WI tour of England, July 8-28

[Arthur Crabtree]

Maybe best for WI if England bat the day out scoring slowly. Going to be sunny tomorrow.

[alfie]

Think they have bowled pretty well to a plan today...going round the wicket to Burns makes sense : or at least that is how I would bowl to him , once he'd been in for the first few overs.

You can see why the umpire didn't give it straight away...easy to assume the ball must be heading down leg from that angle ; but he'd come too far across.

[alfie]

Maybe best for WI if England bat the day out scoring slowly. Going to be sunny tomorrow.

Not sure the batters from here on down are likely to play out the day slowly...I'd expect Stokes at least to try a bit of a counterattack. If it doesn't come off I wouldn't be surprised to see West Indies batting today. But perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself...

Certainly if the forecast is to be believed the timing of the weather change looks likely to help West Indies in any case.

Close call for Stokes then...not easy batting this morning .

[alfie]

Crawley looks at risk now...


Think this is hitting...

Four down !

[alfie]

Umpires not doing so well today ...but the drs is keeping things honest.

England in a heap of trouble though. Real test now for the highly promising young Pope...

[mikesiva]

Umpires not doing so well today ...but the drs is keeping things honest.

England in a heap of trouble though. Real test now for the highly promising young Pope...

Thank God for DR'S!

Holder in on the act.

[sussexpob]

5 down now

[alfie]

The three review rule renders the on field decision a little less important than usual. As long as the umpires are consistent throughout the match : ie , conservative on lbw calls (there might be few given the rust on all batsmen !) it will be fair enough.

I am not advocating three reviews permanently , by the way !

Oh dear...Pope gone , England really on the rocks...

[mikesiva]

Holder!

[sussexpob]

Classic bowling from Holder, really intelligent. Get the stock ball in the right area, then play with the variations off it... done both batsman coming wider on the crease and having them go at balls that they thought wold do something different. Thats what you do in these conditions. He might not be express pace, but hes crafted out two batsman with a well setup plan

[sussexpob]

I dont honestly see much test match potential in Crawley, and I am still to be convinced on Sibley's technical setup being a long term transfer at this level, but the really worry is Pope; he seems to really hae something about him, but at times he really has lapses of concentration, and particularly early on likes to play shots he can really leave or more solidly block. If he can cut that out of his game, when he settles and looks on track, he really strikes me as a player whos good enough.

[DiligentDefence]

West Indies bowling really well here. I know the pitch at Southampton does offer spin later on in the game but you have to get there first.

[alfie]

I dont honestly see much test match potential in Crawley, and I am still to be convinced on Sibley's technical setup being a long term transfer at this level, but the really worry is Pope; he seems to really hae something about him, but at times he really has lapses of concentration, and particularly early on likes to play shots he can really leave or more solidly block. If he can cut that out of his game, when he settles and looks on track, he really strikes me as a player whos good enough.

Not too bothered about Pope getting out cheaply today (except for the team's sake of course !). I agree he is the one new boy who really does look to have "it"... And I'm pretty confident he will prove a really good player as he goes on.

The other newer caps all still have a fair bit to prove. This strange summer might go a long way towards that , one way or the other.

Lunch with five down...guess it could have been worse . But the tourists will walk off a lot more comfortably...

[mikesiva]

England 106-5 at lunch.

Stokes 21*
Butler 9*

Gabriel 3-38
Holder 2-24

[sussexpob]

Ben Stokes must be the most dropped bastman ever. That is a dolly hes missed.

Dropped twice....