Are there any positives for England?

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If you have been living in a hole (sleeping) for the last few days, or just given up on England in ODI cricket, you may have missed that they are out of the World Cup after a fourth defeat in five group stage matches. Eoin Morgan's side slumped to defeat to Bangladesh for the second World Cup in a row and now many questions will be asked. There are not any good signs, surely?

The English, not just in cricket but in sport in general, love to talk about the positives after a heavy defeat. Peter Moores' team have had plenty of crushing losses in the last few months in One Day Internationals to stew over and that dreadful form did not only continue, but worsen at the World Cup.

England's latest self-destruction confirms fall from grace

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England's lower order inevitably folded amidst a flurry of feeble shots parallel to those played by their more heralded team-mates yesterday. The biggest worry for Andy Flower, Alastair Cook and the beleaguered batting line-up is that they can't put together an acceptable innings on pitches flatter than the Dutch landscape, and against an Australian side who hadn't won a Test in nine before this series.

The shot that Cook played yesterday morning set the tone for a disappointing effort at batting for two days, but it was the way they subsided to a successive first innings collapse that will worry Englishmen the most. 

Why England can still retain the Ashes despite their deficiencies

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England took a battering from a bunch of fired up Australians over the weekend and have a mountain to climb if they are to regroup and retain the Ashes, especially after the loss of top order mainstay Jonathan Trott. Harsh words were sent in England's direction from both on and off the pitch and it could be these that spur Alastair Cook's men back into action. 

Anyone who thinks that England are going to be thrashed in this series are deluded, but it is certain that they are going to have to work hard to keep hold of the precious urn.

England rock Trott will be sorely missed

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For decades England trialled multiple top order batsmen for the vacant number three role, from county run machines (e.g Mark Ramprakash and Graeme Hick) to young prodigies (e.g Rob Key and John Crawley), but all failed to meet the demands of being the first man in after the new ball in Test match cricket. 

But then came the answer to the woe; the latest world-class South African-born batter Jonathan Trott. For the four years since his Ashes-winning hundred at the Oval in 2009 he has been the glue that has given the England team their greatest level of stability in many a year.

Clarke and Australia send out brash message to England

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The baggy green of Australia is bouncing with a level of unbridled joy that even the most ardent West Brom fan could not dream of. Without a Test win since January and having been outplayed in the last three Ashes series they looked desperate when they so confidently talked up their chances before walking out at the Gabba last week. But that's the way they are and there was nothing fraught about the way Mitchell Johnson and David Warner got stuck into the more passive 'Poms'.

After the first day Stuart Broad called England 'silent assassins', but come the early hours of Sunday morning they had been reduced to nothing more than unsuccessful shoplifters with Michael Clarke's men attacking without respite, relentlessly exposing their top order's flaws on a pitch devoid of demons.

Broad criticism helps Dar and Clarke avoid inquisitions

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The Ashes is back. People all over the country are forgetting to check football transfer news or read the latest article about Andy Murray because of the wicket-tumbling, tail-end wagging and controversial scenes in Nottingham.

One thing is for certain; even the most patriotic Englishman should not assume that victory is in the bag despite Ian Bell's heroics taking his team's lead over 300. This match has been unpredictable from the off and the Aussies have quelled the naive doubts of supporters and pundits alike - they are very much up for the fight.

England should take plenty of positives from tricky New Zealand series

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Colin Cowdrey, Michael Atherton, Ricky Ponting, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Paul Collingwood. Add Matt Prior to the list of batsmen who have all stood in the face of extreme adversity to see their teams to unlikely draws. Today was a day that saw England muster all the fight and desire in the world to hang on against a determined New Zealand side. 

While Prior's innings was magnificent, Ian Bell set the tone with a near six-hour vigil reminiscent of Collingwood at Cardiff in 2009. 

Today was an excellent day for England as very few thought, at 90-4 and with an inexperienced middle order, that they stood much of a chance of saving the series. 

