The Official Cricket Thread

[Spy Bee]

I was looking forward to watching this on Bank Holiday Monday.

[Frankenhooker]

Sri Lanka, taking the 'Test' out of test cricket.

 

Woakes has bowled well, but there's no resistance really.

[Manny]

Fair fucks, I said earlier I wouldn't have picked Woakes but he's bowled really well here. He seems like a good lad as well, so pleased for him.

 

This SL side though, definitely seeing the flip side of having such an experienced and unflappable middle order for so long. This batting lineup is as callow as I've seen in Tests for a while.

[Guest Pistonbroke]

I doubt Cook will get his 10.000 runs up in this Test unless he gets greedy and doesn't enforce the follow on. 

[Son of L8]

I'm not sure how I feel about this experiment in staging three-day Test matches.

[Guest Pistonbroke]

Nice catch from Root, 8 down now. I must have missed the seventh wicket when I was in the garden having a tab. 

[Rico1304]

I didn't play today but our team bowled a side out for 39. Shambles.

[Rico1304]

It's a day for records - a bloke scored 270 today!

[Guest Pistonbroke]

Woakes finally gets the first wicket as SL follow on, 38/1. The collapse in inevitable now. 

[Jairzinho]

Good session for Sri Lanka. Showed a bit of fight at least.

[Guest Pistonbroke]

Good session for Sri Lanka. Showed a bit of fight at least.

 

Not sure why Cook only had two slips in place when we are so far ahead of the game, cost us a wicket. 

[Jairzinho]

Not sure why Cook only had two slips in place when we are so far ahead of the game, cost us a wicket. 

 

It's the "done" thing. 

 

You'd have five slips and two gullies from the first ball of the innings to the last.

[Guest Pistonbroke]

It's the "done" thing. 

 

You'd have five slips and two gullies from the first ball of the innings to the last.

 

Cook is just far too negative at times and doesn't seem to read the situation well. 

[Jairzinho]

Painting by numbers.

[Guest Pistonbroke]

It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if the England players have been told by the ECB to make sure this match goes into a 4th day, being as that day is a bank holiday and they would get a half decent crowd in the Emirates Riverside. 

[Guest Pistonbroke]

100 for 3, Ali beats the outside edge and clean bowls him. 

[Son of L8]

I just tuned in to see if it was over yet, and they're only three down. Did the Lankans discover their bottle, or is the bowling just pish?

[Jairzinho]

Mainly the former.

[Son of L8]

Good. Maybe we can actually see a competitive test match at Lord's -- this series has been pointless so far.

 

Sri Lanka have always taken time to adjust to conditions on a tour. Didn't they play the ODIs first last time, when they won the Test series 1-0? I seem to remember some of the Lankans saying they used the one-day games to adjust to the climate and such and that was a factor helping them win their first ever Test series over here, rather than playing the Tests first when they hadn't faced any proper bowling on our May surfaces yet.

 

Of course they also have a shit top order, but even they should at least have some backbone to show over two Test matches.

[Jairzinho]

Cook's captaincy though.

[Guest Pistonbroke]

Cook's captaincy though.

 

I'm still thinking the powers that be wanted to make sure this test went a 4th days play which just so happens to be on a Bank Holiday. 

[Jairzinho]

I'm sure they do/did but, in Cook's defence (integrity wise), his captaincy is often shite.

[Guest Pistonbroke]

I'm sure they do/did but, in Cook's defence (integrity wise), his captaincy is often shite.

 

I don't disagree with that, he is lucky that he gets winning results due to a few players performing when it is needed and not because of his captaincy. 

[Jairzinho]

Ironically, Root's performances with the bat have probably delayed him taking the captaincy from Cook.

[Guest Pistonbroke]

Probably, it's inevitable that Root will become captain.