Monday, July 18, 2011
'Battle of Taunton' and the 'Survival of the Fittest'
Hence the 3-day practice match between Indians and Somerset has been ended on a draw.The one-off practice match before first two tests showed that Indians have not adopted english conditions yet.This was not simply a practice match as this was the only chance to play against a county side before heading towards the Lord's.English test skipper Andrew Strauss who has retired from the shorter format of the game was the invited opener in the absence of Somerset skipper Markas Trescothick to regain his lost form.The prolific opener scored a watchful 78 ,Arul Suppaih played a magnificant knock toring Indian bowlers.Somerset piled 425/3 and declared its 1st innings.Indians were totally out played against the Somerset bowlers and bowled out for a mere 224 despite Raina's quickfire century.Except Raina,no one made an impression in this game. Before this game there was so much discussion about no.6 spot of Indian batting.Youraj Singh missed the tour of Carribean but he was one of few stars of the last world cup.In the absence of Yuvi,Raina played in the carribean utilising his capabilities.He played some positive knocks there .Now after Raina's another masterclass Dhoni will be clear of any doubt picking the no.6 batsman for the historic 2000th test and also 100th Indo-English test at Lord's.
Friday, July 15, 2011
India's England Tour 1974,"Summer of 42"
The Indian cricket team toured England in the 1974 English domestic
cricket season. After matches against many of county cricket and other
minor teams, in April and May, the Indian team played three Test
matches and two One-day Internationals against the England cricket
team. England won all five of the matches.
The season became known as the "Summer of 42",[1] referring to the
number of runs scored by India in its second innings in the Second
Test at Lord's (also a reference to the film Summer of '42 which won
an Oscar in 1972; a follow-up, Class of '44 had been released in
1973). This remains the lowest total for a completed innings in a Test
match since New Zealand were dismissed for 26 in 1955.[2] Blamed for
his team's poor showing, Indian captain, Ajit Wadekar, retired from
Test cricket after the tour.
Background
India could make a fair claim in the early 1970s to be the top
Test-playing nation. In 1970-71, the team had beaten the West Indies
in the Caribbean; in the English season that followed, 1971, the team
had won its first-ever victory on English soil and with it the first
series victory in Anglo-Indian Tests in England; and that victory was
repeated, with a 2-1 margin, when MCC toured India in 1972-73.
The basis of India's success was the quartet of high-class spin
bowlers – Chandrasekhar, Bedi, Prasanna and Venkataraghavan – backed
up by world-class batting from Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Vishwanath.
Ajit Wadekar was regarded as an astute captain, while Farokh Engineer
was an extrovert wicketkeeper-batsman.
[edit] Test matches
In the First Test, played from 6 June to 11 June at Old Trafford,
England won the toss and batted first, scoring 328-9 declared, with a
century for Keith Fletcher (123). Indian opening batsman Sunil
Gavaskar scored 101 in India's reply of 246 all out, assisted by 71
added down the batting order by Abid Ali. England reached 213-3 in
their second innings, declaring with John Edrich on 100 not out. India
were bowled out a second time for 182, and England won by 113 runs.[4]
In the Second Test, played from 21 June to 24 June at Lord's, England
again won the toss and batted first, scoring a monumental 629 all out,
with centuries for opening batsman Dennis Amiss (188), captain Mike
Denness (118), and Tony Greig (106); in addition, John Edrich was out
for 96. Indian spin bowler Bishen Bedi took six wickets, but conceded
226 runs in 64.2 overs. In reply, India scored 302 all out. Called to
follow on, India were dismissed a second time for only 42, and England
won by an innings and 285 runs inside 4 days. Chris Old took 5-21, to
add to his 4-67 in the first innings, and Geoff Arnold took 4-19.[5]
In the Third Test, played from 3 July to 8 July at Edgbaston, India
won the toss and batted first, scoring 165 all out. Wicket-keeper
Farokh Engineer top scored with 64 not out. English reached 459 for 2
declared in reply, with David Lloyd scoring 214 not out, Mike Denness
dismissed for exactly 100. India were bowled out for 216 in their
second innings, and England won by an innings and 78 runs.[6]
[edit] ODI matches
England also won both ODIs, played over 55 overs. The First ODI was
played on 13 July at Headingley. England won the toss and put India in
to bat. India scored 265 all out, bowled out with 7 balls to bowl.
England reached their victory target with 6 wickets down and 23 balls
to spare. [7]
In the Second ODI, played on 16 July at the Oval, India won the toss
and batted. They scored 171 all out in 47.3 overs. England reached
their victory target with 4 wickets down and over 6 overs to spare.
