Ok, who has been giving England lessons in how to bat.
I mean 553/5 at lunch on the second day. Is the pitch playing that true??
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Ok, who has been giving England lessons in how to bat.
I mean 553/5 at lunch on the second day. Is the pitch playing that true??
It sure beats the embarrassing 51 all out they had a few weeks ago. When are they going to declare?
600/6 dec. Ambrose misses out on the chance of a hundred but Bopara notched his. This is England's first 600 since the one they scored against SA back in 2004 when Flintoff smeared it all round the ground in a 99 partnership with Harmison (who didn't contribute many to it). That led to a convincing win... let's hope they can do it again, they've left themselves three days plus an hour and a half to bowl WI out twice.
...And an early wicket for England, with a not-out decision referred to the third umpire, Gayle falls to Anderson after the replays!
I see the Windies have 85 for 1 wicket at close of play today, so they haven't had an early collapse, and might still pull out of this position to draw the game. But a first innings score of 600 declared is a remarkable achievement.
Pakistan and Sri Lanka just drew a match in which the latter led off with 600+ and Pakistan responded with 700+. Plainly the pitch favoured the batsmen far too much. :geek:
I see the pitch is stil playing true for the West Indies batsmen.
What are the odds they will score at least 450 runs?
I would guess this one is going to go the same as the last Test Match.
Yup, the smart money's going to be on another bore-draw. That inexplicable blow-out in the First Test has cost them dear - tread on one banana skin and that's the series gone.
The other point to come out of the game is that the new referral system needs an overhaul, or at least better technology to assist.
Perhaps they should give Hawkeye to the third umpire to let him make a decision.
Well, the West Indies have overtaken the total and we still have four sessions to play.
Odds on a 100 run lead and an England collapse coming up?
I surely hope not - although there was a flurry of wickets on the last day of the Pak - SL match linked above (if five wickets is a flurry). True, a couple of winters ago England managed to score 550 in the first innings and lose, but you'd like to think they're not going to set an embarrassing record by making it 600.
This is the England Cricket Team.
If anyone is capable of losing having scored 600 runs in the first innings, it's them.
Re: Referrals, there are two problems
1) They take so bloody long. If the ball pitches outside leg or something they should be done in 5 seconds tops. Still, Tests are five DAYS, the time taken isn't important if it means a Tendulkar/KP/whoever isn't given out wrongly.
2) Daryl Harper needs his eyes checked. Almost all the wacky decisions have been his. Technology itself doesn't make decisions, umpires do, and they've been doing a rubbish job of it.
First session should be fun. Fresh WI bowlers, no reason not to have a real go at England. And England are just great under pressure, of course.
That's not quite true. The umpire has access to a set of cameras based around the ground but does not have access to all the cameras placed by the TV companies so what the viewer sees at home is far more than the umpire gets to base his decision on.
Saying that, a fifth day collapse would just rub it in for the England team.
3) The interminable debates they provoke among the commentators make me want to cry. It's worse than the 2005 Ashes when Atherton couldn't shut the hell up about Shaun Tait's "slingy action," and that got me so angry I punched a nun.Quote:
Originally posted by Discordia
Interesting stat: prior to February 2009 there had never been an instance, in all Test cricket ever, of one side scoring 600 and the other side responding with 700 - and then it happens twice in far-removed corners of the world in like a week. Unreal. And over in the subcontinent, the high scoring continues. I don't say that I'd put money on Pakistan making 700 this time too, but if I were making book I'd look at that score of 110/1 and that one wicket a run-out, and be chary of putting the odds too high.
Looks like this one is petering out into a bore draw. They will probably call a halt to it shortly.
Looks like England have one last chance to square the series.
That is strange. But unfortunately it says more about the quality of the wickets than that of the batsmen, I think. I haven't seen any of the Pakistan-Sri Lanka test, but the one in Bridgetown is just boring. There is no tension, no exitement (though that could still come - English collapse is always a possibility these days.)Quote:
Originally posted by Malacandra
Not on this wicket, apparent - 270-odd for two by the close, and no real risk of anything untoward happening. 17 wickets over five days... had it been a Timeless Test we'd have been looking at teatime on the 12th day for a finish. :o Which answers any questions of why they don't just play to a finish.
Under the circumstances it's a shame England didn't try to convert that 600-6 into a real record score.
Well, that's that. A draw it is with just enough time for Cook to get a meaningless century.
Just Port of Spain left to salvage something.
Holy crap, Sri Lanka vs Pakistan has been called off - the SL team bus has been attacked by terrorists. No players killed but they're off back home. :shock:
WTF! - That's just horrible - and at least 5 Pakistani policemen have been killed. Until now the targeting of cricketers by terrorists in the Subcontinent was unthinkable to me - cricket is everything to so many people there. Come to think of it - that might be part of the terrorist agenda. Sad day.
Just been listening to coverage of this on 5 Live - incredibly sad day for Pakistan and Cricket. One policeman dead and a whole raft of people injured. As I got into the shower the miltary helicopters were landing at the ground to get the Sri Lankans away and to hospital. Sounds like there are a number of shrapnel wounds in that dressing room (some potentially serious) and at least one gunshot wound.
Fully agree.Quote:
Until now the targeting of cricketers by terrorists in the Subcontinent was unthinkable to me - cricket is everything to so many people there. Come to think of it - that might be part of the terrorist agenda. Sad day.
That said, surely this can't help their cause? If anything they've just alienated a whole raft of Pakistanis. It would be like Basque terrorists targetting a Barcelona game.
I don't think the terrorists have a lot of sympathy in Pakistan anyway. And that's not what they are aiming for here, either. They want instability and fear and they seem to be mighty good at creating that.Quote:
Originally posted by Garius
And btw: Barcelona is Catalan, not Basque - it would be more like the ETA targeting an Athletic Bilbao game.
Aye - the moment I hit submit I realised I'd stuffed that up!Quote:
And btw: Barcelona is Catalan, not Basque - it would be more like the ETA targeting an Athletic Bilbao game.
No worries. I just figured you were American when I read your post. Now seeing you are not, I humbly apologize.Quote:
Originally posted by Garius
Carry on.