England's Summer of Cricket against Sri Lanka and India

[Liverpool]

that activate ss5 does my head in every test match

[RichC]

Buttler looks like he's enjoying himself, 2 sixes on the trop now at 77 runs

[RichC]

Just hit 21 runs off an over 20 for Buttler

[RichC]

Buttler gone for 85 England declare for 569

[Buzzo]

Buttler gone for 85 England declare for 569

Good declaration and at a great time.

Could be an interesting couple of days.

[Shaggy]

A few weeks ago Cook said Buttler "isn't ready for Test cricket"

[Alex]

Too be fair to him he had it absolutly perfect conditions wise. Good batting pitch, no pressure to get a score, dropped a couple of times.

I know what you mean about what was said, but he had everything going for him today.

[Chazza]

England defend Moeen Ali for wearing Gaza and Palestine wristbands

• All-rounder has helped raise funds for Gaza
• ECB believes messages are not political



England have defended Moeen Ali’s right to wear wristbands demonstrating his support and sympathy for the people of Gaza when batting on the second day of the third Test against India in Southampton.

The International Cricket Council’s code of conduct bans players from displaying “messages which relate to political, religious or racial activities or causes”, and an ICC spokesman confirmed on Monday that the governing body is “investigating the matter”.

But England believe that Moeen’s messages – “Save Gaza” and “Free Palestine” – were humanitarian rather than political, after the 27-year-old had already been pictured raising money for the Gaza relief efforts in his home city of Birmingham last week.

An England and Wales Cricket Board spokesman said: “The ECB don’t believe he has committed any offence.”

There is still no confirmation of whether Moeen was given permission by the team management to wear the wristbands.

The former England coach Andy Flower was not punished by the ICC for wearing a black armband to show his opposition to Robert Mugabe’s regime when playing for Zimbabwe in 2003, and the whole England team have been given permission to wear Help the Heroes logos on their kit on Tuesday to commemorate the anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War.

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jul/28/moeen-ali-england-wristbands-save-gaza-free-palestine?CMP=twt_gu

[Alex]

Hes been banned from wearing them going forward.

[Buzzo]

Hes been banned from wearing them going forward.

[RichC]

Jordan has been a waste of a pick so far, some terrible bowling from him earlier

[Alex]

Ours to win this, get them out by lunch tommorow, bat on and get a fast 150-200 and a lead of around 400. Then leave around 4 sessions to bowl them out again.

Only thing that'll stop us is someone like Dhoni plodding on and defending all day.

[Alex]

Also, I think Cook has been pretty spot on in this test with the bat and captaincy. Obvs 2 days left, but it's nice to see him doif the right things. Mooen getting more of the ball today was a good thing IMO.

Only thing I wish he would do would be to stop Broad getting the new ball every time. Mix it up man.

[Shaggy]

Haven't seen much sadly so can't comment on Cook's captaincy this time. Better though obviously, and there's no way we'll throw this away now.

[PTP]

Haha ****ing hell the shaggy kiss of death