Northern Red

There's no Test at OT next year, so, depending on the 2023 schedule, if Jimmy ever plays another Test on his home ground he could be 41 years old.

And as soon as that finishes, the T20 World Cup starts.

Good day to bury bad news....

Yeah, I suspect there's an ongoing row about that. The alternative is that India play a one-off Test next summer when they're over here for white ball stuff.

Yeah, I saw a tweet from someone who'd left Salisbury at 5am this morning and got as far as Birmingham. There'll be loads in the same boat. I suspect Lancs will be claiming back every penny that they can from the BCCI. As will the ECB, Sky, BBC etc. Could cost millions.

That's exactly what it is. If any of them had subsequently tested positive they'd have to quarantine here before flying out.

Feel sorry for @tin who was heading up yesterday. I know a few people who were going today who luckily live close enough to have not set off yet.

That faint sound you can hear is a penny starting to drop.

Tomorrow looks dodgy but the forecast for the rest of the match is dry enough, if a bit cloudy.

Good post. The domestic schedule for next year is still being finalised, however when the international fixtures were released yesterday they did say that the T20 finals day will be on July 16th. That suggests that they may be going back to the format that you talk about, where T20s are mostly kept to evenings and weekends with Championship being played around it. The Hundred will almost certainly be later in the summer as the women are involved in the Commonwealth Games in early August and they won't want to split it from the men's tournament. The problem is that they have to schedule something opposite it, otherwise you'll have dozens of county players who aren't involved in it sat doing nothing at the height of summer, which means the 50-over comp will probably be played at the same time again. Root has already said Buttler and Moeen will play, Leach will only be included if they go for a second spinner which I'd imagine is highly unlikely given that he appears to not trust any of them sufficiently. Wood will come in for someone, who that is probably depends on how fresh Anderson and Robinson are.

Haha, is it really our favourite academic back again? Would explain a lot tbh.

And that's another failing of the current structure. Counties producing a conveyor belt of swing and seam bowlers that are great for winning matches in England in April and May but they're not winning you much away from home. We saw how the attack wilted in the second innings here when the sun came out, the pitch flattened out and the ball didn't swing. Whereas India play on those pitches at home for fun (when they're not turning square) and had the skill to exploit it.

Absolutely spot on. People are screaming for changes, but who? The cupboard is bare.

Another one overturned.

For once I agree with him, because I think he was getting at the quality of the pitches rather than the batting.

But that's my point. Who else is there? The way the game is run in this country now means that those players aren't being produced anymore. And when they are they're criticised if they don't score quickly enough.

Like who?

Bairstow bowled, imagine my shock...

Malan was ball-watching.

Of course they'll try and win.

15 wickets gone at Edgbaston in less than half a day's cricket. I'm sure the ECB will reach the only acceptable punishment, and deduct points from Somerset....

Glos ?

It looks a very good wicket to bat on despite the efforts of the majority of the batsmen on both sides so far.

Good decision by Rahane to review that LBW, I thought it looked high to start with.

He's from Winsford, which was expanded in the 70s to accommodate families being moved out of Liverpool. Therefore it's very possible that he has some Scouse heritage anyway.