Thetownend.com

Won the toss.Going ok at the moment. :)

164-1 at tea.Cook the man out.

8/1 To win this England are

Strauss have got a hundred...but Pietersen's just gone for 4 !!

180-3

229-5.Not a massive shock that we falter after such a good start.

Oh well,its probably going to rain anyway.

Wow a collapse. Didn't see that one coming *rolls eyes*

Okay, I know he got a shocking decision today, but how the flying flemish fuck is Paul Collingwood in this team ahead of Owais Shah.

Bowlers get tossed aside as fast as you like if they're out of form, even if they're the longest serving player in the team, and yet a Batsman couldn't get dropped if he went out there and batted with the wrong hand for a laugh.

Why are any of them in the team? No doubt we'll lose again like always.

Can any cricketers tell me if England are playing a test in Bangalore at all around January? Should be going out there for 3 months working from January 13th.

   :no:

Ah well, I don't really like cricket anyway, just would have been something to do!

Might get some IPL though if you're into the flashy stuff.

 You'll just have to wile away the hours on here posting on the 478 page...who will be the next manager thread.

Yeah, I guess if I am in India I am going to have to go to some sort of cricket!!

Fucking hell,Swan has got two wickets in his first over in international test cricket!

WHOOT. :banana:

Great start for him!!

Apparently he is the first in the history of test cricket to get 2 wickets in his first ever over.
Glad we can still get a few things right.
Was going to say before this happened that Strauss must feel like Coxy did after his hat-tricks - doing all the hard work only for the rest of the team to throw it away for him.

prior didnt throw it away nor did cook

Apparently now no the first in the history of test cricket to get 2 wickets in his first ever over. It seems that Richard Johnson did against Zimbabwe. That is the problem of relying on Sky not having TMS on.

Laxman and Tendulkar gone. 102-5. Panesar and Flintoff with the wickets.

Waiting for the tail to make 200 more now.

i wish everyone would stop all this negative shit, football/cricket, fuck off the lot of you.

Eveythings Shit.

Third morning and we're two down with a 100 odd run lead. I'd have taken that at the start, could have done a little better this morning but we're far from throwing this away.

And Pietersen's gone for naff all. Why oh why do I post these things.

Here comes Colly to save the day/his career.

KP's going downhill now he's captain. Could see that coming a mile off. Nice one selectors.

Colly and Strauss have put on a good partnership score of over 100 - could Paul Collingwookd be getting some form back?

Played well, Collingwood has been very unlucky in Test cricket over the last couple of seasons, every bad decision seems to have his name on it.

Great knocks from Strauss and Colly. 387 target for India.

25 off first 3 overs!

What an odd scorecard we have, Two 108's and nobody else bar Prior got into double figures.

Sodding hell.

Does no one fancy getting Sehwag out then?

Meh, we just got Gambhir out bat/pad and Harper didn't give it.

I don't fancy being a bowler right now.

Someone should tell him it's not Twenty20.

96-0 now. Surely not? It wouldn't surprise me though. Nothing does with England.

Sehwag out to Graham Swann near the close of play.

Strauss ton in both innings....only the tenth player in Test match History to do this...a great effort.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Can't believe we're gonna lose this.

Oh, hang on, yes I can.

i can when you're up against tendulkar batting like he is

Is he the first man to do that and then lose the test?

It's rare but has happened before to an English player

No, happened to Andy Flower as well according to TMS. Do I mean Andy Flower? I can't remember.

That must be the cricketing equivalent to doing a "Simon Cox".  Two hat tricks away from home and didn't win either.

Fucking terrible, absolutely pathetic. Keep Swann, Freddie and Strauss and the rest can fuck off.

Totally pathetic defeat. No bottle again. Put the B team out for the second test. They'd do a better job than these overpaid clowns.

what are you on. They just beat australia 2-0 in there backyard. We had them 4 down after lunch but came against a genius in the little master Tendulkar. fair play to India they beat us. we gave them a run for their money. It was taken away from us when Sehwag went mental thinking it was a 20-20 game.

Meh, this result is no different to all the others.

Very few crickets nations throw away tests like good ol' England.

Gave them a run for their money? Don't make me laugh. We had them down for the count for 4 days but still lost. It's a joke. Would you be happy if STFC lost a game being 4-0 up? No you wouldn't.

That sounds like we gave them a run for their money tbf

And then gave up. That 2005 side would have crushed them by 150 runs. I won't go on. I like a bloody good moan about how crap the cricket team is.

again we go back to the ashes 2005 side. they will never play again together. We had India on the ropes for 3 days not 4. 4th day they fought back. I am not going to moan about this defeat because we got beaten by a team on the top of their game and a batsman who is proably the best in the world atm.

At the moment? Theres quite a strong case for tendulkar to be reagrded as the best ever

Brilliant match,i feel Petersen wanted to bat out the fourth day  and get another hundred runs...India won it,England didnt throw it,but a more experienced man wouldve have batted out the innings that would probably guaranteed a draw...oh and for the people Knocking Peterson he played the whole match with a fractured Rib cos he felt it that important to play after the terrorist tradgedy,so well done to both teams on a great game.

I put it to you sir, that you are the STFC Bart of Cricket. Except you generally reply to posts calling you names.

Bloody good match, but I'm gutted we've lost. I dearly hope they play Shah next week.

Who would you drop Nemo....ive lost patience with Harmisson hes offering nothing at present.

Who would I drop? I could make a case for quite a few:

Cook: The future but has failed so much recently. No direct replacement helps him out, unless you call Vaughan up.
Bell: When the going gets tough, Ian Bell hides under the table (Cookie for the reference)
Collingwood: Scored a 100 for a last minute reprieve yet again, needs to be under constant threat of being dropped to perform
Harmison: Offers little in India, but then again that's the same for most non-swing seamers
Anderson: Is meant to be able to swing it, didn't at all.
Panesar: Warne is spot on here; he hasn't improved one bit since his debut.

But on the other hand, that wasn't a bad overall performance, even if it was basically a 3 man team (Swann, Strauss, Fred), so it seems harsh to ring the changes. What's Amjad Khan like, I don't recall seeing him bowl?

Not sure about Khan, i like Cook though his fielding cost us in this match,Panesar has to play because hes the best weve got though i feel he dosnt get the backing a spinner like Warne got.
My argument is that India have completly changed the way Test Cricket is played,Sehwag for instance...why not start the bowling with a spinner?...why the same old thing,I like Anderson ,good fielder too with his batting improving.
I think the press talk a lot of bull about the pitches...that pitch was perfect,tons scored and lots of wickets.
Think Bell could make way for Shah for a few matches to give him a run...though Bell is quality he plays like hes having a net...and defo not for the one dayers for me.

Starting the bowling with a spinner?

Because fast bowlers tend to work better with a new ball, if they don't open the bowling we may as well pick four spinners and Fred.

Hell, if we did that we might even get our overs in at the required rate for once.

Well its hard to get a spinner away with the lack of pace..fast bowlers can be wayward and Sehwag wouldnt have started like he did with spin at both ends...not sayind all the time but against players like Sehwag try something different.