The Anti-Draw League

CP on why England didn't have to lose

Getting out hooking one-nil up is better than getting out hooking one-nil down.

Jamie Smith, well set on 88, takes on a third short ball in a row. The previous two have sailed for six. But this one slows in the wicket and is dragged to the fielder at deep square leg. Before the ball settled in Washington Sundar’s hands, Smith had scored 318 runs without being dismissed. There were 40 overs left in the day and England only had three wickets left. Saving the game was unlikely to the point of impossible. But if anyone could

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England have lost a Test match this week they didn’t have to. Their mindset dictated they bowled first, on a surface they later conceded demanded they should have batted. Their desire to blood a new spinner means they are 18 Tests into an experiment with a player they admit is a distance away from being the finished article. They had 80 overs to bat today to save a Test match and lasted 52. And this was met with a shrug.