English cricket thread

I have always found it strange there's been a 100 years plus of test cricket but only in the last few years have quick bowlers en masse realised bowling around the wicket to left handers is quite effective.

Creatures of habit. I reckon changing up was just too uncomfortable/weird for most of them
 
Nasser namechecked Valentines Park earlier!

:lol: How the hell did Athers fall for that!
 
Atherton says ‘he’ll be in an England shirt for many years and score a lot of runs in it’

Literally 5 seconds later: Bess has his off stump smacked into the ground and it out.

Hilarious
 
Atherton says ‘he’ll be in an England shirt for many years and score a lot of runs in it’

Literally 5 seconds later: Bess has his off stump smacked into the ground and it out.

Hilarious
He was saying that about Pope. Who is also gone now.
 
FFS what a collapse, all came from Stokes throwing a way his wicket. Not for the first time England have gone to pot after Stokes has got out
 
Patience paid off for West Indies but England rather handed the game to them, the top 3 batted too slowly and got out poorly. Pitch is slow and has variable bounce but not enough runs on the board for England to defend I feel.
 
I’ll take the plaudits for Sheffield United tonking Chelsea then!
Fair enough, I switched to the football when Stokes got out, could see that collapse a mile off, don’t have any faith in that lower order rate Pope highly but Buttler, Bess, Archer, Wood, Anderson is a long tail
 
I don't think I realised quite how hectic this series is, which makes the decision to play both Wood and Archer here even worse. Presumably you can't risk Wood on Thursday.
 
I don't think I realised quite how hectic this series is, which makes the decision to play both Wood and Archer here even worse. Presumably you can't risk Wood on Thursday.

Old Trafford is traditionally a bit quicker too, feels like they might compound one error with another. I do find it interesting that the focus has been on the selection of the quicks, it's a good group and any decision is pretty marginal. Denly and Buttler on the other hand...
 
Old Trafford is traditionally a bit quicker too, feels like they might compound one error with another. I do find it interesting that the focus has been on the selection of the quicks, it's a good group and any decision is pretty marginal. Denly and Buttler on the other hand...

I guess if you're being generous you could say that Wood can't play back to back tests. If he's only playing one Manchester test anyway, it might as well be the second one.
 
Would like a bat-pad and a maybe a short cover on this pitch, not many have gone to slip through the course of the test.
 
Think this is how Archer must be asked to bowl with the rare occasional fast spell.
 
I don't wanna get all yer da on it, but I don't really understand how you can bat 3 overs on the toe and then have to go off.

Unless it's broken and he physically can't stand on it and should be going for a scan it all seems a little bit weak for me.