England v India - live!

England's Stuart Broad acknowledges the applause of the crowd after his hat-trick against India at Trent Bridge. Photograph: Jon Super/AP12th over: England 24-1 (trailed by 67 on first innings; Strauss 6, Bell 9) Sreesanth bowls the first over of the day, trying to draw Bell into driving outside off stump. He doesn't, so it's a maiden. "First! (Sorry)" says Ryan Dunne. "Do teams still get the giant mace if they become No1 team in the world? Would it be put on display on Lord's or the like, or would Swann be allowed to play about with it for cool Twitter photos? I remember when Duncan Fletcher said (well, he would) that his achievements with England in the 00s far dwarfed anything the country managed in the 80s; could a case be made that England deserve serious plaudits (including more gongs from the Queen) if they reach No1, or has Test cricket overall declined too much from the heady days of 2005?" I think it'll be a huge achievement if England manage it. Fletcher was right; England were often hopeless in the 1980s. Scyld Berry wrote a fine piece on that subject in the very first edition of The Wisden Cricketer. And yeah, they do get the mace.

"Good morning," says John Starbuck. "It's been announced that Trott will bat though no-one knows what position yet." Crikey, that is a surprise. No10 or 11?

Thought for the day This series is going to kick off very soon, isn't it?

Trottwatch He faced only two balls in practice this morning before going off for an injection. It seems very unlikely he will bat.

Preamble Morning. These days everyone wants to be FIRST! We're a culture obsessed with the first: first impression, first match of the season, first meal (Paulie Walnuts says breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and wise men don't argue with Paulie), first date, first injunction, first pint after eight hours kissing the feet of The Man. In some contexts, however, the second is far more important. For example, a monstrous slab of lunchtime meat at The Hawksmoor trumps Frosties anyday, although you can tell Paulie that. Similarly, the second set of a tennis match is surely the most significant, when the contest is almost completed at 2-0 or comes alive at 1-1.

That's the scenario we have at Trent Bridge today, where an excellent Test match will probably be decided, if not actually completed. Either England go 2-0 up or India level it at 1-1 with power, Sehwag and Zaheer to add. The English cricket lover in me is desperate for England to win; the Test cricket lover in me is equally desperate for India to win. Think about how empty 2005 would have been had Australia gone 2-0 up at Edgbaston, and not just because England were losing.

Six years ago we had the best of both worlds – an epic series and an England win. So this time we want India to win here, England to win by one wicket at Edgbaston and then by one run at The Oval, thus clinching the series 3-1 and going top of the Test Championship. Is that so much to ask?

All that said, I suppose we could live with England winning by 114 runs here after a staggering 121-ball 132 from Eoin Morgan.

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Sachin Tendulkar dismissed by teenager as Somerset embarrass India

Somerset's teenage bowler Craig Meschede celebrates the prize scalp of Sachin Tendulkar at the County Ground in Taunton. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images

Eventually the sun came out to play and so did Sachin Tendulkar. He has received more raucous receptions but given heavy morning rain and a game going nowhere, there was a good crowd, all standing, to welcome him to the crease.

But even Tendulkar did not last for long as India's embarrassments at Taunton continued. He was dismissed for 26 by Craig Meschede, a 19-year-old all-rounder who had never taken a first-class wicket in his life before. Duncan Fletcher would not have prepared a dossier on Meschede.

Before this match he had only bowled 24 balls for Somerset's first XI with a red ball. Tendulkar attempted to drive Meschede's 28th first-class delivery and feathered a catch to Jos Buttler behind the stumps. The crowd at the County Ground were aghast. A few miles down the road at King's College, where the old Somerset stalwart Dennis Breakwell coaches, there would have been celebrations as well. A couple of years ago Buttler and South African-born Meschede were playing for their school team.

Meschede, who bowls bustling medium pace, has previously raised more eyebrows as a hard-hitting middle-order batsman. One of his Somerset predecessors, Bill Andrews, called his autobiography The Hand That Bowled Bradman. Meschede's book may be some time away – I hope – but the title could already be decided.

At least Tendulkar had looked as if his mind was on the job, unlike some of his colleagues. Moreover, his mere presence had been enough to satisfy most onlookers, who recognise that he may not pass this way again. Like Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh, who both failed miserably, Tendulkar had not been to the middle since the IPL's conclusion in May.

So he was circumspect at first, allowing the ball to pass harmlessly by. There were two lbw shouts, the first from Alfonso Thomas, the second from the ever-optimistic Peter Trego. Both were rejected. In the case of Trego this was a source of some local relief. Just imagine how often the doughty Trego in his dotage might have been tempted to regale the tale of Tendulkar's dismissal in the pubs around Weston-super-Mare. Instead that is Meschede's privilege.

