*Official* West Indies Tour of England 2020

[Neptune]

Declare at 300. Gives West Indies virtually no time to chase that down in 80 overs and gives England enough time to bowl them all out.

 

[Bijed]

There’s a very good chance of England losing by setting a fairly desperate target here. Worst way to lose if so.

Broad seems very keen on giving themselves a fair crack with the 2nd new ball, so I am a bit worried we're going to mess things up by trying to shoehorn that in

 

[TestMatch]

The Butler duck, and the ****iness of his promotion, had me laughing.

England need about 90 more runs to be safe, but may botch the effort and hand WI a hilarious win.

A rather dull game has suddenly become very very interesting.

Broad was scarily optimistic in the post-match interview. He reckons he can bowl 'em all out tomorrow.

 

[mr_mister]

Butler's so bad lol

Most overrated batsman ever

 

[quincywagstaff]

There?s a very good chance of England losing by setting a fairly desperate target here. Worst way to lose if so.

With non-victory meaning England don't retain the Wisden Trophy for first time at end of home series since 1995, probably worth the risk I reckon to err on generous side.

 

[GotSpin]

What an interesting scorecard to wake up to

 

[weldone]

Broad seems very keen on giving themselves a fair crack with the 2nd new ball, so I am a bit worried we're going to mess things up by trying to shoehorn that in

Ya that would be a terrible move - specially given what happened with the declaration in 2017

 

[Dan]

Butler's so bad lol

Most overrated batsman ever

This is an absolutely horrendous take.

Firstly, to be overrated someone's actually gotta rate him as a Test batsman...which just about nobody does these days. From what I've seen at least, even his most ardent supporters cap out at acknowledging his output has been mediocre-to-serviceable and that his bucketloads of talent have gone unrealised in red ball cricket. Nobody's calling him the next coming of Gilchrist ffs.

Secondly, why would you hold it against him that he's failed in an innings where he's batted out of position in the pursuit of quick runs, and the gamble hasn't come off?

 

[Starfighter]

I'd say that this is gonna get interesting. Of course mentioning so guarantees that it won't.

 

[morgieb]

Broad seems very keen on giving themselves a fair crack with the 2nd new ball, so I am a bit worried we're going to mess things up by trying to shoehorn that in

Declaring for 90 overs to bowl at would be an ATG bad decision. Even 80 or so is pushing it but might be justifiable given a draw is as good as a loss for England.

 

[DriveClub]

Declaring for 90 overs to bowl at would be an ATG bad decision. Even 80 or so is pushing it but might be justifiable given a draw is as good as a loss for England.

Wouldn't be that bad if they can get 80 in 8 overs leaving 300 to chase in 90 overs. Will be an exciting finish

 

[harsh.ag]

Yeah I'm in the draw is as good as a loss camp. No less than 75 overs.

 

[Line and Length]

A good declaration would make a game of it. I can remember a bygone era when England sides would bat to avoid losing a game before trying to win. Fortunately that attitude has largely disappeared.

 

[morgieb]

Wouldn't be that bad if they can get 80 in 8 overs leaving 300 to chase in 90 overs. Will be an exciting finish

That's like a Jupiter sized if though. This isn't T20, it's a lot harder than you think to get 80 in 8 overs.

I think it should be around 80 overs given the circumstances. Enough time to bowl the WIndies out but equally makes chasing a target risky if England bowl decently given that the WIndies are a poor batting lineup. If England were 1-0 up I'd try to mitigate defeat before going for a win but as Shane Warne (groan) says, you have to be prepared to lose to win.

 

[Flem274*]

fell asleep during lunch. well the way we've got here is a bit jammy, but this test is set up to be a cracker

 

[vcs]

I'd want a crack with the 2nd new ball, it makes a massive difference (like we saw today).

 

[Bahnz]

If the weather's set fair, then bat for 8 overs, try and slog 60-70 runs and stick WI in. Their batting is - to be blunt - poor, so England shouldn't be afraid of setting them a sub-300 target.

 

[honestbharani]

Also less than 300 in 90 overs will ensure Windies go for it a little bit.

 

[Adders]

Butler's so bad lol

Most overrated batsman ever

Spot the guy that can't differentiate between Test and ODI cricket.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Backing England to win this. WI batting is trash.