Reply With QuoteThere's only one Cook in the team.....
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Been keeping an eye on the test match through cricinfo whilst sat in the office today, was hoping to get it on sky sports but the wifi stream is pretty dreadful at work.. Anyone been watching it?
Wondering how long Hales and Vince will have in this current team. I'd hope that they both get a longer shot at this level of cricket, I've always thought that the ECB selection system is pretty flawed and doesn't give players the time they need to excel at this level. Too many cooks and all that....
There's only one Cook in the team.....
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Vince is a flawed batsman at Test level. The slow-mo shots of his batting (and getting out) during the last Test showed that. He needs some good coaching to get over his T20 style which doesn't suit Test cricket.
Currently a barely acceptable score at 228-6 after Tea.
India have clearly picked themselves up after their drubbing during the last game.
Agreed - from what I've seen of him he appears to be there for a good time rather than a long time. Batsmen in general seem to have a lot less care for their wicket in recent years. When you look back to the early 2000's (particularly the Aussies), the top order could go sessions having put barely anything on the board but having kept their wicket in hand during a real tough spell... and that teams track record totally speaks for itself.
Pakistan haven't done too badly either!Originally Posted by Glamdring
Are you Geoff Boycott?
We'll only know if this is a decent score once Pakistan have batted. Let's not be too hasty - we have Jimmy Anderson, after all, and Chris Woakes has had a good summer.
As for James Vince I've watched him at Hampshire for a few years, and he's a classy (and classical) batsman. Yes, he's of the generation who have grown up playing white-ball cricket, but he has a solid First Class record in the four-day game as well. He's good enough.
Me and the lads are going on Day 3 Friday
Exciting test.
We have a got a few hot and cold type players at the moment including Hales and Vince but I think Ballance cemented his place yesterday with a good score.
Cheers,
Neil.
Ballance did well yesterday, and took a good catch first thing this morning.
Unfortunately it's not gone well for us since then. It's looking like a long day for the England bowlers.
Not going well today.
Not sure how I feel about the push-up celebration. It was amusing that the whole team did it after the first test to celebrate as a group, but as a celebration for taking wickets or getting a hundred, it just doesn't work.
I find it ridiculous personally.
Perhaps they are trying to make it into a Pakistani Haka?
It certainly riled up Anderson yesterday so perhaps it is having its desired effect?
Cheers,
Neil.
Yep, it riled him up so much, he's been running on the pitch.......
The background to the press up, I understand, is a tribute to the Pakistan army who trained the team recently to build up their stamina. This team is probably the fittest they have ever been and tbh they needed the workouts. Having said all that I wouldn't want them to be doing it much more either. I don't think they will.
Today has certainly been interesting - setting up for a decent finish now.......
Had a great day today few beers great weather,Cricket was pretty good also. We batted well in the last session, really is set up for a good finish.
Were you involved in that rather drunken Conga towards the close of play?
A much better day. We need to tough it out tomorrow, then Pakistan will have to take their chances on a worn pitch. A good day tomorrow, and we might get a result out of this.
Was there too, great day's cricket and the match now delicately poised, well done Cook and Hales for finishing the day unbeaten under pressure...
Yep, very good innings from both.
Hales looked nervous as he had a point to prove after some disappointing outings.
Looking forward to a decent finish now.
Cheers,
Neil.
I'm building up for a day in front of the TV. Could be an interesting finish if England can get 250-275 ahead and Pakistan then have a day to get them in. Might not be easy on a fifth day pitch.
I was in the select area in front of the members bar. Great last session today, I think they will declare in the morning as the last day at Edgbaston is always low scoring.
I hope England have a quick thrash, declare and give themselves a proper chance of taking 10 wickets. But Cookey's conservative, so I suspect that won't happen. It's been a great Test match, so it deserves a great final day.
It's not the skipper's decision. England don't employ Trevor Bayliss and Paul Farbrace along with numerous analysts so that they can declare an innings on a whim.
There was an interesting discussion involving Sir Beefy on Sky towards the end of play yesterday - he reckons that as wickets are hard to come by on this pitch, England need to bat for no more than five overs this morning, leaving 85 overs in the day.
I.e. a new ball available, if needed, with five overs left.
What a good session for England. I wasn't expecting that - the wicket has given the bowlers nothing for the past four days, and now we've managed to get six wickets in the afternoon session!
And that's that - great resistance from 10/11 but we're now 2-1 up!
Result
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
Can't wait for 4th test to start on Thursday! I'll be doing the third day at the Oval
We became carried away trying to bounce out the two tail-enders, but thankfully Moeen managed to get the job done. Pakistan have a long tail, and once we got down to 7 onwards we were always in with a chance.
