In isolation you are right, but Crawleys sweep, plus root, plus stokes' slog, plus Foakes, plus Hartley charging have cost England the chance to win this test match. It's unfair pinning it all just on Root, but that exact mentality and type of reckless shot is what has cost England.
Because they are aware of the match situation and we are not. It will be very difficult to chase anything on this pitch on day 5. They've realised this, we haven't. If we realised this, we'd have played long first innings and tried to get a good lead and grind their team into the ground. But we are too stupid to realise this. Fair play to India, they have shown a hell of a lot more experience and sense than we have all series, and that's the reason they're 2-1 up and we aren't.
Taking on a bowler across the ground with a drive risking an outside edge on a flat, slow pitch that isn't doing much at all is a reasonable, calculated risk.
What I will say is that it’s not quite as simple as you make out. Root apart we have batsmen selected who aren’t great technicians defensively. We have tried a lot of those who have been abject failures. Bazball sometimes becomes horribly unstuck when teams can manage to dry up the runs. After Roots indefensible brain fart Bumrah and particularly Kuldeep were bowling very well, runs were drying up, there was spin and variable bounce and they looked to me that they were going to get out to him. Duckett was trying to do what he does and get bat to ball to relieve pressure and was out. Bairstow was out LBW and suddenly we are 5 down. It was poor but shot selection and game awareness is an easy thing to say when attacking players get out. They would argue that playing there natural game and playing attacking shots to relieve pressure when bowlers are bowling well is good game awareness. It only isn’t when they get out
When Brook is ready to return it’s the end of the road for Bairstow. Cheers for 2022 Johnny but see ya.
Bairstow still doesn't look fit to me.
He’s 35 this year. It’s time to start easing in some younger players.
It’s really hard to argue the first innings at Lord’s didn’t produce a lesson learned. England came back from that low to make a bloody good fight of that game and win two of the next three to draw a series they would probably have won but for rain. And they didn’t do it by doubling down but by moderating a tad.Yea I get that, we all enjoy winning, of course we do. But the question initially was why do people respond more in defeat on here than in victory. You posting “didn’t pope do well for his 180 in the first test”, whilst most if not all would agree with you, won’t generate the same level of discussion as someone suggesting a change for the next game when we lose - there’s been about 100 posts on the back of me questioning whether root needs dropping for a game as a kick up the arse for instance.
Case in point
Respectfully, lords was the time to accept it and take stock. This is the second occasion when nothing has been learned and is the time to ask serious questions
Also what both Lords and today had in common is an opponent seriously on the ropes. It’s always a debate in any sport as to whether you go all out for the kill then and risk taking a sucker punch or jab away and wear your opponent into submission. I think this team would always do the former.
This partnership already more that what we lost 8 wickets for. It's just not good enough
