England V Windies 4th test

Worthy4England · Post by **Worthy4England** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 2:04 pm

This one had me confused, was head-scratching to work out where I had "lost" a test. Then realised they'd counted the first Antigua test as an abandoned test and slotted in an extra one.

AJ Strauss (Capt), AN Cook, OA Shah, KP Pietersen, PD Collingwood, RS Bopara, TR Ambrose (Wkt), SCJ Broad, GP Swann, RJ Sidebottom, JM Anderson.

That bowling attack (all capable of taking wickets on "their day") looks very thin to me for a test attack....

BWFC_Insane · Post by **BWFC_Insane** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 2:06 pm

Worthy4England wrote:This one had me confused, was head-scratching to work out where I had "lost" a test. Then realised they'd counted the first Antigua test as an abandoned test and slotted in an extra one.

AJ Strauss (Capt), AN Cook, OA Shah, KP Pietersen, PD Collingwood, RS Bopara, TR Ambrose (Wkt), SCJ Broad, GP Swann, RJ Sidebottom, JM Anderson.

That bowling attack (all capable of taking wickets on "their day") looks very thin to me for a test attack....

That bowling attack is not good enough unless at least 3 of them have 2 really good days.

Worthy4England · Post by **Worthy4England** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 2:21 pm

BWFC_Insane wrote:
Worthy4England wrote:This one had me confused, was head-scratching to work out where I had "lost" a test. Then realised they'd counted the first Antigua test as an abandoned test and slotted in an extra one.

AJ Strauss (Capt), AN Cook, OA Shah, KP Pietersen, PD Collingwood, RS Bopara, TR Ambrose (Wkt), SCJ Broad, GP Swann, RJ Sidebottom, JM Anderson.

That bowling attack (all capable of taking wickets on "their day") looks very thin to me for a test attack....
That bowling attack is not good enough unless at least 3 of them have 2 really good days.

Twice

Worthy4England · Post by **Worthy4England** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 3:45 pm

85 - 0 @ 4 per over at the moment. 61 off 78 balls for Strauss at the moment...

jimbo · Post by **jimbo** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 3:54 pm

Worthy4England wrote:85 - 0 @ 4 per over at the moment. 61 off 78 balls for Strauss at the moment...

But Strauss is also giving catching practice to the hapless Gayle. Looks like an absolute road, though maybe not as flat as the pitch for the Pakistan V Sri Lanka game.

Worthy4England · Post by **Worthy4England** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 3:56 pm

Not got pictures here, but it wouldn't surprise me at 1-0 to the good if we didn't have another pitch after this one, on which the batting team could at a stretch manage four days for an innings...

dasher · Post by **dasher** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 4:27 pm

Looks like the bowlers in for some hard labour on this wicket. Might have been an idea to go with two spinners looking at how easy Strauss and Cook have made it look so far. (which no doubt will set off an after lunch collapse)

jimbo · Post by **jimbo** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 5:18 pm

dasher wrote:Looks like the bowlers in for some hard labour on this wicket. Might have been an idea to go with two spinners looking at how easy Strauss and Cook have made it look so far. (which no doubt will set off an after lunch collapse)

The problem is which two spinners to go with. Panesar has shown he lacks the variation in flight to succeed on pitches like this, and can easily be milked for 3 an over for a day and Rashid is too unproven to be thrown in on a track like this. KP will have to get through a lot of overs me thinks.

Worthy4England · Post by **Worthy4England** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 5:20 pm

jimbo wrote:
dasher wrote:Looks like the bowlers in for some hard labour on this wicket. Might have been an idea to go with two spinners looking at how easy Strauss and Cook have made it look so far. (which no doubt will set off an after lunch collapse)
The problem is which two spinners to go with. Panesar has shown he lacks the variation in flight to succeed on pitches like this, and can easily be milked for 3 an over for a day and Rashid is too unproven to be thrown in on a track like this. KP will have to get through a lot of overs me thinks.

