Okay, so somebody could retire hurt or they could make a declaration; however, in the normal course of an Ashes Test neither of those are very likely eventualities. Just to be a real pedant, by “somebody” I was not referring to an individual but a team.
Not sure I understand your previous post QM. You first say the likelihood of a draw is low because you imply the two batting sides show a propensity to be a touch brittle. Then you say there is the difficulty of one or both sides bowling the other out twice. Thankfully you say you will be clearer by 1045 BST on Thursday. Never sure about whether you can doctor wickets before test matches unless you have a demon bowler and to be honest I can't see we have any of them at the moment. Winning the toss at Edgbaston seemed the important step.
Just another thought before i slope off to work, what track do we think will we be trying to prepare at the Oval should the Aussies manage to gain victory here in this Test...? With us needing to win the last Test, and the Oval being a more Aussie friendly track than they have had all this Test series we may have to go for a bone dry track and play Rashid in the side and try and spin em out. The hard Oval track will resemble a more traditional track from Down Under than we are used to. Not that im trying to jump the gun by saying we will lose this current Test, but it is a thought...
Strange toss this one, very overcast and apparently a little bit of a green wicket. Not sure what the best option is
Trent Bridge – reportedly green wicket with some moisture in it. There will be a minute’s applause for the late Clive Rice. England brought in Mark Wood for James Anderson. Australia brought in Shaun Marsh for Mitchell Marsh to bolster the batting. England won the toss (actually Clarke called heads and it was tails) and elected to bowl. The morning session may be critical to the destiny of this Test. If England can get amongst the wickets, they should create a platform for winning the game as the weather for Friday looks bright and sunny compared to Thursday’s overcast conditions and the Aussies have not made any bowling changes. By that I mean that I think it is more likely that England will succeed in getting twenty wickets than Australia as the pitch will favour Stuart Broad and Mark Wood much more than the erratic Mitchell Starc.
Chris Rogers has gone for a duck in the first over – Stuart Broad’s three hundredth wicket. Australia 4 for 1.
Crikey, I need to learn to type faster – Broad has got Steve Smith in the first over as well. Australia 10 for 2. This is getting ridiculous: Mark Wood has got Warner for a duck to start the second over. Australia 10 for 3. They need to start walking out to the wicket slower, I cannot keep up!!!
So much for bringing Shaun Marsh in to bolster the batting line-up: Another one for Broad, Australia 15 for 4. Now they really, really need a captain’s innings from Clarke...
We are really missing James Anderson at Trent Bridge: Australia 21 for 5. Stuart Broad has dispatched Adam Voges for a single, brilliant catch by Ben Stokes. This is still the fifth over... they may all be out by noon!
