Gon about me business today, occasionally checking in to TMS. Don't really know who's on top, who's clawing it back, who's getting mullered by an unforgiving opposition. Don't care. The fact that there's Test cricket going on and that there's live commentary, and that I can drop into Aggers and Tuffers talking absolute bollocks will do for me. A semblance of normality is to be welcomed and applauded. I feel almost normal again.
Finally! But great innings from Conway.Some disappointing England bowling figures. Still, early in the season, and they haven't had much practice.
Fair play to Conway, 200 on debut at Lords, doesn't get much better than that. England not following suit though, 45-2 and Root batting with a bashed up finger.
How dare, British Cricket England select a racist, sexist, proven racist player to play for team England? His wickets should be given back to New Zealand and England should lose runs and wickets and lunches and that. He said immature things when he was immature! He said things you expect a teenager to say when he was a teenager! Shirley, there's no way back from this? He apologised!!!! Big wow!!!! It didn't change the fact that Twitter was wronged. Inadvertantly. Retrospectively. And in 280 characters.
Conway is some player, I think he is South African and went over to NZ in 2018, quite a find for them. He's 29 now and has been only eligible to play for them last year. Let's hope Root & Burns can see out the first hour and then push on.
Not a good day so far, 196/6! Burns and Robinson hanging on though, at least we avoided the follow-on. As an aside what do you reckon to de Grandhomme's haircut? Puts me in mind of Chris Waddle.
Good to see Burns get his 100, a poor show from most of the others, Robinson at least did himself justice.
All out, just 100 behind. That's a decent recovery overall. Well done Rory Burns, him and Conway the only real difference between the 2 sides.
disappointing batting display. only three of them weren't rubbish. meanwhile, yorkshire have their first decent total for a week or two, thanks mostly to malan's 199.
It's a fairly inexperienced lineup and NZ really bowled well. I think the Root dismissal was pivotal. Can't see anything other than a draw though (famous last words...).
the england and yorkshire games are currently very similar, but with those teams in opposite situations. england are aiming to bat out their innings to avoid an innings defeat, whereas yorkshire's opponents face the same task, and were doing well, but have gone from 180-4 to 187-9 in a splendidly accommodating 31 deliveries, helped by two double-wicket maidens, including three wickets for no addtional score in 8 david willey deliveries. their last pair will be aiming to see out 16 overs. one of them is a proper batsman, but the other is a 19 year old bowler in his third first class match with a career nine runs to his name.
The Yorkshire game sounds more exciting! The England game is slowly petering out, they'll call it in soon. Technicality I know but England aren't facing an innings defeat, NZ batted twice.
yorkshire's opposition is determined. five consecutive maidens, and then a bowling change that resulted in three irrelevant boundaries. 9 overs left.
