Well, bit of a damp squib to the end of the Test series v Windies, literally. On to the ODI's now, i've got a ticket for the Rose Bowl on Saturday, which should be good as I believe Gayle,Pollard and Narine are back. England are KP-less after his decision to quit one-dayers (shame), so it will likely be a much more even competition. Windies could field Gayle,Barath,Samuels,Chanda,Pollard,Smith,Sammy,Ramdin,NArine,Best,Rampaul
Horrific story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-18492564 Best wishes to his entire family - absolutely awful.
Ok, been a long time since last cricket post. Eng v SA starts at The Oval this Thursday - its no 1 v no 3 , however, whoever wins the series will be No 1 - so a huge series. Both teams similar in their skillbase, SA will be tough to beat, what with Steyn (no 1 bowler in the world) and Philander (quickest ever to 50 test match wickets) and not to mention 4 of their top 6 batsmen are in the top 10 in the world. A huge series,i go for an England 1-0 win with 1 wash-out and 1 draw. What do you think?
Evening Stu - well, they've gotta be a tougher prospect than the West Indies or Australia but I just wonder what the unexpected loss of Boucher will do to them, both psychologically and to the playing balance of the team. Apparently, the young man taking his place is an ace keeper, but he's no batsman at all which may mean the batting having to be strengthened at the cost of the bowling. Whatever the line-up, I love watching Kallis - fabulous all-rounder. 2-0 England, one draw.
2-0 England. Anderson to replace stayn as under 1 bowler. Cook to top the runs chart. Kp to score at least one massive innings, not just in numbers but style as well!
D'OH, scrub that - forgot how good De Villiers was behind the sticks. The ball from Kallis that got Ian Bell was just beautiful. Amla's a wonderful player to watch, always seems to have time, the mark of real class. Fierce beard, too. Fine day's play between two well-matched sides. This is what test cricket should look like, a real contest.
That was a right tonking today, and no mistake. Commentary - Aggers - Someone's e-mailed in to say Geoffrey Boycott's autobiography should have been called 50 Shades of Cricket. Boycott: Would have sold a few more... Aggers: Geoffrey, have you read 50 Shades of Grey? Boycott: No, I have not. Aggers: My wife read it on holiday. (Pause) No change yet...
And another one today... As an object lesson in finely controlled brutality, Kallis' innings would be difficult to better and even though Amla's pretty much on his knees, the bowlers seem unable to respond to his beautiful technique. Awesome stuff.
We are having it handed to us. We always struggle against Amla, but a triple century is a joke. This will be over before lunch, easy.
It's mad to think that if Strauss had caught him that would of been 270 runs knocked off and a massive confidence boost for the english bowlers, it could of been so different! Still 2 tests to play and we can turn it around! Do we bring Finn in though and if so for who? There has been talk of him replacing Bopara but I'd say bring him in for Bresnan he had a poor test (well all the bowlers did) but i think Bopara is the better all-rounder if you compare him to Bresnan
My opinion is that both Bopara AND Bresnan should go. Bresnan just trundled up and bowled and Bopara quite clearly doesnt have 'it'. Finn can come in for Bresnan to give us a bit of pace, and Morgs can come back in at no 6. The plain stats show in first test how many times did the England bowlers bowl bouncers or Yorkers in the SA innings? - very few,and yet i can think of at least 4 English wickets caused by bouncers/short balls- we just seemedto want to trundle up every ball and put no effort into our bowling unlike SA. Also, how many England wickets were out due to good bowling? - fewer than 50 per cent i would suggest - most of the wickets were down to injudicious shots- Straus's in 2nd innings probably the worst. Very poor - only Cook,Trott,Prior and maybe Bell came out with any credit - although Bells dismissal in 2nd inning was just a dreadful shot.
Ok, things fairly equal after day 2 - must admit, after looking at the weather forecast, i have placed a sizeable bet on a draw for this game.
This thread will remain sticky during tests only. Sorry for any inconvenience caused, it's just a matter of keeping the page tidy
Yes, no matter what sort of person everyone thought he was before, good luck - always best wishes to who has been through that and come out the other side.
