Reserves humble the stars

More praise pours in for England's young bowling attack which had India on the verge of defeat before rain and bad light ruined England's chances of gaining a 1-0 lead in the Test series. Geoffery Boycott insists in the Daily Telegraph that Test matches like the one at Lord's prove that Test cricket is exciting. He writes that England outplayed India in batting, bowling, and fielding and that their three reserve seamers bowled out of their skins.

They bowled as if every ball was important, and got stuck into India's batsmen from the word go. Their intensity and aggression blew India's middle order away. Two of the best players in the world with the best techniques, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, were made to look ordinary.

In the same paper, Simon Hughes writes that the Lord's Test was potentially the biggest mismatch since Kenya took on West Indies in the 1996 World Cup. Four England bowlers with a combined total of only 37 Test appearances pitted against four Indian batsmen who between them had accumulated more than 30,000 Test runs. But there was no need to worry about the bowlers' welfare, Hughes assures.

Sidebottom's probing inswing, control and nous have been a revelation since he was unexpectedly called up for the second Test of the summer. The subtle way he deceived VVS Laxman, following up an inducker with a ball angled across him from wider on the crease, would have had old masters of the art of swing bowling purring with pleasure.

Also, check out Tim de Lisle's piece on why India's batting giants fell to England's greenhorns on cricinfo.com.