is highly technique-dependent at the point of release, but his action is also highly repeatable, so the only other reason for fluctuations has to be his rhythm running in on any given day.