LONDON, August 21, 2011 (AFP) – England finally saw off Rahul Dravid as they closed in on a 4-0 series rout of India at The Oval here on Sunday.

Dravid batted for more than seven hours in the fourth Test before England finally found a way to break ‘The Wall’.

But India, following-on, were 129 for three at the close of the fourth day, still 162 runs behind England’s first innings 591 for six declared built upon Ian Bell’s Test-best 235 and Kevin Pietersen’s 175.

Sachin Tendulkar, bidding for an unprecedented 100th international century, was 35 not out and nightwatchman Amit Mishra eight not out.

England though needed just seven more wickets on Monday’s final day to complete a 4-0 clean sweep for the first time since a home whitewash of the West Indies in 2004.

India resumed Sunday in the desperate position of 103 for five.

Dravid was 57 not out and India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni five not out.

But Dhoni, who never looked settled, was out for 17 when he pushed tentatively at a James Anderson outswinger and was caught behind.

Dravid, responsible for all three India centuries this series, sped through the 90s with three fours in four balls from off-spinner Graeme Swann, a sweep and a late cut preceding his elegant advance down the pitch to create a half-volley he clipped through mid-wicket A late cut two off Tim Bresnan then saw Dravid to his hundred.

Dravid’s century was the second time this series he’d made a hundred while opening in the absence of regular opener Gautam Gambhir.

He had previously made 117, when Gambhir missed the second Test at Trent Bridge with an elbow injury, following his 103 not out at Lord’s.

Dravid’s 35th Test century took him in front of hero Sunil Gavaskar’s mark of 34 and fourth in the all-time list behind Tendulkar (51), South Africa’s Jacques Kallis (40) and Australia’s Ricky Ponting (39).

India started the second session on 218 for six, with Dravid 109 not out and Mishra, who’d driven Swann for six off the last ball before lunch, 38 not out.

However, Mishra added just five more runs before he was brilliantly caught by a diving Bell at an unusually positioned short backward square leg off a pull against Bresnan.

The new ball did for Gambhir, who’d suffered concussion while fielding on Friday, when he fended at Stuart Broad and was caught by Pietersen at gully.

Bresnan struck twice in three balls as India were bowled out for 300 — the first time they’d made the score this series.

Dravid had contributed nearly 50 percent thanks to a masterful 146 not out in 266 balls with 20 fours.

He was only the third Indian after Gavaskar and Virender Sehwag to carry his bat in a Test innings but India were still 92 adrift of avoiding the follow-on.

The selfless Dravid kept his pads on but his resistance ended controversially when, on 13, he turned Swann to Alastair Cook at short leg.

Umpire Rod Tucker said not out but England asked for a review and Tucker’s fellow Australian Steve Davis gave Dravid out, although replays indicated the ball may have gone to Cook straight off the pad.

The India great, in what could be his last Test in England, walked off to a standing ovation from a capacity 23,500 crowd.

Sehwag made a typically dashing 33 before he was bowled between bat and pad by Swann — a classic off-spinner’s dismissal.

And England had one more wicket before stumps when VVS Laxman, who has had a wretched series, was bowled for 24 by a superb Anderson delivery that angled in and uprooted his off-stump.
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London, August 18 (AFP): Graham Gooch wants the present England side to break his batting records as they bid to cement their status as the world’s number one Test side.

England climbed to the summit of world cricket with a mammoth innings and 242 run win over former ICC Test Championship table-toppers India in the third Test at Edgbaston last week.

That left them 3-0 up in a four-match series and their bid to complete a clean sweep began promisingly as they made 75 without loss on the first day of at The Oval on Thursday before rain prevented any play after lunch.

England captain Andrew Strauss was 38 not out and fellow left-hander Alastair Cook, Gooch’s Essex protege, 34 not out.

Both Strauss and Cook have now scored 19 Test hundreds, one shy of Gooch’s mark of 20 and three adrift of the all-time England record of 22 shared by Walter Hammond, Colin Cowdrey and Geoffrey Boycott.

“As far as I’m concerned I’ll be absolutely delighted if someone goes past any of my records, because it’ll mean England are winning cricket matches,” said former skipper and opening batsman Gooch.

“From the time I was a captain, player and selector, I was only interested in one thing, and that was England winning cricket matches.”

Cook made a career-best 294 at Edgbaston, just falling short in his quest to become the first England batsman since Gooch posted 333 against India at Lord’s in 1990 to make a Test match triple century.