What resulted was a day of thrilling Test match action that made many watching at home wish that they were filling up an empty-looking Eden Park.

James Anderson: From yips to swing king

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"Oh Jimmy Jimmy, Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Anderson!"

Hailed as a wonder-kid in the 2003 World Cup, James Anderson then fell into the international wilderness in 2005 as people said he had lost it, but now the Barmy Army are rightly blowing his trumpet again.

Just five wickets short of adding to an illustrious list of names that have taken 300 Test wickets for England, the burly Lancastrian has transformed himself from a wild, but exciting young prospect, to one of the best exponents of swing bowling in the world. 

Tragic train death exposes flaw in cricket’s drug-testing system

Drugs in sport have been a problem for decades. From Ben Johnson to Lance Armstrong everyone knows of at least one performance-enhancing story that has shocked the world and many of sport’s governing bodies have addressed this predicament, for example the Football Association now runs over 1,000 tests a year. 

Events over the past few days have suggested that cricket, one of Britain’s oldest sports, is not quite up with the times. Even though drug tests are carried out during the season to ensure that stimulants are not taken, it is almost as if cricket players are just expected to conduct themselves in a ‘gentlemanly’ manner during the winter.

Changing masculinities in sport

Masculinity has, and always will be, one of the most important features of men’s sport. Since sport started to become regulated in the nineteenth century it has mainly been fought out by men trying to secure dominance over others.  

Hegemonic traits are often “homophobic, misogynistic, and aggressive” (M.McCormack 2011) and these characteristics have always been present in sport. The most popular sports have always featured men going head to head, whether including contact or not. However, there are signs that this way of thinking is changing as media coverage and the public’s perception of sport develops.

‘Soft’ masculinities are becoming more prominent in the world of modern day sport. Metro-sexuality is a word that not many people would even have heard of in the 1980s, but now there are many top-level sportsmen that would be described as ‘metro-sexual’.

(Mark Simpson 1994) wrote that the “metro-sexual man, the single young man with a high disposable income, living or working in the city (because that’s where all the best shops are), is perhaps the most promising consumer market of the decade. In the Eighties he was only to be found inside fashion magazines such as GQ, in television advertisements for Levi's jeans or in gay bars. In the Nineties, he’s everywhere and he’s going shopping.” Examples of this type of masculinity are commonly found across the world of sport. England footballer David Beckham became the poster-boy of football in the early twenty-first century and since then others have followed his example, for example Welsh rugby union player Gavin Henson.

The twentieth century was an age when strength, power and dominance were promoted as important qualities of a man. The 1980s was a decade when homosexuality was frowned upon, as many people blamed gay men for the out-break of AIDs. These feelings were prominent in the world of sport, especially in association football, and the problem of hooliganism grew in the UK as a result of men trying to prove their masculinity and hetero-sexuality. 

The 1985 Heysel disaster that resulted in the banning of British football clubs from European competition was a prime example of this growing predicament, as Liverpool supporters caused trouble at the European Cup final. Although hooliganism was clearly a big problem, the press often jumped to blame events, and sometimes tragedies, on football fans. The Sun produced one of the most controversial front pages in 1989 when they published an article blaming Liverpool supporters for the Hillsborough disaster under the headline ‘The truth’. 

It was not until this year that The Sun apologised for the article when editor Dominic Mohan said: ''It's a version of events that 23 years ago The Sun went along with and for that we're deeply ashamed and profoundly sorry.” This was a prime example of society and the media accusing masculinity in sport for causing unruly behaviour, even though this type of conduct was often indirectly endorsed at the time.

Despite the media often condemning hooliganism, manliness has been encouraged by the press for many years. Sports journalism has been mainly based on men’s sport since the 19^th century and people do not only see male contest when they watch sport, but they also view media coverage that is dominated by men. These “gendered institutions” (Creedon 1998) exist on television, radio and print every time sport is covered, for example on Sky Sports and the BBC almost every presenter and commentator is a man, and even though there are more women in the roles during female sport matches/competitions, coverage is still usually controlled by men.

