The Cricket Thread 2016

[PaulWinch again]

Yeah I think it's a decent total now on the back of excellent work from Root, Stokes, Buttler and Moeen. Hopefully Stokes and Moeen will get some confidence to bowl with as well.

[paul_e]

389, I doubt anyone would've turned that down 24 hours ago.  Now let's get a couple of wickets before lunch and make the most of the devil in the pitch this morning.

[PaulWinch again]

I definitely would have taken 389, so let's make the most of it.

[PaulWinch again]

I'd make a bowling change now probably, because they've started well.

[paul_e]

too many wide deliveries, when a pitch is only going to get better as appears the case here you have to make the batsmen play when things are happening.

Should've been a good wicket for Wood, that's a very good line on this pitch, looks like he's overstepped the crease though.

[paul_e]

On another point, they listed Wood as Medium Fast, he's bowling up over 90 so I think that's quite wide of the mark, I doubt there's many quicker bowlers around right now.

[PaulWinch again]

Good to see a bowler with pace, but these wickets to no balls are becoming a problem. There's no need to push that line. Pretty poor overall, but Wood is encouraging.

[olaftab]

England are a bowler short.

[paul_e]

I'd love to see someone with this sort of pace but also a little taller to make the inswinging yorker a real weapon, Harmison got to the top of the bowling charts on the back of his ability to mix in some big bouncers and sharp yorkers for variation.

[paul_e]

and that's why I'd have kept Jordan in the side and had him in the slips any time he wasn't bowling, you can't overstep and you can't put down regulation catches, basic errors and indiscipline costing us.

[PaulWinch again]

Hmmm poor from Bell there. Our score isn't looking so good now.

[PaulWinch again]

I'd give Ali a bowl, I think a change of pace might be an idea.

[PaulWinch again]

Stokes is bowling well, but Anderson isn't. Get Ali on Cook.

[PaulWinch again]

See Cook has clearly loss confidence in Ali due to his performance in the Caribbean, which I grant you was poor. However he needs to remember what he did last summer and give him a chance. All too often Cook refuses to go to spinners and it's clear that we're not having any success with pace at the moment.

[PaulWinch again]

And there you go, Moeen gets the breakthrough. Why does it take Cook so long to see the obvious?