England test cricket

[Mav3rick]

Really great win, even Cook showed some emotion as the final wicket went down. That kind of match is what got me into test cricket in the first place (in 2005 with THAT ashes series). The topsy turvy competitive nature of the event with all results possible at times and players on both sides with bat and ball fighting to turn the match. Really good stuff.

[forestfan]

Great turnaround by the whole team, everyone chipped in... a few still need a more substantial contribution to cement their places long term but they will surely all get the chance to do so at the Oval.

A couple of years ago we would have lost this match heavily (even given Pakistan's self-destructive tendencies). This can only help the confidence of the veterans and relative newcomers alike.

[liquidfootball2]

England not surprisingly set to name an unchanged team for The Oval test starting tomorrow.

[liquidfootball2]

England won the toss and bat (slightly difficult decision as overcast and some grass on so could be difficult early on)

Holding and Botham reckon he made a big mistake and should have inserted Pakistan, as looks great for the seamers

[liquidfootball2]

55-1

Helpful conditions for the seamers with lots of pace and movement off the pitch plus swing and bounce.

Hales has gone early for 6 in slightly controversial circumstances.

Third umpire Joel Wilson had no real choice but to uphold umpire Bruce Oxenfords 'soft onfield' decision ct at square leg. Hales was convinced it hadn't carried - the TV cameras didn't give an absolutely conclusive view but he was obviously extremely unhappy to be given out. In the absence of any evidence to the contrary the third umpire had to go with Oxenford's soft signal of out.

29-1

Hales very unhappy and shook his head all the way back, tough to say whether it was incorrect as both fielder and batsman seemed convinced that they were right.

Later 55-1 after 12 overs Cook 28*, Root 15*

[liquidfootball2]

Pakistan now right on top with a real clatter of wickets Cook, Root and Vince gone

75-4

[liquidfootball2]

118-5 Ballance the latest wicket

Cook's decision to bat first in really helpful conditions for bowling looking very shaky

[liquidfootball2]

Update - 173-5 Bairstow 51*, Ali 29*

[liquidfootball2]

200 (for 5) up for England and Ali joins Bairstow in the 50s

[liquidfootball2]

Bairstow goes for 55 driving Amir inside edge ct by keeper at 203-6

Now 222-6

Woakes 11*, Ali 61*

[liquidfootball2]

Update :- 274-6 Woakes 42*, Ali 82*

Decent lower middle order recovery from 74-4 and 110-5

Woakes went soon after for 45

282-7

[liquidfootball2]

Broad out second ball, reviewed and umpires call shows ball just shaving the stumps as close as you can get but had to go

[liquidfootball2]

313-9 Ali 103*, Jimmy 2*

[liquidfootball2]

All out 328 Ali last man out for 108 leaving would be centurion Jimmy frustrated on 6

[liquidfootball2]

Aslam lbw Broad 3

At the close Pakistan 3-1 trail England by 325 with 9 wickets left

Turned out not too badly for England and surely strong favourites now.

[foxinthebox2001]

This looks like going the distance, had a concern Pakistan may collapse early, maybe if some catches had been held...
I am there tomorrow so I hope this weather holds up, taking my factor30 just in case.
Got the ticket last November, didnt realise it would clash with the opening prem weekend.

[forestfan]

Another lead of well over 100 conceded, lightning unlikely to strike twice, so looks like this series will finish Desmond unless there's a mighty rearguard action from our batsmen. You can't expect to win Tests when you're being bowled out for 300 first up on flat pitches - two or three are playing for their futures which will add to the pressure in the second innings.

In terms of planning for the trip to India, I can see them possibly replacing Vince and Ballance with Stokes and Rashid - that would give us seven frontline bowlers, five seamers and two spinners, without significantly weakening the batting. All-rounders are our strong suit and we're heading towards fielding a whole XI of them!

Cook
Hales/Robson/AN Other
Root
Ali
Stokes
Bairstow
Woakes
Rashid
Broad
Anderson
Finn/Wood

[liquidfootball2]

It was a poor decision from Cook, should have taken advantage of good bowling conditions and a pitch that did plenty on the first day for some time.

[Maldini]

Monday morning quarterback of the week award goes to....

[forestfan]

It did seem a questionable decision at the time as it was the most likely day to offer the bowlers a bit, even though our top order gave them a big helping hand.

