The Cricket Thread 2016

[paul_e]

Poor review that, never looked like it was getting enough of the wickets to be anything but umpire's call.

[Villan For Life]

That's a huge wicket so late in the day.

[PGW]

Poor review that, never looked like it was getting enough of the wickets to be anything but umpire's call.

Yeah but i can understand it as they get their allocation back in a couple of overs of tomorrows play....when new ball taken.

[Meanwood Villa]

Even if they have manufactured the pitch to do so, it's good to see a competitive test against Bangladesh rather than a routine thrashing.

[Villan For Life]

We started well and ended up with a lead of 40+ runs. To lose 3 wickets before lunch is frustrating. When will our top order lay the foundations of a decent score? It seems a while since that happened & two or three of them always seem to fail regardless of who is selected.

I've no confidence in Ballance, so it's down to Ali, Stokes & Bairstow to get us up to a decent total.

[PaulWinch again]

Yep it seems like the top order are destined to fail every bloody time.

[PaulWinch again]

Stokes is really becoming an excellent bowler. To take 4 on this pitch was a great effort.

[PaulWinch again]

Good knowledge of the rules from Mo. He could easily have just walked.

[Villan For Life]

So far we are edging slowly ahead in this test. We need to establish a lead of 200 plus to win the game. They will struggle on a wearing pitch to get anywhere near that target, even allowing for home advantage.

Good to see that Bairstow has become the highest run scorer in a calendar year by a wicket keeper. At tea he'd scored 1,061 runs in 2016 and there are still six tests to go before Christmas. In the main they've been vital runs too, coming at times when yet again the top order have failed once more.

[PaulWinch again]

Good from Jonny B, but what a player Stokes is. He now is dominant in all conditions.

[paul_e]

I think 500-550 over the 2 innings is enough to win this.  This goes back to my belief that people have let ODI and t20 blind them to what a competitive score is in test matches so suddenly less than 400 feels like you've come up short almost irrespective of the conditions/pitch.

Quoting myself, we've put up 521 so far which is right in the middle of the target I set.  I think the game is already ours to lose from here but add another 25 or so and you'd be looking at one of the greatest comebacks of all time for them to take anything.

The top 4 haven't had a great match but hard ball spin isn't something they'll have faced so I can largely forgive it, I think Ballance needs a big score in the next test though because his place is far from secure.

[PaulWinch again]

I think 500-550 over the 2 innings is enough to win this.  This goes back to my belief that people have let ODI and t20 blind them to what a competitive score is in test matches so suddenly less than 400 feels like you've come up short almost irrespective of the conditions/pitch.

Quoting myself, we've put up 521 so far which is right in the middle of the target I set.  I think the game is already ours to lose from here but add another 25 or so and you'd be looking at one of the greatest comebacks of all time for them to take anything.

The top 4 haven't had a great match but hard ball spin isn't something they'll have faced so I can largely forgive it, I think Ballance needs a big score in the next test though because his place is far from secure.

Ballance's biggest problem is that he came back in for no obvious reason and since he's come back he hasn't done a lot.

[olaftab]

The appeal of Test Match cricket on the sub continent is at a very low ebb. Bangladesh could have an historic victory today ... but it's an empty stadium.

[Villan For Life]

This has been a fascinating test, and it's getting very tight. England are still ahead but we need to bowl sensibly & not lose our focus.

Wickets have fallen in clusters and their lower order is fragile. 107 runs or 5 wickets, this could get interesting.

 

[olaftab]

I expect England to win by about 60/70 runs. It's all about this pair for Bangladesh.