England showed great character to come back from a 103-run first innings deficit. Had Pakistan won this match, and gone on to win the series then they would have become the number one Test team in the ICC rankings, so this would have hurt them.
Will England experiment with two spinners, and bring Rashid in? I suspect not, as Finn's position looks more secure after this afternoon. Should be a good game.
Well done boys, snatched from the jaws of a draw to a fine well earned victory. Roll on Thursday
Pakistan have a weak too order and a long tail. Younus and hafeez have been terrible and once you're past Misbah you have a chance. Fantastic by England, I remember reading a team only has a 3% chance of winning a Test when conceding over a 100 runs from the first innings. So a job really well done and happy Moeen came through after the slack he got from the last few Tests.
Great win. Take a look at England's stats for the second innings both batting and bowling. That's what you call a team performance...
Yep, great result.
Bairstow and Ali at the crease, brilliant.
Fortunately Pakistan's batting effort was pony and we took advantage.
Roll on Oval.
Cheers,
Neil.
I'm at a loss to understand how Pakistan can even be close to the top of the ICC Test rankings at the moment.
Me too, but it's always the same with these ranking systems. Belgium was ranked number 2 in the football world cup and was bashed out early.
Cheers,
Neil.
Fourth Test. Why on earth did Cooke opt to bat on a green wicket? It's clearly one of those rare occasions when you put the opposition in.
Cook's not known for doing the unexpected!
At 110-5 it did seem to be the wrong decision.
Thankfully, Moeen and Jonny Bairstow managed to steady the ship. And some "village" fielding from Pakistan has helped, as well!
And Pakistan will have to bat last...
I'm at the Oval today, quite an interesting day so far. Burgers excellent and beer plentiful.
Pakistan did well today. Should square up the series from here. But you never know....
I can't see England getting out of jail this time.
Still, it's been a decent summer Test-wise.
In batting first on a green wicket it's almost as if Cooke was letting them have the match, though credit to the visitors for doing so well.
Vince has to go; he's not earned his place, though Finn is grinding his way back in.
Hales wasn't great this whole series either. Probably needs a rest
I don't think James Vince will be going on tour this winter. However, Ben Stokes will be back, and there must be a case for moving Ballance up to 4 to make room for Stokes, leaving Finn out and bring in Rashid, as we're in Bangladesh and India.
As far as this series goes, a draw is probably a fair result, but why do England have a problem winning Test matches in London? We lost badly to Australia at Lord's and the Oval last year, and were held to a draw by Sri Lanka earlier this year at Lord's. We play more Tests than any other country at Lord's in particular, it's a ground with its own quirks and yet we rarely win there. I know that Mick Hunt, the Head Groundsman, tends to do his own thing, but it's becoming embarrassing. We can beat anybody, as long as we don't have to play them in London.
I was at the Oval today, long day watching England failing to get the last 4 Pakistan wickets until tea, and then of course we lost 4 wickets in the evening session!
I agree with you BP, I also don't think Vince will be going on tour. Has been a great series though and 2-2 (which I'm sure it will be sometime tomorrow, probablt before tea) is a fair result.
Cheers
Mark
We're in the lead now!
2-2 fair result for the series and it's been a very entertaining one. Really enjoyed this series.
Indeed. We're not going to progress unless we're really tested from time to time. Pakistan really played well in this Test, and thoroughly deserved to win.
One-dayers and T20 to go, then. And it's T20 Finals Day next Saturday, with all four teams coming from the Northern group - what happened there?
England usually release players for this, so it should be a good day.
Brilliant match I was annoyed to be able to watch only on replay. At last Hales scores and does so big time. Good for him. We've won the series.
It seems to me that put under the slightest pressure this Pakistan team falter and give up and I'd be surprised if their Captain stays: he's very unadaventurous in his field placements, etc . Far too many dropped catches over the whole summer from both teams.
You could make the same argum about England on occasion, hardly covered ourselves in glory in the final test.
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Agree re the one day captain for Pakistan he needs to go, as do some others in the team. Huge disparity between their test team and one day team. I believe they are now number in the world as a test side, but must be close to bottom as a one day side.
Agreed, though we lost that the moment Cooke inexplicably chose to bat.
Great that we've finally found a pretty solid middle order. In fact there are too many really good candidates to fill the available spots. I remember many years ago watching Bairstow Snr play a match in his benefit year and he hit a six that went into the crowd and hit the bucket was going round collecting money for him.
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