creeeeeeeekeeeeeet

[jaffka]

We have gone from looking at winning it to saving it and are now in the hanging in their.

[BWFC_Insane]

Glad to see the run chase is going well.

Bowlers are the ones that really let this slip though. Anything over 200 batting last on this was going to be very tough.

[TANGODANCER]

52-4 and not looking to er, healthy right now. A hero or two needed methinks?

[TANGODANCER]

Fish in a barrel comes to mind right now. Cringe-worthy stuff from our super-stars. 57-5, dear oh dear....

[jaffka]

Well short for five.

Needs a monumental effort to avoid defeat.

[TANGODANCER]

Well short for five.

Needs a monumental effort to avoid defeat.

Is that how you spell miracle?

[jaffka]

Massive ask but it's not over yet.

[thebish]

well - that all turned out worse than expected!

[Bruce Rioja]

A year or so ago nobody could get him out, so I'm not entirely sure he'd be totally discarded quite that quickly. It is fair to say he isn't on any sort of form, but he's probably done enough to warrant some patience. As a batsman at least.

Absolutely. A goodun doesn't simply become a baddun overnight without a marked change of circumstance. We've seen many times before that being awarded the captaincy has had a terrible effect on that man's level of performance. What I'm saying is that if we were to relieve him of the captaincy then maybe we'd get the batter back. His two dismissals in this second test have been nothing short of embarrassing for any batsman, let alone one of Cook's previous standing.

[thebish]

A year or so ago nobody could get him out, so I'm not entirely sure he'd be totally discarded quite that quickly. It is fair to say he isn't on any sort of form, but he's probably done enough to warrant some patience. As a batsman at least.

Absolutely. A goodun doesn't simply become a baddun overnight without a marked change of circumstance. We've seen many times before that being awarded the captaincy has had a terrible effect on that man's level of performance. What I'm saying is that if we were to relieve him of the captaincy then maybe we'd get the batter back. His two dismissals in this second test have been nothing short of embarrassing for any batsman, let alone one of Cook's previous standing.

difficult to say... relieving him of the captaincy would be a HUGE gesture - and it's quite hard to go from being captain to not being captain - especially as there isn't a really obviously better prospect screaming to be promoted...

[LeverEnd]

It would end up being Broad. No thanks.

[Bruce Rioja]

A year or so ago nobody could get him out, so I'm not entirely sure he'd be totally discarded quite that quickly. It is fair to say he isn't on any sort of form, but he's probably done enough to warrant some patience. As a batsman at least.

Absolutely. A goodun doesn't simply become a baddun overnight without a marked change of circumstance. We've seen many times before that being awarded the captaincy has had a terrible effect on that man's level of performance. What I'm saying is that if we were to relieve him of the captaincy then maybe we'd get the batter back. His two dismissals in this second test have been nothing short of embarrassing for any batsman, let alone one of Cook's previous standing.

difficult to say... relieving him of the captaincy would be a HUGE gesture - and it's quite hard to go from being captain to not being captain - especially as there isn't a really obviously better prospect screaming to be promoted...

But what is there to lose?

[thebish]

A year or so ago nobody could get him out, so I'm not entirely sure he'd be totally discarded quite that quickly. It is fair to say he isn't on any sort of form, but he's probably done enough to warrant some patience. As a batsman at least.

Absolutely. A goodun doesn't simply become a baddun overnight without a marked change of circumstance. We've seen many times before that being awarded the captaincy has had a terrible effect on that man's level of performance. What I'm saying is that if we were to relieve him of the captaincy then maybe we'd get the batter back. His two dismissals in this second test have been nothing short of embarrassing for any batsman, let alone one of Cook's previous standing.

difficult to say... relieving him of the captaincy would be a HUGE gesture - and it's quite hard to go from being captain to not being captain - especially as there isn't a really obviously better prospect screaming to be promoted...

But what is there to lose?

it's just I remember the whole botched Pietersen captaincy fiasco and how much unrest that caused... I think it's a big risk and probably a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to take such a huge step and appoint (broad??) as captain when there isn't anything to suggest he'd do a better job and isn't exactly performing that well recently without the added burden...

I think the management team is looking for stability in order to rebuild with a young and inexperienced side... sacking cook would (I think) be a huge risk to that. if they were gonna sack cook - the time to do it was after the ashes debacle - not to wait a year having started the rebuild...

[Little Green Man]

Jayawardene's thoughts on the England side were rather disparaging. I get the feeling there's a bit of bad blood.

England were quite chirpy this morning, but they quietened up after the first hour.

They got quite a bit from us this afternoon when they came to bat and they will get some more in the morning.

We've seen that, under pressure, they are not quite up to it.

[thebish]

Jayawardene's thoughts on the England side were rather disparaging. I get the feeling there's a bit of bad blood.

England were quite chirpy this morning, but they quietened up after the first hour.

They got quite a bit from us this afternoon when they came to bat and they will get some more in the morning.

We've seen that, under pressure, they are not quite up to it.

[Bruce Rioja]

I bet they take our last wicket today by whipping the non-striking batsman's bails off, the tinkers!

[Bruce Rioja]

Sounds like Moeen's thought - feck it, I'm having a knock. Anyone watching?

[TANGODANCER]

Sounds like Moeen's thought - feck it, I'm having a knock. Anyone watching?

Just come in hoping to see some good news. Not much of it, but it hasn't got worse so far. In with a chance of holding on for the draw, winning looking to have disappeared with the sunshine. We can but hope....

[Bruce Rioja]

Sounds like Moeen's thought - feck it, I'm having a knock. Anyone watching?

Just come in hoping to see some good news. Not much of it, but it hasn't got worse so far. In with a chance of holding on for the draw, winning looking to have disappeared with the sunshine. We can but hope....

Play set to resume in two mins it says here.

[thebish]

Sounds like Moeen's thought - feck it, I'm having a knock. Anyone watching?

Just come in hoping to see some good news. Not much of it, but it hasn't got worse so far. In with a chance of holding on for the draw, winning looking to have disappeared with the sunshine. We can but hope....

Play set to resume in two mins it says here.

not lost many (if any) overs yet...