Morning from Edgbaston. It has rained heavily this morning (I know this, because I went for a run – check me out), but has cleared up a bit in the last hour or so. The teams are doing gentle warm ups, but the pitch is covered, and there is a bit more rain on the radar before 11, which could mean a delayed start.
There will not, though, be enough rain to save England. They will have to do that themselves, by batting 90 overs. I see no reason why that shouldn’t be possible on this pitch, but let’s see. It’s been a long time since English cricket has been presented with a situation like this, and I cannot wait.
Good morning and welcome to live coverage of the fifth day of the second Test between England and India which begins with India in the ascendancy and overwhelming favourites to win and level the series before Lord’s on Thursday. First things first: it isn’t raining in Birmingham as I write this and though the forecast suggests a 40 per cent chance of rain at 10am dwindling by the hour to five per cent by 3pm, our soothsayers on the scene predict a pretty full day’s play.
It is probably illogical to compare this England side with any of their predecessors, more so when you hear assistant coach Marcus Trescothick tell Test Match Special last night that “we don’t use those languages” on being asked whether it was accepted that they would be batting for a draw today, saying they preferred to talk about opportunities, there are a handful of examples of fighting rearguards since the defiance of Cardiff in 2009 when Messrs Collingwood, Broad, Swann, Anderson and Panesar kept England’s head above water at the start of the Ashes despite the shipwreck of the top order.
In Auckland in 2013 Matt Prior held the hosts at bay to end the fifth day on 315 for nine with England more than 170 behind. At Newlands in 2010 Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood batted England to the threshold of safety but it was left to Graeme Swann and Bunny Onions to see off the last 17 balls to finish on 296 for nine. And at the SCG in 2022 on that dismal, depressing Covid Ashes tour, they staved off a whitewash by virtue of Jack Leach’s 77-minute 26, Ben Stokes’ 174-minute 60, Joe Root’s 131-minute 24 and Jonny Bairstow’s 156-minute 45.
In their favour today is both sides’ ineffectiveness with an older ball. Against them is that India have outbowled and outbatted them – the terrific 303-run stand between Harry Brook and Jamie Smith apart – all game, their old nemesis SC Oreboard-Pressure (Radley and Brasenose), their own temperament and technique and the prospect of a second new ball this afternoon if this one doesn’t do the trick. The trumpeter will be giving it The Great Escape all day but I fear they will be Dickie Attenborough and Gordon Jackson rather than James Coburn and Charles Bronson.
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England vs India, 2nd Test day 5: live score and latest updates from Edgbaston – The Telegraph
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