Here we go again as England are thrashed by India in India

Oh dear. A lot of fears were realised in Hyderabad today. This was just like the World Cup. This was just like England in the sub-continent since the year dot. This was all thoroughly depressing.

This was certainly the beginning of India’s Payback Plan. How the summer in England hurt them. “Wait till we get you on our own pitches,” they said. We laughed. But deep down, we knew. This was always going to be a fiendishly difficult series, especially when you lose the toss as England did today.

There was no pace and bounce to trouble the Indian batsmen, and how they loved it. There was actually a little uneven bounce, which meant that a total of 300 was way above par. England bowled reasonably well for 30 overs. For the last 20 they were awful. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, with the blades of his personalised helicopter shot whirling merrily, was quite magnificent. But England hardly bowled shrewdly at him.

At around the halfway stage England looked reasonably placed. Comparative scores were promising. But you can never rely on such an ending that the Indians managed. Alastair Cook needed to crack on. He played nicely. All the others played horribly.

The Jonathan Trott debate will be revived. And so it should be, despite the fact that is Warwickshire supporters will be enraged. He was slow again. This is not to say he should be dropped. I do not think that. He scores runs for fun. The record books are in his favour. When he scores runs, England generally win. But if he is to bat at No 4 as he surprisingly did today, then he should not play. He simply has to bat at No 3 or not at all.

And no less loud should be the Kevin Pietersen argument. He took one excellent catch, but otherwise fielded very poorly. He didn’t score runs again. What is happening, Kev? Time is running out in international one-day cricket.

What of Ian Bell? A very sound observer of the game recently told me that he thought Bell is currently the best batsman in the world. But he can’t make it into England’s one-day side. It is a curiosity.

Is Samit Patel really good enough to be a second spinner in ODIs? I’m not sure, and I was championing his cause before the World Cup, when I was lamenting his sloth as regards fitness.

These are a lot of questions that need answering. It is only one game, yes, but it is too familiar a scenario. Should we panic? How can England turn things around?

Thoughts please, especially from my Indian friends, who must be very happy again now!

This is how the Ashes used to be

I’ve seen days like this before. They were when the great Australia team were in their pomp, and England were in their pocket. How things have changed. We are supposed to be watching the contest for No 1 spot in the world, but instead it’s like watching the World XI against Ilford second XI, as Graham Gooch once so memorably described the gap in class between facing Richard Hadlee at one end and his New Zealand colleagues at the other.

For the truth is that, if I said it was no contest yesterday, I am not sure how to describe today’s play. I think there might have been a moment in the morning session when the Indians bowled reasonably well to Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook, but otherwise all I can recall is England’s dominance; their sheer, relentless and regal dominance.

So Cook is back. He’d only really popped down from batting’s Mount Olympus for a change of scenery. This was England’s greatest Test batsman in action. Not that he is quite yet, and not that he is the best to watch. But statistically he will stand way, way above all others by the end of his career. As he does, today he just batted. And batted. He was 182 not out at the close. He’ll bat some more tomorrow.

When Strauss was bowled around his legs, sweeping, it was a surprise. It was also a no-ball from Amit Mishra, who for a leg-spinner bowled a remarkable amount of those today, but umpire Simon Taufel decided not to consult the technology before Strauss had left the ground. It was a rare mistake.

Ian Bell was a little skittish. It has been an emotional week for him, with the death of his mentor Neal Abberley, and a Test on his revamped home ground. And he was a little too keen to exert his positivity on proceedings. He was dropped at slip by Rahul Dravid of all people, but actually copped a decent ball form Praveen Kumar.

At 252-2 the stage was set for Kevin Pietersen. And he did not disappoint. His 63 was a delightful knock, full of the vim and cockiness we have been missing. His lbw decision to Kumar, to whom Pietersen seemingly stands as close to as he does to his own stumps, was marginal but justifiable. Pietersen did not like it one bit, mind.

Eoin Morgan should have gone twice, but Sreesanth and then Dravid again inexplicably dropped sitters, as India’s misery was complete. Their fielding has been abject all tour.

England are now 232 ahead. Will they declare tomorrow? Will they heck. They will get as many as they can. There are signs of considerable turn. Graeme Swann will be warming his spinning fingers.

Thoughts?

Is this pitch doing too much?

I’m in a bit of a quandary here. For most of the summer I’ve been campaigning for spicier pitches in order to inconvenience the visitors from the sub-continent. Now with this pitch at Trent Bridge, I’m worried things may have gone a little too far. I’m hoping that it might be the combination of the overhead conditions and the greenish pitch that is making batting look so treacherous.

But when you see the ball that dismissed Graeme Swann, sending him off to hospital for an x-ray, you do wonder whether that really should be happening on the first day of a Test match.

What cannot be denied is that it has provided some absorbing cricket. India’s bowlers bowled excellently until Stuart Broad and Swann counter-attacked late on in a thrilling partnership. It certainly wasn’t mindless slogging. It was calculated aggression in conditions that demanded such an approach. There always appears to be a good ball waiting around the corner for you on this pitch, so it’s best to score as many runs as you can before it arrives.

Pace and bounce are what I’ve been advocating all summer, but whilst there has been some bounce here there has not been a great deal of pace. But, with a rather uneven covering of grass, there has been seam movement to add to the swing through the air that you always seem to encounter at Trent Bridge these days.

So how did England play? Alastair Cook wasn’t out (where is that damned DRS please?), Jonathan Trott was done by swing, Andrew Strauss battled hard before losing patience and driving loosely, Kevin Pietersen was distracted by some dark windows above the sightscreen, Eoin Morgan was plumb lbw, Ian Bell was caught behind cutting and Matt Prior got a beauty. Broad and Swann rescued them.

No-one, however, played as poor a shot as Indian opener Abhinav Mukund. What was he thinking, driving with such abandon first ball? The battle to the close was then fierce. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman rode their luck and used their expertise. They will need plenty more of it tomorrow.

What do you think? Is the pitch too helpful? Or do you like this sort of cricket?