I'm a lover not a fighter, so when I discovered the feats that were achievable on zero-aggression - well, I just had to shout it from the virtual rooftops!
We (Warwickshire) are down by 413 on the 1st innings, having been rolled for 98 on day 1. Now it's 22 minutes to tea on day 3, and we're beginning our second.
And believe me, posting a tempting target and declaring is the last thing we've got on our minds. We're on zero aggression, and we're hoping to stay that way, although it's never worked for us in the past.
Well, to cut a long story short (I hate suspense, don't you?), it worked this time! 26 and 2/3 hours later, stumps are drawn, and so is the match. We are 315 for 5, still about 100 from making Yorkshire bat again - but who cares about that now?
And of those 5 wickets, two were due to batsmen stepping up to 1 bar in (the beginnings of) an attempt to break up the aggressive field. Perhaps we could have batted for the four last sessions on the obligatory deteriorating track - for the loss of only 3 wickets!
Zero-aggression works, so stick with it, and you can (maybe) make fourth-innings capitulations a thing of the past!
We (Warwickshire) are down by 413 on the 1st innings, having been rolled for 98 on day 1. Now it's 22 minutes to tea on day 3, and we're beginning our second.
And believe me, posting a tempting target and declaring is the last thing we've got on our minds. We're on zero aggression, and we're hoping to stay that way, although it's never worked for us in the past.
Well, to cut a long story short (I hate suspense, don't you?), it worked this time! 26 and 2/3 hours later, stumps are drawn, and so is the match. We are 315 for 5, still about 100 from making Yorkshire bat again - but who cares about that now?
And of those 5 wickets, two were due to batsmen stepping up to 1 bar in (the beginnings of) an attempt to break up the aggressive field. Perhaps we could have batted for the four last sessions on the obligatory deteriorating track - for the loss of only 3 wickets!
Zero-aggression works, so stick with it, and you can (maybe) make fourth-innings capitulations a thing of the past!
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