Sublime Siraj Salvages Series draw for India on the final day of epic series

And Breathe… 

After 25 gripping days of Test cricket, it came down to one ball: six runs or one wicket. England needed 5 to force what would have been just the third ever ‘scores level’ draw in Test history—or 6 to pull off a 3–1 series win. One wonders whether this England side, the self-proclaimed entertainers under Bazball’s banner, who don’t play for draws, would have greeted one with open arms today.

So in came Siraj. One ball later, Atkinson’s off stump was cartwheeling through the Oval breeze, and with it, the curtain fell on one of the greatest series in living memory—ending not in victory or defeat, but level on the ledger and overflowing with drama.

It’s taken five hours, a decompressing run, and now a strong beer just to gather the mental clarity to write something resembling impartiality (emphasis on -ish) about the final day of this unforgettable fifth Test.

Anderson-Tendulkar trophy ends level at 2-2.

Siraj’s fifer sees India home

The post mortem on England’s collapse will come, but first, through gritted teeth, the mammoth effort India’s seekers put in on day 4 and 5 must be acknowledged. It’s been a strange test summer, 4 flat pitches, potentially owing to the dry hot weather, were followed by a green deck at the oval. Of course that green deck, the best for the pacers all series, would be met by a weakened seam attack for both sides. England were without Stokes, Archer and Wood (who admittedly played no part in the series), whilst India had no Bumrah and, somewhat puzzlingly, only selected 3 seamers. Resultantly, on a deck where spin was ineffective, India were forced to pound their seamers into the ground to take the required 10 wickets (9.5 including Woakes). 

At 300-3 England looked to be cruising, but there was no let up from India. The wickets of Harry Brook and Joe Root galvanised them and the bowling that followed was simply sublime. India built pressure on England in a way seldom seen in the Bazball era. One only needs to look at the strike rates of the batters that followed Joe Root to see this. 

Jacob Bethell S/R 16.3 (career S/R 69.3)

Jamie Smith S/R 10 (career S/R 75.2)

Jamie Overton S/R 52.94 (career S/R 67.2)

Gus Atkinson S/R 58.62 (career S/R 77.5)

(I’ll give Tongue and Woakes left arm a pass)

Bazball is designed to put pressure back on the opponents, throwing them off their lines and lengths, and it has worked in this test match, looking at the Driscoll Brothers’ (Duckett and Crawley) opening partnership in England’s first innings. However, the Indian bowlers had the ball talking and for the first time in the series, batting looked seriously tough. Special credit must go to Siraj, with figures of 5-104 off an Everest like 30.1 overs. It was India’s day and the heart that Siraj showed did not deserve to be on the losing side, of both the test and the series.

A Chase too far for England’s Bazballer’s

England will be wondering quite how they lost that match, the 195 run partnership between Brook and Root was simply sublime and it looked like they were going to ease through another record breaking chase. And when they were at 300-3 they probably should have. There’s been a lot of talk this series about Bazball maturing, scoring rates remained the same but the risks taken to get there reduced. *Hard cut to Harry Brook on 111 with 70 runs remaining to win the series.* Brook threw the proverbial kitchen sink (and quite literally his bat) at a back of the length delivery to be caught by Siraj and you can’t help but ponder his thought process. Brook later explained that he thought 3 or 4 big overs would have England over the line. But it was all so unnecessary. Through a bizarre selection process, India saw a deck so green that I’m surprised Ben Duckett wasn’t batting with his putter, yet decided to only field 3 seamers. Root and Brook had grinded said seamers out of the game and Gill was forced to turn to spin. It seemed, at best, a tactical blunder to rush for a quick finish, especially when pace was India’s sole wicket-taking option and their bowlers were visibly spent. Root and Brook were magnificent in the chase that wasn’t to be, but they will both be kicking themselves at the shots the played to get out and ultimately, open the door for India once more. 

Aside from Brook’s bizarre dismissal, England’s lower middle order failed to shine in what were severely challenging bowling conditions. When an 80 over old ball is hooping so much that the new ball isn’t taken, it is obvious batting is a challenge. Batting becomes even more challenging when you haven’t played all series and are expected to see England home. One would not be remiss to feel sorry for Jacob Bethell, a 21 year old held hostage as 12th man all summer, who, having not played in the county championship, came out to face Siraj and Krishna touching 90 in a crunch moment in the series. However, England’s hand was forced in selection by injuries, opening up a whole new conversation about in game substitutions and the wider cricketing calendar. 

To Sub or Not to Sub

Substitutions in test cricket have been a bit of a talking point this summer; to say the least. Last week when Pant, broke his foot, India were unable to make a change meaning broken footed Pant came out to bat, casually making a half century while he was at it. When quizzed on the prospect of substitutions, Ben Stokes said teams would manipulate the rules saying one could say:

“I’ll give it a go, hopefully I’ll come through, but if I don’t then somebody comes in’. [Then] you select a team tactically and I think you could manipulate it”

I did wonder if Stokes may change his tone after Woakes’ dislocated shouder meant he couldn’t bowl or bat (properly at least) in this test. Whilst as sports fans we have a kind of twisted fetish for heroes rising from the dressing room with broken foots or to bat one handed with a dislocated shoulder, I feel common sense should be used in this scenario. Yes teams would try to twist it but if an international body like the ICC can’t find a way to police this then nobody can. A baseline fitness test conducted by an independent medical staff before the match may be one way to police this, but for obvious scenarios like Pant and Woakes’ injuries, I feel subs should be allowed. Subs are to be trialled in country championship and it feels as if the argument for their involvement in the game has been portrayed, first in Manchester and now London.

And the injury to Woakes was significant, when considering England lost by 6 runs and Woakes averages 24 with the bat and 29 with the ball. But this isn’t a time for if buts and maybe’s, so we should take head of Ben Stokes’ words when quizzed about subs and injuries after Woakes’ shoulder injury…

“Tough Shit” Ben Stokes on substitutions after Woakes’ injury.

The Injury Advent

The cricketing calendar has come under scrutiny over the last few years. The T20 blast has been split like the Red Sea, with the group games happening over 3 months before finals day. Tests are now scheduled to be played in September, with one wondering whether the ECB are one of the only companies advocating for global warming. Frighteningly, this 5 test series was played over the course of 6 weeks. This schedule is of course attributed to the introduction of The Hundred. While I think the Hundred is fun and has a place in the calendar, test cricket is the pinnacle of the sport and The Hundred should be moved to make room for test matches, not vice versa. With such short turnarounds between Tests, it’s no surprise that injuries took their toll, forcing both teams to shuffle their line-ups for the final match. Every Test this summer has been a thrilling, five-day sellout, and one can only hope the ECB has taken note of where the real heart of the game lies.

When all is said and done the series has ended in a characteristically dramatic fashion. Neither team deserved to lose series and well, we all know it was just a warmup for the Ashes anyway ;).

Go well,

Andy