However there are signs that the media’s perception and promotion of masculinity is changing. In an age when physical prowess is becoming less important, more non-aggressive people are finding it unproblematic to fit into the world of sport. “Male advantages erode when society is pacified” (Elias + Dunning 1986) and the modern Western world has definitely pacified in the past twenty years. 

An example of this was the public’s views towards homosexuality in sport. In 1990 professional footballer Justin Fashanu agreed in an exclusive interview with The Sun to come out as gay and was widely ridiculed, both by the public and his peers. In stark contrast, in 2009 Welshman Gareth Thomas came out to the press to become the first openly gay professional rugby union player and mainly received only praise. This made a big impact as Thomas was seen to be very masculine; after all he won 100 international caps for Wales. The press were much more supportive and as a result other sportsmen followed his suit within the next year, one of them England international cricketer Steven Davies. This shows how many people have come to accept that not all men are ‘manly’ and that feminine men are not necessarily “sissies” or masculine girls “tomboys” (Connell 1983).

The promotion of sports such as tennis, cycling, swimming and running has seen a decrease in the need for masculinity. More people feel able to get involved in non-contact, individual sports that do not focus on physicality or fighting skills. Even though the media’s and the public’s perception of sport is still male dominated, there are signs that this is changing and the recognised boundaries of ‘masculinity’ have broadened.

For example (Donaldson 1993) makes the point that, despite common beliefs, homosexuality and physical sporting masculinity fit in with one another: “It is not ‘gayness’ that is attractive to homosexual men, but ‘maleness’. A man is lusted after not because he is homosexual but because he's a man.”

Social life is still organised in a certain way; men are usually the ones seen to be more physical and women more restrained. On the whole people still have some sort of gender ideology ingrained in their brains, mainly because of society and the way that the social order dictates thinking. “Most people take it [gender ideology] as a given, it is deeply rooted in their psyches and the way they live their lives” (Coakley 2009). 

As a result sport is still mainly built around masculinity, despite the modern changes. For instance boxing is a sport where men use their fighting skills and physical prowess to earn honour in society, which is exactly what hegemony is. Many boxers also take these characteristics out of the ring into society, Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather’s prison sentences are prime examples of this. Even though women’s boxing is now a part of the Olympic Games (in 2012 Briton Nicola Adams became the first-ever woman to win Olympic boxing gold), sports like boxing and wrestling clearly still promote hegemony. 

Traditional masculine traits are “avoidance of femininity; restricted emotions; sex disconnected from intimacy; pursuit of achievement and status; self-reliance; strength and aggression; and homophobia"(Levant 1995). It could be seen that these characteristics are engrained in a male’s way of thinking early on in their lives and if they do not conform, then they can be cast aside. Many young men still grow up believing that strong men are heroes and weak men become omitted by society, and as a result they relate this to the way they live their lives.

Since the nineteenth century sport has been affected by the view that males should show physicality and controlled aggression. Despite these early ideas, there are signs that society’s view towards masculinity in sport is changing. 

Many sports retain focus on domination and power, although there are now people that go against the norm. Social beliefs and the boundaries surrounding masculinity have altered and the current sporting climate is witnessing a change to the definition of ‘masculinity’. The ‘softer masculinities’  have appeared through men like Beckham, Henson, Fashanu and Thomas as people have become gradually less influenced by gender ideology.

McCormack, M. (2011). Hierarchy without hegemony: Locating boys in an inclusive school setting. http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/attachments/92609/hierarchy-without-hegemony.pdf.

Simpson, M. (15/11/1994). The Independent newspaper.

Creedon, P J. (1998). Women, Sport, and Media Institutions. Chapter 6: Issues in Sports Journalism and Marketing.

