The summer of cricket 2020

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Stokes gone at last...and Roach gets one at last ! Bit fluky , reverse leg side edge but I think Kemar was entitled to dome good fortune...

Hell of an innings from Stokes

Alfie - it may be stretching but getting them all out for under 170 to give us the option of enforcing the follow on should still be the aim imo.
Particularly as it's set to bucket down for two and a half days over the next three according to some of you guys!
Good start anyway by Broad. 1/1 and Broad relaxed enough to not demand a review next ball!

guildfordbat wrote:Alfie - it may be stretching but getting them all out for under 170 to give us the option of enforcing the follow on should still be the aim imo.
Particularly as it's set to bucket down for two and a half days over the next three according to some of you guys!
Good start anyway by Broad. 1/1 and Broad relaxed enough to not demand a review next ball!

Yes , the right aim , I would agree. That early wicket is an encouraging start . Always nice to have options ! Though I'm not sure this is a 170 pitch.

Weather forecast seems a little off today so I'm hopeful that in between showers there might be enough cricket played for a result ...

Bl...y H..l !

Stokes drops a sitter

Wow, Stokes drops a pretty simple one.

On the weather, it appears we were very lucky. Been raining in Manchester for the majority of the morning, but most of it avoided the Old Trafford area. If the BBC forecast is right, Sunday + Tuesday will be full days with only Monday being washed away. Of course we may lose some play for bad light as well...

Not good enough in these opening eight overs from Anderson + Broad. A little too short and too many balls well outside the line of off stump.

Campbell profiting from that early life...couple of nice strokes. But he never really suggests permanence , somehow. Maybe today will be the day he goes on ?

The difference West Indies will find is that unlike England yesterday they're not going to get much respite from the pace attack. The extra seamer should enable Root to keep at them throughout the day.

Campbell always strikes me as a flashy middle-order player, perhaps better suited to the ODIs than the Tests, but never a first-class opener.

Only one test fifty in his short career so far, against Afghanistan, though he's been given a good chance to improve on that today.

Solid start from the West Indies, here. 37/1 after 13 is a decent platform.

guildfordbat wrote:

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:3 6 9

Damn you fine

Hi Dolph - maybe you could have been a bit more gracious but still decent of you to acknowledge.  I am sure it will be appreciated by our Norfolk correspondent upon his return.*

Importantly, we now get the advantage of playing 5 frontline bowlers having sacrificed a batter for the partially incapacitated Stokes. Aim now should be to dismiss the Windies for under 170 and have the option of enforcing the follow on. I would almost certainly enforce it but I'm getting too ahead of myself!

* Hopefully with a stumping to silence his critics of last week.

I actually think my point has been proven! They've been saved by the heroics of a bowler who has looked a walking wicket for a while now. The "plan" somewhat failed, I think! Or at least the risk was exposed.

Granted, that one Woakes run could very well make all the difference

Dolph - it's how many. Not how.

England would have hoped for a bit more in the first 15 overs...

Should have at least two , of course. If Campbell goes big that miss might come back to haunt them. But too early to say how this will go. One wicket might well bring a couple : and while I don't think this pitch is hard to bat on , the pace men will probably feel there is always a chance for them in the sort of light conditions this match is being played in.

These two bats are playing sensibly. As West Indies have generally done in this series. Don't think they'll be skittled ; expecting this innings to be a decent battle , with patience a significant factor.

And there's the wicket ! Campbell doesn't handle the short fast one...good strike for Archer

Jofra at his best there. An hour too late, but Campbell's gone nonetheless.

Could slow the score down significantly with Hope barely playing any shots.

guildfordbat wrote:Dolph - it's how many. Not how.

Sitting on a lifeboat, watching the Titanic sink, boasting about how we were still gonna make it

You got me this time, England. But I've seen you collapse before and I'll see it again!

Stokes will be relieved too

Woakes giving the new batsman a nasty one to start with. England will be pushing to enlarge this breach...

