Cricket

You knew buttler would crap it up. First time we've used 4 different openers since the 50s, bit of a surprising stat when they said moeen and buttler opened a couple of years ago. Moeen must have opened in the first as well then.
 
98 overs in the day, so I'd only want to bat 15 or so.

If stokes stays in, could get another hundred in that time. I'd want about 310 lead.

If stokes gets properly going, could get 90 or a hundred in 12 or 13 overs but thats very best case scenario
 
Wow at 242-4 just 28 needed to save the follow on and Blackwood, Dowrich and captain fantastic Holder to come I just couldn't see any way England could be in a position to declare before lunch tomorrow to try to force the win.

In the end yesterday's complete washout may have saved the Windies with England not really able to bat again with time on their hands to win comfortably, as would have been the case. Broad's sensational new ball burst and a few wickets at the end for Woakes meant both finished with three each, but there was only one hero of the two and Broady saved his best for when it looked hopeless.

The washout was never ever an advantage to England. A whole day's play lost only ever benefits the desperately struggling side up against it trying to save the game, the follow on target is suddenly all they need to aim for. That was a huge setback for England, already without Archer and resting 38 year old Jimmy from back to back tests after a long Covid enforced layoff.

i remember once England saving the follow on against the Aussies only for Ponting to not agree with the England's crowd's then view that the match was saved. Australia batted for quick runs, lost wickets right, left and centre but didn't care, they quickly got beyond reach on the final day, pulled out and skittled England. The English crowd was shocked they'd never heard of a follow on saved before, a quick blast and declaration before lunch and then humiliation on the final day.

Ponting said afterwards he hated enforcing the follow on anyway, would never do so unless he had no choice and wasn't too upset he didn't have the choice this time . Aussie captains have rarely ever enforced a follow on since.

England should declare an hour to an hour and a half into tomorrow, forget wickets, Buttler and Stokes opening showed good intent, wickets aren't important - quick runs are - 60 off 12 or 13 in just over an hour would put them 280 up and a good time to pull out. Leave two and a half sessions (the last extended by a half hour) and give themselves every chance on a last day wicket.
 
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Joe Root for all his mistakes has more than once shown himself likely to pull out too early rather than the reverse and bat too long, on past form I would think it highly unlikely he would bat on too long. I think 70 or 80 may take a little too long to get unless, and it's a decent possibility, Stokes performs absolute heroics again. Test match bowlers can easily bowl it wide down the legside, every man back and crucially only ten overs an hour and take the fine. If an hour has elapsed and we have 60 more that should be it for me.

Dominic Cork raised some good points, why did Root not turn to Stokes until the 51st over? Bess over Moeen or Leach may be them just giving another experience with the subcontinent tours. He was also like many perplexed with our selection policy and leaving Anderson out here, Broad out in the first test and our left field thinking on electing to bat first on cloudy days in the first test. Anderson surely would have been ideal here and Broady in the first. I think it's so difficult to keep future test series in mind all the time when playing the current one which I think they're partly doing with this series.
 

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