He's been absolutely torrid.Moeen Ali has been pretty trash today. I have far more faith in Lyon to produce good bowling on this pitch.
He's been absolutely torrid.Moeen Ali has been pretty trash today. I have far more faith in Lyon to produce good bowling on this pitch.
BBC has grey clouds 27% chance of rain at 10/11am lessening to 19% at 1pm then improving throughout the afternoon below 10% through to clear skies in the evening
Yeah I agree that's what they should do but I suspect they won't.Nah, Australia should declare with enough time left to bowl at England for 7-8 overs minimum. They've already got enough runs on the board to make an England victory more or less impossible
Yeah I agree that's what they should do but I suspect they won't.
Just saw that Wade and Paine got out. Now I think we should see some aggressive play from the tailenders for the next 20 minutes or so which will result in them getting out and to a change of innings for the last half hour. Still not sure if they'll declare if they don't get out though. While it's a typical tactic, I feel this team is more defensive than Australia of the past. And this is Edgbaston after all.I will be flabbergasted if Australia are still batting at stumps.
Just saw that Wade and Paine got out. Now I think we should see some aggressive play from the tailenders for the next 20 minutes or so which will result in them getting out and to a change of innings for the last half hour. Still not sure if they'll declare if they don't get out though. While it's a typical tactic, I feel this team is more defensive than Australia of the past. And this is Edgbaston after all.
I know, I'm not suggesting they will. I'm just trying to explain what I think this Aussie side might be thinking and why they might not choose to declare to have a bowl. I'll be proven right or wrong in a few minutes.England aren't gonna score 300+ on the 5th day to win in the first test of a series on this surface.
Even if they get close you can simply pack the offside field and hang the ball outside off stump and dry up the runs.
Amazing turn around in the game. I suspect the English will be reminding the umps of the light pretty much every ball.
They should have declared straight after Paine's wicket. How many overs do they get now? I thought play went till 6 at most.
They should have declared straight after Paine's wicket. How many overs do they get now? I thought play went till 6 at most.
I'm not sure they'll be able to bowl much seam. But Lyon actually has a decent record with a new ball.
I don't expect it but an England victory isn't impossible. The commentators have been saying all day that there's nothing in the pitch for bowlers (except for spinners) and Australia capitalised on that. But everyone seems to be assuming that England won't be able to.
It's way easier to hide the ball from the batsman in tests than in white ball cricket with field restrictions.
It has nothing to do with white ball cricket.
My point is that Australia made 363 runs today, and the "experts" seemed convinced that this was because the wicket has nothing in it for the bowlers.
England need to score 385 tomorrow on a wicket that may offer even less. That is not that different to 363.
Admittedly I don't think it will happen as I think England will play for the draw.
So why does Buttler keep in ODIs and Bairstow keep in Tests? Surely the best keeper should just do both?
Bairstow was also up there with Ali in terms of doing nothing for England this test.
I don't expect it but an England victory isn't impossible. The commentators have been saying all day that there's nothing in the pitch for bowlers (except for spinners) and Australia capitalised on that. But everyone seems to be assuming that England won't be able to.
It has nothing to do with white ball cricket.
My point is that Australia made 363 runs today, and the "experts" seemed convinced that this was because the wicket has nothing in it for the bowlers.
England need to score 385 tomorrow on a wicket that may offer even less. That is not that different to 363.
Admittedly I don't think it will happen as I think England will play for the draw.
Won't happen. What's far more likely is that England fall apart and lose the match.
It has everything to do with it.
If England look like they might get close then Australia can just bowl miles outside offstump to a 7-2 field and dry up the run rate. England didn't do that because they were still trying to get wickets, if their main goal was to stop Australia scoring 300 in a day then they would have done that pretty comfortably.
At this point we should do an emergency drop in of new umpires. One of the worst matches I've ever seen in terms of umpire decisions.