England Test tour of WI, March 1-28

[alfie]

I am not sure they are going to fit Parkinson in. Pitch in Grenada rumoured to be a bit more bowler friendly than the first two (a low bar !) so I suspect it will be some combination of three seamers plus Leach and Stokes.

Which three ? Hopefully Robinson is now fully fit and can be trusted to last two innings because he's the only one available I can imagine doing serious damage to the West Indies top order. Mahmood showed enough promise to go again ...maybe raffle the third spot ?

Woakes ...bowling ineffective but can bat.
Fisher...looked tidy enough but is he going to demolish them in his second Test ?
Overton...well at least he would be fresh after a rest...

Hope Stokes stays undamaged as they'll need him batting and bowling.

One good thing is that Lawrence looked worth having a serious bowl whenever they need something different : I thought he appeared more likely than Leach to winkle out the blockers towards the end last week. Never going to bowl twenty overs but could probably be tried earlier in an innings when things are quiet.

[bigfluffylemon]

Lawrence has impressed on this tour, let's hope he can go on.

England have a habit of not reading pitches well, so if they pick Parkinson, we can probably assume it'll be a seamer.

[alfie]

So no Robinson ...still injured. Raises a few doubts about the longevity of his career , perhaps ? Not an express bowler , so you'd have hoped he were a bit more durable than recent signs suggest. Summer Tests will be significant for his future , I think.

And indeed no Parkinson , just Overton back in place of Fisher - as it seems this pitch is going to be a little more seam friendly. Bit unfortunate for Fisher to be discarded so quickly : he didn't do much wrong last week , even if he was hardly destructive from limited opportunities on a very flat surface. In other circumstances he might have had another chance ; but I guess with the series on the line they've chosen to go with the more experienced bowler. Probably understandable , even if Overton has been no more effective than Woakes on the flat pitches.

I am really disappointed that Robinson couldn't come up as it is questionable whether the attack they've ended up with is going to be incisive enough to get a result. Best they can do with what is there , I guess ; so hopefully it will be able to get the job done. At least the batting looks good and deep : hasn't been a Classical England Collapse yet but you never know...

After a couple of frustrating draws I'm looking forward to this one.

[sussexpob]

That review then.... it was missing a second set of stumps. Bowling first doesnt look a great idea unless its expected to flatten out....

A bit of nip, but not a lot to justify that decision as yet.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Agnew saying Grenadan government ordered for grass to be left on the pitch!

No England fans there to keep amused for five days.

[sussexpob]

Every now and then the ball does everything from the pitch, but there is no swing, and not much pace in it Very hard to judge...

[sussexpob]

Very poor from Zak that. Shot was there to play, but he spooned it up in the air straight to the fielder. Never looked comfortable or got going...

[sussexpob]

absolute jaffer from Myers, Root goes for a duck

[Arthur Crabtree]

Was starting to look like England were getting away with it.

[sussexpob]

This looks plumb, not sure id review that unless he got bat on it..... Nowhere near it.

Another great ball. Lawrence beaten all ends up. Loses his wicket and burns a pointless review.

Over to Stokes. England need a partnership.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Good job Lees has dug in.

[sussexpob]

Good job Lees has dug in.

If Joseph keeps bowling like this to him, he wont make the end of the over.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Survives the session though. Maybe if the ball is getting soft, that's not such a terrible session for England. Ball is 27 overs old.

[Arthur Crabtree]

I blinked and England are 60-6.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Mayers 5-5-0-2