The Ashes, Second Test Lord's

First topic message reminder :

Harris and Khwaja in.
Aus's bowling depth is so good that they can drop who was rated to be their top fast bowler without blinking an eyelid.

mystiroakey wrote:India bring a few quid into the game and given there is only 10 test members - one country is 10% of the membership. if 20 big countries decided to give it the large in Football over a rule they could possibly make it stick!

Yes I understand that but there must be ways of turning the screws on them. Fine them every time a wrong decision is made in a test match - that may soon get them to change their minds.

India own the bat and ball in world cricket... And as the yard cricket rules state, whoever brings the bat makes the rules.

kingraf wrote:Heatwave continues?

 Heatwave continues in parts of the north/west, but it won't be quite so hot today on east side of England, including London - and there's a fair bit of patchy cloud.  But will be dry and things hot up again early part of next week.

Yes it isn't that hot in london- still warm and humid but with cloud cover. The ball could swing- i am only 6 miles from lords as the crow flies so it wont be much different there

warm here in the south west still but very windy up here in the higher bit.

Another 150 runs will make us 100% safe. Saying that if we didnt get another run I'd be confident of victory

Very good time for Rooty to get a good innings! Hopefully a NO.

Haha I love the Sky coverage, Nasser is really good

Indeed it is Mysti. Got a bit of luck yesterday getting away with what should have been a routine catch, now its time to take advantage

Need to be careful for the first 2 hours until the sun comes out

Worried about our stint as #1 at the moment. No signs of Australia having anything to stop the English juggernaut, and we are going to UAE next. We have India at home, but I cant believe any team can be wiped in three consecutive away Test series. Australia after that, so if England keep doing what they do, there might be a to-and-fro with the rankings

you are so far ahead though Graf. Yes UAE is seriously tough!! but you have the edge.

If we wipe aus in this first series aus will be really low ranked so if we also beat them heavily away we wont gain much ranking!

I am surprised to see we don't test ourselves against SA again for nearly another 30 months

CJ - thats a pity.I thnk will be at the end of our cycle by then, tbh. Kallis and Smith will likely be retired, Steyn will be 32, ABDV's back may also lead to retirement... Could be a very different team in 30 months

I know, I would far rather see them play in 2014

Well, if nothing else it could be a good chance to regain No.1 test team status.

50 up for England...never before has it felt like such an achievement!

Hopefully bat the day today. We already have enough, but another full day of Australia in the field will demoralise them further. Root needs some runs, and it's a perfect situation for him!

Yesterday was a crazy day.  Hope eng can have a more sensible day today.

kingraf wrote:Worried about our stint as #1 at the moment. No signs of Australia having anything to stop the English juggernaut, and we are going to UAE next. We have India at home, but I cant believe any team can be wiped in three consecutive away Test series. Australia after that, so if England keep doing what they do, there might be a to-and-fro with the rankings

Have you seen how far ahead you are?! England beating Australia ten nil would still mean we're 13 points behind you!

Duty281 wrote:

kingraf wrote:Worried about our stint as #1 at the moment. No signs of Australia having anything to stop the English juggernaut, and we are going to UAE next. We have India at home, but I cant believe any team can be wiped in three consecutive away Test series. Australia after that, so if England keep doing what they do, there might be a to-and-fro with the rankings

Have you seen how far ahead you are?! England beating Australia ten nil would still mean we're 13 points behind you!

Bloody hell! I had no idea their lead was that big.  

dyrewolfe wrote:

Duty281 wrote:

kingraf wrote:Worried about our stint as #1 at the moment. No signs of Australia having anything to stop the English juggernaut, and we are going to UAE next. We have India at home, but I cant believe any team can be wiped in three consecutive away Test series. Australia after that, so if England keep doing what they do, there might be a to-and-fro with the rankings

Have you seen how far ahead you are?! England beating Australia ten nil would still mean we're 13 points behind you!

Bloody hell! I had no idea their lead was that big.  

Well currently it's shaped like this:

South Africa - 135
India -116
England - 112

England would go up to 122 with a (rather unlikely) ten nil over Australia. It then of course rather depends on how South Africa do in the UAE, and at home to Australia and India. The latter two of which they should have little problem.

Now then, I might be jinxing him (hopefully not), but I have a good feeling that Root will make a 150+ score today with the bat.  

300 lead.
Another 100-150 runs (hopefully even more).

kingraf wrote:Worried about our stint as #1 at the moment. No signs of Australia having anything to stop the English juggernaut, and we are going to UAE next. We have India at home, but I cant believe any team can be wiped in three consecutive away Test series. Australia after that, so if England keep doing what they do, there might be a to-and-fro with the rankings

Kind of doesn't matter really though...SA won the heavyweight duel last year convincingly enough (though it was a pity it was only three Tests) so even if England did overhaul SA on points at some stage nobody would be claiming top dog status until they actually defeated them on the field...ideally England would be going to South Africa later this year rather than another Ashes series but that is just the way it goes...

