Should have picked Amar Virdi over Bess who only has the one wicket this season. Virdi has been on fire for Surrey and he even bowled Root last game when they played Yorkshire. If 16 first class games is enough to get into the England squad, 6 for Virdi should have been looked at also.

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GT, how long have England persisted with this "bowler who can also bat a bit". Pick specialists!

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Yeah his average is excellent tbf. Shame Leach broke him thumb as he's another good option. Personally I would go for Woakes over Wood as well. Maybe if you're playing in Aus/SA where the extra pace is needed Wood is a better option but for me Woakes has more magic in him.

I’m there tomorrow, looking forward to it

England should walk this against a very young and inexperienced Pakistan side.

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I reckon they'll choose between Wood and Woakes after looking at the pitch. If it looks like it'll nip around Woakes will get the nod. Otherwise they'll hope Wood can bang it in. It'll be particularly interesting to see what Bess and Buttler do. In any case, England *should* win against a Pakistan team in transition.

comment by Greatteamswinit4times- a terrible enemy (U6008)
posted 5 hours, 39 minutes ago
comment by (Kash) I'm the Mané, I'm the Mané - 6 Times Coming (U1108)
posted 1 minute ago
England should walk this against a very young and inexperienced Pakistan side.
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England don't walk anything these days. I reckon it'll be 1-1 or 1-0 England.
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True our bowlers will get wickets but our batsmen won’t be able to handle B & A.

comment by Kav H (U19426)
posted 18 hours, 40 minutes ago
Should have picked Amar Virdi over Bess who only has the one wicket this season. Virdi has been on fire for Surrey and he even bowled Root last game when they played Yorkshire. If 16 first class games is enough to get into the England squad, 6 for Virdi should have been looked at also.
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Bess has been on England's radar a bit longer and been with the Lions as well. Him being a decent bat and an athletic fielder will have helped his cause as well but he was next in line with Leach injured and Crane only just back from injury.

Virdi is definitely a talent though and I heard about him a lot last season taking bucket loads of wickets for Surrey's second XI. Great to see him in the first XI with Batty injured and hopefully he'll retain his place in the side even when Batty is back.

I think a lot will hinge on Amir. I rate the lad highly and he could swing this in favor of Pakistan.

Hopefully not

I'm just being biased anyway because I played with Amar when we were youth. He was getting into the squad and he was miles younger than anyone else. I was having a hit and thought I would smash this little blue eyed kid who was a foot shorter than anyone else. I kid you not, he bowled me very first delivery. I got a fair bit of stick for it before everyone actually realised how good he was. Needless to say he moved on and was quickly picked up by Surrey who have brought through a whole batch in him, Pope, Currans (x2) and Patel.

Yeah, Surrey have a very exciting crop of youngsters coming through their ranks at the moment and you can add Will Jacks to that list as well.

50/50 toss I think. Good to see Rahat dropped.

Going to be a tough morning for the top order as the pitch is a bit green. The cloud cover shouldn't make too much difference but 20/3 after 45 minutes of play wouldn't be a huge surprise. Hopefully Cook and Stoneman can get through it but I'm not feeling confident.

England need to negate Amir early. If they let him get on top, the Pakistani bowlers tend to threaten around him. Cooks had a poor year and needs to up his game tbh.

comment by (Kash) I'm the Mané, I'm the Mané - 6 Times Coming (U1108)
posted 22 minutes ago
50/50 toss I think. Good to see Rahat dropped.
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Think batting was the right call. First hour will probably be tough but conditions should favour the batting side for the rest of the day.

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Oh dear. Not a good start for Stoneman.

I don't want to jump on him too soon as he might, as he really needs it, have a decent knock second innings and make a score in the next test but his place is most at risk, especially with Jennings having a decent start at Lancs.

Roots average at 3 is 44 ish in 31 innings. Time to see if moving up the order is the right call today.

comment by The Candlestick Maker (U8959)
posted 14 minutes ago
Oh dear. Not a good start for Stoneman.
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Shoddy half assed footwork

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Root gone for 4. Terrible shot.