India v England - 1st Test

So far, Stokes has captained England in 20 Tests (including the ongoing Test against India), winning 13 games, losing five, and drawing one. His win percentage of 68.42% (among those who have captained the side in at least 10 Tests) is the best in England's 147-year history in Test cricket.

I've obviously copied and pasted that but that's a very very impressive record so far as captain. Now won 14 in 20!
 
The Card Cheat said:
So far, Stokes has captained England in 20 Tests (including the ongoing Test against India), winning 13 games, losing five, and drawing one. His win percentage of 68.42% (among those who have captained the side in at least 10 Tests) is the best in England's 147-year history in Test cricket.

I've obviously copied and pasted that but that's a very very impressive record so far as captain. Now won 14 in 20!
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Could/should have won a really close one with NZ too if memory serves. Could easily have been an even better record.

One things for sure, it’s brilliant viewing.
 
Linny said:
Could/should have won a really close one with NZ too if memory serves. Could easily have been an even better record.

One things for sure, it’s brilliant viewing.
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Yeah I remember that one NZ won after following on. Which is very rare.
Looking forward to ithe rest of the series!
 
After day two, I was having memories of our last tour of India. I wasn’t expecting to be waking up at 4am on day 4 with a sneak of setting up a match winning situation. This team is in such a different place, mentally.

It was a monumental effort. Not sure we’ll see many better innings than Ollie Popes.

The one thing I really like about this England side, is that they’re adding a bit of brain and nuance to their approach.

As always Stokes is leading by example. I remember in one of his earliest Test Matches as captain. We 50-odd for 5 and he skipped down the wicket and smacked the ball to mid on. Everyone at Headingley couldn’t believe the recklessness we were seeing.

Back then, it almost felt like he was sacrificing his personal game plan to send a wider message to the team about the positive approach he wanted them to take, regardless of match situation.

These days he seems to be the one that wants to anchor / provide stability to let others play around him. Then when it’s his time to go, he’s played himself in and invariably adds many valuable runs.

We’re starting to see this side really mature. We will still have bad days and probably lose some games we should win. But we’ll also win a lot more. Either way, it’s incredible to watch. Completely ripping up the the Test Match Text Book.

Still a huge challenge for the rest of the series, but we can take a hell of a lot of confidence from the first test. Can’t wait to watch the rest of it.
 
Lets face it - Spinners in India are generally brilliant and the mainstay to a lot of their cricket. In this country most spinners are a bit weird and an obscurity and occasionally useful and occasionally completely irrelevant . To go to India with a spin attack of one teenager, an uncapped guy and Leach who was injured, plus part time spinner in Joe Root and to win is an astonishing achievement.

Hartley was bowling brilliantly today. The Indian batsmen were really on the back foot.

Popes innings was absolutely superb. And his two catches were great as well - definitely worth watching the highlights to see.

Stokes got his field placing and rotation of bowling spot on. And the run out was worth seeing too.
 
Just watched the highlights — talk about a one man show from England, although the new lad Hartley really did catch the Indian batters on the hop. I’m not too sure if he’ll replicate that again!
 
On The Bob said:
After day two, I was having memories of our last tour of India. I wasn’t expecting to be waking up at 4am on day 4 with a sneak of setting up a match winning situation. This team is in such a different place, mentally.
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It certainly is in a different place. But we did win the first test last time as well. And without first needing to get into a position after two days where we were almost certain to lose it. So I am not sure that’s the best example!

On The Bob said:
It was a monumental effort. Not sure we’ll see many better innings than Ollie Popes.

The one thing I really like about this England side, is that they’re adding a bit of brain and nuance to their approach.

As always Stokes is leading by example. I remember in one of his earliest Test Matches as captain. We 50-odd for 5 and he skipped down the wicket and smacked the ball to mid on. Everyone at Headingley couldn’t believe the recklessness we were seeing.

Back then, it almost felt like he was sacrificing his personal game plan to send a wider message to the team about the positive approach he wanted them to take, regardless of match situation.
Click to expand...

But … what I would say, and what I suspect Stokes would say, is that we won that match. And we won that series. And the next one. And the one after that. So even if he was just making a point, it was a damn good one.

It’s a mindset that is prepared to gamble where previous test match wisdom was that you didn’t. Successful gamblers don’t need to win every bet, they just need to come out ahead. Stokes will lose matches that a traditional captain would have drawn and win matches that a traditional captain would have drawn. So long as there are more of the latter than the former he’s a winner. Which he was at Headingley in 2022, and which he has been overall to a greater extent than any other England captain.
 
Expat Smoggie said:
Just watched the highlights — talk about a one man show from England, although the new lad Hartley really did catch the Indian batters on the hop. I’m not too sure if he’ll replicate that again!
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I'm not sure that this is a one off. His line and length were very very consistent and he was causing trouble for them every single over.