[8]
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Indian Tour of England 1971
The Indian cricket team toured England in the 1971 season and played
19 first-class fixtures, winning 7, losing only one and drawing 11.
India played three Test matches and surprisingly won the series
against England 1–0 with two Tests drawn. This was India's first ever
series win in England. The First Test at Lord's and the Second Test at
Old Trafford were drawn. India pulled off a historic win in the Third
Test at The Oval by 4 wickets after being 71 behind on first innings.
They bowled England out for only 101 in the second innings with
Bhagwat Chandrasekhar claiming 6–38.
The Indian team was captained by Ajit Wadekar. Besides Wadekar and
Chandrasekhar, the team included other notable players in Dilip
Sardesai, Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan, Gundappa Viswanath,
Bishan Singh Bedi and the young Sunil Gavaskar. Farokh Engineer, who
had a contract with Lancashire was made available for the Tests and a
few other matches.
Background
With South Africa out of Test cricket, England was arguably the best
cricket team in the world at this point of time. Earlier in the
summer, they had fortuitously managed to defeat Pakistan 1–0 but
coming into the series England had gone 24 Tests without defeat. They
were to extend it to a record 26 Test matches before losing the third
Test.
India had not won a Test abroad till 1968 and had had no success in
their previous six Test tours of England. However, under the new
captain Ajit Wadekar, India defeated West Indies in an away series in
early 1971. The victory in that series was built around the batting of
Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Sardesai who scored 774 and 642 runs
respectively. Chandrasekhar had been a controversial omission from the
West Indies series. Chief Selector Vijay Merchant called his inclusion
for the tour of England "a ?calculated gamble"?.
Test Matches
First Test: India v England (22 – 27 July)
22–27 July
Scorecard England
304 (139.3 overs) v India
313 (165.3 overs) Match drawn
Lord's, London
Umpires: DJ Constant (Eng) and CS Elliott (Eng)
JA Snow 73 (132)
BS Bedi 4/70 [39.3] AL Wadekar 85 (182)
N Gifford 4/84 [45.3]
191 (98.5 overs) 145/8 (50 overs)
JH Edrich 62 (169)
S Venkataraghavan 4/52 [30.5] SM Gavaskar 53 (96)
N Gifford 4/43 [19]
You may be too young to remember, but in 1971, during a Test
match, I collided with England fast bowler John Snow and lost my bat.
Snow picked it up and handed it to me. But at the time, many papers
wrote that Snow had flung the bat at me. It all depends on your point
of view, or what you are trying to portray....[1] - Sunil Gavaskar
Picture
The England fast bowler John Snow rescued the England first innings
when he came in at 183/7 and made 73 to hoist the total up to 304.
This was Snow's highest Test and equal highest First Class score, but
he was disappointed not to realise his boyhood dream of a century at
Lords when he was caught off a Chandrasekhar googly.[2] India needed
183 to win in the fourth innings when Snow had the opener Ashok Mankad
caught by Knott for 8 and India were 21–2 when Sunil Gavaskar was
called for a quick single after hitting the ball to mid-wicket. Snow
went for the ball and knocked him over, "I could imagine the horror on
the faces of everybody watching the game from the committee room at
Lord's".[3] The were both uninjured, got up and continued with the
game after and Snow tossed Gavaskar's bat back to him. A similar
incident had happened in Georgetown in 1967–68 with Clive Lloyd, but
the 5'4" Indian received far more sympathy than the 6'4" West Indian
who nearly trampled Snow into the ground.[4] From afar the incident
had looked much worse and was replayed repeated on slow-motion
television with a media furore and press demanding disciplinary
action. The replay can be seen in the Indian episode of the BBC
documentary Empire of Cricket and it certainly appears that Snow
recklessly barged into the Gavaskar as he knocked him over. Many were
more angry about the throwing of the bat back than the knocking him
over in the first place. At lunch Snow returned to the dressing room
he apologised to the chairman of selectors Alec Bedser and promised to
do so to Gavaskar when an enraged Mike Griffith charged in and shouted
"That's the most disgusting thing I've ever seen on the field".
Illingworth took him out and Snow waited until he had calmed down
before apologising to Gavaskar on the field after lunch. When he later
saw the replay he said "Oh well, the scene's been far too quiet
without me anyway".[5] and realised he could not avoid being dropped
for the Second Test. The game was rained off with India needed 38
runs, but with England wanting only two wickets.
