Much better than you appear to think - we've played the four other best team in the country (as per last season's league table), three away from home and not lost one of them. With our captain and best player missing. We are not actually that bad
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No, we are not that bad. :-)
But our performances across the 10 games have not been good enough, and have been getting worse. There is a problem. It is foolish to ignore it. and although we haven't lost those games against the top teams we have managed to lose at Bournemouth and Newcastle while struggling to put away the likes of Leicester and Southampton at home. The three tough away games were earlier in the season. If we played those game now we would lose.
I still think we will come good but I am afraid we are in a similar position to last season- and like last season, if we do come storming back after Christmas it is likely to be too late, again.
I'm only interested in performances at the moment. Until we start performing better over 90 minutes there is no point in talking about titles and league positions. We need to get back to the side that we are because this isn't it.
My lads did win in Aus last time and Washington Sundar did really well from memory. He didn't play in the 1st NZ test but in the second he got 11 wickets at 10.5 and 39 runs for out once. In the 3rd test, he got 5 wickets at 22 and 50 runs for out once.
So averaging 44 with the bat and 14 with the ball in a losing side isn't bad and as I say, he did ok on Aus pitches with bat and ball last time. In the final test which they won to win the series, he got 62 in the first innings, and with time running out on the last day, scored a quick 22 in partnership with Pant so when he was out, only 10 was needed from 4 overs when it had looked all day that India had batted too slowly.
तिनकों को पकड़ना
tinakon ko pakadana
{Apparently that's 'clutching at straws' in Hindi.}
Yup. What's gutting from an Indian perspective is that they won in India in our winter and then were 2-1 up with one to play in England, against a totally beaten pre-Bazball England team. Then Shastri went to a launch of his book and brought back Covid. So the series was officially ended, they played the last game the next year when we were Bazballing it and we won.
So that goes down as a drawn series - as opposed to India beating Aus then Eng away - all cos Shastri wanted to try to sell a few more copies.
Insane. Firstly, how many people in this country would buy his book, and how many more copies did he sell as a result? And secondly, as the main presenter on the IPL, the BCCI must pay him a fortune. It's not like he has to drive a rickshaw on the side to make ends meet.
So while we know India beat us at home, that's not what the record books say. He ruined would have been a unique double - I'm sure they've never beaten both Aus and Eng away in a year before - just in the hope of making a few extra quid.
SHÏT. They've scored a penalty that BBC radio says should never have been given.
Great. Parvati has totally sorted me out today, She should do it for the rest of AWIMB.