Elias, N + Dunning, E. (1986). The Quest for Excitement: Sport and Leisure in the Civilising Process. Blackwell.

Connell, R W. (1983). Which Way is Up? Essays on Sex, Class and Culture. Sydney, Allen & Unwin.

Donaldson, M. (1993). What is Hegemonic Masculinity? Springer.

Coakley, J. (2009). Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies. McGraw-Hill.

Levant, Ronald F. Dr (1995). Masculinity Reconstructed: changing the rules of manhood: at work, in relationships and in family life. New York: Dutton.

England's spinning failures cost them opening Test

Five days ago England went into the first Test match against India full of hope that they had left their problems with spin in the UAE last winter. Those hopes were crushed by a ruthless Indian side who cruised to a nine-wicket victory.

On a dry surface in Ahmedabad England's top order were skittled out as England fell to 97-7, just hours after the hosts had amassed 521-8 declared. Numbers two to seven (excluding night-watchman James Anderson) scored only 36 runs between them with Kevin Pietersen's desperate 17 the best. 

The second innings was not much better, as apart from Nick Compton's 37, the highest score between those same five players was Ian Bell's 22. 

                                                                                                   Test averages:   In UAE and India 2012    Overall

Jonathan Trott:                 22.25                      48.96

Kevin Pietersen:               10.75                      48.93

Ian Bell:                    9.13                      46.24

 Eoin Morgan:                  13.66                      30.43

         Matt Prior:                  48.17                      43.33

Alastair Cook:                 47.00                      48.71

As you can see by the table above, the majority of England's current batsmen have found life much harder on the sub-continent than they do in other places across the world. 

It is hard to pin-point why, although it could be due to a lack of quality spinners/spinning pitches in county cricket. Although this is the case in some circumstances bowlers like Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar have proven that spin-bowling is a big part of the English game. 

The Indian spinners, and the Pakistani attack last year, appear to have got themselves into the English batsmen's heads. (Just look at Ian Bell's shot in the first innings of this match for an example.) With the exceptions of Cook and Prior England's top order looked unsure of what tempo to play, especially Bell and Pietersen.

A big problem for the tourists is that they do not have any great players of spin for the others to learn from. Prior is probably the best player of the turning ball while Pietersen and Cook are both capable of scoring big runs, although that is more down to their natural batting talents rather than a specific ability against the slower bowlers. 

Cook showed great defiance, while Prior applied himself well in both innings. Pietersen played horrific shots  to get out in two uncertain spells at the crease, while Bell looked close to clueless. 

With Bell going home to attend the birth of his baby England will need to find a replacement, and that person may just be Jonny Bairstow; the young man who scored two fifties in the final Test against world number one side South Africa in the summer. 

His youthful exuberance and raw talent may be exactly what England need to bring a breath of fresh air into the batting line-up, as well as make the other batsmen feel under a bit more pressure for their places. 

England's other spinning mistake in this match was the failure to pick a second specialist spinner, which probably would have been Monty Panesar. 

The turban-wearing left-armer played very well in the Test matches last winter and also looked good in the games leading up to this series. England clearly did not need three seamers on such a slow, low surface, one on which Panesar could have thrived.

Swann bowled well and was the only bright spot of an England bowling attack that faltered in the Indian heat. Samit Patel proved that he is far from good enough to play as a second spinner with match figures of 1-120 in 36 overs, while Tim Bresnan and Stuart Broad were distinctly innocuous in their combined 43 wicket-less overs. 

Andy Flower's men must bounce back in Mumbai where a loss would all but seal consecutive series defeats. 

In order to do so the top order must apply themselves better against the likes of Ashwin and Ojha, while Panesar and Swann have to prove that England have their own destructive twin spin attack. 

India v England 1st Test day five as it happened

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India win by nine wickets

That is all from me, a disappointing end to a disappointing match for England, but well played to the Indians who fully deserved their comprehensive victory.