On the plus side, Strauss is hitting a run-rate that suggests he'd like to leave 5 sessions in the 4th innings...

jimbo · Post by **jimbo** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 5:23 pm

Worthy4England wrote:
jimbo wrote:
dasher wrote:Looks like the bowlers in for some hard labour on this wicket. Might have been an idea to go with two spinners looking at how easy Strauss and Cook have made it look so far. (which no doubt will set off an after lunch collapse)
The problem is which two spinners to go with. Panesar has shown he lacks the variation in flight to succeed on pitches like this, and can easily be milked for 3 an over for a day and Rashid is too unproven to be thrown in on a track like this. KP will have to get through a lot of overs me thinks.
On the plus side, Strauss is hitting a run-rate that suggests he'd like to leave 5 sessions in the 4th innings...

Or, more likely, he'd like a lead of near 700 before he sticks them in on the 4th evening. They got too close last time!

dasher · Post by **dasher** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 5:23 pm

Can't say any of our bowlers look in great nick at the minute, fair point re Panesar.

More likely Strauss is thinking of declaring at the same time as last test but hoping to be about 800 in front just in case

jimbo · Post by **jimbo** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 5:25 pm

dasher wrote:Can't say any of our bowlers look in great nick at the minute, fair point re Panesar.

More likely Strauss is thinking of declaring at the same time as last test but hoping to be about 800 in front just in case

Beat you to it! Great minds and all.................

dasher · Post by **dasher** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 5:29 pm

jimbo wrote:
dasher wrote:Can't say any of our bowlers look in great nick at the minute, fair point re Panesar.

More likely Strauss is thinking of declaring at the same time as last test but hoping to be about 800 in front just in case
Beat you to it! Great minds and all.................

LOL cheers for making me look like the Village numpty

Worthy4England · Post by **Worthy4England** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 5:32 pm

I'll resist any comments about fools never differing

jimbo · Post by **jimbo** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 5:50 pm

dasher wrote:
jimbo wrote:
dasher wrote:Can't say any of our bowlers look in great nick at the minute, fair point re Panesar.

More likely Strauss is thinking of declaring at the same time as last test but hoping to be about 800 in front just in case
Beat you to it! Great minds and all.................

LOL cheers for making me look like the Village numpty

Any time squire!

Worthy4England · Post by **Worthy4England** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:48 pm

600 is a reasonable target to be bowling at. I suspect on reflection, Shah might be a bit disappointed...

jimbo · Post by **jimbo** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 11:30 pm

Worthy4England wrote:600 is a reasonable target to be bowling at. I suspect on reflection, Shah might be a bit disappointed...

And Bell! Always seems that players come in on the flattest of tracks and get hundreds. Still need that perfect number 3, maybe even getting Vaughan back in summer would be a decent shout.

BWFC_Insane · Post by **BWFC_Insane** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 1:47 pm

Once again our bowling attack is shown up to be no more than 4 donkeys plodding in with very little hope of owt more than getting thumped for 4.

Our batsmen must be embarrassed!

Hoboh · Post by **Hoboh** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 1:50 pm

Game played by men with little balls!!!

BUT

Slightly bigger balls than Golfers

Dujon · Post by **Dujon** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 10:38 pm

I haven't seen any images from the test, but 1600+ runs with a session to spare, plus three declarations (@6, @9 & @2), indicate that someone must have substituted the corker with a thick-walled red tennis ball. Blimey!

Of course it could be that neither side has bowlers capable of performing against talented batsmen and/or the fielding capability to complete the intent of the bowlers. Like I said, I haven't seen any of the test so I'm surmising, pondering and a bit confused and not criticising in a manner negative.

Incidentally, after catching up on the result this morning, a question came to mind: When was the last time that a test match ended with the opposing captains agreeing to a declaration and a handshake for the draw? I'm no historian so it has probably happened more often than I think. Any takers?

Anyway, a result in the final test would be good, whichever way it goes - although I'll be hoping for an England win.