Second ODI - India versus England, Bristol

India take the long route to victory. India 329/7 England 320/8

With the English scorecard reading 239/7, India decided that it was time for a siesta. How else can one explain England clawing back from 239 to 320/8 at the end of the game?

Agreed that the Pom lower order was expected to throw their bats around, but this is ridiculous.

Then again, 2 Indian batsmen were Goulded. And we dropped 4 catches early on. And England were on a tear, reaching 75/0 in 10 overs.

And yet we won.

India did the hard yards and while Mascarenhas and Broad added some artificial excitement to the game by tonking the ball around, India held its nerve when it mattered.

The batsmen came to the party, the bowlers were steady, the fielding was all over the place and Ajit Agarkar was on a one man mission to ensure an English win. But when the crunch came, India's nerve held. And England cracked.

All of which points to a good, hard fought series over the remaining 5 matches.

Bloody ridiculous

Just what were the Mumbai selectors smoking when the decided to drop Nilesh Kulkarni from the Mumbai squad scheduled to take on Karachi?

Per Cricinfo,

He has not even signed up with the Indian Cricket League (ICL), but Nilesh Kulkarni is already feeling the strain. Mumbai's selectors named their team to take on Karachi in a four-day match for the Nissar Trophy on Saturday and Kulkarni figured in the squad. With speculation rife that he was set to join the ICL Mumbai Cricket Association officials got in touch with Kulkarni to check what the exact situation was.

When they learned that Kulkarni, who is currently playing league cricket in England, had indeed been offered a contract by ICL, and was dilly-dallying over whether to sign or not, and reportedly asked for a few days time before he made up his mind, Mumbai's selectors made theirs up. They dropped Kulkarni for the Nissar Trophy match, replacing him with Mundeep Mungela, the medium-pacer.

"We wanted to send a strong message to Nilesh," a senior MCA official close to the selection committee, comprising Dilip Vengsarkar, Abey Kuruvilla, Milind Rege and Kiran Mokashi, told Cricinfo. "He wanted a few days' time but we decided to take our own decision."

Huh?

Nilesh Kulkarni has soldiered on for Mumbai with distinction for over 13 seasons now. He also has the distinction of captaining Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy. And this is not the first time that Nilesh Kulkarni has been treated shabbily either.

So what message are the selectors trying to send exactly?

Are Mumbai captains, past and present, to be treated like dirt once their perceived utility is over?

Or are they to be tossed around to placate the real or imagined embarrassments of Sharad Pawar MP ( Baramati, Pune District)?

If this is the message sent, are Dilip Vengsarkar and Milind Rege, ex captains both, listening?

And do the Mumbai selectors honestly think that Iqbal Abdulla is ready to don the mantle of lead spinner?

First ODI - India versus England, The Rose Bowl.

England comprehensive winners in the end - 288/2 to India's 184 all out.

We were outplayed. England was the hungrier team, their batting was exceptional and their bowling more honest.

And India was not even in the contest once we lost the early wicket of Saurav Ganguly.

34/4 is too deep a hole to come out of, though India tried gamely.

But the thing that most impressed was Paul Collingwood's captaincy - Brilliant vision, very hands on, wonderful field settings. There was not a thing that he did wrong today.

And that does not mean Rahul Dravid was bad. There was not much he or India could have done on a day when England was on fire.

So more power to the Poms for their effort.The thing to note at the end of this game is - can England sustain this kind of inspired performance over 7 ODIs?

Outrage.

In the aftermath of the Sreesanth beamer to Kevin Pieterson, English newspapers and sports columnists were besides themselves with rage over the incident.

Beamers must be punished with ban - By Mike Atherton, Sunday Telegraph

Beamer-bowling Sreesanth handed fine for barging - By Jon Culley at Trent Bridge

A deliberate beamer is just throwing a punch by proxy - Mike Selvey

Pietersen shaken by beamer

It was, therefore, with some interest that I perused the English newspapers following the incident (listed below) during the Friends Provident Trophy finals between Durham and Hampshire

48.3	Tremlett to Gibson, SIX, short, straight and crashed into the crowd behind midwicket - what a shot
48.4	Tremlett to Gibson, FOUR, now he goes through the off-side - such power, great cover drive, down on one knee
48.5	Tremlett to Gibson, 2 no balls, no-ball immediately signalled as a Sreesanth-like beamer has Gibson ducking and falling back
48.5	Tremlett to Gibson, 2 runs, that's big again, but in height rather than distance - Gibson launching a top edge that nearly makes the rope and plugs in the ground near Pietersen
48.6	Tremlett to Gibson, 1 run, cuts into the ground

Of the contentious moments, none was quite as unappetising as the beamer Chris Tremlett bowled at Gibson. No doubt it was accidental, but since Gibson had hit the previous two balls for six and four, suspicion could not be immediately allayed. - Stephan Brinkley in the Independent

Ottis Gibson warmed up for his opening burst by ducking a beamer from Chris Tremlett then smacking the ball as Barbadians used to do - Scyld Berry in the Sunday Telegraph

This included a horrible beamer at Gibson after Tremlett had been struck for a massive six from the previous delivery. We assumed this to be accidental rather more swiftly than when Sreesanth delivered his beamer during the Trent Bridge Test. - Vic Marks in the Guardian

For Hampshire, Pietersen was out for 12 to continue to modest record in one-dayers at Lord’s, while Chris Tremlett bowled nine overs for 60, in the last of which he served Gibson with that darkest of deliveries, a beamer, straight after being hit for six and four. - Simon Wilde in the Times

GIBSON RELIEVED TO MISS BEAMER

Umpire referral rules confuse Phil Mustard - By Michael Atherton, Sunday Telegraph
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And just so you know, Chris Tremlett is a member of the England One Day squad for the first 4 matches against India.