Only India , winning this game' - analysis

Only India , winning this game' - analysis

Former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott on Test Match Special:

Will India get a big enough lead to squeeze England? I'm not sure they will. The pitch is in the batsmen's favour, but it's not the sort of pitch you can crash-bang-wallop. England can hold their heads up high.

Ex-England spinner Vic Marks:

Unless England have a very good first session tomorrow morning, they're going to be transported back to a Mumbai-ish situation. The pitch is still blameless, but you sense it is still possible for India to score another 200-250 runs.

If any team is going to win this game, it's India, unless England have an astonishing start. They've often struggled to get wickets on good pitches, their spin attack is nowhere near as good as India's, and even now, you're not even safe with 477 in the first innings.

BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew:

The fact is England are tired, they've been away a long time and they will be under pressure in this match.

The pommies gave up already . ::confused::

I am not saying they gave up already, but the mental aspect in very important in a game, and this seems to be playing an important role right now.

There's only one winner in this game after the massive total posted by India today. I'm not saying that England are past caring about the game, but they are playing as if there bags are packed an they are already on the plane home.

As an Englishman and naturally an England fan, I do feel that there wasn't really much point in India carrying on batting and racking up a total like they did, and it would serve them right if by a miracle England did draw the game.

You are saying it lacks motivation to England? Why do you think that is happening? Many times less skilled teams can indeed make good results against better teams because motivation plays a big role in any sport.

What's worrying for me is that this isn't the first time that England have managed to lose a game that could have been saved. Like I said before, if the captain of a team bats on and on...like India did then it gives the opposing team more of a chance to salvage a draw. If the England batsmen had performed better, then all they had to do was see out the day, and at 100-0 after the first session (I think it was) then it should have been well within their capabilities.

It seems that over the past 12 month the England team have gone backwards, and I think that's been more of a mental issue than anything else. The mental side of the game is almost as important as the performance on the pitch, and at the moment neither are good enough. This last test series and the last game in particular proves that.

You do have a point there, with that score after the first session is somewhat surprising that they didn't win. It's hard for me to believe that it's lack of motivation, but it's worrying indeed to get a lead and to lose it, even more if you are English. 

Maybe a new coach is necessary for England?

One of the big issues for me with the England team is that it seems that EVERYTHING is geared towards The Ashes and no results really seem to matter apart from winning them. If we play well in them, it's like the performances in the rest of the games can be forgiven.

Even after this whitewash we witnessed in India, the first thing that was said was that it was disappointing but they are still on course to meet their targets and The Ashes are still their main focus...? Just because we won the last Ashes doesn't mean that the England team now have an excuse to perform badly in all the other matches.

The bowling lacks penetration, the batting is lethargic and nothing seems to be being done about it. But as long as we win the next Ashes then it won't matter, is that how it works? It might work that way for those in charge, but it certainly doesn't work that way for the fans that have to sit and watch a team get smashed all over the pitch for 700+ runs, and seemingly not be all that concerned.

I agree that doesn't make any sense. Sure, the Ashes are important, but other competitions and other matches are important too, so they really need to focus on every single match and not thinking ahead on what's to come. By doing this defeats will inevitably come.

I'm not sure that the fans help the situation either because I know a lot of part time cricket fans that will watch The Ashes, some have even been over to watch it being played in Australia, but then the rest of the season they aren't too concerned with the other games, so maybe that's just something that the ECB have picked up on.

England's 'barmy army' are in good voice for The Ashes, but then seem to rest their voices for all the other games and some that are played in England you'd be forgiven for thinking are played in a cemetery it's that quiet.