***Official*** England in West Indies 2015

[Furball]

Nah, it was there to smash out the ground. Just hasn't bounced.

This pitch will be a **** tip 4th innings by the looks of it.

 

[Beamer]

Is Botham seriously arguing that England had the better of the day and are in the drivers seat? Has he ever thought England weren't in the drivers seat? Awful punditry. Well played cook though, I'm happy to see him score runs, he works very hard.

Good day for us IMHO in spite of Ramdin's schoolboyish tactics. I thought holder was superb, Permaul was every bit as bad as Benn had been. Shame about Bishoo's fingers.

 

[Spark]

so, uh, i'm right in saying that wi's bowling was generally average and the captaincy terrible, and yet they've still contrived to get 7?

sky is taking the piss right now with this 300+, 350+ talk.

 

[Shady Slim]

he might have to carry his bat you know

oooooooh dear

 

[Pratters]

How did Ramdin end up as captain? Wasn't Holder the captain..

Edit: Okay, Ramdin has been the captain all through the series.

 

[Cabinet96]

Last time Cook played a test at Bridgetown he ended his 2nd longest century drought of 14 months. His average at the ground dropped to 169 after he got out tonight though.

 

[Niall]

How did Ramdin end up as captain? Wasn't Holder the captain..

Edit: Okay, Ramdin has been the captain all through the series.

Got it after Sammy stepped down. Don't think their was that many other alternatives, Kraigg way to young and inexperienced , a lot of issues about mini Bravo, and this is the format that Holder is least established in. Shiv or Samuels wouldn't have been great options and zero reason bar LOL factor to go back to Gayle.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

I tried to tune in to CW commentary. Disappointed there didn't seem to be any on. Mind you, I would have only been able to listen to the run up to Cook's century and then him getting out. Sigh.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Missed it all, not missed much though.

Great that Cook has got a ton, monkey off back and all that.

May well be a fascinating test, need as many runs as we can get tomorrow.

 

[grecian]

Cook should be dropped and stripped of his captaincy after running out the great Beard.

 

[cnerd123]

Pleased to see Cook score a ton. He needed that.

 

[OverratedSanity]

I blame Jono for jinxing Cook's century-less run.

Well played, though.

 

[Gnske]

Sad way for Trott to shut the door on a fine international career, barring the greatest innings ever seen in the history of test cricket in the 3rd innings.

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

Didnt get to watch the match, seems like it was well earned century for Cook

 

[Antihippy]

Huh, Moeen got run out again?

Was it his own doing though?

 

[Stapel]

Huh, Moeen got run out again?

Was it his own doing though?

Cook called him through. After having the seen it again, I'm inclined to say it was as much his own fault as Cook's.

 

[Antihippy]

Hmmm, that's something he definitely needs to work on. Though from what I've seen his batting is starting to look a bit more fluent.

 

[Scaly piscine]

England ahead because they won the toss, but the batting was Mickey Mouse stuff. Had the chance to put West Indies almost out of the game if they finish on 250-3/4 because it means the pitch will be even more worn when West Indies bat and those runs will be a lot harder to come by later on. Likewise West Indies need to make their first innings count because you aren't going to catch up many runs over the last innings, particularly as I'd expect England to manage far better against Permaul on a crumbling wicket than West Indies will against Moeen Ali.

Will be interesting to see if England can bowl straight when the conditions dictate.

 

[Kippax]

I think he's more likely to be the top wicket taker than Adil Rashid, if Rashid were to play.

I don't think Moeen's likely to do it, just that being $2.00 more than any other option is underrating him a touch IMO.

Moeen really is pretty good value now, Dan. Thanks.

Moeen Ali hails England's Alastair Cook but says West Indies hold edge | Sport | The Guardian

Moeen still has work to do in his second suit, as a bowler, and drew encouragement from what the wicket offered to the West Indies spinners, Samuels and Veerasammy Permaul.

He said: “It’s the sort of pitch I’ve been looking for, in terms of a bit of bounce, a bit of spin. Hopefully I can settle right away into a line and length and then I can be quite dangerous. It’s going to get worse, I think, as the game goes on. We didn’t expect it to spin so much but the bounce is always the key here.”

 

[Jono]

Well played Cook. Looks like it was a needed knock too, not like England were coasting.

Lot of pressure on Trott I'm reading. Will he open come Ashes first test?