English cricket thread

Why aren't they declaring? Need to dangle the carrot and put Windies in two minds. They are more likely to get all out if they try to chase 270 in 85 overs than if they simply play out the 75 overs knowing 330-ish is out of their reach.
 
Why aren't they declaring? Need to dangle the carrot and put Windies in two minds. They are more likely to get all out if they try to chase 270 in 85 overs than if they simply play out the 75 overs knowing 330-ish is out of their reach.
I actually feel the opposite. I don't think they could defensively bat out 70-75 odd overs but if they have a sniff of victory, they could put some serious pressure on and England have to chase the win, they won't have the luxury of being able to put the field back.
 
I actually feel the opposite. I don't think they could defensively bat out 70-75 odd overs but if they have a sniff of victory, they could put some serious pressure on and England have to chase the win, they won't have the luxury of being able to put the field back.

Their entire batting lineup is defensive. There's no way they would have chased down 270 but mentally they would have been tempted to go for it and lose wickets in the process. But they're not going to make an attempt at 310.

If they had a Gayle type player I would agree with you to a degree. But they don't. Hetmyer is the closest thing but he isn't playing.

Could still work out fine for England but when you've got so many Windies batsmen who naturally bat slow and are used to sucking the life out of the game then you want as many overs as possible to try and dismiss them.
 
I would have expected the declaration once Root was run out. When Stokes is in that form you may as well let him go, and to be fair Pope went at more than a run a ball, but yeah if we have them nine out later and could do with those extra two overs Root will have questions to answer.
 
Damn - how did Stokes play like that? Saw the innings last night and was thinknig it looks very tough to hit the new ball -- was a demonstration in why you cant play like that in test crick. That strike rate is unbelievable
 
Guess it shows you how sensitive stump mic can be because I definitely heard that in real time.
 
Well Broad and Woakes have definitely pulled their finger out, be interesting to see who plays the next test
 
was just thinking Root is wasting overs by giving it to Bess..
 
Very convincing win by England. Stokes (motm) and Broad were magnificent

Issues for final test selection:

Is Stokes fit?
Drop or retain Buttler?
Play Broad, Archer, Wood and Anderson in same team? (very long tail!)
 
Issues for final test selection:

Is Stokes fit?
Drop or retain Buttler?
Play Broad, Archer, Wood and Anderson in same team? (very long tail!)
I think they won't drop Buttler cause we won.

I'm interested in what the West Indies do with their bowlers. They surely have to rest Gabriel. I think bringing the spinner in would be a good idea. No idea how fit Joseph is.
 
I'm honestly not convinced England win that if anyone else in world cricket plays instead of Stokes.

What a phenomenal player.
 
Very convincing win by England. Stokes (motm) and Broad were magnificent

Issues for final test selection:

Is Stokes fit?
Drop or retain Buttler?
Play Broad, Archer, Wood and Anderson in same team? (very long tail!)
Think Wood will miss out, I expect it be Curran & Woakes out Anderson & Archer in.
Buttler is still living of his performances vs India 2 years ago where it was him & Curran vs India’s bowlers, but England won’t change the top 7 after winning
 
I'm honestly not convinced England win that if anyone else in world cricket plays instead of Stokes.

What a phenomenal player.
was on the pitch for perhaps 90% of the match time!!! Peerless in world cricket across all formats right now.
 
Think Wood will miss out, I expect it be Curran & Woakes out Anderson & Archer in.
Buttler is still living of his performances vs India 2 years ago where it was him & Curran vs India’s bowlers, but England won’t change the top 7 after winning
Stokes looked like he is very close to a muscle injury. Not sure they can risk him as no 5 bowler?
 
I think they won't drop Buttler cause we won.

I'm interested in what the West Indies do with their bowlers. They surely have to rest Gabriel. I think bringing the spinner in would be a good idea. No idea how fit Joseph is.

I think the promotion saves him as much as anything. They won't want to drop him after he failed trying to put the team first.
 
I think they won't drop Buttler cause we won.

I'm interested in what the West Indies do with their bowlers. They surely have to rest Gabriel. I think bringing the spinner in would be a good idea. No idea how fit Joseph is.
Do you mean the big chap? Is he in line?
 
Delighted we won for all the obvious reasons but it also means we won't get idiots blaming Sibley for batting too slow if this ended up a draw.

Because you know people would have absolutely done that if we couldn't get the wickets.
 
Stokes looked like he is very close to a muscle injury. Not sure they can risk him as no 5 bowler?
Were you suggesting England play Archer, Wood, Anderson, Broad & Bess? If so I got it wrong I thought you would play Wood & drop Bess