The Cricket Thread 2017

[cdbearsfan]

I hope the idea spreads to Asian countries, it  will make it a lot easier for us to watch matches held there.

[paul_e]

Feels really weird waiting for the Test to kick off at 2. I like the idea though I hope the weather's warm for those of you going.

I've followed to a certain extent the story of the pink Duke ball, but am mightily puzzled as to why it should behave differently (e.g. go soft quicker, not take a shine) just because they dye it a different colour.

It's because of the contents of the dye

[UK Redsox]

The old hippie that is Woofles probably wants the ball tie-dyed

[tomd2103]

Went to Edgbaston earlier and have to say that the general feeling seemed to be that it was all a bit underwhelming.  Yes it was a novelty and there was a bit of initial excitement and I know we've got some day/night games coming up over the winter, but it just felt like an unnecessary change to be honest.  The game slowed right down when the lights came on and many people had left way before play finished at 9.30pm.  As a spectator, I found it quite hard to pick the pink ball up at times, especially when it was moving along the ground.

As for the cricket itself, I thought the West Indies were desperately poor.  Roach was quite lively, but the rest of their seamers and spinners were much of a muchness and all bowled loose balls on a regular basis.  In terms of preventing runs, their fielding was actually OK, but some of the throws back to the wicketkeeper were extremely sloppy and to be honest they looked a beaten side quite early on.  Cook and Root were imperious, but there is a big drop off in quality with the other three in the top five, even though Malan played pretty well when he settled a bit. 

[paul_e]

443-3 against a bowling attack that looks toothless, now's probably the time to throw the bat at it. With rain coming later and plenty forecast for Sunday we need to get a score that gives us a clear shot at the follow-on but try to get a bit of time in the field today.  A quick 100-150 from here would be brilliant.

[Monty]

443-3 against a bowling attack that looks toothless, now's probably the time to throw the bat at it. With rain coming later and plenty forecast for Sunday we need to get a score that gives us a clear shot at the follow-on but try to get a bit of time in the field today.  A quick 100-150 from here would be brilliant.

Well it's for 4 now, so hopefully Stokes will make your wish come true after 'lunch'.

[Chris Jameson]

An indication of how interesting this Test is, I watched a T20 match in it's entirety last night instead of the Test.

[tomd2103]

An indication of how interesting this Test is, I watched a T20 match in it's entirety last night instead of the Test.

Forget day/night cricket, this is a good advert for two division test cricket.

[paul_e]

An indication of how interesting this Test is, I watched a T20 match in it's entirety last night instead of the Test.

it's sad how poor WI are, no one in this team is fit to carry brinks for the teams from 20-40 years ago.

[paul_e]

443-3 against a bowling attack that looks toothless, now's probably the time to throw the bat at it. With rain coming later and plenty forecast for Sunday we need to get a score that gives us a clear shot at the follow-on but try to get a bit of time in the field today.  A quick 100-150 from here would be brilliant.

Well it's for 4 now, so hopefully Stokes will make your wish come true after 'lunch'.

He tried, I hope they carry on with it, I suspect we'll be losing about 100 overs from this match if the weather reports are to be believed so given we've got enough to be 'safe' on the board already quick runs now is how we give ourselves a real chance to win it.

[Monty]

Bairstow's no slouch when he wants to get on with it, so let's hope so. With a bit of rain in the air it might well be worth maximising the sessions we have to bowl at them as much as possible.

[olaftab]

I hope the idea spreads to Asian countries, it  will make it a lot easier for us to watch matches held there.

Similarly they need morning cricket in Australia and New Zealand. Say start at 6 AM?

[UK Redsox]

An indication of how interesting this Test is, I watched a T20 match in it's entirety last night instead of the Test.

I have the day off, so this morning I watched the test highlights followed by the Yorkshire innings of the T20.

That was an incredible innings from Lyth

[KevinGage]

England making a balls of getting up to 600 here.

[Chris Jameson]

An indication of how interesting this Test is, I watched a T20 match in it's entirety last night instead of the Test.

I have the day off, so this morning I watched the test highlights followed by the Yorkshire innings of the T20.

That was an incredible innings from Lyth

He didn't offer any chances and wasn't really slogging either, was quite special!