Really disappointed with us again. Our batsman just seem incapable of applying themselves under any sort of scoreboard pressure. If they got done by good deliveries then fair enough but more often than not they are just getting themselves out.

comment by Pogback (U21167)
posted 1 hour, 53 minutes ago
Yes, Stokes is a nobody. What has he achieved so far?
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Choked the 20/20 final...but in my opinion that was Morgan's fault

Yeah Sheriff was Morgans fault for the 20/20 world cup final should have gone for Moeen in the final over..
Another thing that Irks me is that Morgan will be back to captain England in the India odi games.after he refused to go to Bangladesh.. Hes an annoying smarmy little man.

comment by Liverpoolwhoelse17 (U16825)
posted 3 minutes ago
Yeah Sheriff was Morgans fault for the 20/20 world cup final should have gone for Moeen in the final over..
Another thing that Irks me is that Morgan will be back to captain England in the India odi games.after he refused to go to Bangladesh.. Hes an annoying smarmy little man.
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Shouldve captianed the situation better...it was fine having stokes bowling...but it needed the right balls...Stokes was inexperienced and adrenalin fuelled and didn't control the flow of runs....feckin 19 he had to defend...should've pi55ed that

The earlier we get Root tomorrow the earlier this game can be done and dusted with. Full credit to our lower order though - the last four wickets fell for more runs than the first six. If Rahane and Vijay were in better form we would be exerting an ever higher dominance than currently. Our all rounders have been brilliant thus far - Jadeja, Yadav and in particular Ashwin.

Kav this is really the time we start also rotating our pacers. We only have 4 in total. Time we bring bhuvi back as he can also be pretty good with the bat.

I am very impressed by our lower order. We would tick all boxes if we can find a good wicket keeper batsman and a more consistent opening pair

Yeah agreed Viru but who do you rest? Shami has been top notch so you could argue Yadav but neither deserve to lose their spot really. Opening has been a problem since Sehwag retired.

I think it was a problem even when Sehwag was about..

KL Rahul and Vijay have to be our long term openers (although I'm not sure Vijay will necessarily be long term). Rahul just needs to keep his fitness up. Too injury prone.

I'd keep Shami for the next game. Yadav has been a bit hit and miss. Bring in Bhuvi or Ishant. We also have Aaron.

It wouldn't be a bad shout to get Rahane to open to counter his problems against spin this series although no doubt Rahul will come in soon. Vijay has looked very scratchy despite that one century he hit. A bit like Cook in fact.

Yeah agreed about vijay. Questions will start rising about him very soon. Doesn't help that he is the wrong end of 30s. Kl Rahul really pisses me off. Just doesn't seem to work on his fitness. He literally is getting injured after every match. I would also bring Mukund in for opening. He is pretty young as well.

Yh both shami and yadav have done well, so not dropping any of them, more like rotating them, so they are fresh.

Abhinav Mukund is a complete enigma. I still remember quite well when he opened the batting in the test we played against England at Lords in that horrible 2011 series. He batted really well with Gambhir that innings and we were fluent at 50-0 then he got out on 49 and it was downhill from there.

Lovely morning session. Let's keep the chase to under 150

I predicted a 100 lead....might be about right

Scratch that....ffs

You beauty Shami

Sheriff it's not all doom and gloom - you could have been the only side in history to lose 9 wickets in a session like Pakistan did against NZ today

Hardly any battlers. Just bottlers. Root is class, Hameed has it in him. The others? The less said the better.

comment by Kav H (U19426)
posted 1 minute ago
Sheriff it's not all doom and gloom - you could have been the only side in history to lose 9 wickets in a session like Pakistan did against NZ today
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England lost 10 in a session against Bangladesh

Final session of a test that is

Hameed hits a six to go to 50. Excellent innings especially for someone with an injury. 228-9.

Hameed is fighting very well. Englands lead close to 100.

comment by Sheriff JW Pepper (U1007)
posted 56 minutes ago
I predicted a 100 lead....might be about right
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yeah...pepper knew

I love losing tests with a whole day left.....<steam.