**Official** Sri Lanka in England / Scotland - 2011

[GIMH]

Yeah, and maybe we could get Collingwood on field for Jimmy in between his overs

 

[pskov]

98 overs tomorrow right?

So we lead by a few now. Should aim to score about a 200 lead from the first 40-45 overs.

Declare.

We've then got about 50 overs to try and bowl SL out for under 200. If we don't get it done, we might get some play Monday?

Maybe I'm being too optimistic, but it can be done IMO

And then look like a prize pillock when there is enough play for 30 overs or so on Monday and Sri Lanka chase down 200 in more than enough time.

England are 1-0 up in the series. Strauss and Flower will push for a win, but they are not going to take any chances. The earliest they will declare will be at tea tomorrow imo.

 

[NasserFan207]

And then look like a prize pillock when there is enough play for 30 overs or so on Monday and Sri Lanka chase down 200 in more than enough time.

England are 1-0 up in the series. Strauss and Flower will push for a win, but they are not going to take any chances. The earliest they will declare will be at tea tomorrow imo.

Eh? Am I missing something? Are England only playing one innings this match?

 

[pskov]

Eh? Am I missing something? Are England only playing one innings this match?

Oops. Good point.

 

[Howe_zat]

I don't think it matters too much what the first innings lead is, so long as it's over 100 or so. Declaring before then would be a waste of the remaining 6 wickets. We've got to bowl them out for under 250 to win it, so that should be the maximum lead. I don't really mind whether they want to go for it this innings or second innings so long as they're positive and use the wickets in hand they've got.

 

[Spark]

Reminiscent of Lord's second innings this. You've got four excellent attacking batsmen in the sheds and the attack is popgun. Bat normally for a while then go for it, and by halfway through the (assuming no interruptions) day you should have a lead of ~200, which should be enough to push for a win.

 

[Howe_zat]

Weather looking absolutely horrible for Monday.

So frustrating. Got to beat a good side in less than 3 days or it doesn't count.

Thought: Why not have a "spare" day booked at the end of the test, and if 100 or more overs are lost to rain/bad light, we schedule another day's play.

 

[Kylez]

Kevin Pietersen scoring some runs finally is great news for England. A confident and in-form KP could be the difference between beating or losing to India.

 

[Bun]

Weather looking absolutely horrible for Monday.

So frustrating. Got to beat a good side in less than 3 days or it doesn't count.

Thought: Why not have a "spare" day booked at the end of the test, and if 100 or more overs are lost to rain/bad light, we schedule another day's play.

and given the nature of pitches today, makes sense to make it 6 days than 5 days.

 

[Howe_zat]

and given the nature of pitches today, makes sense to make it 6 days than 5 days.

I don't mean a standard extra day, that'd just make the dead pitch problems worse as groundstaff tried to make them last longer, and it would make the cricket more defensive.

Just an replacement day if enough overs are lost makes sense to me. Is there a practical reason they couldn't do it?

 

[Bun]

I don't mean a standard extra day, that'd just make the dead pitch problems worse as groundstaff tried to make them last longer, and it would make the cricket more defensive.

Just an replacement day if enough overs are lost makes sense to me. Is there a practical reason they couldn't do it?

Yeah I got what you meant.

But making it 6 days actually helps the most affected category in recent past, ie spinners, to come good. I think it is something that really can be given a thought considering how "good" pitches have become these days and last without much change through the 5 days.

 

[Howe_zat]

Yeah I got what you meant.

But making it 6 days actually helps the most affected category in recent past, ie spinners, to come good. I think it is something that really can be given a thought considering how "good" pitches have become these days and last without much change through the 5 days.

They last 5 days because of the increased pressure on groundstaff to prepare pitches that will result in a 5th day to sell tickets to.

Make Tests 6 days and the problem will get worse.

 

[Bun]

They last 5 days because of the increased pressure on groundstaff to prepare pitches that will result in a 5th day to sell tickets to.

Make Tests 6 days and the problem will get worse.

I don't think honestly you can at the outset predict you've made pitches that will last x no, of days. I might be wrong though.

 

[GIMH]

Watching Cricket Writers on TV. Nice blue sky at the Rose Bowl. Hopefully they follow my gameplan

 

[Stapel]

I don't mean a standard extra day, that'd just make the dead pitch problems worse as groundstaff tried to make them last longer, and it would make the cricket more defensive.

Just an replacement day if enough overs are lost makes sense to me. Is there a practical reason they couldn't do it?

Simply go on until 450 overs have been bowled. As easy as that, imho...

 

[Spark]

That could take a while though. 3 days and we've got a quarter of that...

 

[hang on]

be flexible regarding the weather. if the forecast has rain later in the day, it makes no sense to make up the lost overs of a pervious day etc. by going past the normal stumps time. start earlier. and if u can go on later.

 

[Stapel]

That could take a while though. 3 days and we've got a quarter of that...

Yeah, but simply reserving 6 days to get to 450 overs would solve a lot!

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Won't matter anyway in this test, bat for 2 sessions and then bowl them out in rest of day claiming extra half hour to win by an innings i reckon.

 

[Manee]

Figured that this is the most active thread so I'm most likely to get a response here...

Did anyone manage to save on to their computer the two hour Test Match Special which investigated depression in cricket. I cannot believe I missed it and would love to give it a listen.