England vs West Indies: 1st Test – Night and Day
Aug 15, 2017 thelegglance
In days past, a West Indies tour of England was one to cause a frisson of excitement among the fans, and a tremble of fear among the batsmen. How times have changed. The structure of international cricket; the concentration of power and money in the hands of the the three most powerful cricket boards; allied to the endless civil war in Caribbean cricket have weakened the game globally, and in the West Indies in particular. If South Africa aren't able to get their best team on to the park because of the financial considerations of the players, then it's less surprising than ever to see the shadow team that will show up on Thursday afternoon.
The corollary of this depressing state of affairs is that from a ticketing perspective, the Windies aren't the draw they were, and to that end the scheduling of a day/night Test match at Edgbaston makes sense – the curiosity value alone makes it worth doing from a financial perspective. The popularity of day/night cricket has been well established in limited overs form, and the opportunity to see it in Test match mode has clearly piqued a lot of interest given the second day is already sold out, with days one and three possibly following. It's certainly true that in other parts of the world they have proved popular, Adelaide in particular demonstrating that there is an appetite for starting later and making it a night out.
Where England have a particular problem is in the country's latitude. The summer evenings tend to be cool, and occasionally downright cold, apart from during the peak summer months of June and July. But in June and July it doesn't get dark until 10pm, meaning the night element would consist of slowly fading light and batsmen having nightmares about seeing the ball for more than the brief dusk that is prevalent in more equatorial climes. With the timetable for this one, had it been played in June, floodlights wouldn't be needed on a sunny day.
With that in mind, holding a day/night Test during the slightly shorter days of August makes sense, though from the spectator perspective the likelihood is that coats and blankets are more likely to be needed than shorts and T-shirts, particularly given the longer format. That being said, the match isn't scheduled to go especially late on each given day, meaning the night element will remain relatively short. The problem of a longer dusk is still there though, and pink ball or not, it will be interesting to see just how challenging the batting is likely to prove – the experimental county championship matches earlier in the season were rather ruined by rain in many cases.
There have only been a handful of day/night Tests so far, too few to form any kind of judgement on how they will differ (if at all) from "normal" matches. Certainly the first instance of it involved the ball hooping round corners and batting proving exceptionally difficult, but subsequent games didn't continue that trend, as ball manufacturers constantly strived to ensure conditions would be as close to the default as possible. Equally, the different locations in which the matches have been held make passing judgement impossible, and it is this more than anything that provides the intrigue as to how this one will unfold.
The West Indies have played under lights once before, in the UAE, but conditions there are totally different at the best of times, and this will be the first match where a pink Duke's ball (rather than a Kookaburra) is used. Given that tends to retain its shine longer, and offers a more pronounced seam, that could yet be interesting for the batsmen. The possibility of dew in the evening has been mentioned, but this applies only so much as it does in the mornings of late season games, and the bulk of the day will be played during the same hours as a normal Test. The question will be if conditions materially alter after tea.
Ah yes, tea. The breaks will retain their traditional names of lunch and tea despite being much later. Naturally this has attracted comment, but in truth it would have done had they changed it as well. In Australia the breaks were changed to tea and dinner, which is barely any better, and probably provides amusement to non-cricket supporters who will wonder which other sports have a break for dinner.
To the surprise of few, Keaton Jennings was dropped from the squad, replaced by Mark Stoneman, as the revolving door of England openers not called Cook continues. If luck in selection plays a part, then being called up to play the West Indies at home counts as being of the good variety, for it represents an opportunity to score rather easier runs than against South Africa or away in India. What that doesn't do is answer the question as to whether a player is good enough to play in Australia, but given the mess England have got themselves in over selection for opener, the reality is they are where they are. It still wouldn't be a surprise to see someone different opening in Brisbane.