Second Test: India v England (5 – 10 August)
5–10 August
Scorecard England
386 (160.4 overs) v India
212 (93 overs) Match drawn
Old Trafford, Manchester
Umpires: AE Fagg (Eng) and TW Spencer (Eng)
R Illingworth 107 (298)
S Abid Ali 4/64 [32.4] SM Gavaskar 57 (129)
P Lever 5/70 [26]
245/3d (66 overs) 65/3 (27 overs)
BW Luckhurst 101 (173)
BS Bedi 1/21 [5] SM Gavaskar 24 (42)
JSE Price 2/30 [10]
Third Test: India v England (19–24 August)
19–24 August
Scorecard England
355 (108.4 overs) v India
284 (117.3 overs) India won by 4 wickets
Kennington Oval, London
Umpires: CS Elliott (Eng) and AEG Rhodes (Eng)
APE Knott 90 (116)
ED Solkar 3/28 [15] FM Engineer 59 (111)
R Illingworth 5/70 [34.3]
101 (45.1 overs) 174/6 (101 overs)
BW Luckhurst 33 (111)
BS Chandrasekhar 6/38 [18.1] AL Wadekar 45 (118)
DL Underwood 3/72 [38]
Snow returned for the Third Test and tore off Gavaskar's chain and
medallion with a bouncer that zipped under his chin and made him fall
over.[6] He bowled the Indian for 6 in the first innings and had him
lbw for a duck in the second, but this was not enough to prevent India
winning the Test and the series by four wickets. It was only the
second Test defeat Snow had seen since he had become and England
regular in 1966 and ended England's run of 27 Test without loss.
19 first-class fixtures, winning 7, losing only one and drawing 11.
India played three Test matches and surprisingly won the series
against England 1–0 with two Tests drawn. This was India's first ever
series win in England. The First Test at Lord's and the Second Test at
Old Trafford were drawn. India pulled off a historic win in the Third
Test at The Oval by 4 wickets after being 71 behind on first innings.
They bowled England out for only 101 in the second innings with
Bhagwat Chandrasekhar claiming 6–38.
The Indian team was captained by Ajit Wadekar. Besides Wadekar and
Chandrasekhar, the team included other notable players in Dilip
Sardesai, Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan, Gundappa Viswanath,
Bishan Singh Bedi and the young Sunil Gavaskar. Farokh Engineer, who
had a contract with Lancashire was made available for the Tests and a
few other matches.
Background
With South Africa out of Test cricket, England was arguably the best
cricket team in the world at this point of time. Earlier in the
summer, they had fortuitously managed to defeat Pakistan 1–0 but
coming into the series England had gone 24 Tests without defeat. They
were to extend it to a record 26 Test matches before losing the third
Test.
India had not won a Test abroad till 1968 and had had no success in
their previous six Test tours of England. However, under the new
captain Ajit Wadekar, India defeated West Indies in an away series in
early 1971. The victory in that series was built around the batting of
Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Sardesai who scored 774 and 642 runs
respectively. Chandrasekhar had been a controversial omission from the
West Indies series. Chief Selector Vijay Merchant called his inclusion
for the tour of England "a ?calculated gamble"?.
Test Matches
First Test: India v England (22 – 27 July)
22–27 July
Scorecard England
304 (139.3 overs) v India
313 (165.3 overs) Match drawn
Lord's, London
Umpires: DJ Constant (Eng) and CS Elliott (Eng)
JA Snow 73 (132)
BS Bedi 4/70 [39.3] AL Wadekar 85 (182)
N Gifford 4/84 [45.3]
191 (98.5 overs) 145/8 (50 overs)
JH Edrich 62 (169)
S Venkataraghavan 4/52 [30.5] SM Gavaskar 53 (96)
N Gifford 4/43 [19]
You may be too young to remember, but in 1971, during a Test
match, I collided with England fast bowler John Snow and lost my bat.
Snow picked it up and handed it to me. But at the time, many papers
wrote that Snow had flung the bat at me. It all depends on your point
of view, or what you are trying to portray....[1] - Sunil Gavaskar
Picture
The England fast bowler John Snow rescued the England first innings
when he came in at 183/7 and made 73 to hoist the total up to 304.
