Right then. 45 minutes to go, until the star of what could be an epic day, or a traditional batting collapse.........
I am actually feeling quite positive about the rest of the tour. If we can just try and cut out the batting collapses.
Cook thinks it is down to the toss. Not as clear cut as that, but it would help to start and get points on the board early.
If Broad is out of the next test, I'd imagine that Woakes, Buttler and Batty will all come in (with Duckett and Ansari also making way). Whether it's Vince, Balance or Duckett, all moving Root from 4 to 3 has done has been to shift the problem position from 3 to 4. I'd have never moved Root myself, and maybe given Hales a chance at 3 before discarding him.
So in the England touring party there is only one player representing the top 2 counties - and that is the erratic Finn. What do Somerset have to do to get a player picked for England these days as it must be nigh on 5 years maybe more since someone from the West Country county played an England test match.
So third test starts tomorrow. Buttler replaces Duckett, Broad and A sari both ruled out, Woakes set to return and full line up to be released later.
Just reading the BBC website about the County Championship schedule and see the last round of matches begins on September 25th. Are they planning to play these in Dubai? Failing that, they could use the pink ball again as the last two week of the season just finished was played out in murk and gloom so they'll need the floodlights for this.
