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.....West Indies look terrible....if there's any play, might not last 2 days.

  When I think of all the greats I've seen down the years, its a bit sad to see Caribbean cricket in such a state.....if it could only be Australia.

I do hope we really win comfortably. English cricket needs a confidence boost.

Agreed with it being a sad site for the Windies but im sure in a few years they will have some great players coming through.

I hope there's some play tomorrow afternoon when I get home.

If we go into this with the right attitude then I see no reason why we can't whitewash 'em.

I hate the fact it is on sky as it means I can't watch it at work. BASTARDS  :x

Very true Reg, it's a shame to see no decent fast bowlers coming through for the West Indies, long gone are the days of Ambrose & Walsh.

West Indies have won the toss,they've opted to bowl,not a surprise considering the conditions.Freddie hasn't made it so Shah comes in for him and Monty goes in ahead of Anderson,personally i'd play Anderson and not Plunkett,but hey ho lets go :D If it doesn't rain at least :(

Playing Monty ahead of Anderson on a damp pitch?  :?

Thats the attitude that could hurt us- we've been as shit as them for nearly a year!

151-2. Not too bad really.

Shah didnt score many, i dont think he was the correct choice personally. Hopefully Cook will go on to get a ton and KP can score some quick runs.

Still think this will be a draw though with the weather forecast.

 :shock:

Heaven forbid he didn't score a hundred.

Who would you have chose then Peter?

Steady start so far from England - can't help thinking the weather might make things quite interesting though. 350+ with the weather should be a decent total against this lot.

Oh God,hope tea finishes soon,Trevor Macdonald on tms is doing my nut in!The players are meeting the queen as well,the joy :-))(

well if you take a leaf out of the aussies books you should always play a spinner no matter what the conditions are like. the ball could turn like anything on days 4 and 5

But it won't even get to day 4 and 5 at this rate.

Peter?

I personally thought this was the perfect opportunity to give a younger batsman a go and get some experience. I wont rate Shah in one performance in an England shirt though. To be fair Collingwood took time to shine and he paid off big time!

With the rain it will

Cookie's ton-up 8)

reading the BBC live text thingymajig, i love the fact the guys name is Ben Dirs. he's quite funny too, kept me entertained throughout the world cup!

200-3 not bad. if we can get to 350 plus that would be a good start

Ha ha yeah i love that!!! Kept me entertained at work too all through the WC.

did anyone tape the highlights. Mine did not tape.  :-))(

they've not won a series away from home - apart from bangladesh an zimbabwe - in their last thirteen attempts. I'd say they're some decent odds

280-4 at lunch. Cook out for 105.

Prior going along nicely...71 off 69!

^^ yep, lets hope he gets to 100.  :)

553 for 5, at what looks like stumps for the day :shock:

4 centurians :shock:

 The only other time in test history that England had 4 centurions, was v Australia at Trent Bridge in 1938.   Charlie Barnett 126....Len Hutton 100...Eddie Paynter..216 and Dennis Compton 102.

  Compton was at 20 years 19 days England's youngest century maker a record I believe he still holds.

 If only the Hun had understood cricket, then events may have prevented a 10 year wait for the next home Ashes series.

Not bad going! Got to hope the rain holds off and get a win under or belt really

Super stuff this afternoon, pure entertainment watching Prior and Bell this evening trying to cream every ball.

Brilliant from Prior,  but Jones came in with a bang too, lets hope MP can keep it up.

Windies are much, much worse than I thought.

about fucking time prior played, what have i been telling you all for the last 2 years, all we need now is yardy at no 3 and we will be laughing.

Monty first ball  8)  8)  8)

i was just about to post that  :D

hoggy gone off with an injury :(
monty gets a wicket with his first ball 8)

West Indies really are shit

anyone want to go spend a wet day at lords for £20?

i'm listening to the game...chris gayle just got bollocksed...then whilst they're discussing it there must've been a replay as the whole crowd went "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH" hahahahahahahahaha


1854: Oh my life, that's pitched on a length, jagged back and caught Gayle slap bang in the orchestras. Down goes the big man in a heap - his missus will be weeping into her Mothercare catalogue. A few sniggers from the England fielders. What is it about a man getting hit in the testicles by a very hard ball travelling at 88mph that makes other men laugh? That's not a rhetorical question, I want answers. The physio is out - the one bonus for Gayle is it might swell up a bit for a couple of weeks. He climbs to his feet after a couple of minutes flat on his back, and the Lord's crowd rises to its feet.

I hope Channel 5 show the incident.

we should win this. that said with Plunkett and Harmison bowling wides every 5 minutes we need Monty to take all 10 wickets

To be fair, Harmison did better today after Beefy had a word with him this morning.

harmison's bowling was far better today. definitely think it's a mental thing, i don't believe he lacks in effort.

i'm putting my money on a draw anyway.

I'm putting my money on Monty getting a ten wicket haul, all by LBW 8)

It's going to rain

Should think it'll be a draw,can't see us with one bowler down get them all out,plus the weather obvioulsy could have an effect.Think the West Indies have batted well,just a shame there bowling attack is so bad.

I hope Hoggy's fit for next week,i'm going to wear my Hoggy T-shirt at Leeds,won't be the same if the shaggy blonde haired lovely isn't playing :(

finally some cricket to watch...

England should have looked to have got another 100 at least before declaring in the first innings. Had the West Indies been forced to follow on we could have won this.

If we hadn't bowled so crap we would of won this. Harmisons had too many chances. Get rid.

we haven't taken 20 wickets in a test match since, what the 3rd test v pakistan last year?

maybe we should go in with 6 bowlers next time.

thats silly Lebowski. i think Graham Onions or Stuart Broad should be given a go really. we should have Flintoff at 7 as well. keep the top 6 the same (except for Vaughan replacing Shah of course) and get rid of Plunkett. What is the point of him? i mean really what is the point?

at least we're not talking about the wicket-keeper for a change - thought prior did well.

what i dont like though is that michael vaughan will walk back into the team now, despite not having played test cricket for 18 months.

no we need his influence back. if we are going to play him we need an extra batsman anyway coz he always does crap so Flintoff in for Plunkett i think. i am impressed with Prior. in many ways im wondering why he wasn't selected a couple of years back

vaughan has become self-obsessed, he was even talking about himself in the 3rd person the other day.

lebowski doesn't like that.

Bring in Stuart Broad. The boy has telent and will be a class act in years to come.

definitely got talent but he's also got a knackered knee, isn't even playing county cricket at present.

Broad will be fit for either the 3rd or 4th test.

 :soapy tit wank:
The papers were making a big deal of it, they were trying to guess exactly why he was doing it,one journo thought it was a sign he's cracking up under the pressure,poor Virgil  :(  He'll be in the team,Shah didn't do anything,so to me its fair enough.

I think its the status quo for England - Vaughan back in for Shah - Hoggard will be replaced by Anderson if he isnt fit  - be very suprised if Freddie is fit to bowl

I expect this team

Strauss Cook Vaughan Pietersen Collingwood Bell Prior Plunkett Harmison Panesar Anderson (unless Hoggy is fit)