Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

yuppie wrote:I guess as an England supporter there must come a time when you just have to laugh.

If Englands last 3 can do what the WI last 3 did then they could still have a 170 run lead........

lightning rarely strikes twice in the same place

bigfluffylemon wrote:

Durhamfootman wrote:

Durhamfootman wrote:a 100 run lead for WI would cost England 6 wickets to knock off. Just as well England's best batsmen are batting 8 to 11

only 93 runs and not 100, but England have 37 runs to get and 2 wickets to do it with to make me eat my words.... take that, cynical footman

Cough.

Innings loss?

not today

10 wickets?

maybe

Lees stumps ripped out.

Mayers 5-9!

mikesiva wrote:Mayers 5-9!

England have turned him into Curtley Ambrose.

Pringle called him a trundler on Twitter.

Stumps.

England need a good day tomorrow.

Arthur Crabtree wrote:Stumps.

England need a good day tomorrow.

In fairness, Id imagine the best possible scenario from here is WIndies wrap up the game in 30 minutes, and everyone gets to enjoy the golf course before sundown

And so the hunt for a series win in the Caribbean goes on, with England losing due to frail batting. Yet again.

bigfluffylemon wrote:And so the hunt for a series win in the Caribbean goes on, with England losing due to frail batting. Yet again.

England looked like a good chance when they had WI at 7 for 128. A day later they have just managed to avoid an innings defeat.

Frail batting and frail bowling to the tail. Again.

Well that all went well

Dreadful batting collapse , of course. But to be honest I half expected it after the West Indies last three wickets added all those runs...these late run feasts always seem to suck the life out of this England team's resolve. Like they've seen it before , know what is coming - and basically give up. A pity , after the earlier matches showed an apparent rise in confidence and positivity in their approach ; but I fear this has undone any good they might have taken from this tour - at least in their mental states. Which is , after all , a very important part of competing at a high level in any sport. Criticise them all we like , these fellows are , for the most part , decent if unremarkable players in terms of actual skills : it is where their heads are on a day that makes the big difference.
And all too often lately , the heads are down. Losing , like winning , becomes a habit.

Despite the batting failures in this match it is the bowling that seems to me to have been the biggest flop in this series. And that is probably not surprising given the best bowlers are all either injured or (ill advisedly ) left at home. So I wouldn't abandon all hope for the future. But the resilience needs to be dialed up if they're to rebuild successfully any time soon...and I strongly suspect that means a change of skipper for a start : Root looks shot. Has to be Stokes for now , and of course we hope the burden won't kill him ... I think that has to be tried though , risks and all.

Advance congrats to West Indies for somehow surviving twice in games in which they were heavily outplayed - and then taking their early advantage in this game all the way to a series win. They are not a strong team , but they have a lot of spirit and showed it throughout the series. Well done them

lead of 10 with 2 wickets remaining is not a good look

thank goodness the ECB can be relied upon to take all the measures necessary to turn the test team around in the future......... as long as it doesn't compromise the hundred, of course

Given the pattern of the match it's not beyond the limits of what we've seen so far for England to get a 120 lead and them bowl the WI out. If I could be bothered, I'd have a pound on England to win.

Arthur Crabtree wrote:Given the pattern of the match it's not beyond the limits of what we've seen so far for England to get a 120 lead and them bowl the WI out. If I could be bothered, I'd have a pound on England to win.

If that came off it would be on a par with an Australian player's collect at 500/1 in a certain game at Headingley in 1981 !

Reckon you should keep your pound in pocket , Arthur

OK, but England win I'll be furious ;)