The International Cricket Thread

[PaulWinch again]

Psychologically this could be big as much as anything. They’ve shown that in spite of the quality of the Aussie attack there’s nothing to fear there. It’s potentially a big step in terms of the series.

[tomd2103]

Getting back in tomorrow morning will be tough. I suspect Australia will come out of the traps hard, so we’ll need to dig in. But to be honest after the first two days making them bat again would be a triumph.

Agree Paul and we probably need Root and Malan to go big tomorrow.  Probably going to need to bat the best part of four sessions to get a result.

[paul_e]

Getting back in tomorrow morning will be tough. I suspect Australia will come out of the traps hard, so we’ll need to dig in. But to be honest after the first two days making them bat again would be a triumph.

Agree Paul and we probably need Root and Malan to go big tomorrow.  Probably going to need to bat the best part of four sessions to get a result.

We shouldn't get ahead of ourselves, lets just focus on little wins:
No wickets down in the first 20 minutes = win
Get the runs to make then bat again = win
Take the match to day 5 = win
Give the bowlers some runs to work with = win

We are still likely to lose the test so now the focus has to be on putting down some foundations for the rest of the series.

What I'd pesonally like to see is Root, Malan nd Pope put enough on the boards that Stokes and Buttler can come in and have a bit of a go at their bowlers, try to put a bit of fear into them about what our middle order can do.

[bilsim]

Obviously, it's the hope that kills you and the pessimistic side of all of us tells us that Australia will skittle us tomorrow morning and knock off 40 or 50 to take the win.

That being said, today has shown that it's a good surface that usually gets easier to bat on as the match reaches day 4 and 5 and that with a bit of grit and application, there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to dig in. If Stokes/Buttler can come in tomorrow with a lead of 60 odd, a bit of aggression from the two of them and all of a sudden things look a lot healthier.

All being said, I think tomorrow is the critical day of this test match because weather will be a big factor on day 5. If we can get to tea tomorrow with a 150+ lead and a couple of wickets still in hand, I think we can prevent an Australian victory.

[tomd2103]

Getting back in tomorrow morning will be tough. I suspect Australia will come out of the traps hard, so we’ll need to dig in. But to be honest after the first two days making them bat again would be a triumph.

Agree Paul and we probably need Root and Malan to go big tomorrow.  Probably going to need to bat the best part of four sessions to get a result.

We shouldn't get ahead of ourselves, lets just focus on little wins:
No wickets down in the first 20 minutes = win
Get the runs to make then bat again = win
Take the match to day 5 = win
Give the bowlers some runs to work with = win

We are still likely to lose the test so now the focus has to be on putting down some foundations for the rest of the series.

What I'd pesonally like to see is Root, Malan nd Pope put enough on the boards that Stokes and Buttler can come in and have a bit of a go at their bowlers, try to put a bit of fear into them about what our middle order can do.

Nah, I'm getting fully carried away Paul.  Root and Malan to give us a 200+ lead, then Stokes and Butter to come in and smash it to all parts! 

Reality is though, we are still very much up against it, but the partnership between Root and Malan has at least given us a glimmer of hope of getting something out of the game. 

[PaulWinch again]

Yeah I’m of the attitude that any form of positive result in this match is an incredibly unlikely bonus. More realistically today has shown the blueprint to take forward in the series - there is nothing to fear from Australia if we get our game right.

[paul_e]

Getting back in tomorrow morning will be tough. I suspect Australia will come out of the traps hard, so we’ll need to dig in. But to be honest after the first two days making them bat again would be a triumph.

Agree Paul and we probably need Root and Malan to go big tomorrow.  Probably going to need to bat the best part of four sessions to get a result.

We shouldn't get ahead of ourselves, lets just focus on little wins:
No wickets down in the first 20 minutes = win
Get the runs to make then bat again = win
Take the match to day 5 = win
Give the bowlers some runs to work with = win

We are still likely to lose the test so now the focus has to be on putting down some foundations for the rest of the series.

What I'd pesonally like to see is Root, Malan nd Pope put enough on the boards that Stokes and Buttler can come in and have a bit of a go at their bowlers, try to put a bit of fear into them about what our middle order can do.

Nah, I'm getting fully carried away Paul.  Root and Malan to give us a 200+ lead, then Stokes and Butter to come in and smash it to all parts! 

Reality is though, we are still very much up against it, but the partnership between Root and Malan has at least given us a glimmer of hope of getting something out of the game. 

I went to bed on tuesday night, having seen us decide to bat and lose 2 wickets in the first 10 minutes or so, expecting the test would be over before the weekend so we're already doing better than I expected and that glimmer is very important for the series. If we get the approach right tonight and, at the least, go on to a battling defeat then that'll be huge after that first morning.

[Gareth]

First session tonight is key, getting Malan to 3 figures could be huge for the series in terms giving Root adequate support….

Big hundred for Root would be a good also

Stokes needs time in the middle after his break particularly if his knee ends up reducing his bowling capacity in rest of series.

Would be lovely to wake up in the morning to us still batting & even better if no more than 5 down :-)

[olaftab]

You don’t ask for much Gareth😂 I hope it all comes to be.

[Gareth]

Hope over expectation :-)

[Rory]

How in the name of god has Lyon got 400 test wickets? Don't get me wrong, he's a good bowler, but 400 wickets?!

[olaftab]

Aussies have changed tactics and Malan and Root fell for it. Losing 2 before the new ball is ominous.

[PaulWinch again]

There’s the game sadly.

[UK Redsox]

How in the name of god has Lyon got 400 test wickets? Don't get me wrong, he's a good bowler, but 400 wickets?!

He’s better than ‘good’, but he’s also played 101 tests

[Risso]

Oh dear.