So far a good toss to lose. The pitch was supposed to be a fast bowlers paradise, but looks slow to me. The lack of preparation time on the wicket might be the key to who wins, a few deliveries from Fidel Edwards have gone through quite low and the Windies will have to bat last on it.
Normally this track plays quite well for the batsmen - Lara scored his world record 400 on it, and the decision to bowl first by the Windies rather than bat looks a mistake.
Good to see Strauss making runs and asserting himself, and Shah looks in good form.
301/3 at stumps, great innings from Strauss though a shame to see him fall for 169 just before the close. Still very much our day and a good start tomorrow should see 500 on the board.
I did enjoy Jimmy ANderson when being stared down by the bowler telling him to go and bowl! good 1st day, big score tomorrow then put the buggers in after tea when this wicket should be past its best, i noticed a few balls shooting through quite low, so a big score will put W Indies under presssure
closer to 500 by the end of the day then stick them in.. has a draw all over it tho, was amazing to see england get 300 in a day, looked quite an amature pitch tho.
519/7 and I suspect a declaration might not be far away, Broad is lashing the Windies all round the ground and Colly only needs a 8 for his hundred, if he can get the strike...
Wish Strauss had declared when Broad went. Colly's got his ton. No point in risking a draw now surely. I want to see what Harmison & Freddie get out of this pitch now.
[cite]Posted By: addick1965[/cite]They just mentioned on the radio that Alan Stanford has been accused of a billion dollar fraud...oh well thats buggered the Stanford 20/20
"Fraud on a massive scale" were the words used. It'll have serious ramifications for the West Indies as a whole, not just the ECB, he was a major employer in Antigua and a lot of people will lose their jobs there.
I'm not sure that Strauss would enforce the follow on - Flintoff is limping and Harmison is off the field with heat sickness (he's been puking up in the outfield!), plus it would mean England batting last if the Windies make a decent fist of batting second time around.
I cannot see the follow on bening enforced, this pitch could really deteriorate on the last day due to the lack of preparation so you may not want to bat last so we can get in gets some runs on the board and then off we go
Comments
Normally this track plays quite well for the batsmen - Lara scored his world record 400 on it, and the decision to bowl first by the Windies rather than bat looks a mistake.
Good to see Strauss making runs and asserting himself, and Shah looks in good form.
Collingwood 50 off 77
Pietersen 47 off 114
Anderson fell for 4 in the second over.
Nah! 550 - 8
Boycott sounded as though he had been bang on the Red stripe all morning/afternoon.
The fella was slurring!
anyone intrested heres a linky for the cricket. (as requested earlier in the thread by wss)
"Fraud on a massive scale" were the words used. It'll have serious ramifications for the West Indies as a whole, not just the ECB, he was a major employer in Antigua and a lot of people will lose their jobs there.
251-7