I guess we will wait and see, but there are plenty more spinner friendly pitches coming up I expect.
 
FishofContemplation said:
It certainly is in a different place. But we did win the first test last time as well. And without first needing to get into a position after two days where we were almost certain to lose it. So I am not sure that’s the best example!



But … what I would say, and what I suspect Stokes would say, is that we won that match. And we won that series. And the next one. And the one after that. So even if he was just making a point, it was a damn good one.

It’s a mindset that is prepared to gamble where previous test match wisdom was that you didn’t. Successful gamblers don’t need to win every bet, they just need to come out ahead. Stokes will lose matches that a traditional captain would have drawn and win matches that a traditional captain would have drawn. So long as there are more of the latter than the former he’s a winner. Which he was at Headingley in 2022, and which he has been overall to a greater extent than any other England captain.
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To be honest, I totally forgot that we won the first test last time. It was more an overall point regarding the memories from the series in general, although some of the pitches were turning square from ball one.

But totally agree on Stokes. I remember a lot of people giving him and the team pelters on a regular basis over the last few years, each time we had a bad session or day. Particularly early doors in The Ashes.

We’re certainly fine tuning our game plans though. We scored at a good rate this morning but there was nothing thing reckless about our approach. We ran with intent, hit the bad balls and just took a positive approach. You can see how demoralising it is for the opposition when we get going. We’ve done it to every side we’ve played under Stokes so far, in various conditions.

Long may it continue.
 
Somme questions for India in the next test without Kohli.

Do they prepare a result pitch and risk going 2-0 down before he is back, or do they prepare a dud of a wicket and gamble on winning two of the last three.

The good thing is there are going to be at least two result pitches to come. Let's hope one of them goes our way at least.

The best thing for the game is a ding dong 2-2 series with Bazball shining once again.
 
Superb performance from England.

I’ve been critical of Bazball when they haven’t got it right but this has been fantastic.

The bravery to go with those spinners and stick with Hartley when he had been carted around epitomises the approach.

Can’t wait for the second test.
 
My mate is out there for the series. He said it was absolutely fantastic. I was twitchy watching on TV must have been great watching it at the stadium.
 
just got back from a weekend away to watch the highlights. Congratulations England on a fabulous win. The tailenders with Pope really showed their mettlel and determination and hopefully that bodes well for England in the coming test series.
 
On The Bob said:
To be honest, I totally forgot that we won the first test last time. It was more an overall point regarding the memories from the series in general, although some of the pitches were turning square from ball one.

But totally agree on Stokes. I remember a lot of people giving him and the team pelters on a regular basis over the last few years, each time we had a bad session or day. Particularly early doors in The Ashes.

We’re certainly fine tuning our game plans though. We scored at a good rate this morning but there was nothing thing reckless about our approach. We ran with intent, hit the bad balls and just took a positive approach. You can see how demoralising it is for the opposition when we get going. We’ve done it to every side we’ve played under Stokes so far, in various conditions.

Long may it continue.
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I think this is the key with "bazball" some seem to think it's all about slogging the ball around or playing one day or twenty twenty cricket in a test match. But it's not.

It's about playing with positive intent. Intent to score runs, intent to take wickets, intent to win the match rather draw.

Sometimes that will look a bit like trying to play white ball cricket, but that's not the objective.

Traditionally, test cricket has been as much about limiting mistakes as trying to attack teams. You "built" an innings, you "saw off" the new ball, you try to stifle the run rate and frustrate the batsman.

It's a complete mindset change and it's great to see.

To get a bit carried away, I think Carrick probably has a similar mindset in his coaching style and how he wants us to play.
 
festa5 said:
I think this is the key with "bazball" some seem to think it's all about slogging the ball around or playing one day or twenty twenty cricket in a test match. But it's not.

It's about playing with positive intent. Intent to score runs, intent to take wickets, intent to win the match rather draw.

Sometimes that will look a bit like trying to play white ball cricket, but that's not the objective.

Traditionally, test cricket has been as much about limiting mistakes as trying to attack teams. You "built" an innings, you "saw off" the new ball, you try to stifle the run rate and frustrate the batsman.

It's a complete mindset change and it's great to see.

To get a bit carried away, I think Carrick probably has a similar mindset in his coaching style and how he wants us to play.
Click to expand...
Some interesting stats on Bazball.

www.espncricinfo.com

The numbers behind Bazball: How England cracked the risk-reward equation in Hyderabad

The visitors made up for a lower batting control percentage by maximising their returns off the deliveries they middled
www.espncricinfo.com www.espncricinfo.com
 
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