Mason Crane has been called up, which raises questions about Adil Rashid's future. England have developed a tendency in the specialist fields of seeking the finished article, discarding players for perceived failures rather than persevering with them. Rashid hasn't been exceptional, that is certainly true, but nor has he been a flop – his performance in India was in line with many England spinners there over the years. Perhaps it might be that Crane is something special, but it's hard to avoid the nagging doubt that whether or not he plays this time, his career will be one of high expectations and swift removal if he doesn't win matches single handedly. As has been observed all too often, it's debatable whether England would have kept faith with Shane Warne had he been English.
One player returning to the ranks is Chris Woakes, and depending on fitness can be expected to play given how important he has been over the last 12 months. That might be harsh on Toby Roland-Jones, but Woakes is clearly central to England's first choice bowling line up. As long as he is properly fit, and not ECB fit.
The disparity in resources, wealth and playing strength really should make this a foregone conclusion, but the day/night nature of it means that it is a little more uncertain than might be the case. Whether it is a one off will depend on whether the game itself proceeds relatively normally.
Day/night Tests in England, in late August. Who the hell knows?
England, England Summer 2017, England v West Indies 2017, UncategorizedAdil Rashid, Day Night Tests, Mark Stoneman, Mason Crane
Previous Article Guest Post – Man In A Barrel Gives Us The Numbers
Next Article England vs West Indies: First Test, Day 1
49 thoughts on "England vs West Indies: 1st Test – Night and Day"
pktroll (@pktroll) Aug 16, 2017 / 7:43 am
I guess I have a bit of intrigue in seeing how the pink ball hoops around in the evening but only a small, tiny bit. Last time I looked forward to a Windies tour was in 2000 but then again I haven't really looked forward to the Aussies coming here in 2013 and 2015 such is the way they've overdone that series. I'd just love to see Windies be competitive but sadly I think it is a hope
against hope.
Mark Aug 16, 2017 / 8:49 am
The day/night part of it doesn't interest me at all. Change for change sake. Cricket has a huge identity problem which is why it keeps trying to re invent itself.
First off….. I see no reason for it in England. Test crowds are pretty good here, and if they want to attract more people perhaps they should reduce the price. (Particularly outside of London) Day/night cricket in England can be pretty miserable, and there is already an autumnal feel to some of the evenings now well into August. As you say the long evening light will always make cricket at night a problem here. By the time it gets dark early, it's often bloody cold and usually damp.
From what I understand they are hoping to attract the after work crowd who will come in later. Really? Are people going to buy a ticket just so they can come in for the last couple of hours? Do they get a discount if they come in after 6pm? In addition will this be the same bunch of drunks that come for 20/20? That will be nice. Very family friendly!! The ECB seem to be more in the catering business than the cricket business these days. No doubt it's more profitable. But if Andrew Strauss or Giles Clarke want to run a pub then they should buy their own.
The other absurdity is this match is taking place in the school holidays, so kids would be able to come during the day. It's not like waiting until they come home from school to take them to the match. The whole thing reeks of desperation. For a few extra sales they are prepared to risk the integrity of test cricket. A pink Duke ball in helpful conditions under lights could render the whole thing farcical. And there will be dew on the ground. So we can enjoy an extra late finish as they try to bowl the overs while the bowler has to wipe the ball with a cloth every other ball. Likelihood is the whole thing will be done and dusted by Saturday night.
As you can tell I am not a fan. Which means in a country where Love Island, X factor,and Big brother are regarded as cultural highlights the whole thing will surely be a stupendous success.
thelegglance Aug 16, 2017 / 9:15 am
One of the rationales is that with the day/night match in Adelaide they want to prepare for it, but that would make more sense if it was using a Kookaburra ball for a start – the Duke one is a complete unknown as the pink one has never been used before in a Test. It doesn't really make sense as a justification.
I suppose you can advance a case that with the West Indies not being a big draw any more it's being creative to attract interest, but it's patching a stab wound with Elastoplast to ignore just why the Windies aren't a decent side or a big attraction any more.
