WI v Eng 4th test

England in bat , doing well.

139/0 . Straussy 88, Cooky 51

Harmy dropped for Sidey, Bopariy in for Flinty, and Ambrosey in for Priory.

Just passed 200 without loss

ohhh, a bit of a wobble, as the windies get a brace of wickets and are definately on top in this after-tea session. Shah goes after a 49 ball 7 runs and a massive total looks very unlikely. i don't think i've been so glad to see collingwood come in.

I'm loving Strauss's new found aggression, another big century.

259-3

301/3 at stumps, another good day for England. More of the same tomorrow please :-)

301-3 at close of first day's play

great stuff, the windies really fumbled the ball at the end there, in every sense. England just stopped scoring around 260, the ball started turning viciously and it looked possible the day could end at 280-5. but gayle took the new ball and the runs suddenly came, about 40 in 5 overs, including lots of wides and no balls. And they dropped five catches.

England finish day one on top.

windies 607/6 at tea. im confused, why did we go into this game with only 4 main bowlers, knowing that Sidebottom wasnt fully fit? Yes granted Bopara did well with the bat but i would have thought that losing freddie would have meant a bowler coming in, after all that is what he gets into the side for these days. Another mistake by the non-coach

windies 607/6 at tea. im confused, why did we go into this game with only 4 main bowlers, knowing that Sidebottom wasnt fully fit? Yes granted Bopara did well with the bat but i would have thought that losing freddie would have meant a bowler coming in, after all that is what he gets into the side for these days. Another mistake by the non-coach

Especially as we need to win this test to be able to win the series. Sidebottom is a liability as he's so injury prone, and if the ball doesn't swing for him he's Joe Average anyway. Typical 'try not to lose' mentality, would rather not take a chance on winning if it might mean losing. If they were worried about Ambrose not being good enough with the bat, why not try Rashid who can bat a bit as well, to strengthen the lower order?

Especially as we need to win this test to be able to win the series. Sidebottom is a liability as he's so injury prone, and if the ball doesn't swing for him he's Joe Average anyway. Typical 'try not to lose' mentality, would rather not take a chance on winning if it might mean losing. If they were worried about Ambrose not being good enough with the bat, why not try Rashid who can bat a bit as well, to strengthen the lower order?

Who would be wicket keeper?

batting, after the ARG test wasnt a worry for me this time round, our failure to take 20 wickets at the ARG was, so what do we do, drop a bowler and go with 4. Hussain on commentry yesterday said that he felt sidebottom, anderson, broad are all to similar, making it easier for the batsmen to pick, he suggested going into the next test with 2 spinners, Swann and Rashid to mix it up a bit.

Counts as a win,

We scored more runs and lost less wickets.

Counts as a win,

We scored more runs and lost less wickets.

shame it doesnt level the series

Who would be wicket keeper?

 

batting, after the ARG test wasnt a worry for me this time round, our failure to take 20 wickets at the ARG was, so what do we do, drop a bowler and go with 4. Hussain on commentry yesterday said that he felt sidebottom, anderson, broad are all to similar, making it easier for the batsmen to pick, he suggested going into the next test with 2 spinners, Swann and Rashid to mix it up a bit.

That was what I was suggesting; not dropping Ambrose for Rashid, playing Rashid in place of of Bopara. Rashid would enable us to play five bowlers without compromising the batting too much. Whoever decides these things obviously thought Ambrose couldn't be trusted to get runs though, hence dropping the bowler which is criminal when you are behind in the series. Without Freddie or Harmison we have no fast 'back of a length' bowlers, just skiddy medium-fast / fast-mediums which on their own don't look threatening enough.

That was what I was suggesting; not dropping Ambrose for Rashid, playing Rashid in place of of Bopara. Rashid would enable us to play five bowlers without compromising the batting too much. Whoever decides these things obviously thought Ambrose couldn't be trusted to get runs though, hence dropping the bowler which is criminal when you are behind in the series. Without Freddie or Harmison we have no fast 'back of a length' bowlers, just skiddy medium-fast / fast-mediums which on their own don't look threatening enough.

yes i agree, sorry i misunderstood your post. Flower was interviewed after the game and said that he felt that even having 11 bowlers on that pitch wouldnt have helped as it was soo flat, can kinda see where he is coming from but i would like to have seen what SH could have done with his bounce on there. Still, we will see what happens on Friday, we need to take 20 wickets to draw the series so will we stick with 4? Hope not