2nd Test England v Pakistan, Old Trafford, 22-26 July

[backfootpunch]

Good session for England.

Another good one now and we will be In a good position

[sussexpob]

Cant say anything really about the state of the game ....one more wicket and the tail is in

[Dr Cricket]

Wonder what Gower been taking saying a good crowd, if this game was played outside uk he would be saying poor crowd, not full house and cricket is dying lol.

[Dr Cricket]

imran khan documentary is very good.
agree with him Botham never fulfilled his talent.

[backfootpunch]

Wonder what Gower been taking saying a good crowd, if this game was played outside uk he would be saying poor crowd, not full house and cricket is dying lol.

Given the crowd for the other test match going on is about 50 people this is a good crowd

Looks almost full which is good for a working day

[alfie]

imran khan documentary is very good.
agree with him Botham never fulfilled his talent.

Blimey...he did OK ! If that was unfulfilled talent I'd like to have seen his record if he had nailed it

His career did tail off , it is true. fitness issues mainly - and some extra-curricular stuff. But in his pomp , he was some player .

[backfootpunch]

imran khan documentary is very good.
agree with him Botham never fulfilled his talent.

Botham was too busy drinking to do any serious practice

He got by in his natural talent while he was young but as his career progressed his waist line expanded much more than his ability, a bit more professionalism and he would have been one of the best players ever


Had he stayed in better shape he would have been England's best ever cricketer

[Dr Cricket]

imran khan documentary is very good.
agree with him Botham never fulfilled his talent.

Botham was too busy drinking to do any serious practice

He got by in his natural talent, a bit more professionalism and he would have been one of the best players ever

agree

[hopeforthebest]

I wonder if Vince is learning anything from watching these two.

[alfie]

Could Ali be being made into a batter (again) and Vince drops out?

Stokes could then be in as another all rounder.

Someone referenced bits and pieces ('multi discipline') and it starts to get that feel unless there is clarity of roles. For me the phrase second spinner wouldn't apply to Rashid if he ended up at 9.

That is the only logical way they could have played Rashid , I think. Ali at five , say , wouldn't have seemed unreasonable , though it would have seen him moving around the order a bit - again. But I think they want to give Vince a bit more of a go .
Might be an option in India though.

[backfootpunch]

Can't believe they disnt play rashid on this wicket

Especially with the abundance of right handers in the pakistan line up

Had there been loads of lefties I could understand picking moeen

[backfootpunch]

Mooen should get plenty of help from the rough created by the three left armer though I suppose

A big first innings score could be vital

[alfie]

Interesting period hereabouts : England well placed with two batsmen fifty odd each , hundred stand...but this is where they came unstuck at Lord's , when impatience did for Root and it all went off the rails...
Rahat seems to be bowling a bit dry now ; while Yasir has adopted a leg stump line to Cook : Pakistan hoping for something similar , I think.

Both playing well at present. But need to go on.

[backfootpunch]

Lovely straight drive off Yasir to bring up the 100 partnership

Hopefully they keep it going this time

[Dr Cricket]

Wonder what Gower been taking saying a good crowd, if this game was played outside uk he would be saying poor crowd, not full house and cricket is dying lol.

Given the crowd for the other test match going on is about 50 people this is a good crowd

Looks almost full which is good for a working day

True although it does come on my nerves when their keep on mentioning the crowd in Australia, India, South Africa when the crowd not even that bad and generally get more or the same amount of people attending the game than people in england.
Where as they never mention the crowd in the uk even though attendance, tv ratings and cricket is been in decline for years now.

SA generally been getting good crowd lately and tend to get about 8-10K for the cricket each day which is quite good.
India been selling out all the ticket available to the public in the past 5 yrs, although quite ridiculous why india doesn't sell the sponsor tickets to the general public look quite ridiculous to have a stadium 75% full and officially sold out yet 5-10K seats available.
Australia will never sell out so no point even talking about it.

Always come on my nerves when their act like Cricket is healthy in the UK and dead everywhere else considering Cricket is probably dead in the UK the most considering no one watches cricket, no one plays cricket and even people that come to watch cricket at the ground to get smashed are in decline.

In reality the future of cricket is a problem in the UK and really needs to get fixed urgently.

Cricket is in more of a healthy place in WI than england right now really and that is saying something considering WI got administration problems, fiances issues, but generally the cricket on the up in the WI more people playing it and watching it there at the moment, can't say the same thing in England.

of all the Test nations england worry me the most since they are very important in the future of cricket and poor Attendances, Viewing figures and grassroots cricket can not be brushed off as being ok.

poor attendances at WI, Sri lanka, UAE etc doesn't really worry me since in general the viewing figures and grass root stuff are in good places, even NZ are doing well right now.