WI tour of England, July 8-28

[Durhamfootman]

they did try a few times, seemingly, but weren't able to give their wickets away on this occasion

[sussexpob]

Chase is on, so it must be nearly tea

England won't fall for it again, surely?

Nearly did. Ben slashed one for six that he didnt really get to but got enough one it, next ball nearly did for him but bounced safe

[Arthur Crabtree]

Not much affection being shown out there for Sibley's fifty. Because it was slow. Hope they don't ever find themselves waking up in the seventies.

[mikesiva]

In the context of the game, I think that 50 by Sibley is a fantastic effort.

Stokes now gets his half century.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Proper partnership this. Feels a long time.

[Durhamfootman]

Not much affection being shown out there for Sibley's fifty. Because it was slow. Hope they don't ever find themselves waking up in the seventies.

and yet his strike rate is about the same as Stokes'..... who is the perfect cricketer.

Just get your hundred Dom.... ignore the blob heads

[Arthur Crabtree]

Saw the highlights. Not a great day for the bowlers who struggled. Not a good day for Sibley to be so badly dropped off a malfunctioning Gabriel.

[Durhamfootman]

Gabriel looked knackered from the first ball he bowled, from what I saw

definitely the wrong decision from Holder. 2 poor decisions in 2 matches, from all rounder 1 and all rounder 2

all is not lost for WI though. Never underestimate England's ability to throw their wickets away in clusters, or their inability to finish teams off when 1-0 behind in a 3 match series

[alfie]

Good - well very good actually - day for England , despite those early careless wickets lost. Probably not too visually arresting but really solid job , setting up for a seriously over par first innings provided the rest of the batsmen/all rounders can do any sort of a job. If West Indies bowl and field as poorly tomorrow that won't be hard.
Note of caution : new ball...add two quick wickets ...bowlers with little batting lead up : the slow scoring today could still lead to that strong position evaporating. But right now you'd much rather be England.

Even if England turn this into a big score they will still need to do a job with the ball. Not sure the pitch is going to misbehave greatly , any more than the last one did ; so getting a result might still be hard work. Not sure of the weather for the next four days ? Wouldn't want to lose too much time.

Have to praise Sibley for his innings. Struggled early - looked clueless against Chase - but survived and prospered , with just the one huge piece of luck ; and has an excellent chance of a century in the morning. England will be glad to have an actual opener there for the second new ball.
He will never get style points : but runs are how this game is scored.

Stokes reined himself in ...once again showing he is a lot more than a happy slogger. May have been a silly lad off the field at times but he has a really good cricket brain and the more he plays the more it is on display.

West Indies will need to regroup overnight. They've been impressive so far on this trip. So I won't write them off yet...

[bigfluffylemon]

Well done to England for batting through an attritional day. Now make it count - given the propensity to lose wickets in clusters, they could still easily be all out for under 300. Need to set 350+ with this sort of platform.

I was a bit surprised Anderson didn't come back in for Archer (so now I think my FL side is in trouble), but I guess they must have agreed with him before the series started that he wouldn't play back-to-back tests to try and make sure he doesn't break down. I was going to express some concern about whether an attack of Broad, Woakes, Stokes, Curran and Bess could take 20 wickets, but Woakes' home average is bordering on the ridiculous, and Curran's is even more absurd (albeit on a small sample size), so if there is a bit of nip out there, you'd have to fancy them. Dreadful combo if there is no lateral movement, however...

[bigfluffylemon]

So isolation went from 2 weeks, to a week, to five days now?

I like the guy, but he should be sent home for the summer. He put the whole game and series in danger.

Five days with 2 negative COVID tests required at the start and end. It's still on the short side, as you could be asymptomatic for over 7 days. Aggers was speculating that they may leave him out of the next test as well, both as a precaution and an example. But yes, very dumb.

[mikesiva]

as long as the ECB is making money, it makes sense......... no matter what happens, or who does what

Had Archer tested positive and the virus spread as similar to the sickness bug in New Zealand, then the entire summer programme would be cancelled.

Then Sky will be wanting reimbursements from their broadcasting deal, putting County Cricket in dire straits financially.

All the more reason why the England players should have travelled together on a team bus from Southampton to Manchester.

Like the West Indies did.

[mikesiva]

As I have commented on previously, the more you find out about this biobubble, the less the provisions make sense. If the squad are all in the same bubble and are constantly in contact with one another through the day, then why were the team travelling alone and not together while changing venues? It doesnt a great deal of sense not to travel as a team, especially as you can then control where everyone goes. Sending players off alone means every single one stopping for petrol, every single one stopping for a bite to ea, every single one stopping on the motorway for the toilet..... it just increases the amount of exposure each gets.

Spot on!

BTW, how many days isolation and tests did Root do before readmission?

[sussexpob]

Five days with 2 negative COVID tests required at the start and end. It's still on the short side, as you could be asymptomatic for over 7 days. Aggers was speculating that they may leave him out of the next test as well, both as a precaution and an example. But yes, very dumb.

The average Covid sufferer would only start to show symptoms between the 5th and 6th day of exposure, with testing only believed to be worthwhile in accuracy once the incubation period has pretty much ended. Before that there is a belief that testing can pick up positives in some people, but the accuracy is very poor (even in general 70 percent of tests are correct anyway, so before symptoms appear they might not even be worth doing).

If the ECB even want to pretend that this biobubble nonsense is anything more than a lie to get teams to come over and pay the bills, then surely 14 days is an absolute strict requirement for any player leaving the bubble? The medical advice from authorities is quite clear that isolation in the event of possible contact or symptoms is a strict 14 days. Why have the ECB gone from insisting players isolated for 14 days, to 7 days in Roots case, and now 5 days for Archer? This cant be based on any actual medical advice, it seems isolation corresponds directly to how the fixture list runs.

And if this "bridge to the outside" nonsense if true, what Archer just did will be replicated by other members in the squad after this test, and no one will be isolating after.

What exactly is the point of locking the guys in a hotel then for 11 weeks, only to pretty much say balls to strict measures once that system was inevitably breached. I just uncovers in actuality how reckless the ECB are being.

[sussexpob]

All the more reason why the England players should have travelled together on a team bus from Southampton to Manchester. Like the West Indies did.

According to Chris Silverwood, the idea of England travelling together is a "logistical nightmare" because they wouldnt know where to park their cars. The dual test series both starts and ends in Hampshire, with no player needing their car at any point because they cant leave. Assuming that Hampshire cricket ground hasnt got 20 parking spots for its players/officials and staff on match days, which seems unbelievable, then the ground is near Southampton airport.... and what do you find near every single airport in mass abundance? Secure long stay car parks. The Hilton would no doubt offer fly and stay packages with long stay car parking and shuttle transfers, like every single hotel located within 10 miles of an airport. And the venue itself is used for huge concerts and test matches, if 20 people cant find a parking spot then how do 15000 when its full? Utter nonsense.

There would be a minute problem for those staying on for the T20 that it ends in Manchester. But the Australia games that follow are all scheduled to start in Durham and will be played around non biobubble grounds, so if this created a problem then let the team drive to Manchester for the last T20 game, because after that match the bubble period ends anyway.

Logistical nightmare.... This team plays four month long tours 15000 miles away on a regular basis, but cant crack the conundrum of how to park 20 cars in Hampshire for a few weeks