England Winter Test cricket thread

[Shaggy]

An absolute dolly from Root. Can't afford them.

[Chazza]

NZ 402-7 a lead of 235 and McCullum is still in so we could easily be about 300 behind with a day and a half to save this test.

[captainfog]

We were in a similarly bad situation in the first test of the last ashes series. We will need Cook and Trott to bat forever again.

[Shaggy]

This is fantastic ....Cook and Compton playing like Boycott and Tavare ....brilliantly boring. 137-0 off 53 overs.

[Shaggy]

Well played Nick Compton, lovely scenes when he reached his ton.

[captainfog]

Well played Nick Compton, lovely scenes when he reached his ton.

Terrific come back, but only half a job done. We need more of the same level of application tomorrow.

Absolutely made up for Compton. Today was a massive step towards him cementing his place in the team.

[Vermilion]

England have just gone ahead.

[Shaggy]

As happy as I am for Compton, I'm not sure he or anyone else should be getting carried away or cementing his Ashes place. Up against the 2nd worst side in the world on possibly the most barren pitch ever seen....even Finn is making runs. Think he needs more good knocks on more testing wickets.

[Shaggy]

Unbelievably boring. Game is surely safe. I'm going to bed.

[Alex]

Finn playing like a opening batsman. Great stuff.

[ChesterDave]

56 from Finn. England lead by 96 with 4 wickets remaining and 31 overs in the day (although 2 will be lost to change innings).

So long as they don't implode probably only need to bat for 8 overs and they will be fine.

[captainfog]

As happy as I am for Compton, I'm not sure he or anyone else should be getting carried away or cementing his Ashes place. Up against the 2nd worst side in the world on possibly the most barren pitch ever seen....even Finn is making runs. Think he needs more good knocks on more testing wickets.

Well, he only has NZ to play before the Ashes so..... if he makes runs against them then he'll definitely be in the side!

I agree you can't read too much into it, but that was a pressure situation when he and Cook went out to bat and he played very well. Obviously sterner tests to come, but he clearly has the temperament to bat for long periods. With confidence that a couple of big scores will bring hopefully his run rate will improve slightly too.

[Chazza]

Aussies in turmoil

Shane Watson one of four dropped by Australia for discipline breach

Australia have dropped vice-captain Shane Watson and three players for the third Test in India for a breach of discipline.

Mitchell Johnson, James Pattinson plus Usman Khawaja will also sit out.

The four failed to make a presentation on how to improve the team following defeats in the opening two Tests.

Talking about his decision to drop the four players, coach Mickey Arthur said: "This is a line in the sand."

Australia, who play England in back-to-back Ashes series later in 2013, have endured a miserable time on their latest tour, suffering heavy defeats in the opening matches of the four-Test series.

They lost by eight wickets in Chennai in the opening Test to an Indian team inspired by Mahendra Singh Dhoni's 224 runs off 265 balls in the home side's first innings.

The manner of their second Test defeat was even worse, with Australia losing by an innings and 135 runs after being bowled out for only 131 in their second innings.

Worried about his team's form, Arthur asked each member of his squad to produce, by email or in person, three ideas about how the team could improve.

The players had five days to provide their views but the quartet failed to make their points at a team meeting.

Watson left the tour after the decision, although, with his wife pregnant, there was always a contingency for him to leave early.

Although all-rounder Watson, 31, has returned home, pacemen Mitchell Johnson, 31, James Pattinson, 22, and batsman Khawaja, 26, will be considered for the fourth Test.

South African Arthur, Australia's first overseas coach, told a news conference: ''I asked the players at the end of the last game to give me an individual presentation.

"I wanted three points from each of them - technically, mentally and team - as to how we were going to get back over the next couple of games, about how we were going to get ourselves back into the series.

''I believe those four players unfortunately did not meet my requirements so those four players are not available for selection for this Test match.''

He added: "We've given an expectation that is spelt out and although this incident might seem very small in isolation, this is a line in the sand moment for us as a unit in our quest to become the best in the world.

''This has been the toughest decision that myself, manager Gavin Dovey and captain Michael Clarke have ever had to make.

''It's a tough, tough decision, but the ramifications for that within our team structure and the message that it sends to all involved in Australian cricket is that we are pretty serious about where we want to take this team.''

Arthur's stance has drawn criticism from former Australia players.

Ex-captain Allan Border told Fox Sports News: "I'm surprised that's the penalty for something so mundane. It seems like it was on a schoolboy tour or something. It's an over the top reaction."

Mark Waugh added: "I've never heard anything so stupid in all my life. It's not under-sixes - this is Test cricket."

Australia now head into the third Test at Mohali on Thursday with 13 players to choose from - and that could drop to 12 if Matthew Wade fails to recover in time from an ankle injury.

The first Ashes Test begins on 10 July at Trent Bridge.

[Shaggy]

9.30 start tomorrow night

[Pedenj]

That's tonights TV viewing sorted then.

Obviously need to start a lot better then we did in the last test. Hopefully that was a bit of a wake up call for a few of the players.

Shane Warne was chatting about the Aussie situation yesterday, fair to say he isn't at all confident at the moment about the Ashes series.