Exactly! Let's ignore the elephant in the room that the big 3 and the idiots who run WI cricket have helped destroy one of the great spoting teams. No,…nothing to see here…look over there…..ooh a pink ball, and a late night piss up will cover over the cracks.
The ECB and the ICC have caused this mess, and now they are trying to come up with quick fixes to the problems they created.
Managing decline……while looting whats left.
As I say, I'm sure it will be hugely successful. They quite like it when the games end inside 4 days anyway. It helps sell the next big idea……..4 day test cricket.
The 4 day Test thing does make me laugh. Do these people not notice Tests elsewhere in the world tend to go for five days?
Zephirine Aug 16, 2017 / 12:20 pm
"In addition will this be the same bunch of drunks that come for 20/20? That will be nice. Very family friendly!! The ECB seem to be more in the catering business than the cricket business these days. No doubt it's more profitable. But if Andrew Strauss or Giles Clarke want to run a pub then they should buy their own."
This, a thousand times. I fail to understand why anyone wants to go to a sporting event just to drink, anyway. But it isn't only sport – too many events of all kinds now are just about catering profits. And corporate hospitality, which also usually means some guys getting pissed.
Mark Aug 16, 2017 / 12:45 pm
I should make clear that I'm not trying to start a new temperance movement. I like a drink myself,and have no problem with other people doing the same. However the 2020 model seems to be based on people getting completely shit faced while standing with their backs to the cricket.
This is then celebrated as where the future lies. You might as well build a bloody great pub/hotel complex on the ground, and do corporate gigs where people go every night. Who needs the cricket?
glenn Aug 16, 2017 / 8:58 pm
Reminds me of the PDC darts.
"Where England have a particular problem is in the country's latitude. The summer evenings tend to be cool, and occasionally downright cold, apart from during the peak summer months of June and July. But in June and July it doesn't get dark until 10pm, meaning the night element would consist of slowly fading light and batsmen having nightmares about seeing the ball for more than the brief dusk that is prevalent in more equatorial climes."
I expect the solution will be for England to play all its day/night tests in Dubai. The corporate types all seem to like it there.
thelegglance Aug 16, 2017 / 12:34 pm
Thing is, I can see the logic to them somewhere like that. The Tests are empty in Dubai because all the Pakistanis are working. Having evening cricket is a great way of attracting them. Likewise, I can see the merits in India and Australia (while being mildly sceptical about it changing the game).
But in England it doesn't make that much sense except as a novelty. OK, great, it's a novelty, that's fine.
Rooto Aug 16, 2017 / 5:53 pm
Sorry zeph. Computer says 'no' to that idea. Not enough potential bar takings…
SteveT Aug 16, 2017 / 2:58 pm
A bit off topic but well worth a read from Rob Smyth
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/aug/13/scariest-test-england-ever-played-terror-west-indies-cricket-1986-patrick-patterson
A bit of mischief making
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/aug/16/south-africa-hashim-amla-morne-morkel-county-cricket
Zephirine Aug 16, 2017 / 8:21 pm
The article about Patterson that Smyth links to is really good, an odd, sad story.
http://indianexpress.com/article/sports/cricket/patrick-patterson-an-unquiet-mind-4762590/
Sri.Grins Aug 17, 2017 / 5:26 am
Here is hoping that WI does well and keeps england competetive for the ashes. If england have a easy win, they may struggle in Oz. England have a good team and should do well in Oz this time around. Root is classy, the bowling continues to be good and Stokes is a game changer even if it does happen not as frequently as english fans wish. :-). Also, england bat down to no 9 and that is very critical. India has done well in SL simply because the batsmen from 6 to 10 ensured that enough runs were added to put pressure on SL . England have better batsmen than India in slots 6 to 10.