Some poor shots earlier in the day were the main reason why today was such a short-lived one for England. All is not lost as they have three more matches to prove their worth, but there will need to be some changes before the next match, both in the line-up and their mentality.

Samit Patel will be sweating on his place for the next match. He scored a total of 10 runs in two innings and finished with match bowling figures of 1-120 in 36 overs. Ouch.

Another very poor day from England, but in all truth it was the performances of their top order bar Cook that lost them this game, as well as the failure to play Monty Panesar on a pitch that offered nothing for the seamers.

0724: 80-1
After a couple of dot balls Kohli hits Swann down the ground for four and it is all over in Ahmedabad. Kohli (14) and Pujara (41) the not out men.

0722: 76-1 (1 to win)
Anderson almost pulls off a great catch at short extra cover but Kohli then plays a magnificent straight drive for four. He then collects a single to leave India needing just one and then changes his bat! Surely the last couple of balls up next...

0720: 71-1 (6 to win)
Pujara keeps his hopes of a 50 alive with a four through mid-wicket off the first ball of the over. India just one blow away from victory now...

0717: 67-1 (10 to win)
Pujara picks up a single as England just about continue to hang on.

0714: 66-1 (11 to win)
England prolong the agony as Swann bowls the first maiden over of the innings, but with Patel up next we could be about to see the last over of the match...

0712: 66-1 (11 to win)
Virat Kohli is the new man and he creams Patel through the covers for four from just his second ball before picking up a single.

0710: 61-1 (16 to win)
Pujara is on strike for the last ball of the over as the batsmen crossed and he helps himself to yet another four, his seventh.

WICKET: Sehwag c Pietersen b Swann 25
Pujara lets Sehwag have a go as he turns Swann away for a single into the leg-side. He gets a two to move onto 25. He tries to hit Swann for six but it goes miles into the Indian sky and Kevin Pietersen settles himself underneath it and takes a good catch, staying narrowly inside the boundary rope.

0704: 54-0 (23 to win)
Patel rolls them in with no real threat and Pujara gets a single off the last ball. He could get a fifty if he can keep the strike.

0701: 53-0 (24 to win)
Sehwag brings up the 50 partnership from just 44 balls before captain Cook takes a smack on the foot and they run a single. Sehwag gets two more as India continue to cruise to their tiny target.

0658: 49-0 (28 to win)
Much better over that time from Patel as Pujara comfortably sees off the over.

0655: 48-0 (29 to win)
The openers trade singles once again before Sehwag gives Pujara the strike and he is loving this. A bit of a half-volley that from Swann and the 23-year-old hits it past mid-off for four more before he gets another single to keep the strike.

0652: 39-0 (38 to win)
Sehwag will be licking his lips as Patel makes it a twin-spin effort for England. Those lips will be dry soon because the left-armer has just served up the juiciest full-toss you're ever likely to see, even I don't bowl them. Sehwag duly dispatches it into the stands. The opener then takes an easy single as he continues to rotate the strike. The only Englishman enjoying this is Monty Panesar as Patel produces a shocking drag-down and Pujara smashes it to the fence. This run chase might not even last 10 overs at this rate...

0648: 28-0 (49 to win)
Swann continues, England need something extra special from him but Sehwag smashes him through the covers for four and then picks up a single. Pujara continues the fun as he advances at the spinner and hits him for yet another boundary through extra cover. India want this one over in a hurry...

0645: 19-0 (58 to win)
Sehwag cuts for one before Pujara creams Anerson through extra cover for four. He looks like some player this lad...

0641: 14-0 (63 to win)
Sehwag tries to flay Swann through the covers and gets a thick inside edge up to long-on for a single. Pujara then whips the ball airily through mid-wicket for four. The youngster then picks up four more before surviving  an LBW appeal and India are now only 67 runs away...

0637: 5-0 (73 to win)
The players are back out and James Anderson will take the new ball. Sehwag and Pujara trade singles and India are off to a good start. Surely Swann will share the new ball...