Still aged just 26, all England batting records – including Gooch’s aggregate of 8,900 Test runs, appear within range for Cook and his mentor said: “Alastair Cook has the four attributes that make up a ‘run-maker’.”

“He has a great attitude; he has technical ability; his knowledge pool is increasing all the time, of how to play in certain situations; and he has the number one attribute, massive powers of concentration.”

“If you want to score 200, you can’t do it in an hour; you’ve got to be out there for six or seven hours. You’ve got to play every ball singly for all that time – each ball in isolation.”

“Alastair continues to improve. You see all the hard work he puts in. It doesn’t come by chance; it’s hard work and ability, and he’s getting the rewards. We are proud of him.”

By contrast, India’s much vaunted top order, which includes batting greats Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, haven’t made as much as 294 in any of their six innings so far this series.

“The England team has bowled well as a unit,” Gooch said. “Sometimes if the pressure is on you, it’s difficult to succeed.”

“The Indian line-up is tried and trusted, with some of the greatest names the game has ever seen. They’ve not got the runs they would have liked but I’m sure they’ll be out there in the nets tomorrow (Friday).”

Gooch, asked what had changed since his playing days, when England were never regarded as the world’s best Test team, replied: “Down the years England have put together good teams that have played well.”

“I think the difference with this team is it is playing consistent cricket on a regular basis, and gelling more all the time,” added Gooch, who was ahead of his time in stressing the importance of physical fitness – “I’ve never seen a fitter, stronger player become a worse player,” he said on Thursday.

“It’s a nice landmark, but the team draw a line under it now,” he said.

“The only game that counts is here at 11 o’clock (1000GMT) tomorrow – and when this one’s over, the only game that counts will be the next one. If you keep winning cricket matches, you might be able to retain that status.”

“Being number one doesn’t guarantee you winning a cricket match.”

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London, August 17 (AFP): England captain Andrew Strauss insisted there would be no danger of his side relaxing now they had climbed to the top of the Test table and rid English cricket of its “laughing-stock” status.

England attained their long-term goal of being declared the world’s number one Test and simultaneously clinched an unbeatable 3-0 lead in their four-match series against former ICC table-toppers India with a crushing innings and 242-run success in the third Test at Edgbaston last week.

They could be forgiven for easing up, as even the great Australia sides of the 1990s and 2000s sometimes did when a series was already won, in the fourth and final Test at The Oval, starting here on Thursday.

But Strauss, speaking to reporters at The Oval here on Wednesday, said he was confident England would avoid succumbing to ‘dead-rubber syndrome’.

“There’s always that danger of taking our foot off the gas, but I hope and expect that we won’t fall into that trap,” he told reporters.

Strauss cited the way England had won the fifth and final Test against Australia in Sydney by an innings in January, a victory achieved with the Ashes already retained after the tourists had gone 2-1 up in Melbourne, as an example of England’s ruthlessness.

“I think we had a similar situation in Australia and reacted really well in Sydney,” opening batsman Strauss explained.

“That’s certainly what we’re trying to do this week. I’m absolutely certain that India will want to finish the tour on a high note and we have to stop them doing that,” Strauss said.

“Now is not a time to be satisfied with ourselves.”

“There’s so many challenges ahead for us as a side. There’s the subcontinent this winter, there’s South Africa coming over and then India in the winter after that followed by the World Test Championship.”

If England beat India at The Oval they will have won as many Test matches – 20 – in the past two years as they did during the whole of the 1980s.

“I wasn’t aware of that,” said the 34-year-old Strauss, a childhood cricket fan in the 80s.

“English cricket’s been through a long evolutionary cycle. Since the introduction of central contracts (a decade ago) the rate of improvement has gone up significantly.”

“The days of English cricket being kind of a laughing stock have gone, hopefully for good.”

“There was a feeling that we weren’t getting the best out of our players because we’ve always had very good players in England, there’s no doubt about that,” Strauss said.

“Now I think the structure and the set up make it easier for us to get the best out of our players.”

Once this series is over England, unusually, won’t have another Test before Christmas, with the first of a winter programme where they face Pakistan and Sri Lanka, not until the new year.

That means Strauss, who no longer plays limited overs internationals, is set for a five-month break.

“It allows me to prepare myself properly for what’s going to be a tough winter and to sit down with (England coach) Andy Flower and be clear and thorough in our planning for the subcontinent, which is not an area we’ve traditionally performed well in,” he said.

Strauss denied suggestions he might fill his time by playing in Australian or South African first-class cricket.

“At this stage, playing in Australia or South Africa doesn’t seem like the right preparation for playing in the subcontinent.”

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