It is going to be an interesting late 2017 to entire 2018 for India fans with one whole year of critical away tests against SA, England and Oz. Hopefully,we won't embarass ourselves too much and if we end 2018 still being no 1, it would be delightfully astounding with the delightfulness and the astoundingness and whateverfulness will be terrific.
Grenville Aug 17, 2017 / 3:15 pm
I will back India to do well. I think this tram is going to become bloody impressive.
d'Arthez Aug 17, 2017 / 3:32 pm
Nah, they'll be too busy hosting Sri Lanka to have much of an away series in South Africa.
Sri.Grins Aug 18, 2017 / 4:01 pm
Is there a big difference? the sl series offers us a chance at a few world records. don't grudge us that 🙂
What records are we talking about?
– 700-run partnership?
– Bat for 180 overs without a wicket being lost?
– Highest FC innings total? Currently a measly 1107
– Highest winning margin ever in FC cricket, despite the Tests not being timeless (that record is a little above an innings and a 851 runs)?
– 2 batsmen making 500 in the innings?
– Win despite declaring the third innings closed on 0/0d? And winning the next Test declaring the first innings closed on 0/0d?
– Win despite picking 11 frontline bowlers?
– Win despite picking 11 frontline batsmen?
– Win despite picking Modi, Srini and a bunch of connected 70+ year olds?
– Win despite not showing up?
Are we looking for:
– A cure to sleeplessness?
– Harsha Bhogle cs. not knowing what to say anymore, because it is so utterly exciting?
– a television audience of 3 people in Sri Lanka, one of whom was not confirmed dead by the time the Sri Lankans come out to bowl / bat?
Or simply the confirmation that the BCCI, ECB and CA are happy to destroy whatever little remains of Test cricket, so they can make a bit more money in the short term. That begs the question though:
How long will it be before the Australians set up a permanent colony in Ranchi (and a few other places, just to avoid wasting time by travelling home – after all the stadiums in India have to be paid for. Same applies to another 2 dozen cities, most of which will have colonies for English players. Obviously, in its magnanimity, the BCCI makes certain that no other foreign cricketers will be allowed to set up camp, with the exception of AB de Villiers, who promptly will declare himself to be too tired, unless MRF provides him with a hefty sponsorship contract.
Sri Grins Aug 19, 2017 / 1:49 am
☺. I think you do not follow Indian cricket too closely. There are currently two important records India is looking at. 1. Team record of winning 9 consecutive series. They are at 8. 2. Ashwin being fastest to 300 wickets. He has 4 tests to go. He may not even play in sa.
While I do understand the big 3 rant, to think that otherwise cricket in WI etc would have been brilliantly healthy is living in a bubble. If sa cricket is down, blame kolpak and English counties and ECB who use every legal reason to poach talent from sa. Bcci and CA have very little to do with travails of sa.
Also, what do you think will happen in the 3 tests against WI? Cook scoring runs delights most English fans doesn't it? I respect cook and great to see him scoring runs but this is what happens most of the times between mismatched teams. It happened to India for decades in India or away and even now away to sa, Oz, England etc. Blame the fact that cricket is not popular enough in countries other than the sub continent and eng and oz for it and that unfortunately only the population of the sub continent drives this game. Logically, blame the population of the other countries and England and oz if you wish to be bitter about something which is a normal evolutionary process
d'Arthez Aug 19, 2017 / 8:58 am
So, a massive budget hole to the tune of $30 million has nothing to do with the SA problems? Oh yeah, we all should give BCCI unilateral rights to appoint whomever they please to other cricketing boards. CSA actually had to cut down expenses because of that shortened tour, but hey, let's blame Sofia Vergara for that. Can't have anything to do with the BCCI's power trips can it?
Now another tour is being shortened to cater for the Sri Lankan cricket board's incompetence. But rather than sticking to the FTP, the BCCI has to reward Cricket SL for being incompetent. Oh, and as a side-effect screw CSA over for another $30-$50 million.
