England -v- West Indies (test series)

[Rocksuperstar]

1st test, England almost collapsed but rallied for a solid 377, now we're coming to the close of the second day and our debut boy, Graham Onions is looking for a five-fer off his debut outing - outstanding bowling from the lad, he's had it bouncing and turning and the Windies are rattled.

right now, with an early tea behind them because of bad light (which the Windies almost took the ump's hand off for, following Smith & Chanderpaul going to consecutive balls from Swann) they're sitting on 137/9 with Broad and Onions bowling.

We could have this innings wrapped up tonight, get a fresh start tomorrow morning and slog some runs out, but it does appear to be turning into much more the bowlers pitch as the ground starts to rough up.

'mon Graham!! Get number 5 and you can be even prouder and popular

 

[Yid-ol]

and he did get the 5th wicket to top it off :up:

and doing well in the follow on as well, 16-1 when i last looked! after the first day i was thinking we could be in trouble for abit :lol:

 

[Yid-ol]

22-2 Anderson finaly gets a wicket!

 

[Rocksuperstar]

I was convinced i was going to tune in about lunchtime and find we were tumbled over for less than 300, so i was pretty surprised we managed to get to the number we did.

Windies were really going for it, their run rate was way over Englands but Swann & Onion were both found their groove and it was 4 out, then 6, then 9 - five wickets fell in 14 balls :clap:

39 for 2 at close of play - bad light offered and obviously taken. Those two wickets will set us up well for tomorrow but i found out as i was leaving work, one of the girls here's husband and son have got tickets for Saturday so whilst i hope England do well, i hope the pitch toughens up a bit overnight and gives the batsmen a chance to make a game of it.

 

[yawa]

West Indies have a habit of losing test matches early in the season due to the weather being pretty crap. Seems likely now with the first test in this series.

Hopefully England can carry this form into the series against Aus when i think its going to be far more of a test. Still...long way to go before that and a long way in this series too.

 

[yawa]

80-5 at lunch.

Looks like we might win by an innings and a bit at this rate.

 

[Yid-ol]

yeah cant see this going to sat now, unlucky for the husband and son of the girl at your work RSS

 

[Rocksuperstar]

Yeah, them wickets are tumbling at a rate now - the pitch had a proper sweat on last night, on inspection this morning they said they expected England to pick up where they left off as there was going to be all kinds of fun with the right length, which Onions has just shown.

I like the bowling tactics for this test, well impressed - have Anderson and Broad bowl short and fast, have Onions come in and chuck them down long and let Swann float the ball around where necessary - it's just about the most convincingly organised attack-bowling lineup i've seen from us in a loong time.

 

[Rocksuperstar]

and Swann drops one at third slip - actually, praise the bowlers, the Windies batsmen have been so nervous and jumpy, they've hardly connected with one solid shot all match since Smith went.

 

[yawa]

Really needed that 6th wicket just before dinner....gets a bit more enthusiasm back into the team.

Still hoping its wrapped up before the close of play.

 

[Rocksuperstar]

Taylor gone - 243/7 now

I expect this to go to close of play and leave England something like 50 - 70 runs to get tomorrow morning. Should have it wrapped up by lunch.

 

[yawa]

Soo new test kicks off tomorrow....same result again?

Dont think Gayle's comments are going to help the Indies much.

 

[Welshiespursboyo]

Same result again, Gayle will have caused chaos in the windies ranks with his ridiculous and frankly pathetic remarks about test cricket. He should be dismissed as the captain and never heard of again! (ok maybe a little strong...)

England to win by 6 wickets.

 

[Rocksuperstar]

See, my faith in the Windies bottom order was proven wrong - that pitch was ripe for bowling though after day 2. I didn't see day 1 though, who won the toss last time around? Our batsmen got the best out of that surface early on, i doubt the Riversides going to be as mean to the batsmen though.

To be honest, i don't even see this one going all the way without rain either, so it'll be hit n miss as to whether the wicket will ever really get going for the bowlers. It won't be a fast strip, my moneys on all the work being done by the seamers and spinners. Can't see them losing too many carkeys in the cracks during pitch inspection either, guess we'll have to wait til... when is it, still 10am?

Still pencilled in for an 11am start, just hope the weather holds up.

 

[Rocksuperstar]

Seems i was totally wrong - pitch has stayed hard and dry, they must've really improved the drainage in the last couple of years, Durham might as well be built on a swamp anyway :lol:

Beefy's summing up, he reckons there'll be a bit of action early for the bowlers with the new ball but is a prime batting wicket.

Strauss wins the toss, England bat first. Well, until it starts raining anyway :shrug:

 

[riversmonkey]

Listening to TMS, ground is half empty. Is it a case that nobody can afford the tickets, fear of the weather or because England and the West Indies served up some dull cricket in the caribbean?

 

[yawa]

Cricket in the caribbean was terrible due to the pitches.

I think its just a case of the weather forecast being pretty bad for today and to be fair im surprised they have played so much today.

180-1 is ticking along nicely though...can only see the weather stopping England from winning this.

 

[Rocksuperstar]

184 - 1 at Tea. Bopara might've ridden his luck a few times, but Cook is a model of composure by the sound of it.

Slow going, but solid and confident display so far. I'm with Yawa though - the weather will be the decider here.

 

[yawa]

This has turned into a pretty dull test match already. The Indies cant be bothered and just seem like they want to go home.

Oh well...a decent warm up for the Aussies i guess.