So, it is lunch here but the Indian batsmen won't be sweating over their curries. A great session for them and England folded rather pitifully in that session I'm afraid. I'll be back for the run-chase, but it all looks a formality now.

0555: WICKET! Bresnan c sub (Rahane) b Khan. England all-out 406.
Bresnan smashes the ball into the leg-side but doesn't quite time it... caught at cover by the substitute fielder Rahane and India just need 77 to win. It is basically game over but we'll have lunch first.

0551: 406-9 (Lead by 76)
The last man is James Anderson and England are desperate for a Test-best from him now. That current stat stands at 34 for the number 11, even that probably wouldn't be enough. He blocks the first ball easily enough though and it is now 406-9.

0548: WICKET! Swann bowled Ashwin 17
Swann plays a very cheeky reverse-sweep and it trickles away fine for four! Nicely-played that by the England number 10. He then comes down the pitch but his powerfully-hit drive is well stopped by Tendulkar at mid-off. It is one too many though from Swann, he tries to hit a reverse slog-sweep this time and loses his middle stump. Not sure the England dressing room will be too impressed by that shot so close to the lunch break, that partnership was just starting to become of an annoyance to India.

0545: 402-8 (Lead by 72)
Zaheer probes away but Bresnan shows good patience and sees out a maiden over.

0540: 402-8 (Lead by 72)
Dhoni gives Ravichandran Ashwin a bowl as Ojha leaves the attack for the first time today Bresnan pushes a single to deep cover to take England past 400. Even though they probably will go on to lose this game, at least they shown that they can bat on Indian wickets. Swann gets two before surviving a couple of close shaves.

0537: 399-8 (Lead by 69)
Zaheer Khan is back into the attack to start his 26th over of the innings and Swann leaves alone this time out-side the off-stump. The Indian seamer sends down a very kind full-toss on the pads and Swann duly clips it away to the deep-backward square leg boundary for four. I expect the England spinner will be hoping to get some runs here and give himself something to bowl at...

0533: 395-8 (Lead by 65)
Swann looks solid in defence before his misjudges the length of the ball and tries to hoik Ojha out the park and is nearly bowled off his pad. He has connected with that one though! Big slog sweep sails out into the stand for six and Swann then knocks the ball into the leg-side for a single. He always does play his shots...

0530: 388-8 (Lead by 58)
Yadav fires one way down leg and Dhoni can't get across to stop it. The resulting four byes take England's lead to 58.

0526: 384-8 (Lead by 54)
Bresnan picks up a single to take him to 19 before Swann almost gets stuck in no-man's land before jamming his bat down on the ball.

0523: 383-8 (Lead by 53) 
Bresnan survives a huge appeal for LBW by Yadav and he was lucky there, that looked to be crashing into middle. He gets a single and England continue to just about hang on by the skin of their teeth.

0518: 381-8 (Lead by 51)
Bresnan is looking in nice shape here and he times the ball nicely through mid-wicket and they run three to take the lead over 50.

0514: 378-8 (Lead by 48)
New man Graeme Swann sees out the rest of the over. England effectively now 48-8 and it is all but game over now in Ahmedabad.

WICKET! Broad c and b Yadav 3: 
Broad starts the over with a two to third man before Yadav bamboomzles him with one that flies past the edge, but Dhoni lets it through his legs and away for four byes. But next ball Broad gets a leading edge and it is the simplest return chance for the bowler. The end is nigh now for England...

0508: 372-7 (Lead by 42)

Broad gets off the mark with a single into the off-side as England gradually increase their lead.

0504: 371-7 (Lead by 41)
Yadav into the attack now and he is pushed through the gap at cover by Bresnan for a couple as he moves into double figures. The all-rounder then flicks one off his thigh-pad fine to the boundary for four. With runs crucial now these two might start to play a bit more positively.

