For the next five days, flannelled fools the world over will be focused on the home of cricket. Lords, where one of the two oldest cricket nations, England, will play against the modern game's greatest power house, India. The English bought the game to the sub continent in the days of Empire and how it has spread.
For added spice, it will also be the 100th game between the two and almost as a side issue, this will be the first of four games that will settle No 1 status in the long game. England, currently No 3 on the ICC world rankings, are only one point behind South Africa but within reaching distance of the India but only if they win the series well. On form and given the closeness in the quality of the teams, this looks unlikely.
Both sides are at tip top full strength, with choices available for England in their bowling between Broad and Bresnan and for the Indians among their outstanding pace attack and how to use the incredibly talented Yuraj Singh.
England have had a frustrating summer. They dismissed the dangerous Sri Lankans easily enough but rain robbed them of an even more convincing series win. Their batting looks strong, with Cook, Trott, Bell and Morgan all producing consistent scores and Pietersen batting his way back to near his best by the time Sri Lanka was seen off. Only Strauss was worried about where his next score was coming from until Somerset adopted him for a game to find form in the one tour match the Indians were playing before the first Test. His batting was more than convincing. With Bresnan fit again, they will have to chose between the work horse Yorkshireman or the still baby faced assassin, Stuart Broad. Broad offers the better batting at 8 but has a big frame which is injury prone. Jimmy Anderson may have immortality on his mind. If he claims Tendulkar four times, he will be the most successful bowler against him in Tests.
The Indians won comfortably in the Caribbean, experiencing their own frustrations with rain. Gambhir and Tendulkar return to the top six but Singh may find it hard to find a spot, as Suresh Raina has dropped anchor at the No 6 spot he once held with a good tour to the West Indies and a century against Somerset. Singh would be a handy variation with the ball, as India will take Harbhajan Singh into the match as its only real spinner. There is some suggestion that Abinav Mukund might make way at the top of the order but with James Anderson needing to be seen off, a specialist opener would surely be a safer bet. With the seam up, there is a real choice among riches where the Indians must choose between Sreesanth and Praveen Kumar as the third pace man behind Caribbean Man of the Series Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan. Praveen is the man with current form and looks the more likely.
The Lords pitch is a typical batting beauty and with two batting line ups which are bristling with confidence, a result looks difficult to bet on. Both sides bristle from one to eleven. Swann may statistically be the best spinner in the world but his wily, tall opposite number Harbhajan is just as good. He may not rip the ball as Swann can but he uses drift and bounce to far better effect. Whichever takes the more wickets in the series will probably dictate whose side wins.
Both captains are smart operators and sharp to latch onto mistakes. Both have given the appearance of wanting to include gambles in their work of late and both are masters of the mind game whilst looking from the outside to be cool, smooth characters.
This is a very even contest ...
His longevity is one thing (most Tests, most innings) but his sustained quality is at another level entirely. Pakistan and South Africa have kept him to 42 an innings and New Zealand a touch under fifty but the rest are blowouts in a career average of 56.95. This guy has played everywhere, scored runs while he was there, been loved by his team mates and his opponents and is still fit and happy and scoring heavily at thirty seven years of age.
No bowler has dominated him and in 290 Test innings, no single bowler has taken his wicket ten times or more. Warne, the best bowler of his generation, never bested him, only got him three times and despite playing during the entire careers of the likes of McGrath, Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock none got him ten times. Muralitharan, the most prolific wicket taker the game has known, was the most successful with eight scalps in eight Tests.
Shout Bradman from the rooftops if you must, but whilst you do, this guy is up on Everest.
Like the man he is most compared to, Tendulkar has a wonderful sense for the occasion ...
.... he has 99 international hundreds ...
... and he's never scored a hundred at Lords ...
Well written Lango. I will tip he still will not get that ton at Lords, caught behind the wicket from a nasty late one from Anderson who has developed into the best late swinger to slips since Sir Richard of Hadley who in his last few seasons was a treat to watch.
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