[JonB]

Johnnyspireite7, on 27 April 2014 - 09:41 AM, said:

Thanks for coming, now go home, I assume the other team knocked that off within one over?

Other team had batted scoring 108 all out first.

[Johnnyspireite7]

JonB, on 27 April 2014 - 10:10 AM, said:

Other team had batted scoring 108 all out first.

[JonB]

First test of the summer is here...if a little later than normal. Hopefully we can start positively and forget all about the winter!

Looking like its a pick between Plunkett or Woakes after Robson, Ali and Ballance all received their caps before play. Hope they go Plunkett just for his pace....suspect they'll do the age old England trick and pick a bowler cos he can bat with Woakes getting the nod.

[JonB]

Obviously i mean Jordan gets his cap not Ballance...

This post has been edited by JonB: 12 June 2014 - 10:28 AM

[Westbars Spireite]

Is Stokes not deemed fit as he surely can't have been left out for any other reason?

[JonB]

I think try wanted him to get more bowling under his belt I presume. Played two games since injury.

[Benno Spire]

England doing their best to make a game of this test!

[azul]

Did England really need a 390 run lead?

Perhaps it would've been better to have been bowled out earlier

[JonB]

More you see of the pitch the more you think i dont think it would have mattered when we declared. Dont see the point of preparing a track thats going to barely change over the 5 days of a match and its just a net almost for the batsmen on each side to try and get their names on the honours board. See this a lot overseas in the subcontinent and increasingly so in the Windies where 600+ draws with 500+ but over here we tended to at least produce wickets that gave a good chance of a result.

In this game barring when there has been cloud cover so there has been some swing there has been nothing for the bowlers and they may as well have stuck a bowling machine at each end and got on with it. Just seems a bit of a lets rake the cash from 5 days of play crowds and thats it. Get fed up of flat tracks being described as "good wickets"...if a wicket was produced that was so heavily in favour of bowlers it would be slated as a minefield, dangerous etc yet in this day of protective wear from top to bottom and bigger better bats the batsmen still get a track where its not really a challenge. Was interesting to hear Boycott say yesterday that it was dull as it wasnt a challenge between bat and ball.

[JonB]

Have i spoken to soon with my above rant? Two quick wickets after tea including Sanga gives us a glimmer.

[azul]

JonB, on 16 June 2014 - 03:15 PM, said:

Have i spoken to soon with my above rant? Two quick wickets after tea including Sanga gives us a glimmer.

And the timing of that declaration is beginning to look very iffy

[JonB]

azul, on 16 June 2014 - 03:29 PM, said:

And the timing of that declaration is beginning to look very iffy

Not sure 20mins at them last night would have made a lot of difference to be honest.

[SpireiteFitzy]

Herath owes Pradeep quite a few pints after walking for a non dismissal. Terrific end to it all though

[Westbars Spireite]

What was England over-rate in the field first innings?

[azul]

JonB, on 16 June 2014 - 03:32 PM, said:

Not sure 20mins at them last night would have made a lot of difference to be honest.

I think that would have been enough as in turned out but I was actually thinking of a bit more than 20 minutes

[JonB]

azul, on 16 June 2014 - 05:52 PM, said:

I think that would have been enough as in turned out but I was actually thinking of a bit more than 20 minutes

Not sure there were in a position to declare any more than 20mins or so from the end. Any more than half an hour was about 7 overs or so at which point the lead was about 300 which is more than achievable on a pitch that was still pretty flat.

When Prior got out just after tea it was 121-6 meaning we had a lead of 243 which wasnt enough with 4 sessions to go. Had we gone all out to set up a score then we could easily have been all out leaving them less than 300 to win. This meant the partnership between Ballance and Jordan had to be watchful initially before they could push on and then Broad came in and scored quickly. The 7th and 8th wicket partnerships actually added 135 in 177 balls in the end which were crucial runs.

It was only a few bad shots around tea that saw Jimmy take three quick wickets that opened the game up and its easy to say we bottled it when you are one wicket short but i can see why they batted through to the end of day 4 following what had happened up until the last 20mins or so.

This post has been edited by JonB: 17 June 2014 - 07:54 AM

[azul]

JonB, on 17 June 2014 - 07:54 AM, said:

Not sure there were in a position to declare any more than 20mins or so from the end. Any more than half an hour was about 7 overs or so at which point the lead was about 300 which is more than achievable on a pitch that was still pretty flat.

When Prior got out just after tea it was 121-6 meaning we had a lead of 243 which wasnt enough with 4 sessions to go. Had we gone all out to set up a score then we could easily have been all out leaving them less than 300 to win. This meant the partnership between Ballance and Jordan had to be watchful initially before they could push on and then Broad came in and scored quickly. The 7th and 8th wicket partnerships actually added 135 in 177 balls in the end which were crucial runs.

It was only a few bad shots around tea that saw Jimmy take three quick wickets that opened the game up and its easy to say we bottled it when you are one wicket short but i can see why they batted through to the end of day 4 following what had happened up until the last 20mins or so.

You may be right, not that straightforward but for once I agree with Mr Strauss who suggested out for about 300 would have been the best outcome for England as Sri Lanka would've been tempted by that

[JonB]

On a local cricket note my cricket club, Ashover CC, is in the mix for a £20,000 makeover through a daily mirror competition. Any votes would be appreciated to give us a chance!!

http://t.co/o4179Okb88

[azul]

Loved Bumbles take on Broad's broken nose….

"Good looking lad, or he was, he's been brought back to the pack now"

He did look funny with his bent nose and two black eyes

[Westbars Spireite]

India really are an appalling side. How we lost to them in that test match is a mystery.