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I was at Old Trafford on both days one and two. We lost 15 overs due to slow over rates across the two days and we could easily have made those up by playing until 7pm on both nights. We had the light and shadows weren’t a problem. There’s also no reason IMO why play can’t start before 11am. The authorities need to do something about lost overs when we have the conditions, they could prove crucial in this Test. The time wasting going on yesterday, from the Aussies, was so obvious and frustrating to all of us in the ground. England were equally culpable on day one, mind.

Totally agree. Some of his shots were awesome, but I make that five Chinese cuts (four that went for four and another that went for three) on top of a dozen or so wild swipes. But, you make your own luck so hats off to him. I thought Mo batted really well yesterday and it was a gutter for Root, but that grubber offers us hope to possibly win - or take great strides towards winning - the game today. The cracks are pretty big so it’s going to get uneven.

He played some sublime shots, mate, but he had more lives that two or three cats! He cashed in, though, and I agree that it was “one of the best an opener in Ashes history” — on paper, at least! ?

Stats are all anyone will remember about his knock yesterday, but that was the luckiest innings I have ever seen from a top-order batsman. Five Chinese cuts, including the one that bowled him, at least a dozen play and misses. Fair play for cashing in, but he rode his luck. I’ve been to every Ashes Test at Old Trafford since 2005 (when Davis and I went up) and I’ve never seen us bowl so well as we did on day one, nor have I seen us get the rub of the green like we did with the bat yesterday. Everything went our way and it’ll be typical if the Aussies get away with a draw here. We should get 70 overs in today and I’d be looking at getting a lead of at least 150, ideally 200. Get them in this afternoon, tomorrow looks like an on-off type of day, and Sunday looks like another showery one. We can do it.

Agreed. I’m surprised Root didn’t bowl today. Australia in the driving seat after day one. There was no reason why they couldn’t complete the 90 overs today. We had the light and the weather. With rain around over the weekend, there’s also no reason why they can’t start earlier tomorrow and Friday.

Yep, they’ve definitely shaded that session. Looks a good deck to bat on

My view for today ?

They’ve got plenty of batting and it looks like an XI to avoid defeat, rather than win the Test. That said, Stokes is talking about going harder and faster with the weekend weather in mind and that could play into their hands.

I think it is. The only way he loses now is if he crashes IMO. I can’t quite believe what he pulled off yesterday.

You mean TC who got four today? ?

I’m travelling up tomorrow for the first two days, unless the missus calls me back to say our second’s on the way, and hope Jimmy has more of an impact than he’s had in the series so far. I think that selection is a bit harsh on Tongue, and I’m not even going to mention Mo and Bairstow.

It looks that way at the moment, and the rest day seems to be coming at a good time for Pog. The joker in the pack is Kuss and how hard his fall was today. If he’s not 100% on the way up to Courchevel, the door’s open for Pog. That’s where it’ll be won or lost now IMO. No. There might be a difference on the day, but Vingegaard’s a decent time trialist too so I don’t expect there to be much between them over that distance.

The badge and the O’Neill’s deal are JL’s legacy. The son of a billionaire putting his amateurish fingerprints on how the club appears to everyone. It’s tinpot and embarrassing in equal measure IMO.

Scott Twine or Lewis O’Brien would be great signings, but we’d have to break our wage structure to get them.

It also proves my point about Wolves’ FFP position earlier in this thread, at which time others naively dismissed it. They’ve clearly brought in enough revenue already to potentially fund this deal. Wolves would be a much better option than AFCB.

I think Pog will be fuming after making a big attack for the eight-second time bonus at the top of the Joux Plane only to be blocked by two motorbikes.

Scott has gone on record to say he lost his love for the game while playing for Bournemouth and he didn’t enjoy the pressure or the environment there, hence why he went back to Guernsey by his own free will. I don’t think AFCB would be his first choice by any means and besides, he’s never said he actually wants to leave us. That said, money talks.

Exactly how I saw it, too. Good luck to him, except against us.

Benoot had a hard day in the break on Thursday, and he definitely didn’t have the legs for the GC group yesterday. I don’t think Van Aert is anywhere near peak form this year, plus there’s a rumour about him leaving for the birth of his second child. Kelderman looked spent to me yesterday. Kuss is a heck of a domestique, but he can’t do it alone - and there’s no Roglic this year to launch that sort of attack on Pog like they did on the slopes of the Galibier. UAE didn’t exactly blaze a trail up the Grand Colombier either, but they still rode several decent riders - Bernal, Pinot, Bardet to name a few - off their wheels. Grosschartner put in a heck of a shift. I suspect they came out of yesterday in great condition. Either way, it’s all set up for a cracking few days in the Alps. I can’t wait to see Cormet de Roselend either, having done that twice in recent years. Stunning climb.

But he clearly did want to leave London as he said he “wanted to scratch that itch [of playing abroad]”. That interview has a few contradictions like that, though. I reckon he spoke to Nige who probably said something along the lines of “you’ll have to earn your place in the side like everyone else”. Bryan didn’t fancy that, so he explored options to play abroad but nothing materialised, his dithering saw us go for Roberts and the convenient move was Millwall, as he has a home in London and they will give him 35+ games. If what I’m hearing about Roberts being very impressive so far in pre-season is true, then I think we’ve dodged a bullet with Bryan. He clearly wants an easy ride and we weren’t going to give him that.

Interesting that on one hand he said “I’d had a pretty easy ride up until then [joining Fulham]. I’d played about 250 or 300 games before I joined”… only to go on to say “my next move wasn’t about anything other than playing 35+ games a season”. So, he left us because he had it easy and he joined Millwall because he wants it easy? Not sure how that works

It’s a bizarre one, ain’t it? I heard Bernal say he wasn’t meant to be in the Tour, he was meant to be on holiday! Mind you, even if he was to get back to his best, I don’t think it’d be enough to lay a glove on Pog or Vingegaard. Ineos need to make their minds up on what they’re doing with Pidcock longer term as well IMO. Is he on a GC path or super domestique (if so, working for who?) They should be doing better with the budget they have.

Either Jumbo-Visma are shot, looking at how Benoot, Van Aert and Kelderman blew up today, or they have an ace up their sleeve. I suspect it’s the former as UAE didn’t go full gas up the Grand Colombiere today. I don’t buy Vingegaard’s relaxed persona on TV either when you can the stress on his face when he crossed the line. He can’t be happy with losing chunks of time like that, especially to Pog. That said, it’s great to see Kwiato time his breakaway to perfection and Ineos really needed that win as they’ve flattered to deceive so far with their triumvirate of leaders.

I’ve only just seen these now, but you have nailed what I expect our kits to look like. It screams tradition and quality, rather than the tacky and amateurish O’Neill’s stuff IMO.

Nor do they need to go at more than a run a ball. Test cricket is a test of technique, patience, mental strength, fitness, desire.