Graeme Swann’s on a hat-trick here - more to follow.
England and Wales must have the scent of blood and getting Sarwan just now was massive.
Windies still need over 100 to avoid the follow on and they’ve only 3 wickets left.
The new ball’s due shortly too.
England and Wales took the new ball and threw it to Anderson and Broad. The latter bowled really well and was very unlucky to only take one wicket in the innings. Flintoff came back on and helped polish off the tail in tandem with Swann, who took his first Michelle in test cricket.
The Windies were 285ao so England and Wales lead by 281 runs. Interestingly, Strauss has decided to bat again rather than enforce the follow on and it’s come as a surprise to me.
There’s 13 or 14 overs left today and Swann could bowl a few of them if the pace bowlers are knackered after spending a day in the field. They would surely have been well rested overnight to have another crack at them tomorrow, even if Harmison has a stomach upset and the outstanding Flintoff has a hip problem.
Now the question will arise as to how long England and Wales need to bat again before declaring. There’s always the risk of being overly cautious and building up a huge lead of 500+ and then not leaving enough time to take all ten West Indian second innings wickets. I would have just got stuck into them with the ball again.
Given your record of getting stuck into people Bandage, I doubt that would have gone well…
[
Now the question will arise as to how long England and Wales need to bat again before declaring. There’s always the risk of being overly cautious and building up a huge lead of 500+ and then not leaving enough time to take all ten West Indian second innings wickets. I would have just got stuck into them with the ball again.[/QUOTE]
They need about 550 to be sure and 4 sessions to bowl at WI
I think they might need more than 4 sessions on this pitch and that’s why I thought they should have followed on. I suppose West Indies might still be prone to collapsing but I reckon there’s a bit more steel to them these days.
Benaud into his last innings.
Richie Benaud is to call stumps at the end of the next Aus summer criket season.
Benaud began his cricket journalism career with an interview of Frank Worrell in sydney in 1960.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/02/18/1234632882538.html
The Australian Summer cricket season won’t be the same without Richie’s monotone.
Rain forecast for tomorrow
England and Wales declared before tea at 221-8 to leave the Windies a target 503, or just over 4 sessions to bat out a draw.
I disagreed with them not enforcing the follow on and I also disagreed with their use of a nightwatchman when Strauss was out last night.
They were 300+ runs ahead and I didn’t think the frontline batsmen needed protecting in those circumstances.
It resulted in Cook and Jimmy Anderson going along slowly at under 3 runs an over earlier today when they needed to be scoring much quicker.
But they got there eventually, I suppose. Flintoff’s just bowled his first over so he’s fit enough to get through some overs anyway. Swann’s just taken the crucial wicket of Gayle so England and Wales are very much in pole position with the Windies on 81/2 and they should close this out (weather permitting).
Saw Windies were 3 down and struggling but Chanderpaul and Sarwan have done well there for the last hour or so.
Smashing final day in progress here. 75 minutes were lost to rain before Sarwan and Chanderpaul held England and Wales up for ages with a super 150-run partnership. Broad has got both of them now though - Sarwan for a ton and Shiv for 50. Swann’s just got Nash so Windies are 6 down. Flintoff’s bowling at 90mph despite being injured. Test cricket is magnificent when it’s like this.
8 down, 14 overs left today, fading light, fielders crowded around the bat, every defensive shot cheered by the home crowd, quality sport. And that’s 9. Swann strikes again but they still need 1 more to square the series.
channel?
Sky Sports 1. Last wicket partnership’s been going for half an hour now. Only 6 overs left to survive and the light’s so bad it’s only the spinners who’re allowed to bowl. The English and Welsh have 10 men around the bat.
Sky Sports 1.
Cracking entertainment. Cmon to fuck the Windies.
That should keep KP back a bit!!
That seems a bit harsh no? Wasnt watching it but could the windies just not waste a load of time tying there laces etc
Some effort by Powell and Edwards. Sarwan and Chanderpaul should take a bow too. The last wicket pair survived 10 overs so England and Wales will be sick, absolutely sick. They should have enforced the follow on!
What’s harsh?
Over now anyway. Light got too bad, finished a draw.
[quote=“therock67”]What’s harsh?
Over now anyway. Light got too bad, finished a draw.[/quote]
Fact that they finished it with so little left to go, it looked bright enough to me.
Note, I know less than fook all about kickit
Sri Lanka and Pakistan drew the first test in Karachi.
The main story was Younus Khan falling short of Brian Lara’s world record test score of 400 after resuming on 306* this morning. He was bowled for 313 and the game petered out to a draw.
What a fooking shit test match though. Groundsmen have a responsibility to prepare pitches that provide a fair balance, yet only 12 wickets fell over the first 4 days, with Sri Lanka making 644/7 declared and Pakistan closing last night on 574/5.
Fair enough, great for batsmen but not a fair contest at all and ultimately boring.