England Stumble After Sound Start

BANGALORE

A recent survey of users by CricInfo revealed that Test cricket is consideredby a significant majority to be the most appealing form of the game. After a dayin Bangalore packed with incident, it is easy to understand why so many peopleare of this opinion. By one means or another, England find themselves fightingback after, quite literally, handing the initiative to India. And that was onlyafter England had had the platform for a substantial first innings total.Riveting entertainment.

The floodlights were already on when Nasser Hussain entered unchartedterritory by calling correctly for the second time in succession. On a newlylaid pitch with no guide to its likely behaviour, he elected to bat without amoment's hesitation.

The Indian selectors had taken a decision to play an extra spinner, SarandeepSingh, and so captain Sourav Ganguly took the new ball with Javagal Srinath.Ganguly, at moderate pace, did get some movement and saw some false shotsplayed, while Srinath found both the inside and outside edges of MarcusTrescothick's bat. However, as the drizzle began, Trescothick did unfurl aglorious off drive for a boundary to let the bowler know that he had got amiddle to his bat.

Srinath also knew that the edge would come into play again if he could getone going across the left-hander, and in the seventh over he did just that.There was a little extra bounce for good measure and VVS Laxman held on well atsecond slip.

Hussain came in to join Mark Butcher and immediately showed aggressive intentby pulling Srinath for six over square leg off the front foot. Shots like thatforced a double bowling change, with Ganguly bringing on Anil Kumble, strivingfor his three hundredth Test wicket, and Harbhajan Singh.

Hussain greeted Harbhajan by going down the wicket in his first over andhoisting him over mid-on for four. A long-on was posted immediately. This meantthat the batsmen altered their approach, running well between wickets to pick upsingles to keep the scoring rate above three an over.

Twice Hussain was on his knees at the completion of a shot as balls fromKumble kept low, perhaps giving a clue to the likely behaviour of the pitch asthe game wears on. There was also noticeable turn for the spinners, underliningthe importance of the toss.

Despite that, the England pair were batting with increasing authority aslunch approached. That was when their previously excellent understandingunravelled. Butcher pushed the ball wide of mid-on and called for a single.Hussain sent him back but, before Butcher could put on the brakes and turn,Rahul Dravid had the ball in Deep Dasgupta's gloves and the bails were off.

With Hussain nibbling at another fine ball from Srinath shortly after lunchto be caught behind for 43, India had fought back well to reduce England to 93for 3. That brought Michael Vaughan and Mark Ramprakash together.

Ramprakash was not always comfortable with his timing but was survivingstaunchly, while Vaughan appeared in prime form. They, too, were picking upsingles with ease as the field was set a little deep, and Vaughan in particularemployed the sweep to good effect.

Ramprakash brought up the 200 hitting Sarandeep for 4 to mid-wicket and thenhis own fifty by nudging Srinath off his hip for his fourth boundary. Before 220had been posted, however, one of those silly sessions in which Englandself-destruct was to be endured.

Vaughan had already stroked eight fours as he went down on one knee to sweepSarandeep for another. This time the ball struck his pad, went up in the airthrough a tangle of gloves, bat and arms, came down onto his thigh and, as itlanded in front of him, the batsman trapped it with his glove before tossing itaway.

It was not going to roll back onto the stumps. It was not going to be caught.Nevertheless, the bowler was quite entitled to appeal under Law 33.1 and Vaughanbecame only the seventh man in Test history to be given out handled the ball. Heis in good company. The only other Englishman to suffer a similar fate wasGraham Gooch, while the last man out in this manner was Steve Waugh. By one ofthose strange quirks, the umpire in Chennai then was none other than the sameA.V. Jayaprakash who quite rightly sent Vaughan on his way now.

The least said about Andrew Flintoff's dismissal, the better. He clipped hisfourth ball in the same fateful over straight to mid-wicket where SachinTendulkar held a simple catch. Flintoff's last three Test innings have nowlasted a total of eight balls.

Worse was to follow for England. With Sarandeep's confidence growing,Ramprakash tried to leave a ball outside off stump, it came back into him and,in the opinion of the umpire, took part of the bat as it went via thewicket-keeper to slip. It was only after several slow-motion replays that anydoubt could be cast on the decision, but no blame can be attached to the umpirefor that.

Craig White and James Foster, just like Ahmedabad, were left to salvage whathad been a very promising situation. Kunble tried so hard for the wicket that hedeserves to reach his milestone. He is an admirable fellow, fine bowler and hehas taken his wickets with a ram-rod straight bowling arm, which is not alwaysthe case with spinners, it appears.

He was swept to the boundary by Foster to bring up the 250, while the samebatsman tried the same shot against Harbhajan without the same effect and wasfortunate see the ball come to rest against the stumps but without dislodging abail.

White did the same in Ahmedabad, and the whole England camp will be hopingthis incident heralds another stand between the same two batsmen who put on overa hundred for seventh wicket there. The Indians would be justified in thinkingthat they might have used up all their good fortune already.

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