This was Snow's highest Test and equal highest First Class score, but
he was disappointed not to realise his boyhood dream of a century at
Lords when he was caught off a Chandrasekhar googly.[2] India needed
183 to win in the fourth innings when Snow had the opener Ashok Mankad
caught by Knott for 8 and India were 21–2 when Sunil Gavaskar was
called for a quick single after hitting the ball to mid-wicket. Snow
went for the ball and knocked him over, "I could imagine the horror on
the faces of everybody watching the game from the committee room at
Lord's".[3] The were both uninjured, got up and continued with the
game after and Snow tossed Gavaskar's bat back to him. A similar
incident had happened in Georgetown in 1967–68 with Clive Lloyd, but
the 5'4" Indian received far more sympathy than the 6'4" West Indian
who nearly trampled Snow into the ground.[4] From afar the incident
had looked much worse and was replayed repeated on slow-motion
television with a media furore and press demanding disciplinary
action. The replay can be seen in the Indian episode of the BBC
documentary Empire of Cricket and it certainly appears that Snow
recklessly barged into the Gavaskar as he knocked him over. Many were
more angry about the throwing of the bat back than the knocking him
over in the first place. At lunch Snow returned to the dressing room
he apologised to the chairman of selectors Alec Bedser and promised to
do so to Gavaskar when an enraged Mike Griffith charged in and shouted
"That's the most disgusting thing I've ever seen on the field".
Illingworth took him out and Snow waited until he had calmed down
before apologising to Gavaskar on the field after lunch. When he later
saw the replay he said "Oh well, the scene's been far too quiet
without me anyway".[5] and realised he could not avoid being dropped
for the Second Test. The game was rained off with India needed 38
runs, but with England wanting only two wickets.
Second Test: India v England (5 – 10 August)
5–10 August
Scorecard England
386 (160.4 overs) v India
212 (93 overs) Match drawn
Old Trafford, Manchester
Umpires: AE Fagg (Eng) and TW Spencer (Eng)
R Illingworth 107 (298)
S Abid Ali 4/64 [32.4] SM Gavaskar 57 (129)
P Lever 5/70 [26]
245/3d (66 overs) 65/3 (27 overs)
BW Luckhurst 101 (173)
BS Bedi 1/21 [5] SM Gavaskar 24 (42)
JSE Price 2/30 [10]
Third Test: India v England (19–24 August)
19–24 August
Scorecard England
355 (108.4 overs) v India
284 (117.3 overs) India won by 4 wickets
Kennington Oval, London
Umpires: CS Elliott (Eng) and AEG Rhodes (Eng)
APE Knott 90 (116)
ED Solkar 3/28 [15] FM Engineer 59 (111)
R Illingworth 5/70 [34.3]
101 (45.1 overs) 174/6 (101 overs)
BW Luckhurst 33 (111)
BS Chandrasekhar 6/38 [18.1] AL Wadekar 45 (118)
DL Underwood 3/72 [38]
Snow returned for the Third Test and tore off Gavaskar's chain and
medallion with a bouncer that zipped under his chin and made him fall
over.[6] He bowled the Indian for 6 in the first innings and had him
lbw for a duck in the second, but this was not enough to prevent India
winning the Test and the series by four wickets. It was only the
second Test defeat Snow had seen since he had become and England
regular in 1966 and ended England's run of 27 Test without loss.
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Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Chanderpaul Blocked INDIAN Victory
The visitors also wrapped up their second straight Test series victory over the West Indies in the Caribbean.
They also created a piece of history, becoming the first Indian side to win a Test and one-day international series in the Caribbean.
India suffered an early setback in their hunt for a victory target of 180.
India lost Abhinav Mukund lbw for a duck, playing back and across to the first delivery of the innings from Fidel Edwards in the brief passage of play before the break.
But Murali Vijay and Rahul Dravid steading the innings with a 72-run partnership for the second wicket. India, however, did not make any attempt to go for victory.
And once Vijay fell for 45, Dravid and VVS Laxman played a few overs before play was called off.
Earlier, Shivnarine Chanderpaul ended with the West Indies' top score of an undefeated 116, his 23rd Test hundred, making the occasion of his record 133rd appearance extra special.
He added a valuable 65 for the ninth wicket with Fidel Edwards, whose 30 was a career-best, and made him the object of great frustration for India.
But Suresh Raina had Edwards caught at long-off following a near three-hour long act of resistance, and in his following over, brought the curtain down on the West Indies' innings, when he had Devendra Bishoo caught at slip for one.
India had met defiance from West Indies before lunch, when Chanderpaul rallied the lower order to lead the home team to 294 for eight at the interval.
Chanderpaul became the second century-maker in the West Indies second innings, following Kirk Edwards' maiden hundred of 110 on debut the previous day.
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