He's done well, esp in an era of home domination in Test matches, he has 16 of his 28 centuries abroad

Cookdular - keep going lad

Nice flat track to push on for a big score

Amazing to think that a year ago everyone wanted Cook's head.

Still question marks over his captaincy, but he is and always will be an absolutely monumental batsman.

Cooks 3/5 top scores have come against India. Pie chucking bully?

Bell's motoring now...

and people accuse India fans for derailing a thread

Stick to England v Pakistan please

comment by 🐑Serial🐑 (U20699)
posted 1 second ago
Bell's motoring now...
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Strike rate's over 30!

HTF is that missing. Unbelievable

good manipulation of Hawk-Eye from the 3rd umpire

Difficult to see the run rate still being this low after Root, Bairstow, Stokes, Buttler and Rashid have had a knock...

Although given that these days Jos Buttler tends to take 50 balls to score a scratchy 3, maybe I shouldn't include him in that list...

Agree, England way too defensive. Killed the game...

comment by Afridi14 (U2805)
posted about a minute ago
Agree, England way too defensive. Killed the game...
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The game was dead the moment the pitch was produced. England batting very well. Just keep batting and batting. Need to be sensible as a collapse is always possible.

To be fair, Ian Bell killed the game by shelling 2 catches which were worth a combined 190-odd runs...

In all seriousness though, as long as the teams played properly there was never any hope of a result on this road. Pakistan batted well and England are batting sensibly in reply. England were never going to manage to bash 600 runs quickly in reply to the big 1st innings total, so they have to play sensibly even if that means essentially guaranteeing a bore draw.

...but if Bell had taken those 2 wickets and Pakistan had ended up on sub-400, England could've been more positive in chasing the total with a potential result on the cards.

If Haddin hadnt dropped Root for 0 in the first test england would have lost the ashed 3-2.

Drop are part of the game.

Yeah, waqar said its flatter than last 2 years. Both produced results. But also the quality of spin on both sides is inept.

Of course england have killed the game. What did you expect us to do hit out, get out and lose the match?

After Pakistans first innings it was/is near on impossible for england to win.

No one can say they enjoy this really though. 700 for 9 in the match

Must admit I could see us collapsing after their first innings. In fact if Cook got out cheaply I reckon we would have. He's the key to our batting success.

Albion,

Nonsense. Cast your mind back to May when NZ posted 520+ and still lost... England fought back with positive cricket... Why is this anything different considering it's a much flatter pitch?? Also, 2006, England posted 500+ and still lost to the Aussies... Plenty of other occasions it's happened to... No excuses for this slow rate against what is an average 3rd rate pak bowling attack...

This is mind numbing stuff

comment by BO$$™ (U6401)
posted 7 minutes ago
If Haddin hadnt dropped Root for 0 in the first test england would have lost the ashed 3-2.

Drop are part of the game.
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Indeed That's why I opened my next post with "In all seriousness though..."

In any ase, Bell has dropped way more than his fair share. He's a poor slip fielder. Used to be phenomenal in the close field but he's never looked good in the slips.

How many times have a scored 500+ in a first innings and lost? Very very very rare