Cricket

[TheGayTent]

Totally blown it with the last wicket... All the hard work wasted...

Cook getting it badly wrong at the moment.

Talk about OTT

[TheGayTent]

OTT ? They just put a 100 on the board.... all down to bad bowling / bad strategy...

Whatever... It seem the whole Sky & BBC commentry crew agree with me...

You're forgetting the fact that it was superb bowling that put them in the driving seat on a wicket doing far less for the bowlers than it did for Australia.

England should still win this match easily. On that track with sunshine and no cloud England will rack up a big score if they don't get themselves out - for Australia aren't good enough without the right conditions to do it again.

Agar is not a no.11

Your criticism of Cook and England whilst not completely unjustified is definitely OTT

[TheGayTent]

I don't think it's me that's being a plank.

You wouldn't criticise the Lions for a 3 min passage of play 20 mins into an 80 minute game. And if you did, it'd be understated not completely over the top as your criticism was.

Much the same as a 5-0 series prediction. You'll look as stupid as Botham will and as McGrath has in the past.

As for your pals at the BBC and Sky - in their opinion Agar was out stumped 2 hrs ago and England should have a lead not a deficit of 65...

[TheGayTent]

I think you knowledge of Cricket isn't what you think it is...

Touché mon ami, touché...

...if you think that spell by England wasn't concerning or damaging. Yeah we can pull it back but we need to not lose early wickets now and given our mickey mouse first innings we could be in trouble. Pressure on.

In all the test matches I've ever watched, I've never seen one side win every session of the fifteen.

Given, the make up the wicket, the atmospheric conditions, the fact our best bowler was out of the attack, the fact that England were bowling at an opening batsmen and a player obviously far better than a usual no.11 your criticism of Cook and the team was over the top.

Just hope Chef and KP are still there for me to watch both tomorrow.

[Ed209]

It looks as though every session's gonna be big,but there's no doubt its a massive session tomorrow morning.

KP's moment

[lharris92]

kp and cook both need minimum of around a century each, with the aim of batting all day and more really

[lharris92]

talked too soon there it seems...

[lharris92]

well that's buggered up the innings.... technically 68-4.

this could easily be all over by the end of the day.

2 of bell bairstow and prior really need to knuckle down and get big scores to make anything of the match the way its going at the moment.

[TheGayTent]

Dreadful shots. Bell hasn't the character *

*please prove me wrong

[pink_triangle]

I wonder if Bairstows place could be at risk for the next match. Im very unsure about Root as an opener and Compton for Bairstow would be the obvious change. I suspect however they will leave the batting line up unchanged for the next test and make a judgement depending on how the 2 players perform.

[Ed209]

Bell and co working us nicely into a position.

I'd say anything over a 230 chase will have the aussies very worried

[Ed209]

Be more comfortable if we can get 250-300

well, obviously

[lharris92]

we need to bat at least until lunch tomorrow and build up a 300-400 run lead.

then pile on the pressure bowling.

got to be patient and when they tire in the next 30 minutes take advantage of that, then in the morning back to the way it has been

[lharris92]

broad probably thought sod it, trott shouldn't have gone yesterday so why should i now.

besides it just shows that luck does even out.... eventually

Edited July 12, 2013 by lharris92

[pink_triangle]

I think many underestimate how difficult it is to chase in the 4th innings of a test. From the stats I have read only 25 teams in test history have chased 250 which is often considered a moderate score. Would have been nice for broad to walk, but considering the Australian captain has history of doing the same, it's not surprising.

[pink_triangle]

Yeah no doubt...

Personally though I would rather see batman on both sides putting their hands up for something so bad. Not going to happen though

A few have said that he should have walked because it was a big knick, as if its ok to stand for a little one. In my view if you stay when you know you have hit it, it's no more morally defensible whether its a big or small contact . Also bowlers appeal all the time when they know batsmen aren't out.

[lharris92]

especially the way trott went out

[pink_triangle]

I have been (unsuccessfully) looking for a test match stat regarding run chases, don't know if anyone can help? In test cricket there have been successful run chases from single figure scores up to 418, but at what score is a team more likely to succeed than fail at a run chase. Im guessing somewhere just below 200 but couldn't find anything to back that up.

[lharris92]

I have been (unsuccessfully) looking for a test match stat regarding run chases, don't know if anyone can help? In test cricket there have been successful run chases from single figure scores up to 418, but at what score is a team more likely to succeed than fail at a run chase. Im guessing somewhere just below 200 but couldn't find anything to back that up.

top 30 run chases

http://www.cricket365.co.uk/stats/test-records/team/fourth-innings-run-chases

[lharris92]

game hanging in the balance... exciting stuff!

[atomised]

Test cricket is so good when it goes to the last day with the result undecided. If the rest of the series is this good we're in for a treat

[kaosmark2]

Dreadful shots. Bell hasn't the character *

*please prove me wrong

I thought that. I've been incredibly critical of him these last 2 years for not standing up and scoring when the players above him haven't. Very very impressed by that century. Absolutely crucial.

Talk on the beeb about dropping Finn for Bresnan, Onions, or even Tremlett. I'd like the selectors to consider the conditions before doing so. I suspect it's a toss-up between Finn and Bresnan, and I'd be inclined to say that if we win they'll probably stick with the same team completely. My thought would be that if we're dropping Finn for being expensive then Onions usually offers greater control, tightening up an end to allow the other bowlers to take wickets. I love Swann, but he's very much a wicket-taking spinner than a controlling spinner, and I'd like to see someone in that can tie up an end for a while. Otherwise, I'd think Finn is more likely to get a key wicket than Bresnan. Can't see Tremlett leapfrogging 3 others after all his injuries.

Batting lineup wise, I'm not convinced by Bairstow yet either. He's had 3 50s, with the 95 against the Saffers and the partnership with Root being classy, but he's not looked brilliant otherwise. I can't see them changing the lineup until after the 2nd Test, but if Root struggles at the top again I'd guess he could be pushed back down and Compton brought back. I'd like to see James Taylor get given another shot, I was impressed with how he played in the partnership with KP against the Saffers last summer, even if he didn't score highly.

[lharris92]

well that was nervy!

[lost]

won on the better use of reviews, England having the 2 left for Hadden whilst Aus had none for Broad, I'd say both players knew they hit it.

[kaosmark2]

Far too nervy. Finn's poor form made it a lot harder, particularly when Anderson went off with that injury. I thought when he dropped that catch that that was it, Aus would win, but thank fuck for Jimmy. He's such a great bowler and bails us out time and again.

I'm definitely of the opinion Finn needs to be dropped for a bit now. He's definitely got a major future in Test cricket, but struggled a bit against NZ and had a poor match this Test. With Cook not going to him much and that 15-run over I'd be surprised if the selectors keep him now. I'd like to see Onions but as I said above I suspect Bresnan.

I don't know if it's selective memory or a genuine concern, but it seems to me that we struggle more than most teams to take the final wicket or two in recent times. Tino Best a year ago comes to mind, both innings of this Test, I'm sure it happened against the Saffers (what partnership was it Philander did that well in?) and in the UAE. I know the Aussies don't really have a tail so much as a lot of lower-order batsmen (half of whom are in the top order), but there seem to have been a few lower-order records broken against our bowling attack. Not a good sign, particularly considering the theme of batting issues in first tests.