Will India win the 2nd Test - some history of Trentbridge, Nottinghamshire

Jelly beans are a type of confectionery that comes in many different  flavors. They are small and usually have a hard candy shell and gummy interior. The confection is primarily made of sugar.  What do they have to do with cricket ?  After losing the First test by a huge margin, Indians play England in the Second Test at Nottingham in the 4 test series. 

Zaheer is out – so also is Gambhir – Sreesanth and Yuvraj are in.  As we have BCCI, there is the ECB – England and Wales Cricket Board running the affairs, established in 1997 with its hq at Lords.  As you might have observed the England team is sponsored by Brit Insurance Limited, a UK Insurance Company.

The venue is Trent Bridge, Nottingham in  Nottinghamshire NG2 6AG  which has a chequered history.  It was established centuries ago in 1841 and has a capacity of around 15000.  It hosted Test match for the first time way back in  June 1899 and has been a regular, popular fixture of international cricket circuit.  In 1965 Graeme and Peter Pollock led South Africa a famous victory; Graeme made a century that is still considered one of the finest innings played by a South African.

This is not the first time, that in the second test of the series, Indians are faced with a deficit.  They could speak of injuries to Zaheer, Gambhir and illness of Sachin but they were battered by a disciplined English attack.  With rhythmic regularity, Indians are poor starters and play very badly in the first test of the series though they have come back pretty strongly on more than a couple of occasions.  If history were to pointer, MSD can have high hopes. Statistically, Indians have won a higher no. of their second tests on away tours and that way this Test does offer more than a glimmer of hope.   In some ways, Harbhajan also has had some poor tests only to perform well in the subsequent ones. 

Coming back to the venue,  Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. In 2009 the ground was used for the ICC World Twenty20 and hosted the semi-final between South Africa and Pakistan. The site takes its name from the nearby main bridge over the River Trent.  Nottinghamshire (Notts) is a county in the East Midlands of England, that shares borders with Yorkshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire.   The City of Nottingham was administratively part of Nottinghamshire between 1974 and 1998 but is now a unitary authority, remaining part of Nottinghamshire for ceremonial purposes.





Picturesque view of the Radcliffe end.

The test in 1899 incidentally was a 3 day match with 5 balls per over.  J Darling captained Aussies against WG Grace’s English team.  The famous KS Ranjitsinghi played for England and remained unbeaten on 93 in the second essay when England made 155/7 and the match was drawn.

The Indians have played 4 matches – have lost once and won once.  Way back in 1959, in test no. 474 Indians led by DK Gaekwad lost the test by an innings and 59 runs. 

The last time we played here in 2007, we won by 7 wickets thanks to some great bowling by Zaheer who is not playing today.  Dravid won the toss and put England in, who were bundled out for 198; India made 481 ; Tendulkar made 91;Sourav Ganguly made a fluent 79;  Dinesh karthik, Wasim Jaffer,  Laxman all made 50 + ;  Zaheer had a 9 wicket haul. Ganguly hit the only six of the match.   Sreesanth also played in that match but had a forgettable experience – shoulder charged Vaughan, bowled a beamer to Pietersen and was fined 50% of his match fee.  When Zaheer was at the creast on the third evening, there were more than a few brightly coloured jelly beans purportedly strewn by the fielding side.  He felt harassed but in the end no action was taken.  To read more of that click here.  :  jelly beans

So,  will history repeat itself and will Indians draw level in the series is earnestly hoped for !!

Regards – S. Sampathkumar.