Forum menu
Even better, real cricket starting on Saturday!! Sun is forecast, and its BYO tea. I think a duck is guaranteed!!
Play starting at 1400, England win toss and are batting first.
Yay! Cricket! 🏏
Bugger! For some reason I thought it started next week. I’ve missed 3.5 hours of rain chat :0(
Anyway, afternoon everyone, tea and chocolate brownies, help yourselves
England win toss and are batting first.
Interesting toss decision.
0/1. Ah it’s like cricket has never been away
Rain and an England opener out early. Normality is restored.
Good Inswinging length ball to be fair!
Normality is restored
The comforting normality of English wickets getting clattered.
Good delivery to get rid of Denly.
you get a better atmosphere at a village match, it's better when there's no play come on rain.
you get a better atmosphere at a village match, it’s better when there’s no play come on rain.
I'm pretty sure the ECB (or whatever they are called this week) would rather there were several thousand paying punters there too.
I’m enjoying the peace, got the ‘natural sound’ feed on
ol' Cooky comes across as a very nice chap.
Nurse Nurse he's fallen out of bed again 😀
Waddayarekonthen??
Draw? Bess to make a mark? Windies to chase down whatever we post with ease? If I were to put a pound on it I’d say the latter. Good test either way, enjoyed it even without the crowd.
RM.
3 from Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran and Ollie Robinson then.
Broad, Curran and Robinson for me.
Oh Jofra!
Given that this is the only international sport going on at the moment I cannot imagine the authorities haven't been 100% crystal clear on what you can and can't do. Silly boy.
Is this Ollie Robinson any good?
Ollie Robinson has got shed loads of wickets on the county scene, he's been knocking on the door for a while, he's pretty metronomic and all about line and length. There's a few concerns as to if he's one of those English County Championship bowlers who is a bit of a trundler and will get found out very quickly at a higher level where you need a bit more pace and a bit more guile.
I've watched a few vids. Tall, top of off stump bowler who moves it half a bat width either way. Looks good, but those vids were county batsmen.
Hopefully not another Overton. What he was doing the last time he played for England I cannot fathom. He was supposed to be a 'hit the deck' bowler but he was bowling floaty away swing and getting caned.
SO, maybe we should have stuck with Denley then...
Butler and Pope to come, could be some fireworks here.
It’s been swinging, spinning, and up & down all match, so 400+ is a good score!
Agree. 400 is a good score on this pitch, I wouldn’t want to bat 4th.
Well done to whoever picked that new ball
ol' cooky is still out on the pitch 😀 once a captain!
england have gone full 20-20
Stokes and Butler opening!
T20 style slog-fest coming up?
Oh. Remind me but when was the last time Buttler did something really good as a test player? There must have been a time but my memory fails me.
The slog-fest isn't quite working so far.
So weird and quiet watching the test without a crowd, it is like watching village cricket on the telly, with lots of added stats and analysis shots to replace the crowd
I feel for Buttler, a good innings first time round, tidy behind the stumps, and on a hiding to nothing today. If you get sent out to hit and get out trying just that then you can’t slate him to much.
He’s seen a a positive influence around the team and is apparently a good tactician. Plus he looks “right” and we all know how important that is.
I’m a former wicketkeeper and so would love to see a proper keeper like Foakes in the team but I don’t think Buttler deserves to be dropped just yet.
It's a tricky one. You are right that Butler was on a hiding to nothing, but so was Stokes and he's still there. Luck? Yes, probably, but you can't keep blaming luck.
Slog-fest is on!
Good start this is.
the windies are reeling
4 down. Weather looking decent all day.
Surely not even England can spanner it up from here!
I think you know the answer to that Flashheart. We have been here before – many times.
You see Flashheart, you only gone and bloody jinxed us.
Only one to go now.
#NeverInDoubt
Can I make a big shout here. Please, please don’t give Stokes the captaincy at any point.
He looked unburdened this test compared to the last, and we also know from the days of Botham and Flintoff that great, maverick all rounders don’t make good captains.
Morning everybody
I would have liked to have seen Broad and Anderson in action first thing today. Forecast doesn’t seem too great
England batting looks very light indeed. Root doesn't like batting at 3, Pope, Buttler and Woakes have got no runs at 5, 6 and 7 all series. I'd be very happy if I was a West Indian bowler.
Bowling unit looks strong though if they all fire, but I would have used Curran, possibly in place of Woakes.