The International Cricket Thread

[Lsvilla]

Amongst many quite emotional tributes - I like this.

Shane Warne was first to 700 Test wickets, an unfathomable milestone. But judging Warne on stats is like counting how many words Shakespeare wrote. It misses the point. He redefined his art. He made legspin cool. He changed the game. The most influential cricketer of my lifetime.

[dcdavecollett]

I'm still finding it hard to compute that he's gone.

What a player and what an entertainer!!

And probably the best captain the Aussies never had.

[Rory]

I read something very simple that, for me, summed him up, though I cannot remember where. BBC, Guardian, Independent, somewhere. The first paragraph concluded with the line, 'Shane Warne can't die'.

That spoke not only to the sense of shock but also to 30 years of respect, admiration and awe - through gritted teeth. He always felt like more than a man, more than just an opponent, like Ali. Somebody that transcends sport.

It's Shane Warne. Of course he can't be dead. The rest of us might, but Warney wouldn't do something as foolish as dying.

I don't have anything unique to add. I can only say that his passing has had a profound impact on me, just as his performances on the field did.

I like to think that for cricket fans, the prospect of the game without him is so painful because we don't want to imagine such a thing. The world was a richer and happier place for his presence.

RIP and "Bowled Shane!"

[UK Redsox]

In the least shocking news of the England tour to the West Indies, Ollie Robinson is injured

The 12 for the first test

Joe Root (captain), Jonny Bairstow, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes (wicketkeeper), Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Alex Lees, Saqib Mahmood, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

I expect it'll be one of Overton, Mahmood and Woakes to miss out

[Brazilian Villain]

My love of Cricket was ignited by the great West Indian teams of the 70’s and 80’s and their world class players such as Sir Viv were heroes of mine.

Sir Viv Richards, 70 today. https://twitter.com/BBCSport/status/1500894052354560011

[PaulWinch again]

In the least shocking news of the England tour to the West Indies, Ollie Robinson is injured

The 12 for the first test

Joe Root (captain), Jonny Bairstow, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes (wicketkeeper), Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Alex Lees, Saqib Mahmood, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

I expect it'll be one of Overton, Mahmood and Woakes to miss out

You do feel like Robinson needs some real intense work on his fitness.

Not a chance Woakes misses out - they see him as a leader and he’s critical to the tail’s batting.

[paul_e]

With this squad you'd be insane to not have woakes in for his experience at the very least.

[olaftab]

Sir Vivian Richards Stadium Antigua awaits us this morning. Looking forward to a good days cricket😊
For any H&Veers out here Thursday is Villa shirt day and gather at the main gate for a group photo at lunch time.

[Axl Rose]

Enjoy mate! You lucky sod!

[Risso]

Sir Vivian Richards Stadium Antigua awaits us this morning. Looking forward to a good days cricket😊
For any H&Veers out here Thursday is Villa shirt day and gather at the main gate for a group photo at lunch time.

Twat!

[paul_e]

Mahmood the 1 to miss out, which is a shame, but I can understand why they've gone as they have, batting first and we absolutely need to put 350+ on the board, anything else is unacceptable.

[UK Redsox]

I wonder if Root bothers to sit down after the anthems 

[paul_e]

Fucking awful start, Lees was maybe a bit unlucky given ow wide the impact was, could easily have gone in his favour (and also been upheld on review). The shot from Crawley was fucking shit though.

[PaulWinch again]

Off to our usual flyer.

[taylorsworkrate]

Thank god we solved all our test cricket problems by dropping Broad and Anderson for this series.