tin

Stoke are/were very keen on him.

Charlie Wyatt, who wrote that, is the biggest bullshitter on Fleet Street IMO. The last time he wrote about us, he was adamant Nige was being replaced by Warnock. Look how the worked out.

I genuinely don’t know, nor have I met, a single person who has a good word to say about The Hundred. Test cricket is the ECB’s cash cow. It’s such a shame they’ve overlooked that.

He stank of piss when I met him 15-20 years ago. Some things never change!

That’s a fair assumption to make IMO, but the robin splat farce is down to JL, of that I have little doubt. That and the kit deal make us look naff and unprofessional.

Crawley’s batted more with confidence and authority in that first session. If he maintains that and nudges his average up to 40 or above beyond this series, he becomes a key player. Less of the loose shots and Vince-like wafts will be the key, please. An excellent morning session for us and I’m pleased to see Stokes in at three. It makes senses if Root refuses to do it and Stokes can’t bowl. He needs to affect the game somehow, although Mo hasn’t done bad in his last two knocks.

I’ll text you, mate. We’ve got an loose itinerary planned ??

Maybe. I’d expect Foakes and Ahmed to return to the XI in India. Jennings might also be in the frame given his record in spin-friendly conditions. I’m looking into going over for the Dharamsala Test. That’s been on my bucket list since I was over there for the 2016 tour. Fancy it, @Kid in the Riot?

Never said he should be dropped; I said he should never have been given the gloves, especially after he admitted he hadn’t kept in three years. Crazy decision IMO that gets worse as the series goes on. You might be right on Jimmy, mind. If his economy rate deteriorates, he’s no longer worth his place in the XI. He needs to tie up an end and create pressure at the very least.

Misread it as Jonny, and edited it accordingly.

Stokes isn’t going to drop his mate, Jonny, not after scoring 99 in a lost cause and taking one pearler of a catch (at long last) at OT. I said it before the Ashes and I’ll say it again: Bairstow should never have the gloves in a Test match when Foakes is available, and Rew’s emergence this summer should make him the next cab off the rank IMO.

Brook aside, this has been pretty ordinary batting from our top order on a good pitch.

Agreed. If we could’ve won the Ashes at The Oval, I think he’d have called it a day but he’ll be aiming for 700 now. While he’s not been a threat in this series, he’s still as miserly as usual. At the very least, that builds pressure. And it’s not like there’s a queue of quality bowlers knocking on the door to replace him either.

Spot on, mate. We’ve won every toss and had the best of the conditions in the first four Tests. The declaration in the first Test was insane, the drops behind the wicket were sloppy, and the batting at Lord’s when 180-1 was reckless. That’s were we lost those first two Tests. I also thought Stokes should’ve declared in the last Test with a lead of 200. That would’ve given us another two hours to bowl at them that might have been enough to get the win we deserved.

PL aspirations on the pitch, bloody tin pot off the pitch. Heads should roll for this (and that iStock robin)

Me, too. That was amazing support for him on the Petit Ballon and I hope he managed to take it all in. It’s rare to see a rider wear his heart on his sleeve and Thibault certainly did that. I won’t forget his win on the Tourmalet.

Yes, I know the pitch is flat and bowling is difficult. I saw that first hand on Weds, when we grafted hard to get nine wickets. We had more about us at a time when the pitch was at its flattest than we have had today. I’d have liked a bit more energy, a bit more urgency, a bit more chat. The Aussies are entitled to play well, of course they are, but it’s not unreasonable to expect us to be more up for it, to get round quickly between the overs or be chirping in Marnus’s ear, for example.

Agreed, but it was a half chance all the same IMO. Sometimes they stick, most times they don’t. I’m more disappointed in how flat we’ve been to be fair, not what I expected when we’ve got a runs on the board and an unexpected break in the weather.

It’s game over for us. We’ve been poor in this session and now Crawley drops a tough chance off Marnus

Looks like we could’ve done with those extra 90 minutes or so yesterday where we batted on, and on, and on…

Was just going to say the same. I’d like to see more energy, more chat from us. We seem a bit flat, like we’re waiting for something to happen, which is surprising when we had to graft for those nine wickets on day one.

Play to start at 2.45pm

Moeen isn’t a proper spinner, though, is he? Agree on Brook, which is why I’d have put Bairstow at the top of the order and dropped Crawley to accommodate Brook at five. All about opinions, mind, and I appreciate we wouldn’t have had Crawley’s 189 had we gone down that route.

Come on! ??

It’s pretty simple, really — pick a similar XI to those that won 11 out of 12 Tests. At the start of this series that could’ve been Crawley, Duckett, Pope, Root, Stokes, Bairstow, Foakes, Woakes, Wood, Broad, Anderson. That would’ve given five seam options, plus Root as the spinner in Leach’s absence. The XI that thrashed India last summer, for example, was very similar to that side and I’ve got no doubt we’d have won the Ashes if we fielded that team. Not said with the benefit of hindsight, either.