Classic Anderson dismissal of Hope

Not much he could do with that one...would have got a lot of batsmen out. 58/3

Was a beautiful ball by Anderson. England will be much the happier going into the interval. Not sure about the follow-on, but England should get at least a 100 lead from this position.

Two hours of cricket in that session and England only got through 25 overs!

Wonder when the light will curtail things this evening?

No chance of this being another nail biter then.

Jimmy making the ball talk now ..and the fourth is gone already : 59/4 , Brooks a little inside edge...

A lot of pressure on Chase and Blackwood - again.

In fairness to the WIs, far better batting attacks have crumbled against this attack in these conditions.

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:

guildfordbat wrote:Dolph - it's how many. Not how.

Sitting on a lifeboat, watching the Titanic sink, boasting about how we were still gonna make it

You got me this time, England. But I've seen you collapse before and I'll see it again!

Of course you will and sometimes it'll be when we've played the extra batsman. You never can tell for sure and that's part of the beauty of this game.

At that, I'll end my preaching.

Blackwood is an England specialist, and Chase is excellent at hanging around.

Key partnership, this. They'll need to bat through at least most of this session if the West Indies are to make a significant score. Both Holder and Dowrich are pretty out of form with the bat - don't really know what Cornwall will bring to proceedings. The BBC have Holder batting below Cornwall, don't know how accurate that is.

alfie wrote:Jimmy making the ball talk now ..and the fourth is gone already : 59/4 , Brooks a little inside edge...

A lot of pressure on Chase and Blackwood - again.

Some lovely bowling from Anderson. Now England's leading wicket taker against the West Indies with 86 and going one ahead of Fred Trueman, albeit - as Trueman would have pointed out - in more matches.

Pleased to hear Holding give a shout out to John Snow in third spot with a mighty commendable 72 wickets from just 14 matches. Snow - the leading figure of England's attack for much of the time from the mid '60s to the mid '70s and a very fine bowler. Rarely mentioned these days. Strange.

Tough for the batsmen right now...if they get through this work over by Anderson and Broad : they'll be rewarded with a bit of Archer and Woakes

Over rate may not be too flash. But this attack allows Root to keep pressing them without much respite. If one more falls now it really could turn ugly for the tourists ...

Pretty sure Holder will be batting a bit higher than BBC are suggesting !

guildfordbat wrote:

alfie wrote:Jimmy making the ball talk now ..and the fourth is gone already : 59/4 , Brooks a little inside edge...

A lot of pressure on Chase and Blackwood - again.

Some lovely bowling from Anderson. Now England's leading wicket taker against the West Indies with 86 and going one ahead of Fred Trueman, albeit - as Trueman would have pointed out - in more matches.

Pleased to hear Holding give a shout out to John Snow in third spot with a mighty commendable 72 wickets from just 14 matches. Snow - the leading figure of England's attack for much of the time from the mid '60s to the mid '70s and a very fine bowler. Rarely mentioned these days. Strange.

True. Funny how Snow is almost overlooked - perhaps because he didn't play as many Tests as some since (Willis , Botham ) his figures don't stand out to younger people who never saw him ? I remember his efforts in Australia in 1970/71 very well ! Arguably the best ever England performance over a full Ashes Series in this country. (Well : in the mix , certainly - imagine Larwood , Tyson , for two might contest that ! But he really did have some quite handy Aussie bats all at sea in that series.
And was seriously "nasty" for a gentle soul who wrote poetry

Two for Broad now...Chase is walking off, no need to review that

Actually closer than it looked ...would have been umpires call on height. But not surprised it was given , and not reviewed : just looked out. Which it was , of course.

Tourists in a heap of trouble now.

Broad traps Chase dead in front. Big wicket.

West Indies still need 100-odd to avoid the possibility of following-on.

Holder strides out to the crease, before Dowrich and Cornwall.

Holder hasn't made a 50+ score in tests since that bizarre 202* against England in the Caribbean. He's had ten test innings since then, all of which have added up to fewer than 202 runs.