BCCI and CA (along with ECB) did not even want CSA to have access to the Test Fund in the original Big 3 stitch up. Of course you would argue that we would have to blame Sofia Vergara for that one. Again. Can't have anything to do with you know the big boards hell bent on screwing the rest of the cricketing world over. Over and over again.
English counties have also poached several talents from the Caribbean with scholarships. Chris Jordan being but a recent example. So don't make it out that it is only Saffers to England. It is Saffers to England and New Zealand. West Indians to England. India does not need to poach (they have enough decent players).
One of the reasons cricket in South Africa is not popular? Apart from the historical legacy of apartheid, you can't make a good living out of it. So instead of blaming access to decent remuneration (unlike quite a few other sports and pursuits), let's blame Sofia Vergara again, because of course it can't have anything to do with the rotten state of the ICC and the big boards creating such a situation, can it?
Oh, and the fact that non-big 3 boards can't pay their players decently for playing international cricket (English players make about 10 times as much as the South Africans and New Zealand cricketers from their central contracts; the difference is even starker with Zimbabwe, Pakistan, and I suspect Sri Lanka as well), and thus having to play in all these T20 leagues has nothing to do with you know, the ECB, CA and BCCI hoarding money for themslves.
But if you want to be happy with the pursuits of a national team, in the most corrupt global sport, be my guest. Even FIFA appear to be amateurs, compared to the ICC. Enjoy the perennial mismatches, because those are the only things you enjoy.
Sri.Grins Aug 19, 2017 / 10:00 am
:-). You refuse to get the point. Where do you think the losses you are talking of to SA come from ? From the population of SA / OZ / Eng who earn probably n times the average income of a sub continent fan?
The money in cricket comes from the sub continent mostly. It is up to the concerned country to take care of its cricket revenues by getting more of their population involved in playing and watching cricket. It is not the sub continent's role to pay for all the lack of interest in the local population.
Mismatches happened even when the game was being rules by england.lack of money has nothing to do with mismatches.The guys eking out a living in India are all not virats and msds. They travel in cycles and buses and live in crowded neighborhoods and I am willing to bet that most of the players/ coaches in england or oz or sa have no such financial constraints.
People watch and play cricket and pay for watching cricket in the sub continent out of a love for the game not to make money out of it.
May I suggest that all your reasoning points to the fact that enough people in england , oz, sa are not as keen to play or otherwise be involved in the game or watch the game paying money fortv / live out of love for the game? If so, that is a problem the respective countries need to address in the mindsets of their people.
jennyah46 Aug 17, 2017 / 9:12 am
For Mark Stoneman's sake, I sure do hope we win the toss and bat first.
Tom Aug 17, 2017 / 11:10 am
This whole day/night cricket thing in England is a terrible idea. I don't get to hear live commentary until 3 am and probably won't be awake. Those in charge are clearly not thinking about how this affects the growth of cricket in remote areas where there is one person who wants to listen to live commentary.
There you go, I've had my rant!
Miami Dad's Six Aug 17, 2017 / 12:18 pm
It's an interesting series not as a result of the Windies being any good, but by the possibility of England imploding at some point or other the minute they're put under pressure. "Mediocre", anyone? Where's Gary Ballance?
I bet Anderson will bowl like a dream, he will see the opposition in front of him and attack the stumps. In Australia, he'll bowl for his economy and be toothless.
Anyone actually interested? Actually expecting West Indies to put up a bit of a fight?
2 balls in and Roach has already done a Steve Harmison impersonation (of the first of the second tours to Australia in the last 12 years that did not happen).
We may well go for five wins by an innings (2 in Sri Lanka, 3 in England), if England manage to bat first all three Tests. Yeah, Dave Richardson, talk nah …
Congrats ICC.
Grr, "second" of course should be "two".
At the moment the scoring rate seems to resemble a Day/Night ODI. Quality cricket being played by the West Indies …
nonoxcol Aug 17, 2017 / 4:58 pm
I couldn't care less.
