India v England, 

Test series January - March 2024

'Our Man in India' and vice chairman Geoff Wellsteed spent 2 months travelling around India following England and was witness to all 5 test matches. Here is just one report from day one in Dharamshala. For the full 5 match series report please click on the link below.
Max Books | Tales from India (max-books.co.uk) 

Dharamshala Day 1, 07 March 2024

Since the conclusion of the Ranchi Test the group have spent time relaxing and sightseeing in Delhi, Shimla and Amritsar. Despite the fact that it was chilly, wet and misty Shimla was the highlight for me. The old summer hill station town during British rule offers spectacular panoramic views and retains a lot of its colonial heritage, (but McDonald’s was a bit of a blot on the landscape!)

Just a few points before getting onto today’s play. There has been a lot of talk about England’s very inexperienced spin-bowling attack of Hartley, Rehan and Bashir (total of 10 caps including the Ranchi Test) but it is quite a different story when comparing the total number of Test caps won by each team. England 668 and India 294. And the eagle-eyed among you might have spotted that when England were dismissed at Ranchi in their second innings for 145 there were absolutely no extras in that total. I thought that was a pretty unusual occurrence but an Indian statto acquaintance of mine pointed out a much better example. As recently as February 2021 in Chennai when India were all out for 329 against England no sundries were recorded. This is the 2534th Test match and only the second ever played on this beautiful high-altitude ground. England set out to achieve their 393rd Test win and India their 178th.

Can I get you to imagine a snakes & ladders board where the cricket ground and the hotel are the first and last squares. The squares are 15 km apart and there are many more snakes than ladders, and undoubtedly more tight chicanes than straight bits. It’s a hair-raising ride especially as the car drivers insist on following the preceding vehicle by a mere six inches! (No coaches -too narrow). Once inside the ground the view from the hospitality area is quite breathtaking. The snow-capped Himalayas dominate the skyline and the spearmint green and coral roofed houses precariously hug to the steep gradients. The scene is a magical kaleidoscope of colour, landscape and, not least, the cricket.

England started well. At one stage just prior to lunch they were 100-1. By tea they were 194-8 and an eventual score of 218 was substantially below par. Again, Crawley was the pick of the England batters. The Indian trio of spinners teased the visitors into a weak submission. By the close India had reduced the arrears by 135 for the loss of Jaiswal who yet again looked a class act with a run a ball half-century including three sixes. It looks a very tough journey for England from here.