I suspect SA is strong and consistent enough to hold the No 1 ranking for a while yet anyway. Though I think that current points gap exaggerates their superiority just a little.

Good description by Michael Vaughan: Watson and Ryan Harris - "look like a couple of oak wardrobes coming in to bowl...."

Steady first hour...Australian bowling quite tidy but these two have played well.
Pitch still looks batsman-friendly , which makes yesterday's events still more incomprehensible .

Good first hour for England that, dug in well, didn't lose a wicket, and added 39 runs.

The lead is over 300, and the game is safe. Isn't this nice?

Duty281 wrote:Now then, I might be jinxing him (hopefully not), but I have a good feeling that Root will make a 150+ score today with the bat.  

I hope not...as that would tend to suggest England have batted far too long. We only need to add 200 max to our 1st innings lead to bat Australia out of this.

Come on now young Joe. Perfect opportunity for you

kingraf wrote:Worried about our stint as #1 at the moment. No signs of Australia having anything to stop the English juggernaut, and we are going to UAE next. We have India at home, but I cant believe any team can be wiped in three consecutive away Test series. Australia after that, so if England keep doing what they do, there might be a to-and-fro with the rankings

our future record in series wins are more important to me mate, the ranking is just a number, I don't really care who has it.

We just need to win test series. That is all.

dyrewolfe wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Now then, I might be jinxing him (hopefully not), but I have a good feeling that Root will make a 150+ score today with the bat.  

I hope not...as that would tend to suggest England have batted far too long. We only need to add 200 max to our 1st innings lead to bat Australia out of this.

If we have the chance, we should declare at lunchtime tomorrow. 5 sessions to bowl Australia out is more than enough.

Duty281 wrote:

South Africa - 135
India -116
England - 112

England would go up to 122 with a (rather unlikely) ten nil over Australia. It then of course rather depends on how South Africa do in the UAE, and at home to Australia and India. The latter two of which they should have little problem.

I know you have to take these things with a pinch of salt but very surprised to see us behind India. I suppose as a result of losing at home to SA and a poor away series vs NZ whilst they whitewashed the Aussies. We are no doubt a better side in my view - beat them home and away recently.

mystiroakey wrote:Very good time for Rooty to get a good innings! Hopefully a NO.

Really hoping so.

Duty281 wrote:Good first hour for England that, dug in well, didn't lose a wicket, and added 39 runs.

The lead is over 300, and the game is safe. Isn't this nice?

i reckon England must now make hay while the sun shines, whether they get another 50 or 150 I think either will be enough.

Duty281 wrote:Good first hour for England that, dug in well, didn't lose a wicket, and added 39 runs.

The lead is over 300, and the game is safe. Isn't this nice?

Very.

I think you want 420 to call it safe as Aussie got that a few years ago chasing 500.

But yes , this already a nice start.

dyrewolfe wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Now then, I might be jinxing him (hopefully not), but I have a good feeling that Root will make a 150+ score today with the bat.  

I hope not...as that would tend to suggest England have batted far too long. We only need to add 200 max to our 1st innings lead to bat Australia out of this.

I think it is agreed though that England's batsmen could do with playing themselves into form and this is the perfect opportunity. Let them bat until bowled out as England already have enough runs now in my opinion. Time is certainly not an issue as we still have more than half of the test match left to play with the weather set fair. The win will come but maximise the time by allowing the batsmen to score runs, build confidence and help them for the rest of the series.

VTR wrote:

Duty281 wrote:

South Africa - 135
India -116
England - 112

England would go up to 122 with a (rather unlikely) ten nil over Australia. It then of course rather depends on how South Africa do in the UAE, and at home to Australia and India. The latter two of which they should have little problem.

I know you have to take these things with a pinch of salt but very surprised to see us behind India. I suppose as a result of losing at home to SA and a poor away series vs NZ whilst they whitewashed the Aussies. We are no doubt a better side in my view - beat them home and away recently.

Yeah we're clearly a better side. England are a bit isolated actually. We're a fair way behind the Saffers, and we're a fair way ahead of India/Australia/Sri Lanka.

As for the match, excellent from these 2 so far. The kind of partnership that is awful for the opposition. Bresnan turning out to be an inspired choice for nightwatchman as he can certainly bat time and has a few shots.

Agar's getting a fair bit of turn already, so Swann on Day 4 should be in his element with a good chance of getting 10 wickets in the match.

