Just before 5pm Stokes knocked a 4 out and I thought a reasonable 300 to win total would be set. Turned it off to go eat and now there's this.
Just before 5pm Stokes knocked a 4 out and I thought a reasonable 300 to win total would be set. Turned it off to go eat and now there's this.
West Indies at 2.1 seems insane. No demons in this pitch at all.
I greened out of a huge bet on them yesterday morning before play (7 in to 2.4 I think it was). I just don't trust their batting lineup.
I had a piece but think we’ll roll that weak batting line up now. Brathwaite a key early wicket in a low chase.
Dendulkar dropped. Crawley moved up the order to bring a bit more waft to the top three.
Thank the Lord, I was beginning to think Denly had state secrets in his possession.
Ed Smith fighting to the end for his true love.In a sign of indecision in England's ranks in the build-up to the second Test, Root's pre-match press conference had to be postponed by 90 minutes, as England's selection panel - Root, Chris Silverwood and Ed Smith, the national selector - debated the matchday squad, with Smith understood to favour Denly's retention in an expanded pool.
We then need to leave out Wood and pick Broad or Woakes.
I'm just glad that wasn't seen as a move to bring Vince and his 24 average back into the team.
"England fast bowler Jofra Archer has been excluded from the second Test against West Indies after breaching the bio-secure protocols."
Great.
Apparently he did this 'between Southampton and Manchester'. Were they not going on the team bus? Did the ECB lay on a fleet of Ford Focuses and he stopped off for a Harry Ramsdens at Warwick Services?
Jim, as our foremost cricket expert I'd like your thoughts on this please:
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There are some real shockers amongst the group. Sam Curran looks like a 90s surfer dude and Ollie Pope looks like the class nerd trying to gain respect. Can the ECB not get a bio-secured barber onto site?
Live text suggesting the pitch would have suited pace bowling.
Good work, Jofra.
It suits Rory Burns imo. And Ben Foakes can’t be anything other than dreamy.
We have made a complete botch of this whole series thus far. First of all flagrantly disrespected the West Indies by attempting to PREPARE FOR THE ASHES with fast bowlers everywhere on the wrong pitch, got caught out, and now we actually want a fast bowler or two we have ended up bringing in a slate of medium pacers.
I wish we would just fuck the Ashes off until it comes around, and try to win the game in front of us. A lot of our West Indies/Pakistan/Sri Lanka shamings come about as a direct result of the Ashes obsession.
West Indies 5.6. We ride again.
Since I started doing a heavy amount of umpiring, the one piece of wisdom I've acquired is that despite having a reputation as the classy thinking men of the game (with bowlers the working class hod carriers), batsmen are, to a man, fucking morons who never think they are out. This has never been better illustrated than in that Burns review.
Roston Chase 2/9 on a rainy first day. Amazing commitment to the cause from us.
Sadly I missed it but Bairstow is like that with basically every week. He always seems affronted with the idea that somebody might have got him out.
Sky were discussing some shit chat last night about whether Sibley wasn't scoring fast enough. Given the wickets were falling around him and that a flaky top order has been our issue since we were struggling to find a partner for Cook I thought he did a great job until Stokes came in and he finally had a partner who didn't fall early.
The 'man with loads of runs didn't score them quickly enough on the first day of a five day match' genre of bullshit just tells you they played well.
It's the sort of thinking that gets wafty mongs back in as opener.
Athers just described commentating on crowd-less cricket as 'soul destroying.'
Alright mate, keep it breezy.
I did think, last week, that it might have been easier for England to defend that total if they had 15,000 of Hampshire's drunkest people roaring them on. Maybe. I'm not sure.
Well he mentioned the World Cup so I went back and watched that brilliant ICC video of the end of the game again.
If I'm still bored at work this afternoon I might find the original tweet for all the seething replies.
The best bit of that whole final is when Ian Smith shouts 'We're going to a Super Over!' and then sort of bends double over his desk as if he's having some kind of seizure.
Yeah I love that bit. Every time.
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You know it's been a real eye-bleeder of an innings when the highlights reel on reaching 100 include edging one over the slips and edging one through the slips.
Four fours and seven threes in a Test hundred is a splendid effort.
I thought the Pope wicket was plumb as can be but Hawkeye's suggesting it was barely hitting.
I was flummoxed as to why he was even reviewing it (beyond Jimmy's Law detailed a few posts up.)
This is all very well, but what if they clone Roston Chase so he can bowl from both ends?
To be honest I don't know why visiting teams don't just pack their line-up with questionable spin. We'd be out for about 7.
I suppose Buttler just about gets away with a sporty forty in the circumstances.
Now Denly's gone, Ed Smith will be properly ride or die for Jos.
Given where we were I'm very happy with that position.
It was good to see Dom Bess treat Chase with the disdain he deserves, swatting pie after pie to leg for multiple boundaries.
There's an obvious answer, I know, but how the fuck has it managed to rain all day at the cricket? It's been fucking belting here.
It's even been nice here in Scotland, but y'know. Manc gon' Manc.
Fair fucks for actually sending the heavy artillery in to open.
lol at the outcome.
Given that we really have to give them a carrot to go at here (who cares about maintaining a 1-0 deficit), I reckon there's a non-trivial chance we could lose and that would be peak England.
Good old Chef would bat until tea or something but this lot will have a go and possibly fall flat on their faces.
This Makhaya Ntini article is so sad.
https://wisden.com/stories/news-stor...th-africa-side
Thanks for the share. One of my favourite bowlers - I never really thought of him as post-Apartheid/ new-Mandela era bowler.
I think this is the most I've noticed the lack of crowd in the cricket. The near-misses and wickets here being greeted with almost silence.
Great day of cricket though and good going to effectively take 20 wickets in 2 days on a day 3/4 pitch.
Yeah I did really enjoy it, there was a point where I was sure they were going to pile on enough runs to make it a bit more nervy.
Also just saw the video of Stokes legging it to try and stop a shot off his own delivery going for a boundary. Not sure I've ever seen that before.
Then taking the game-breaking wicket 3 balls later.
We are going to run him into the ground the man is a hero.
We've picked this team for the third Test:
Burns
Sibley
Root
Stokes
Pope
Buttler
Woakes
Bess
Archer
Broad
Anderson
Could have done with a couple more bowlers imo.