Draw looking favourite as rain sets in after lunch. We managed one wicket in the first session. Chat on TMS has been great though. Ewen Chatfield was most entertaining, has some great stories to tell, from both his lives.
KP out of final Test and likely to miss IPL. Needs surgery on his knee and wants to be fit for Ashes, or at least to be "considered for" as the new, reintergrated KP would say. Great chance for Bairstow now to take his chance and maybe get ahead of Root on the rank.
Sensible thing to do.Let him get ready for the real battle in the summer fully fit. Not sure about Bairstow - think Root is probably the more rounded player - has a terrific temperament, however has struggled a little in NZ. What other batsmen are coming through?
Eoin Morgan's the forgotten man, and then you have James Taylor who got a couple of caps in the summer. Then you've got Alex Hales and Jos Buttler in the ODI sides but I don't know how suited they'd be to the longer format at international level.
Can't see Ben Stokes getting into the side any time soon after being sent home from the Lions tour of Australia last month for "unprofessional conduct".
Sensible thing to do.Let him get ready for the real battle in the summer fully fit. Not sure about Bairstow - think Root is probably the more rounded player - has a terrific temperament, however has struggled a little in NZ. What other batsmen are coming through?
I'm pretty sure about Bairstow and he's bound to get a go tomorrow. Maybe it will spur Root on, they'll have 3 Tests against NZ to fight it out. One away and two at home. To be honest I haven't seen much of Root save this winter, and he hasn't made much of an impression in these two Tests. I think Bairstow has been rather unlucky and I hope he grabs this opportunity with both hands. As for temperament, well I think we saw plenty of that from Bairstow last summer against the best bowling attack in the world when people were questioning his ability against the short ball.
Binary any way you look at it :-) I fancy us because out bowling is better and you need 20 wickets. Batsmen should get any runs required but we are not off to much of a start in the first hour. Long way to go though to state the obvious.
The wicket looks pretty flat to me, I presume the heavy rollers have killed any life it might have. The only chance of a wicket is to get Fulton LBW, he seems to be planting his front foot and playing around it.
Congratulations to Two Metre Peter, ex Cleethorpes all rounder. A VERY nice man who has been around the 'lower league' scene for a long time. He has done England a favour. England's much vaunted and overrated team must get it together before the forthcoming ashes series.
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Chat on TMS has been great though. Ewen Chatfield was most entertaining, has some great stories to tell, from both his lives.
#BloodyGlobalWarming #BloodyGlobalCooling
Great chance for Bairstow now to take his chance and maybe get ahead of Root on the rank.
Not sure about Bairstow - think Root is probably the more rounded player - has a terrific temperament, however has struggled a little in NZ.
What other batsmen are coming through?
Also makes me realise how many great prospects Kent have coming through. Matt Coles with the ball too.
I think Bairstow has been rather unlucky and I hope he grabs this opportunity with both hands. As for temperament, well I think we saw plenty of that from Bairstow last summer against the best bowling attack in the world when people were questioning his ability against the short ball.
The pitch is a "drop-in" and could be a tad spicy until it settles down, so bowling first could be a good decision.
Binary any way you look at it :-) I fancy us because out bowling is better and you need 20 wickets. Batsmen should get any runs required but we are not off to much of a start in the first hour. Long way to go though to state the obvious.
I'm not sure whether it works for cricket, the word is that this will be the last Test played there unless the supporters turn up.