Darren Gough cricket blog: England legend bemoans Hundred’s impact on Test cricket

In his latest Ladbrokes blog, England legend Darren Gough bemoans Hundred’s impact on Test cricket.

• “Look, whether you like The Hundred or not, does every single England player need to play in it?”

• "The Test boys have the pressure of playing for England in back-to-back Test matches, and the intensity they’re played at, all because we've got to get them in before The Hundred starts in August. Something's got to be done, and it'll be interesting to see what happens.

• “If I would have been batting [in the fourth Test], I'd have wanted to get a hundred. But if I would have been Stokes, the captain of the opposition, I'd want to get off the field, especially if he had an injury.”

• “There is no doubt in my mind [Joe Root] will chase down the great Sachin Tendulkar to become the greatest run-scorer of all time.”

One thing that nobody's really touched on at this moment in time is the work rate of the fast bowlers. 

We look at Jasprit Bumrah, who’s not going to play in this Test match, and his pace dropped in the last one. We see Joffra Archer playing back-to-back games for the first time in four years, and he's going to miss the game at the Oval.

We see Ben Stokes getting injured too, and this is all because of a packed schedule where they're trying to fit all the games in before The Hundred starts, which is ridiculous.

Look, whether you like The Hundred or not, does every single England player need to play in it? These players need to be rested. They need to be fresh.

We've got an Ashes series coming up, and I'll be hugely disappointed if all these England players go on and play in The Hundred. They need a good break, especially the bowlers, to make sure they are going to be in the right condition to play a small part in The Hundred before they go on to play the One Day International series coming up in September. And then you've got the Ashes. It’s hugely disappointing how they’ve packed the schedule.

But there's a lot of talk about it in the media at the minute, and the PCA are talking about player welfare – and that's in county cricket, where I think they've got an easier role.

The Test boys have the pressure of playing for England in back-to-back Test matches, and the intensity they’re played at, all because we've got to get them in before The Hundred starts in August. Something's got to be done, and it'll be interesting to see what happens.

Well, we've made it to the fifth Test with England 2-1 up. Looking at this Oval Test match, Ben Stokes going to be a huge, huge loss. Brydon Carse is out, Liam Dawson out after one game and Joffra Archer is out – scared to death of playing in three games in a row.

So that's going to be interesting in a few changes for England. As for India, well, they are going to try to somehow draw this series 2-2, which would be a good effort considering the losses they have had in the series with no Virat Kohli and no Rohit Sharma.

Ahead of the first session, it’s raining outside and the skies look a little bit cloudy. So it’s a good morning to bowl.

The forecast for the first two days is a bit iffy, but I've been here many, many times before when it looks like it could drizzle all day, but it could easily clear and we could get some cricket.

And with the rain that's been about, the pitch might be a little bit livelier than it is normally. Whoever won the toss was always going to have a bowl before the sun comes out at the weekend.

It’s a big, big Test match. With the Ashes coming up, England need a morale-boosting series win against India, who have been good in this series. They have actually been the better team for a lot of it, but somehow they are still 2-1 down.

The drama in this series has been interesting, hasn't it?! There was a little bit of argy-bargy at the end of that last Test, where India – let's just say this – were brilliant in the way they went about their job in those last four sessions.

The two spinners, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja, were absolutely superb, and they wrestled that game back for India to come out of it with a draw, and now they have a chance of drawing the series at the Oval.

Ben Stokes offered his hand when you can do legally when it no result was going to be going to be had. But I get why the two boys played on, having played so beautifully. They deserved their hundreds.

It's their choice. It has to be a joint-decision to walk off. They decided they wanted to get their hundreds, and I think what followed was a little bit of a drama.

Look, if I would have been batting, I'd have wanted to get a hundred. But if I would have been Stokes, the captain of the opposition, I'd want to get off the field, especially if he had an injury.

He was a little bit grumpy because he knew he was going to be out probably 6-10 weeks. And his bowlers were absolutely knackered. They had bowled their hearts out to try to dismiss India, so he wanted them off the field. But India had the right to stay out there, and both of them deserved their hundreds.

So well done, India. And well done, Stokesy, for being Stokesy! Fantastic.

Yorkshireman Joe Root – how good is he?! He’s chasing the GOAT, Sachin Tendulkar… and he's going to catch him. Let's just all get used to it.

Joe Root is an unbelievable player. Not just on run score, you could probably say that he is England's greatest-ever batter – and we've had some great batters over the years. Joe Root is just unbelievable.

Yes, we've seen Kevin Pietersen’s argument that you couldn't name 10 world-class bowlers playing Test cricket at this moment in time. But that doesn't matter. In any era, Joe Root would be an unbelievable player, and there is no doubt in my mind he will chase down the great Sachin Tendulkar to become the greatest run-scorer of all time.

So we might as well start saying congratulations to Joe Root now unless some kind of misfortune happens. But he's going to get there, so that's great news.

View the latest cricket odds

All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.