Duty281 wrote:Holder hasn't made a 50+ score in tests since that bizarre 202* against England in the Caribbean. He's had ten test innings since then, all of which have added up to fewer than 202 runs.

Was an outlier , no ? Almost Jason Gillespie territory

Bit of a poor review then by England : that was never going to be out. They still have two. But it was fishing...

Jofra getting a bit carried away with the short stuff then...bit of a waste of an over.
Drink time. Refocus.

Might see a couple from Bess just to mix it up , eh ?

Hope we return to two reviews per innings soon, three just encourages fishing like that last one.

If we accept Monday will be rained off, there's around 205-210 overs left, so still a tough ask for England to win from here, especially if we get some rain tomorrow as well.

Expect we will see Bess for at least a few overs this evening...anything to get the over rate up!

Lovely length from Woakes, Blackwood was starting to look good.

Can England get these last four for under 60? And would they enforce the follow-on if they did?

Actually, never mind, it's Holder and Dowrich at the crease. 300 partnership incoming...

Slightly innocuous delivery from Woakes to get Blackwood there.

A poor shot I must say. If an England bat, such as Bairstow for no particular reason, got out to that shot then a lot of us would be raging!

Blackwood had played well ...but Woakes produces a ripper to see him off

That follow on target looking a long way off now. Guildford might have an I told you...

Duty281 wrote:Lovely length from Woakes, Blackwood was starting to look good.

Can England get these last four for under 60? And would they enforce the follow-on if they did?

With the forecast and needing to win the test to take the series I think they would, yes. Particularly with 4 seamers and Bess not having had to bowl yet.

king_carlos wrote:Slightly innocuous delivery from Woakes to get Blackwood there.

A poor shot I must say. If an England bat, such as Bairstow for no particular reason, got out to that shot then a lot of us would be raging!

Harsh I think , KC...ball did him off the seam. He likes a drive , true. But I think you have to give the bowler a bit of credit there.

Vaughan making the old school but amusing suggestion on TMS that the Windies bowlers might not mind following on if it means not meaning to bowl again so soon with their seamers looking very tired yesterday

king_carlos wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Lovely length from Woakes, Blackwood was starting to look good.

Can England get these last four for under 60? And would they enforce the follow-on if they did?

With the forecast and needing to win the test to take the series I think they would, yes. Particularly with 4 seamers and Bess not having had to bowl yet.

I hope they would, too. Also got Stokes for a few overs if necessary.

Might be academic, though, as another Archer over starts with three consecutive boundaries.

The forecasts aren't so bad that they need to enforce a follow on. But England do have the luxury of a choice ( assuming they mop up the tail for chips and drinks )

alfie wrote:

king_carlos wrote:Slightly innocuous delivery from Woakes to get Blackwood there.

A poor shot I must say. If an England bat, such as Bairstow for no particular reason, got out to that shot then a lot of us would be raging!

Harsh I think , KC...ball did him off the seam. He likes a drive , true. But I think you have to give the bowler a bit of credit there.

It moved more than I thought on the replay to be fair. It wasn't really the length to drive though. Good bowling by Woakes to put it on that length where it's just full enough to draw him in.

Oh blimey, the light meter's coming out.

Follow on no sure thing as the runs are flowing in the last couple of overs.
Archer seems to find being hit for three boundaries amusing : not sure Anderson or Broad would be smiling

Holder is playing well - Dowritch looking clueless.

136/6 They need another 34

I think they'll avoid the follow-on. Dowrich batting like Tufnell in his prime, though that's more likely to get the umpires to intervene because of the light. Cornwall's got a tidy 20-odd FC average so might also add a few.

Goddammit light meters put

Disappointing end to a decent enough day from England. Its only weather that can save the west indies from here. How woakes ended up with just one wicket is baffling

Off they go. May be best for England actually. Archer - understandably - wanted another over at Dowritch. But he's probably bowled enough for this spell , and if the wicket didn't fall it is easy to see another few boundaries coming.
As it is - fresh start tomorrow , all the bowlers getting a nights rest.

