England Test tour of WI, March 1-28

[sussexpob]

Again I thought he hit that quite obviously, but the appeal was loud and the umpire gave it..

Replay.... massive edge. Poor umpiring that.

Magic what happens when you aim at the stumps though.

[Arthur Crabtree]

One bye over all these overs with Foakes standing up most of the time suggests he was a good pick.

[bigfluffylemon]

Wood injured, England fail dismally to clean up the tail.

Where have I heard that before?

[bigfluffylemon]

The pitch at the moment looks tame. England should feel confident of making a score a s hoping the pitch falls apart a little. Still think batting last might be worth at least 50 runs less.

How many times has a tame looking pitch ended up looking like a minefield when England's openers come out to bat on it?

If we pass the Windies score at less than 4 down I will be pleasantly surprised. And that's assuming we get those last couple of wickets soon. 100+ lead and it's probably all over.

[bigfluffylemon]

You've got to say well played Bonner though. He's had a couple of escapes, but shown the kind of application needed to dig in, preserve his wicket and make runs on a stodgy pitch - the sort of application you rarely see from England batsmen since Cook departed.

[sussexpob]

Getting annoying now. Stokes got the big LBW shout and had a couple of good overs targeting the stumps.. now hes joined the 6 bouncers an over club.

[Durhamfootman]

WIndies will get a lead

a decent lead

a big lead

[sussexpob]

Not sure what happened there, but Stokes fielded the ball, and after hes been grimacing and stretching out his ankle. Not sure if he just got a knock but he doesnt like 100 percent comfortable.

[sussexpob]

Dan Lawrences bowling action is the wierdest thing I have ever seen....

England asking for a review, but surely he didnt edge this. Looked nowhere near

[mikesiva]

Bonner out for 123.

The finest of edges?

[sussexpob]

Well there was a noise 2 meters before the bat, an identical noise just as it passed, and then a similar noise multiple times after it went through to the keeper....

The umpire decides the random noise that clearly shows ultraedge isnt working is enough.....

Bonner has to go

[sussexpob]

Got to say, ultraedge should be turned off after that. Not the first time today, one that hit the middle didnt register.... technology clear isnt working.

[bigfluffylemon]

So, Wood injured, Robinson injured, we're going to go into the second test with Woakes, Mahmood and Overton, it appears.

Overton has six tests in five years, Mahmood will debut, and Woakes according to cricinfo has the worst away average of any bowler who has sent down more than 2000 overseas deliveries for England, and somehow keeps getting asked to tour rather than being a horses-for-courses home wicket pick.

And yet we leave 1150 wickets and over 300 tests of experience on the bench, because reasons.

Geoff Boycott's granny would make a better selector.

[sussexpob]

The England management should see sense and get Broad and Anderson on a plane asap. Overton looked pretty toothless today, and Woakes looks totally shot.... and into that Ben looked knackered at the end of the day, and Wood maybe unlikely to be fit going forward (and certainly cant be risked in a back to back test if hes not capable of bowling now).....

I'd like to see Mahmood get a go as he looks good in the OD shirt, but surely they cant pick Woakes and Overton again? Overton strikes me as the type that will only take wickets in England, and Woakes' record away speaks for itself.

[sussexpob]

Still, the match isnt out of reach and the pitch could fall apart. I think the draw seems the most likely result at the moment as even if England can get a lead of 250-300, it would likely only leave 2 sessions to bowl Windies out, and as tonight has proved, the pitch looks good value for anyone looking to block out sessions with the bat.

Been a few balls keep a little low, but nothing that consistent or alarming. No real spin in the pitch yet either.