It'll soon be 6 in 99 and one of those periodic backlashes incoming…….!
LordCanisLupus Aug 17, 2017 / 6:23 pm
I doubt anyone could be arsed. I can't be.
Still nowt from 2 and 3. Fancy Cook to do something about that conversion rate here.
oreston Aug 17, 2017 / 6:53 pm
He has, and there is much rejoicing and context-free, delusional socking it to the naysayers. BBC trotting out the stat that he's now got six centuries against the Windies – as many as Colin Cowdrey, Director Comma and Allan Lamb. I know you can only play the team in front of you, but listen closely and you'll probably hear Lamb laughing hysterically at that piece of nonsense.
Mark Aug 17, 2017 / 7:20 pm
To put Cooks 6 hundreds in the same context as Cowdrey and Lamb is to shit all over their efforts.
The BBC just took a giant dump on their records. Fuck you BBC.
man in a barrel Aug 17, 2017 / 7:29 pm
Hall, Griffiths, Sobers, Gibbs, Holding, Garner, Marshall, Walsh, Ambrose… Cook thinks the current players are better than that bunch. But, although he was at a public school, did he actually get any O or A levels? In the context of his TIMA, this is probably going to encourage thoughts of further triumphs down-under from the captive Press. Only time will tell. The West Indies attack looks short of class. No Jerome Taylor, for example, who had Cook well under control last time these sides met
It's fools gold!
No wonder the captive cricket media are jerking off to this nonsense. My deepest sympathies to the 70 thousand people who apparently have bought tickets for this dog and pony show.
It would have been more meaningful to set your money on fire.
I dunno… To judge by the constant idiotic chanting of "Ali Ali Cook" from the Hollies Stand there are people actually lapping this up. A whole new cohort of post-Test cricket fans who think this farce is what it's all about – or are too drunk to care. Or both…
I think Nasser parroted some piece of ECB propaganda earlier, according to which half the punters at Edgbaston today had never been to a test match before. Not sure how they've established that, and of course all things being equal it should be good news. However all things are not equal and it's hard not to take away the message that old farts who actually know something about the game are irrelevant and are in the process of being driven out by all the idiocy and replaced by a more compliant audience.
Dumbed down and drunk. This is how the governing bodies like them these days.
mdpayne87 Aug 17, 2017 / 9:57 pm
It's just a statistic. Why get so worked up about it?
LordCanisLupus Aug 18, 2017 / 6:12 am
There was one on tv last night. Most test 150s for England equalled by Cook. The last of the triumverate he joined with was "not great player but player of great innings". He's been gone 3 and a half years. Also seemed like Gower had to spit his name out but that might just be me.
Or am I skewing something by saying that?
That came out a bit more churlish than I wanted it to. Also reacting to someone else. I know the people who like Cook generally have their hearts in the right places and yet I've seen accusations I'm skewing stats to make him look "worse". I'm more worried about the state of test match cricket.
Fair to say, that Hammond among those three was probably the best (he'd be a serious contender for an all time XI).
Oh and for afficionados: he is halfway there to equal Tendulkar for most 150s (20); Tendulkar has one more than Lara and Sangakkara. Of those, the best conversion rate (from starting an innings to making a 150+ score is Lara's (at 8.2%). Of course even Lara was dwarfed by Bradman (a staggering 22.5% of innings)
Even among openers, Cook's conversion rate is nothing too special (Gavaskar, Sehwag, Graeme Smith, Len Hutton, Herschelle Gibbs, Jack Hobbs, Amiss, Atapattu have better conversion rates; Cook seems to be roughly equal to Chris Gayle and Gary Kirsten in this, to mention but two openers with similar conversion rates), in this era of the highest playing standards evah.
Even fairly recent players like Vaughan have better rates (admittedly 2 were against India at home, but 2 were in Australia, and another one at home against South Africa). But yeah, let's just look at the bare numbers.
