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*Official* First Test (Edgbaston, Birmingham) 16–20 June

CartyDurham

International Captain
Either we will be all out for under 200 or we declare 300/3 before the end of today.
Afternoon my fellow Mackem

this is going to be a cracker, if the rain stays away. Edgbaston batting last is always a tricky task. I think only South Africa beat England in the fourth innings when chasing 280 odd

anything around that total or above and the Aussies will have to bat superbly to get there
 

Spark

Global Moderator
Why do you think the declaration made any difference to those things? They didn’t happen in the four overs they bowled on the first day.
It's honestly one of my biggest pet peeves in these discussions, people saying [x] would have worked had it not been for a completely unrelated thing [y] happening.
 

Spark

Global Moderator
They didn't effect that,however my point was it doesn't look such a bad score IF those crucial chances are taken
Yeah but we can play this game both ways. If Head doesn't chip one to midwicket, if Marnus actually leaves his first ball pitched a foot wide of off stump, then maybe Australia have a lead of 150 and England look very foolish leaving runs on the table. Cricket is such a dynamic game with so many factors that decisions like declarations should only be judged based on what information the captain had available to him in the moment, not based on what he would have done with a time machine.
 

Croadymeister

U19 Cricketer
Marnus getting out first ball was key, really. Khawaja, Carey and Head (and Cummins I guess lol) did their jobs but I don't think anyone else did which is a problem.

TBF England was kind of similar with most of the runs coming from Bairstow, Root and Crawley.
All of those three had impressive knocks,however my frustration is we gave a life to Khawaja and 2/3 to Carey as well
 

Spark

Global Moderator
Like I'll say this again: a good first innings declaration is one where you're confident you'll still be ahead in the game even if the opposition bat well. If the opposition bats to a mediocre standard and yet you're not well ahead in the game having declared and had the opportunity to buttress your position, then you've ****ed up big time.

The opposition always gets a say too. If your entire cricketing plan is based on the idea that the opposition will play bad cricket then it's not a plan, it's wishful thinking.
 

slowfinger

International Debutant
Why do you think the declaration made any difference to those things? They didn’t happen in the four overs they bowled on the first day.
it wasn't just 4 overs though was it, it was potentially 10 or more and a first innings score of potentially 450
 

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