***Official*** Sri Lanka in England and Ireland 2014

[Fuller Pilch]

What did Nick Compton do wrong? Scored plenty of runs in NZ, then struggled at home and then ignored.

 

[superkingdave]

Is there such a thing as a "cheap" seat at Lords?

Haha not really, I'm in the mildly expensive seats then rather than the outrageously expensive seats. Just expecting to be sat directly behind a pillar or something

 

[theegyptian]

Love the fact that the Worcestershire captain, Daryl Mitchell, has gone to lords today to watch his teammate Moeen Ali make his debut. Really nice to see.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Has the batting been especially aggressive/loose, or have there been lots of four balls? This is faster than many England ODIs, but it is on a Lords' greentop.

 

[GIMH]

Jamie Redknapp is literally there wtf

 

[Pothas]

What is this?

 

[Howe_zat]

Is this Bell innings as ***y as I've decided it is?

 

[Pothas]

Is this Bell innings as ***y as I've decided it is?

Pretty much.

 

[91Jmay]

I'm not so sure. I think Bell has played well but the rest are such an awful shower that it makes him look even better.

 

[Maximas]

OK.

Well in that case with my limited knowledge of SL players I think the selectors have done an excellent job.

TBH picking Pradeep was hardly fair on Prasad, who outbowled him in the warm-up and played well for Sri Lanka 'A' recently, but yes, I think this is the best attack they could have gone with

 

[Adders]

Is this Bell innings as ***y as I've decided it is?

I also am aroused.

 

[Maximas]

Decent start I suppose, is this one of those 250 par greentop like pitches or is 300 an absolute minimum? Whatever it is I think our bowlers will run out of steam as the day goes on and England will finish 6/7 for something over 300

 

[91Jmay]

Sri Lanka's session, especially considering the pitch is fine. Thought they bowled well first up and profited from some poor shot selection.

 

[91Jmay]

Decent start I suppose, is this one of those 250 par greentop like pitches or is 300 an absolute minimum? Whatever it is I think our bowlers will run out of steam as the day goes on and England will finish 6/7 for something over 300

350 minimum for me, especially with Lords tending to flatten out.

 

[hendrix]

98/3 is pretty much bang on an even session at the start of a test match, isn't it?

 

[GIMH]

98/3 is pretty much bang on an even session at the start of a test match, isn't it?

My thoughts too

 

[91Jmay]

Got to put that in context though. Root who is in no form at the crease with a debutante next in followed by Prior who is in less form than Root + the bowlers.

98/3 might not be bad in general terms but England needed a score from their top order IMO.

 

[Howe_zat]

On the first day of a Test, assuming no pitch shenanigans, you would expect 35-40 rpw from the top order. So I'd say England are about 20 short of evens at this point.

At any rate I'd not have taken 98/3, Sri Lanka can consider it a good morning having made the inroads.

 

[Maximas]

yeah, but you guys bat pretty deep, and this attack will rather quickly lose its effectiveness now that the ball is no longer new one feels, Kulesakara for one tends to taper off a fair bit after his opening spells, I think 3/98 leaves both sides with a bit of a platform to launch from and get on top, this session is crucial, whoever wins it may well end up with a first innings lead

 

[YorksLanka]

Wicket will flatten out now so picking up wickets will be much tougher..think England will be somewhere around 370/4 by close..