Then there were a couple of regal Tendulkar cover drives off the front foot and that trademark punch off the back foot, which sends the ball across the turf with surprising power. The bars were empty and Andrew Strauss at first slip looked on contemplatively. The long wait for the rain to stop and for Tendulkar to arrive had been worthwhile. And then Meschede struck – yet another indignity for the Indian team.

This dire performance from the tourists will probably not make that much difference come Thursday but they have been abysmal with bat and ball. When play began Somerset added another 96 runs from 21 overs for the loss of Arul Suppiah for a career best 156. Chris Jones, originally from Dorset, currently a student at Durham University, compiled his second successive half-century for Somerset. The one he scored at Trent Bridge last week was in far more taxing conditions. There was also time for a James Hildreth cameo. He popped a leg-break from Amit Mishra into the stands with a flick of the wrists. The Indian bowling did not look any more threatening than on Friday. However of this attack only Zaheer Khan is certain to play at Lord's. He will be joined by Ishant Sharma and Harbhajan Singh and one other seamer: Munaf Patel, Sreesanth or possibly Praveen Kumar, who barely reaches 80mph, but who swings the ball in almost any conditions.

It was not so surprising that India should struggle with the ball on this surface. It was staggering that they should be reduced to 90 for six against a makeshift Somerset attack, before closing on 138 for 8. Apart from Meschede and Trego, who disposed of the reserve keeper Wriddiham Saha (not such a story for him to tell there) it was Charl Willoughby, who tormented the tourists, taking the first four wickets to fall.

For the First Test VVS Laxman and MS Dhoni will be back to strengthen the lineup. We must also assume that India's resolve, fuelled by some adrenaline, will also return. They cannot possibly play like this at Lord's.

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Strauss handles India attack in warm-up

England captain Andrew Strauss plays a shot on his way to a score of 78 from 98 balls for Somerset on Friday. Photograph: Kieran McManus/BPI

They are used to an England left-hander pummelling the ball to the boundary at Taunton before giving him a standing ovation for a highly entertaining cameo. But on Friday when the maroon helmet was removed to acknowledge the applause there was the urbane visage of Andrew Strauss rather than the more bucolic features of Marcus Trescothick.

It all went rather well for Somerset's latest opener. Strauss struck 16 sweetly-timed boundaries in his 78 from 98 balls; he looked in princely form; he avoided being undermined by the left-armer, Zaheer Khan. In the end he was dismissed by the wrist-spinner Amit Mishra, who is unlikely to play in the first Test.

So Strauss is already in credit in this match even if his debut for Somerset, despite all the pre-match froth, lacked the drama provided by another England opener, Harold Gimblett, who first appeared with his borrowed bat at Frome in 1935.

Strauss stressed before the game that success or failure here would have a modest bearing upon what happens at Lord's next week. He just wanted some time in the middle and a glimpse of the Indian bowlers; this would be far more valuable than another net.

The England captain knows that it will be a bit more taxing at Lord's. For this match there is an old-fashioned Taunton belter of a pitch, the sort, which has batsmen salivating. He was clearly surprised when a little forward defensive scuttled away for two runs. For a county match there is usually more live grass visible. Moreover there were some rusty bowlers in the Indian team. Neither Zaheer nor Sreesanth have been in the Caribbean and were returning from injuries to an ankle and elbow respectively.

Zaheer is India's senior paceman and will presumably play at Lord's but he began very gingerly here, searching for swing at a gentle pace. He found some. When Strauss was on 20 Zaheer propelled a full-length in-swinger, which struck the front pad. An appeal with possibilities was rejected by the umpire Graham Lloyd. Otherwise the faster bowlers offered no alarms for Strauss and only Munaf Patel could keep him quiet.

Strauss was also aggressive against the spin of Mishra, but not flawless. He was dropped by the keeper, Wriddhiman Saha, on 64, but MS Dhoni's replacement could not possibly miss the next chance, which ballooned gently into the air via the inside edge of Strauss's bat and his thigh.His dismissal was the solitary success for the Indians in the first two sessions, during which the clouds gradually rolled in. They looked as if they were treating this match as very gentle practice. They would have liked to have played 14-a-side but that would have been an insult to the 6000 eager spectators, who turned up anxious for a sighting of Strauss or Sachin Tendulkar at the crease. All they saw Tendulkar do was drop a straightforward catch at square leg; Mishra spilled a much tougher caught and bowled chance and had to leave the field. In between the rain, the Indian attack was carted around Taunton with increasing disdain.

Arul Suppiah was unbeaten on 145. He had been content to be a passive ally for Strauss in the morning, looking on admiringly. After lunch he expanded his range of shots beguilingly. At the other end a more permanent Middlesex exile, Nick Compton, made 88 before reverse-sweeping a catch.

Trescothick, meanwhile, has escaped immediate suspension from the England and Wales Cricket Board after attending a disciplinary hearing because of the poor on-field behaviour of his team. He has been given a suspended two-match ban, and his county have been fined ?5,000, and ordered to pay ?500 costs.

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