Good day of cricket. England well on top after two...

Well that's that for the day. Enjoyable day of test cricket, the West Indies wrecking England in the first half hour through Gabriel and Roach, followed by Broad's superb counter-attack.

Six wickets, with all the seamers chipping in, has put England well on top, though we're probably down to only 188 overs of cricket left in the game.

(England's over rate was under 12 per hour in those two sessions, which is shocking.)

Duty281 wrote:I think they'll avoid the follow-on. Dowrich batting like Tufnell in his prime, though that's more likely to get the umpires to intervene because of the light. Cornwall's got a tidy 20-odd FC average so might also add a few.

Might be touch and go. Fresh bowlers in the morning , Dowritch looking like a rabbit in the headlights. And Gabriel one of the last four...

If they can get 'em out under 170 , I'd say the follow on is almost certain now ; as they obviously won't have bowled much in the morning. If they can't enforce it then Root might have some tactical decisions to make later on.

How's that weather looking now ?

alfie wrote:

Duty281 wrote:I think they'll avoid the follow-on. Dowrich batting like Tufnell in his prime, though that's more likely to get the umpires to intervene because of the light. Cornwall's got a tidy 20-odd FC average so might also add a few.

Might be touch and go. Fresh bowlers in the morning , Dowritch looking like a rabbit in the headlights. And Gabriel one of the last four...

If they can get 'em out under 170 , I'd say the follow on is almost certain now ; as they obviously won't have bowled much in the morning.  If they can't enforce it then Root might have some tactical decisions to make later on.

How's that weather looking now ?

Monday's still doomed. Might be a few showers around tomorrow/Tuesday, but hopefully nothing major. Only got in 73 overs today, but that's around 30 more than I thought would happen.

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/forecast/gcw25grrk#?date=2020-07-26
https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/6691246

Followed the last hour on TMS. They were saying that Monday is doomed everywhere in the country!

Another good day for England albeit a disappointing end to play. Vaughan throwing toys out of his pram over the decision to come off!

Maybe 40/60 now re us having the option to enforce the follow on. If we do, I would take it. As Alfie says, we'll have blown 'em away quickly to get the chance and should be raring to go again after a night's kip.

In line with TMS comments, that then gives the England players the opportunity to finish the game two days early, get out of their current bubble and return to their families.

Decent incentive for some, especially Jofra who is probably already missing again his girlfriend or pet pooch depending which newspaper you read!

guildfordbat wrote:

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:

guildfordbat wrote:Dolph - it's how many. Not how.

Sitting on a lifeboat, watching the Titanic sink, boasting about how we were still gonna make it

You got me this time, England. But I've seen you collapse before and I'll see it again!

Of course you will and sometimes it'll be when we've played the extra batsman. You never can tell for sure and that's part of the beauty of this game.

At that, I'll end my preaching.

There's never a sermon of yours I won't listen to

guildfordbat wrote:

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:3 6 9

Damn you fine

Hi Dolph - maybe you could have been a bit more gracious but still decent of you to acknowledge.  I am sure it will be appreciated by our Norfolk correspondent upon his return.*

Importantly, we now get the advantage of playing 5 frontline bowlers having sacrificed a batter for the partially incapacitated Stokes. Aim now should be to dismiss the Windies for under 170 and have the option of enforcing the follow on. I would almost certainly enforce it but I'm getting too ahead of myself!

* Hopefully with a stumping to silence his critics of last week.

Three snaffles behind the stumps today, in a 32 run victory. Ran myself out on 1 when batting though...

But glad to see you backing me right against that Hammers fan. Just watched the highlights, looks like another good day for England, really just the weather that can save the WIndies in this game now.

I know we’re fairly stingy with praise, but bar the first innings in Southampton, England have played pretty well this series, no?