chrisobee

Have to be honest and say that mistaking Wayne Thomas with Dan Harding is pretty nigh on impossible so fair play to that journo for managing it !!

Whatever has gone has gone, very noticeable Matt always refered to Saints as "us" and "we" during his analysis on Sky. This is still his club as much as any supporter, the main difference being we put our money into it, he put his whole footballing career into it. Was very pleased to see the reception he got though in spite of a few nasty comments on here I saw no reason to expect otherwise.

What nonsense , 2nd bottom below Burnley I reckon !

As good as it was it's far more miraculous you spotted it, as I might have thought "norway would that dimbrain spot it" TBH

Fair to say it was nice and subtle but I spotted it straightaway

Grief, puts football into perspective. RIP.

Indeed it happens in most sports and it does seem a typical British way of things to build people up and then knock them down again. I guess some people get some perverse pleasure out of going that. Quite pathetic. You can bet that if the Aussies had to chose one batsman not to play it would be Pietersen, he can be arrogant of course but many great players have that streak in them and often it is what really sets them apart.

Fair enough, I wasn't criticising Ervine though both of the near run outs were too close for comfort ! But since he got home both times then it was superbly judged running !

Ah, that WAS the Children in Need ( earplugs!!) performance !

I was aware of it it because they sang it on I think it was Children In Need a few years back when everything in the garden was still sweetness and light!

Thank you, you are spot on. And it's about 100 miles even by car but travelling into Victoria for the coach makes it even further. Waterloo is no better and granted I'd save a bit of time by rail but would make it even more expensive.

Whatever it was it's not generally being discussed, more akin to the posts you get on TMS to be honest which is where it now probably belongs and I doubt what the original poster had in mind.

Indeed, it takes me around 10 hours by tube and coach to get to Southampton and back and costs around £50 or so give or take. If I lived locally I would do as I always did and buy a ST, something I continued to do for over 10 years after moving to London in 1980. But in all honesty I'd have to be barking mad to leave home at about 7am tomorrow when I can relax at home and watch the game at no extra cost !

TBH for this alone I'd be inclined to strangle the pair of them ! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s5EAPdBv84

Lancs 65/1 off 23 overs, wicket for Griffiths. However, as I feared our bowling line up is looking very thin and Tahir has bowled 6 overs already. Odds on another draw I fear unless Tahir and Dawson can find some turn but the Rose Bowl is a very good batting pitch these days of course.

147/3. Ponting lbw to Broad for 78. This could be over in 2 days!

A Test average of 44 is by no means shabby for an opener. Whatever people think of Boycott he was a very good player, his career average ? 47. How about Gooch ? 42. Oh, don't forget the excellent Trescothick, his average ? Pretty much identical to that of Cook . So you like to think you have been right and if in your own mind you think that is the case I will not shatter your delusions.

At last. A 2nd wicket, Watson out lbw to Onions.

I was so torn between the Aussie bowlers, in the end I typically left Siddle out !

Boycott always needs something to moan about otherwise he's not happy!

337 all out. Lancs 9/0. It was pretty much all Ervine in the 10th wicket partnership of 50and he was out for 114. However, great credit to Tomlinson for hanging in and being 6*. A very lop sided scorecard with Ervine 114, Adams 107 and the next best being Carberry with 33.

Very few wicket keepers are TBH !

Shah, Key, Trott and Denly must all come into the picture I think. We are almost certainly going to need to win and one can only hope Flintoff is fit as he's just about the only player who can produce a performance to match Botham in 1981. I do think we are 1-0 up in this series in spite of our fragile batting, Bopara should be dropped and Bell will be lucky to keep his place. Other things being equal ( everyone fit) I'd like to see a line up something like this: Strauss Cook Key Shah Collingwood Prior Flintoff ( or Broad to keep his place) Swann Anderson Harmision Onions In fact this is the team ( with Broad of course in) that I would have liked for Headingley though possibly a batsman in for Flintoff rather than keeping Broad in the side.

Pretty shambolic it has to be said though to single out Cook is totally unfair. He's been struggling all summer with his technique but it's a fact he is known as a very mentally tough player. At least he has shown the bottle to try to fight his way through it and 30 is a decent effort in the context of 102 all out, that's only possible to disagree with if you have a particular dislike for him TBH. I was surprised England actually weakened their batting by not playing another batsman, ie Trott to balance the loss of Flintoff though in this instance I doubt it would have made much difference.

If you have already made them it will be fine. Was waiting to see if Flintoff and Haddin were playing amongst others. Replaced Flintoff with Stuart Clark.