Eng v WI 1st Test

SeasideKurt

Well-known member
We're back, kind of?

Starts at 11am and the weather looks okay currently.

England have delayed their XI until the flip of the coin.

Expecting something like;-

Burns
Sibley
Crawley
Denley
Stokes
Pope
Buttler (WK)
Woakes/Bess
Archer
Broad
Anderson
 
Without Bess the only spinner there is Denly isn’t it? Could be a risky selection.

Also a straight shot out between Denly & Crawley for who steps down when Root comes back.
 
I just hope the WI turn up and make it a good game. A one sided Englang win would be a great anti-climax to me.

LEEEEEEEIIIIIIITTTTTHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRR....you're wanted 😄
 
Looks like they are starting to rotate Jimmy & Broad . . . sounds like Broad will be dropped to allow Wood & Archer to play.

Edit - now confirmed Broad & Woakes dropped - Wood & Bess play.
 
2pm start - England win toss and will bat.

Burns Sibley Denly Crawley Stokes Pope Butler Bess Archer Wood Anderson.
 
Shocked about that. I'd have put them in with the weather and had Broad and Anderson flying in at them with the ball moving about.

I wonder if they are thinking Wood and Archer for the next Ashes series?
 
This WI attack is the best that they have had since the days of Walsh and Ambrose - they are very good with the ball but not great with the bat.
Pope goes, same old, same old from England 87-5
No Curran to smash a few quick runs here, Buttler and Stokes, England's last recognised batters here
 
Oh dear . Stokes gone perhaps our last chance of a decent score gone with him.

Agree that putting the Windies in seemed the more logical decision in the conditions.
 
Quickly followed by Buttler!

Searching for any positives, it may mean we have a chance to bowl at the Windies today while it`s still overcast as the forecast is much better for the next 3 days. Then again...........
 
Judging by the lack of response on here it seems a lot more posters want to talk about racism rather than Test cricket, sadly.
 
It seems like we are consistently underestimating this WI team. We lost a series to them away from home recently and were well beaten then. They have four good quick bowlers, their batting has let them down. Hopefully we can make a game of this one with a decent bowling performence. The England batting line up really lacks experience without Root.
 
Obviously Root is a big loss but I suppose the lack of matches means low scores are more likely especially in such overcast conditions but you`re right about the danger of underestimating the Windies.Holder has already illustrated why he is rated the best all rounder in the world.
 
I think it’s easy to criticise the bat first decision withy hindsight, but it hardly actually rained on day 1 so it was very difficult to predict the on off on off nature of the day. England always seem to prefer getting a score on the board first unless conditions are obviously favourable so most captains would probably have put us in. The Windies would naturally be inclined to bowl first aswell.


I will stick my neck out and say England will score very heavily in their 2nd injings
 
The weather couldn't be better for bowling. I initially thought 250 would be a decent 1st innings total. If we catch well, we should be able to bowl them out for similar or lower.
 
I think it’s easy to criticise the bat first decision withy hindsight, but it hardly actually rained on day 1 so it was very difficult to predict the on off on off nature of the day. England always seem to prefer getting a score on the board first unless conditions are obviously favourable so most captains would probably have put us in. The Windies would naturally be inclined to bowl first aswell.


I will stick my neck out and say England will score very heavily in their 2nd injings
I said to my son at the toss that I was surprised Stokes chose to bat and there were plenty of others at that time including Sky pundits who were saying the same thing.
 
I was also surprised they left Broad out.I think these conditions would have suited him. As Holder has just illustrated you don`t have to be really quick to get wickets especially in this country.Sometimes there is too much obsession with pace alone.
 
The umpire Richard Illingworth is having a mare, three LBW decisions being overturned in a day?

He'll be getting a call from Specsavers next 😡
 
I think it illustrates the poor quality of the umpires generally in the Unpire Bowden onwards era.
 
I think it illustrates the poor quality of the umpires generally in the Unpire Bowden onwards era.
I disagree .I think either in the 70`s or 80`s in an entire Ashes series in Australia we did not get a single LBW decision in our favour.There was also the clash between Gatting and that awful umpire in Pakistan whose name escapes me. Shakoor Rana,just looked him up.

Dickie Bird used to turn down nearly all LBW appeals from spinners but modern technology has proved he was in many cases wrong to do so. Umpires will never be perfect but overall they are probably better than they have ever been especially as in Test Matches the errors are now quickly exposed and as I mentioned above in normal times all Test Match umpires are from neutral countries these days.
 
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WI on top but if we can nibble a couple more out before they reach our total we could work our way back into this. The weather has definitely made batting easier so we would have to build a 200+ lead and hope the pitch deteriorates. Should be an interesting test either way.
 
I think that we will lose this one but hope that we can get back into it.
I'd love to see the stats on how many first test matches we have lost in recent years. It seems that our players never turn up with their heads in test match mode for the first test of any series. This one has been a little different because of COVID but we have still been comprehensively outplayed so far. However we do have some talented players who are world class unfortunately one of those (Broad) isn't playing in this one.
 
OK - I had a quick look, we have lost the first test in the last four series that we have been in;
SA away, NZ away, Australia H, West Indies A
The last time we one the first test was away in Sri Lanka in 2018
Looks like we are on course to make it 5 in a row
 
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