We need to bat for at least a day and a half to save this now, will have to be an Atherton/Russell type effort... Pakistan deserve something out of this series, and any Asian team who can avoid defeat over here has a legitimate claim to be the top Test side in the world, flawed as they are.

[forestfan]

Has Hales played his last Test innings? 11 matches and still averaging under 30, got some decent scores against a limited Sri Lanka attack but his "block or boundary" approach has been found out against decent attacks.

If Vince doesn't get a score here it's pretty obvious he will get the winter off (or probably captain the Lions, anyway). We're no nearer to solving the top order issues than a year ago, in any case.

[forestfan]

And Vince signs off with a duck. Will we even make them bat again? I thought we'd left this kind of capitulation behind a couple of years ago.

[liquidfootball2]

And Vince signs off with a duck. Will we even make them bat again? I thought we'd left this kind of capitulation behind a couple of years ago.

Agree it could well be the last we see of a few of them, although Bayliss seems to persist with batsmen where he thinks there's potential and even judges such as Nasser think it would be foolish to abandon Vince. I may disagree but I really am not an expert.

One thing that's worse than batting failures is BT Sport and its pathetic coverage - breaks down on my PC - and we get a good wifi signal here plus have Microsoft ten etc using their own windows explorer tool too.

Trying to watch City's match is currently stop start with buffering, really annoying. I hate their commentary too wish someone would get rid of them.

[Maldini]

They need to investigate why the groundsmen at the London venues insist on preparing pitches that are more suited to their attack than ours.

There you go Yasir, that should do you nicely.

[forestfan]

And Vince signs off with a duck. Will we even make them bat again? I thought we'd left this kind of capitulation behind a couple of years ago.

Agree it could well be the last we see of a few of them, although Bayliss seems to persist with batsmen were he thinks there's potential and even judges such as Nasser think it would be foolish to abandon Vince. I may disagree but I really am not an expert.

They don't have to abandon him for good, he's young enough for another go, but seven Tests without a fifty wouldn't be great for a bowling all-rounder, never mind a supposed specialist.

They should send him on the Lions tour, tell him to average 50+ in a season or two of top division Championship cricket and earn himself another chance when a vacancy arises. Then we'll see if he meets the challenge or disappears into obscurity. The problem is there's so many holes to fill, do they take a punt on youngsters or go back to people they had seemingly consigned to history, or just reshape the balance of the side e.g. by moving Bairstow and Ali up the order and bringing in another keeper/spinner/all-rounder?

[forestfan]

Made them bat again at least... had we been able to set them 150 you never quite know with Pakistan, but once again nobody got set and made a really big score, just too much left for the all-rounder engine room to do. Like with the athletics, it was all down to Mo and a ginger bloke

[liquidfootball2]

Made them bat again at least... had we been able to set them 150 you never quite know with Pakistan, but once again nobody got set and made a really big score, just too much left for the all-rounder engine room to do. Like with the athletics, it was all down to Mo and a ginger bloke

Crikey you still watching must be a glutton for punishment , must admit i gave up on Friday especially with the football on live. Fantasy football and the prem a much bigger attraction than watching the death throes of this one.

[forestfan]

Made them bat again at least... had we been able to set them 150 you never quite know with Pakistan, but once again nobody got set and made a really big score, just too much left for the all-rounder engine room to do. Like with the athletics, it was all down to Mo and a ginger bloke

Crikey you still watching must be a glutton for punishment , must admit i gave up on Friday especially with the football on live. Fantasy football and the prem a much bigger attraction than watching the death throes of this one.

No, just keeping up with the score... might have got interesting again had they stuck it out for another session, but as expected it seems to be just fizzling out. Not the finish this series deserved - on the whole it's been a lot more exciting than last year's Ashes which somehow ended up 3-2 without a single close match.

[foxinthebox2001]

Pakistan only need another 24 runs yet they take tea?
Hoping to sell a few mores beers and burgers.
Cook's demeanour was little too laid back and good natured in that last half hour for me. On the verge of a 10 wicket mauling, was has he got to smile about?

[liquidfootball2]

Pakistan only need another 24 runs yet they take tea?
Hoping to sell a few mores beers and burgers.
Cook's demeanour was little too laid back and good natured in that last half hour for me. On the verge of a 10 wicket mauling, was has he got to smile about?

Maybe he supports Utd?