91st over: England 306-7 (Root 106, Root 35) Siraj jumps up and down, knees to his chin, at the top of his mark. No new ball yet, and the old ball disappears for four straight away as he drifts leg side and Robinson flicks him off his boots. At last, two balls in, India take the the shiny red cherry. Swing, immediately, but no cigar.
“Morning Tanya,” Hello Martin Wright!
“You well? Dog well? Me, rather sleepy this morning, but since I’m in India and it’s a very civilised 9.15 a.m., I realise I’m being insensitive just mentioning that in the company of what I assume are mostly bleary-eyed wintry English early risers. Anyway... old-school test cricket, eh?! Dontcha just love it?! And will Roooooot confound us this morning by unfurling a couple of reverse scoops in the first over, just to keep us on our toes...?”
I wouldn’t be surprised.
Do get in touch if you’re up and musing, I’d love to hear from you.
Cup of tea made, , the dog is frolicking with a cardboard loo roll tube. In two minutes time, presumably, Rohit Sharma will have taken the new ball.
Time to put the kettle on, back in five:
So many reactions to Joe Root yesterday, here are just a couple:
This is the Joe Root mode that win you Test matches! Glue mode. Let the rest play Bazz Ball.
Good start from India. Good fight from Eng. Setting up for a good Test match
Put on the television to see Graeme Swann crouching down at a huge zigzag crack. A pitch to grind it out, he says, where you must play straight and not try to sweep. As a bowler, keep the stumps in play. Back in the studio, Sir Alastair muses that the Indians aren’t big sweepers anyway.
Good morning! Welcome to day two of Test four and, for the first time this series, it’s all about Joe Root – in a good way. A sublime Test century, complete with subdued celebration, his tenth against India, and his 31st in all, added up to a promising start for England in the end – from the chaos of 112 for five just before lunch, to 302-7 at stumps.
The pitch, which raged in the morning session, calmed as the day stretched – how it behaves on Saturday will map out the course of the match. There is no Bumrah, but Akash Deep impressed on debut – and much depends on how quickly India can rattle through the tail on Saturday morning. We’ll be here for the start of play at 4am GMT. Please join us.