Well it obviously gets you worked up enough to come here and defend your hero!
You Are of course missing the point as usual. It's about false equivalents and double standards. Cooks conversion rate against the better sides has been the same or worse than many players who have been discarded for……. er, …..poor conversion rates.
It's really not that difficult to understand. Try to keep up. Or does Cook force you to lose your cognitive senses?
mdpayne87 Aug 18, 2017 / 11:37 am
Very patronising. What has the BBC highlighting the stat about centuries against the Windies have to do with conversion rates? Their point is factually correct, you're adding your own context.
MDPAYNE87, as a raw statistic yes of course it is "factually correct." The problem is that it flatters to deceive by failing to take account of the context in which Cook's centuries against the Windies have been scored. While they have been poor for some time, this is probably the worst West Indian bowling attack in living memory. It is poor both by the general standard of World test cricket in 2017 and (a hundred times more so) by the standard exhibited by West Indies teams of the past. There is therefore absolutely no meanngful equivalence whatever between centuries scored against Windies teams of the last decade or so and centuries scored against their great bowling attacks of the 1960s – 1990s. The level of technical skill, application and indeed bravery required by Allan Lamb and Colin Cowdrey to score their respective six centuries is of a different order entirely from what was required of Cook yesterday. Surely this is self-evident? And no, this is not an attack on AC. He's a capable opening batsman, a century in any first class cricket match is an acheivement and of course he can only play the team that turns up on the day. Our target is those who eulogise him and place him on a pedestal without putting his acheivements in a meaningful context.
jomesy Aug 17, 2017 / 6:37 pm
Pretty predictable the dauphin would get a century today no doubt we'll understand how incredible this feat is/was endlessly for…..well perhaps two years?
It is funny how club standard bowling can have Test status.
This was how Sri-Lanka used to perform in those days when they got one Test at the end of the season… The days before Murali
Yorkshire are currently 225/1 after 17 overs. 3 overs left they might get close to England's score!
To be fair to Cook, it was his second ton against West Indies since the start of 2012. Mind you Steve Smith made 7 tons against India since the start of 2014. Next best is Kohli's 6 against Australia, and 5 for Sangakkara against Bangladesh, and 5 for Steve Smith against England. Probably not a coincidence that all the fixtures listed above have occurred in the most common fixtures, with generally the most placid wickets imaginable.
Sangakkara provides the slight exception to that list, but he has cashed in massively against Bangladesh throughout his career (7 tons from 21 innings, at an average of 95).
Against West Indies, from the start of 2012 onwards:
Ravi Ashwin (!, who has all of 0 tons against all other opposition, and he made his maiden ton in 2011 against West Indies as well), Ross Taylor, Azhar Ali and Adam Voges all have made 3 tons against West Indies.
Root just lost his wicket; time for a declaration if you want some tension in the game (even then England will be favourites, since West Indian batting is nothing to write home about).
Right now my expectation is a margin of about an innings and 200 runs.
I was just thinking that I can imagine England declaring on about 600 sometime tomorrow and then bowling out Windies (or is it the Carribean Invitational 2nd XI ?) twice by Sunday. What a deeply boring and depressing prospect.
Lord Fauntleroy just passed 150. On your knees and worship, you unworthy maggots!
Congratulations Dave Cameron, you have managed to take one of the great outfits in interenational cricket and push them even further down. Why don't you resign and go and pick up litter off the beach? It would be more use to the people of the Caribbean than what you are doing at the moment.
Name one thing you have done that has advanced WI cricket? Apart from taking a salary for yourself. Another idiot cricket administrator. So many of them about these days. It's one of the best gigs around. Money for old rope.
jomesy Aug 17, 2017 / 10:24 pm
To be fair to Cook…
Nice tee…
Helen Devries on Blind Hope, Blind Visions, Bli…