0500: 365-7 (Lead by 35)
Stuart Broad is in and India have two new men at the crease now. It will take something special from England's tail to get England out of this predicament and Broad and Bresnan will have to do it. He survives an optimistic appeal for a bat-pad and it is 365-7.

WICKET! Cook bowled Ojha 176: Cook's vigil is over, as are England's chances. Ojha gets one to turn back into the left-hander and keep low a little, bowling the opening batsman. He could have got further forward there and it is the end of one of the greatest innings ever by an England skipper.

0454: 365-6 (Lead by 35)
Bresnan is getting a long way across his stumps to Zaheer, and he gets another two through mid-wicket. The Indian left-armer goes over the wicket and almost breaches the right-hander's defences. Almost, but not quite.

0448: 363-6 (Lead by 33)
Ojha drops a bit short and the stocky Yorkshireman Bresnan steers him away for a couple before taking a quick single. He is no mug with the bat, he has three first-class centuries at an average of 27.96, England could do with some runs from him today.

0445: 360-6 (Lead by 30)
India looking to target Bresnan with the slip cordon filled, but he plays his first ball from Khan with soft hands, also to third man for a single. England's captain fantastic steers a run of his own to third man, he now has 176 - the highest ever score by an England batsman while following on in a Test match. Bresnan adds another single, into the leg-side this time and the lead is 30.

0441: 357-6 (Lead by 27)
Tim Bresnan is the new man and he has a big job to do now if England are to get anything from this Test. He gets off the mark by guiding his first ball from Ojha to short third man for a single and his team now lead by 27.

WICKET: Prior c and b Ojha 91: Prior goes! His stoic resistance is ended when the ball appears to just stick in the pitch and he mis-times a back-foot drive which results in a tame return catch for Ojha. You don't drop those. Massive wicket, England in deeper trouble now, effectively 26-6...

0434: 356-5 (Lead by 26)
Cook doesn't look sure whether to leave or defend and it results with the ball passing the bat perilously close to the off-stump. Some poor glove-work from Dhoni gifts England two byes before Zaheer drifts onto the pads of Cook who guides it away down to the vacant fine-leg position for four.

0430: 350-5 (Lead by 20)
Cook picks up another single before Prior shows Ojha the full face of his bat for the rest of the over.

0426: 349-5 (Lead by 19)
Zaheer continues to be unerringly accurate and Cook brings up the 150 partnership with a clip into the leg-side. They're doing well here the tourists.

0423: 348-5 (Lead by 18)
Ojha whistles through another maiden thanks to some good work at mid-off by Sachin Tendulkar, much to the delight of the crowd.

0420: 348-5 (Lead by 18)
Good running by the pair earn Cook his first run of the day before Prior gets one of his own. The last ball strikers Cook on the pads, but is clearly slipping down the leg-side.

0415: Ojha continues with his left-arm spin and sends one past Prior's defensive lunge in an otherwise uneventful maiden over.

0413: Prior faces Khan for the first time and he gets it just where he likes it; it is wide outside off stump and the wicket keeper-batsman flays it away for four. Zaheer comes back well and pushes one across the Englishman and past his out-side edge. Prior ends the over with a single to move into the nervous nineties...

0408: Ojha gets the nod to take the second over and his first few balls are blocked by Prior before he nurdles a single to take England to an effective score of 11-5.

0404: Zaheer Khan will start us off and he runs in with purpose and sends down a beauty past Cook's outside edge to get English nerves jangling. Not that the Barmy Army know it, as they blast out 'Jerusalem' with some gusto while Cook plays out a maiden over.

0356: Welcome to the fifth day of an intriguing first Test between India and England at Ahmedabad. England fought back excellently yesterday, but are still precariously placed on 340-5, a lead of just 10 after being forced to follow-on 330 runs behind India. Captain Cook stands tall unbeaten on 168 with Matt Prior his able accomplice on 84.