Don’t count on it no. The tail is longer in this side that we’re used to. If we lose 2 for a few in the morning that would get very hairy.
Still think we'll get there. All we need is a few wild hacks to come off. But yeah, will be tense if we lose a couple early.
Same
I have to admit, ever since Adelaide '06 I can't help but always ponder England collapsing from a position of strength when they are on tour.
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Brilliant
Ish. I was hoping Sri Lanka would do better in the second innings but it certainly got a bit closer than I wanted!
I'd expect Pope to get the nod over Lawrence unless he scores a ton in both innings in this test match or something ridiculous.
Not sure between Bess and Ali. The fast bowlers will probably rotate a lot.
Pope isn't fit.
I thought I read yesterday he was. Fair enough.
He's playing warm up games but they decided against putting him in the squad, for the first couple matches at least.
Curious to see how Burns, Sibley, Crawley, Lawrence/Pope go against our spinners. We are missing Jadeja unfortunately but Kuldeep should hopefully step up. Looking forward to the series. Just a couple weeks away now.
So Kuldeep and Ashwin? Obviously very different bowlers but both spinning it the same way isn't ideal. A slow left armer like Jadeja really would've been handy.
I hope india plays spin duo of ashwin and kuldeep. But feel they will have sundar replace jadeja and we will play with 3 pacers plus ashwin and sundar.
Yeah.
Famous last words but I think England will fancy their chances against Kuldeep, particularly with so many being right-handers.
Yes. Chennai i think
Excellent!
Superb isn't it. Perfect for British time.
Agree. Seems a bit early to be preempting workloads to me as well. Bairstow just made runs. Wood sent home — I don’t rate him but England do. This seems like the series you have been grooming him for. Disappointed really.
This squad is only for the first two tests. So does that mean we can bring Wood and the rest back for the final three?
I think Wood’s at his best on genuinely quick pitches where he can bowl gas and knock people over. On slow pitches, he just ends up being medium fast and, worse, doing stupid things like bowling nothing but yorkers and bouncers because he’s asked to be a point of difference.
Sometimes these things come back to haunt us don't they
Well yes, but that wicket was exactly my point! I’d rather see him operating on a good length bowling properly with the occasional bouncer and yorker than being really full or really short all the time.Sometimes these things come back to haunt us don't they
Agree that these pitches don't really suit Wood, as they knock his pace down, but that's true of every seamer isn't it.
I guess I fundamentally don’t see how smashing the ball into the middle of the pitch takes it out of the equation!
Guess they just figured the pitch was flat and the ball wasn't reversing, so no point bowling length. Maybe he'll bowl a bit fuller as the reverse-swing comes in.
