England's Summer Of Cricket against New Zealand and AUSTRALIA!

[Hollowman]

Clarke's going to take those gloves off Haddin in a minute.

[RichC]

Bloody hell 2 drag on's.

Cook has not got going at all this series

[Leyton388]

Ffs 22-2

[Shaggy]

Both top orders are failing miserably.

[Aj34]

Bloody hell. Someone needs to tell them this is test cricket

[Shaggy]

Ridiculous Pietersen.

[Leyton388]

**** off piertersen you Muppet.

[Assassin]

Has this Peitersen guy done something wrong?

[PTP]

Should of forced the follow on

[captainfog]

Enforcing the follow on would have been idiotic in this heat, in the second of back to back test matches after our best bowler ran himself into the ground to the tune of 50 overs in the previous game.

Sticking the Aussies in and knackering them out whilst simultaneously rubbing their noses in it by making them chase a ton of runs was the only sensible decision.

[Shaggy]

Not sure 30-3 is really rubbing their noses in it. Again it's a minor complaint because we're going to win anyway but we had our foot on their throat and would almost certainly have carried on that way, knocking them over for **** all again and winning the game. Now we have allowed them to revive the contest to a degree. There is a long break after this Test which would give our bowlers plenty of time to recover from the 40 odd overs it would take to bowl them out again.

[captainfog]

Not sure 30-3 is really rubbing their noses in it. Again it's a minor complaint because we're going to win anyway but we had our foot on their throat and would almost certainly have carried on that way, knocking them over for **** all again and winning the game. Now we have allowed them to revive the contest to a degree. There is a long break after this Test which would give our bowlers plenty of time to recover from the 40 odd overs it would take to bowl them out again.

You don't know you're going to be 30-3 when you take the decision though.

The game hasn't been revived, it's already over. Even if we are skittled out for 100 we'll still have too many runs.

I wouldn't risk injury to Anderson. What's the point? Let him put his feet up.

[captainfog]

Also, I bet the Aussies would have preferred to bat again rather than go out and field again in this most un-English of summers.

[Shaggy]

You don't know you're going to be 30-3 when you take the decision though.

The game hasn't been revived, it's already over. Even if we are skittled out for 100 we'll still have too many runs.

I wouldn't risk injury to Anderson. What's the point? Let him put his feet up.

Didn't say the game was revived, but as a bat v ball contest in isolation it is alive again and they're onto us. 30-3, our best 3 bats all back in the hutch on single figures. It's given them something to cheer about and feel good about. Whacking them back in and having them something like 30-3 and they'd have been suicidal. As it is they've had some relief at the end of what should've been a 100% torturous day for them.

Just think this is an indirect, faffy and forgiving route to victory. They'd be a few down by now and it'd be all over by 2pm tomorrow. Would be more ruthless. Ah well.

[captainfog]

Didn't say the game was revived, but as a bat v ball contest in isolation it is alive again and they're onto us. 30-3, our best 3 bats all back in the hutch on single figures. It's given them something to cheer about and feel good about. Whacking them back in and having them something like 30-3 and they'd have been suicidal. As it is they've had some relief at the end of what should've been a 100% torturous day for them.

Just think this is an indirect, faffy and forgiving route to victory. They'd be a few down by now and it'd be all over by 2pm tomorrow. Would be more ruthless. Ah well.

If Jimmy hadn't bowled himself into the ground in the last game then I'd agree with you, but considering the context of the game I think the decision to bat again was the correct one. It's a win/win scenario though because say we make 250, that'll mean Australia having to bat for 2 days and score 500. I reckon that'll be equally demoralising. It's smart cricket rather than overtly aggressive cricket.

Another consideration is that this pitch is decent to bat on and despite neither side bowling particularly well both teams have struggled with the bat. Most of the batsmen on both sides seem to be getting themselves out with poor shots and muddled thinking. It would only have needed Clarke to finally get some runs and one or two others to chip in and we might have been left with a nervy chase of 150 on a deteriorating surface.

I think this innings is massive for Bresnan. Tremlette is clearly knocking on the door, fit, and a better bowler and so Bresnan has to show something with the bat to justify his place in the next game. He's got an opportunity tomorrow to build an innings and score at least a 50. If he tamely goes for a low score again then you have to wonder what he is really bringing to the side because his bowling isn't great either. All this talk in the press about how Bresnan will offer greater control than Finn and be able to tie up an end is proving not to be the case as he was our most expensive and under used bowler in the first innings.