Old ghosts stirred as England face harsh reality

Maybe it is because England have not been subjected to the series loss they are now staring squarely in the face that it is hard to remember two consecutive Test matches in which they have slipped out of contention so quickly. Even as they crashed and burned across Australia last winter, it was only at Brisbane where they were dominated from the get-go and in each of the other matches there were brief periods where they might have seized control. And as much as India endeavoured today to pull of their usual trick of messing up good opportunities for rare away vicotries, such was the advantage on first innings that even a day in which they were totally outdone did not bring England back into realistic sight of winning the game.

The match as a whole has provided an engaging mix of old and new: bearing in mind the unbeaten run set to be capped at six years, this Test has had a fair resemblence to its 2001 predecessor, where Australia racked up over 600 first up to take control of the game. The common denominator of both games has been the flat, late-summer Oval track, a positive font of runs when allied with such a lightning outfield. Yet for a period in the late morning, Chris Tremlett and James Anderson bowled well enough to coax out the ghost of mid-1990s Oval pitches on which England secured soothing vicotries against Australia in '93 and ''97 and Devon Malcolm bombed out nine South Africans in an innings in 1994.

Just as there had been six years ago, there was a major departure from the Oval stage. In 2001, it was the turn of Mike Atherton, leaving the Test arena for good, departing in the manner to which he had become accustomed, c.Warne b.McGrath, with just a wave of the bat to bid farewell to the crowds whose hopes he had often born alone. Although no less important to his country, Atherton was not on the same level internatioanlly as Tendulkar, who also has more innings to play, if not on English soil. But the mode of dismissal, stumps splattered, was definitely something which has crept into reality for the new Tendulkar, whereas of old he would not have countenanced it. Vulnerable at 11-3, India were grateful for two of the old guard to return to the styles of play which were serving both well when they made their debuts in the same match at Lord's eleven years ago. Dravid, who has since blossomed into Test cricket's foremost accumulator, with an increasing array of strokes, shrunk back into the defensive shell which his game grew out of, realising that batting time was as essential to his team as scoring runs. His predecessor as captain, Sourav Ganguly, also returned to his core strength, comprising the masterful use of timing and placement to thwart even the best packed gully and point areas and pepper the off-side boundary behind square. By the time he fell to Collingwood, India were safe once again, and a cameo from Dhoni, alongside a silky innings of 42 from VVS Laxman, another one rolling back the years, allowed Dravid the indulgence of declaring on one of the nice round numbers so beloved of cricket captains. Tremlett and Anderson bowled their hearts out in the absence of Sidebottom, laid low by a side strain (what else?). But while they enjoyed some rare response from the placid surface, Monty Panesar must now be dreading every ball he bowls at The Oval, as well as wondering how a decade ago there was a pitch on which an English left-arm spinner managed to take a ten wicket haul in a Test Match.

Despite unhindered progress from the English opening pair, registering what is for them a rare 50 partnership, even the amazing recent history of this ground does not allow for a possibility as outlandish as a successful chase of 500 on the last day. The more you try and work out the permutations, and hypothetical situations, the more ridiculous the thought seems. Realistically the only possibility left open to England is the draw, and realistically they ought to achieve it. Granted, Kumble will be a handful on a fifth day pitch, but the said surface is still excellent, and it is time the English batsmen showed the necessary fight and gumption to save a Test match, something they have proved themselves inept at in the recent past. The series is lost, but there is a world of difference between a meek surrender and 2-0 defeat and a fighting draw here, salvaging pride, as well as the knowledge that, but for the weather at Lord's, they would still have a record to boast about.