England should bat long here. Austrtalia are already out of this, but the England batting would take the confidence boost with a big collective innings. Cook, Trott and KP have let things down in that regard, but good time for Root to gain some confidence up front, more runs for Jonny Bairstow will help him settle, and Matt Prior in form is such a key for England. So bat on and on, this track tended to become the flattest of roads at times, so, even Clarke shouldn't have a chance. Good start from young Joe here, and Tim Bresnan has done a decent support act so far.

Duty281 wrote:

VTR wrote:

Duty281 wrote:

South Africa - 135
India -116
England - 112

England would go up to 122 with a (rather unlikely) ten nil over Australia. It then of course rather depends on how South Africa do in the UAE, and at home to Australia and India. The latter two of which they should have little problem.

I know you have to take these things with a pinch of salt but very surprised to see us behind India. I suppose as a result of losing at home to SA and a poor away series vs NZ whilst they whitewashed the Aussies. We are no doubt a better side in my view - beat them home and away recently.

Yeah we're clearly a better side. England are a bit isolated actually. We're a fair way behind the Saffers, and we're a fair way ahead of India/Australia/Sri Lanka.

i don't think you should throw away the Pakistan team either, they can be very dangerous.

And India isn't that far behind England either.

Duty281 wrote:

dyrewolfe wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Now then, I might be jinxing him (hopefully not), but I have a good feeling that Root will make a 150+ score today with the bat.  

I hope not...as that would tend to suggest England have batted far too long. We only need to add 200 max to our 1st innings lead to bat Australia out of this.

If we have the chance, we should declare at lunchtime tomorrow. 5 sessions to bowl Australia out is more than enough.

I dunno - I reckon we could declare some time after tea (around 4:00 - 4:30) and have the match wrapped up tomorrow. If we can, we may as well.

Duty281 wrote:

Yeah we're clearly a better side. England are a bit isolated actually. We're a fair way behind the Saffers, and we're a fair way ahead of India/Australia/Sri Lanka.

Yep I would go with that. I expect India to be resurgent now with some good young batting coming through and Ashwin getting back to form. To be honest I don't think we'd have won over there if they had played their best team rather than sticking with the favourites who were good 5 years ago.

50 up for Root. Much needed, both as a confidence booster and to help stake his claim as an opener.

50 for England's new opener.  

Good 50 for Root, under pressure as well. It looked like a pressure free situation he came in yesterday, but with those 3 wickets he really had to dig in last night and then move the game on today.

Fifty for Root , , and he celebrates with another nicely stroked cover boundary  

Had a bit of luck last night when Haddin and Clarke froze , but he is doing what a good player should and making them pay...

Might settle the "great selection blunder" theorists down a bit. Not proof that he is a born opener yet , but a start.

Biltong wrote:

Duty281 wrote:

VTR wrote:

Duty281 wrote:

South Africa - 135
India -116
England - 112

England would go up to 122 with a (rather unlikely) ten nil over Australia. It then of course rather depends on how South Africa do in the UAE, and at home to Australia and India. The latter two of which they should have little problem.

I know you have to take these things with a pinch of salt but very surprised to see us behind India. I suppose as a result of losing at home to SA and a poor away series vs NZ whilst they whitewashed the Aussies. We are no doubt a better side in my view - beat them home and away recently.

Yeah we're clearly a better side. England are a bit isolated actually. We're a fair way behind the Saffers, and we're a fair way ahead of India/Australia/Sri Lanka.

i don't think you should throw away the Pakistan team either, they can be very dangerous.

And India isn't that far behind England either.

Pakistan are a bit inconsistent, and I can't wait for England to go to the UAE to right a few wrongs. India are currently a developing team, so we'll have to wait and see there.

dyrewolfe wrote:

Duty281 wrote:

dyrewolfe wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Now then, I might be jinxing him (hopefully not), but I have a good feeling that Root will make a 150+ score today with the bat.  

I hope not...as that would tend to suggest England have batted far too long. We only need to add 200 max to our 1st innings lead to bat Australia out of this.

If we have the chance, we should declare at lunchtime tomorrow. 5 sessions to bowl Australia out is more than enough.

I dunno - I reckon we could declare some time after tea (around 4:00 - 4:30) and have the match wrapped up tomorrow. If we can, we may as well.

No rush sir. May as well wear the pitch down a bit more.

Its amazing how similar to the Oval 2009 Test this is so far

Biltong wrote:

kingraf wrote:Worried about our stint as #1 at the moment. No signs of Australia having anything to stop the English juggernaut, and we are going to UAE next. We have India at home, but I cant believe any team can be wiped in three consecutive away Test series. Australia after that, so if England keep doing what they do, there might be a to-and-fro with the rankings

our future record in series wins are more important to me mate, the ranking is just a number, I don't really care who has it.

We just need to win test series. That is all.

 Completely in agreement with this view .