QDK retiring from test cricket presumably means he will be available again for the 100 (should he wish to take part again). Rather than coming over here to tour with SA between early/mid July (the first match is an ODI on 19 July) through to mid September (the fifth day of the final test is on 12 Sep), his tour will now conclude on 31 July (at the Bowl, as it happens). The dates for the 100 haven't yet been confirmed, but the expectation is that the tournament will commence very shortly after the Commonwealth Games ends on 8 August.
I saw Steve Smith spent an hour stuck in a lift yesterday. It would only have taken an England player 5 minutes to get out.
The SA v India second test looks good with India trying their Best with the ball after an underwhelming first innings. A substantial.first.innings lead for SA will.really.put the pressure on India. PS: SA have a more than useful left arm.quickie - Jansen!!
Good Luck to England in the 4th test. It would be good to see them perform.well and perhaps save their test careers. They have been flayed enough in the press!
Have you seen the interview with Ashley Giles on the. BBC ? it gives an interesting alternative view imho . In case you haven’t and want to . https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/59865092
Thank for the link but I did read it. Just hoping now that the pressure of winning back the Ashes is off, the batsmen won't be so.fearful.of making a mistake.
Fine . I just liked listening to Ashley . I hate the written word if you can hear . See the person . Off to bed for me , not sleep , going to listen to TMS . TTFN !
Congratulations to Bangladesh on their fantastic 8 wicket win against.New Zealand. An unbelievable result, a wonderful performance.
What a pity the SA v India test series is only over three tests! SA have just levelled to.set up an intriguing final test. Given the margin of víctory in both tests, these two teams are quite evenly matched!
Where are all the cricket fans after Bairstow scores 103 not out? Just seen the incident where Stokes off stump was clipped by the ball, the bails didn’t come off, yet the umpire still tried to give him out, possibly thinking the ball had clipped his pad, which was a poor decision in itself as the ball was nowhere near his pads.
Cricket fan here!! Bairstow scores, (I think), his 7th test century. Only Root and Stokes have scored more. How strange he didn't play in the first 2 tests? A natural number 6, whether keeping or not. Just got to find bats 1,2 and 3.. and we would have a team..
A 5-0 avoided. Does anyone here think that England would have performed better playing two of the Shield sides prior to the first test and squeezed in another after maybe the second or third tests? That would have lengthened the tour by three weeks. But compared to tours of yesteryear, stretching the tour to include three or four games against Shield sides would still be short!! As for this test, the Oz captain was over- cautious on his declaration, and should have ser a smaller total over a longer timespan.
I think I can get why the teams seem so happy clappy . What with covid , bubbles etc . I do wonder , if a lot of it is to do with the amount of time some players spend in close proximity as team mates , with all the other formats of the game . Another point , I would love to know what Captains of both teams from the past / Hussein / Atherton. And Border / s Waugh would make of it all .
I 'm following the SA v India series very closely. Every Indian dismissal thus far out to a catch. SA batters caught or bowled. Thus far, every run is hard earned, every wicket grafted for between these two evenly balanced teams. I would think India would need to set a target of at least 250 in order to make SA work hard for víctory.
Very poor batting from India in their second innings, Pant apart. It is SA's to lose as I am sure their batsmen will be more disciplined on this slow.pitch.
SA need 211 to win the series. Oñe interesting fact is that all the Indian batters were out caught in both their innings. I wonder if this is quite unique? Brendy, Tom, Chilco, Dave??
