England v Ireland at Lord's, 24/7.

[sussexpob]

Broad having a smash,.may as well

[sussexpob]

Curran goes for 30 odd valuable runs...can't blame.him for having a smash

[sussexpob]

Lead 173....England have a chance

[Arthur Crabtree]

Saw the wickets on the news. Some awful shots. Roy particularly, but Woakes also unusually bad.

[Arthur Crabtree]

England should win though.

But close.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Ireland will be pleased with the rain delay.

[bigfluffylemon]

At least Roy got 70 odd, although to be fair it wasn't his first reckless shot. But there's a difference doing that 1 down and 5 down.

I'm going for Ireland by 4 wickets. Maybe that's my natural pessimism.

It's very hard to see England winning the Ashes unless we bowl first on a series of greentops.

[yuppie]

England have enough runs and will win by 80.

[Durhamfootman]

England have enough runs if the bowlers (Broad mostly) bowl some balls that would actually hit the stumps if the batsmen misses.

Could the spin twins be key?

[alfie]

Irish spinner didn't seem to have much impact. Suppose Mo and Jack are a good deal better...Think I'd still fancy the pace men to get the wickets.

Not that I'd guarantee an England win unless batting is getting very hard on this track . It was all looking pretty easy when Roy and Leach were batting ; presumably something changed ? (I left just before the collapse started so not sure what to make of all the carnage ! ) But I guess Ireland did get a pretty good platform on day one and still barely passed 200 so the pressure of the chase might tell on them tonight...

[Arthur Crabtree]

I'm assuming England will win. It's going to be too hard to chase nearly 200. I know it's a three day pitch, but the pressure will be great and the batting unheralded. England have Leach to thank for this chance.

But it's not impossible! This could well be an exciting day and a maker of legends. Astonishing the game could be so close.

[sussexpob]

Ireland pick up number ten with the first ball of the day.....

England might well celebrate that wicket though more than the Irish.... the ball moved in the air a LOT.

[mikesiva]

England 303 all out.

Target 182.

[sussexpob]

182 I think puts this game into a lovely conclusion. Hope Irish sports fans are taking note of it, this could be a real day of test cricket for the ages.

I have England 51-49. All a target like this needs is the openers to stay around for 30 runs, and another partnership down the order, and you are nearly there. One innings gets away and the target looks really small. I just think Ireland batting line up is pretty bad, whereas Id give pretty much every other test nation the upper hand

[sussexpob]

Or this being the UK, its just going to rain all day