Indian batsman: just better?

England bowlers have been bowling well. The conditions are conducive to swing bowling, but Ryan Hairybottom and James Anderson have controlled this well.

There were patches of real aggression, variety and threat. Hairybottom frequently passed the bat, and almost had Sachin Tendulkar if Matthew Prior hadn’t realised his prattishness.

And yet, the cream of county bowling and the efforts of England’s best was not enough. The Indian batsman ground out through testing sessions, and even looked to take the attack to England.

Interestingly, two of India’s four wickets were lost due to dodgy decisions. Paul Collingwood seems to have the ability to persuade umpires to raise their finger despite a massive inside edge. Perhaps they get distracted by the glare of his red face?

The Indian batsmen are world class, and can cope with an impressive and penetrating bowling attack. It is a battle (just look at Tendulkar’s 48 in 132 balls) but is a fight that the Indians are winning. They just ride out the menace, and wait for the lose one.

This is probably because they are really, really good. And there isn’t an awful lot more we can do to winkle out another wicket. It’s as futile as using a shaggy dog to batter down a brick wall. Useless. And messy.

There is literally, nothing we can do to get out these buggers. Other than putting Colly in an Elvis outfit, obviously.