It's Lord's tbf. This happens all the time; everyone looks at the pitch and agrees it'll be a road, then it darts around for the first session and wickets tumble and everyone gets excited, but then after lunch the original assessment is proved correct.BW was spot on earlier in this thread, England's batting only gets warmed up after they lose their first 3 for 50 or so.
Yeah, apart from that one in the 2014 Ind series, which started off absolutely insane and flattened out to pretty sporting, it's always been this way for ages.It's Lord's tbf. This happens all the time; everyone looks at the pitch and agrees it'll be a road, then it darts around for the first session and wickets tumble and everyone gets excited, but then after lunch the original assessment is proved correct.
I mean a lot of that is down to the fact that half the time it's England batting first up and England's top order has been somewhere between inadequate and just plain **** for a while now.Yeah, apart from that one in the 2014 Ind series, which started off absolutely insane and flattened out to pretty sporting, it's always been this way for ages.
Unless you're McGrath, it's a pretty sad place to bowl for the most part.
Yeah. Gun bowler!I swear Philander always gets the ball to do something off pitch, regardless of surface.
Yeah he's benefited bowling with Steyn giving him so many new bats to target but he is undisputedly a brilliant bowler. The opposite is also true as well obviously.Yeah. Gun bowler!
Yet, as much as I rate him, I feel 160 wickets @22 makes him look like Marshall or McGrath. Which he is not.
Nah, it doesn't really, because it's only 160 wickets, longevity is a big deciding factor in why Marshall and the like are considered greats, think Vernon will fall down in that reckoning.Yeah. Gun bowler!
Yet, as much as I rate him, I feel 160 wickets @22 makes him look like Marshall or McGrath. Which he is not.
He was excellent in Australia, really consistent and patient.This is the first look I've had at Marahaj. Looks a wee bit pedestrian, doesn't he?
Not expecting it to rag square on day one at Lords, but he doesn't look to be putting much work on the ball either.
Bit of Mark Butcher about Bavuma's bowling for me. No pace at all, but does swing it.
Because they would then slow down even further, give them an inch and they take a mile.I've never really understood what's so bad about going on for (yet) another half hour, if play has been slow.
What I really, really DO like, is a captain that takes a few seconds more, every over again & again, to get their field right, have a talk with the bowlers, and check again. It's what Test Cricket is about. Or at least what I likw about it! I coulnd't be arsed about a few minutes....