3rd Test England v Pakistan, Edgbaston, Aug 3-7.

[yuppie]

Tremendous play by Bairstow and Ali, they've put England in a position to win this game by excellent batting. So far 85 runs at 4.9 R/R is just what the doctor ordered.

yep, good positive batting.

Might well end up with a lead of 300 tonight

[KipperJohn]

Tremendous play by Bairstow and Ali, they've put England in a position to win this game by excellent batting. So far 85 runs at 4.9 R/R is just what the doctor ordered.

Wouldn't have been able to do that without the contributions of Root (and Vince!). The latecomers get the glory after the earlier batsmen get England out of a very tight spot.

[Aidan11]

Ali's had a good summer with the bat.

[Aidan11]

Still a shame though that he's the best spinner we have.

[Aidan11]

We're at the point now where Cook needs to think about declaring early tomorrow.

[Making_Splinters]

Still a shame though that he's the best spinner we have.

Is he? We haven't given anyone else a fair shake of the stick to find out.

There is an argument that he could move up the order and play primarily as a batsman with another spinner coming into the side. Broad is the highest run scorer of all time number 9, do we really need to be worrying about the batting of our bowlers with Woakes being worth his place in the side as a bowler even ignoring his batting?

Anyway, lead over 300 now, puts into perspective the hard work that Root and Vince did this morning to ensure that there was no collapse when both openers went early.

[yuppie]

England will be hoping Pakistan don't finish 8 down by close tomorrow. Be a lot of "what ifs" asked about then.

It was Solid batting early on, but if one of these 2 went out early then England would have been in real trouble. In hindsight it has worked well for England, but the early lack of runs built pressure.

I guess this debate all comes down to different philosophies and views on cricket. All have merit, some times certain ideas will work and others wont. That is the great thing about cricket and the many different views people have about how the game should be played. Views and ideas can end up being proved or disproved on the smallest things.

Today England's plan has worked well. Well enough to force a victory, tomorrow will tell. Well enough to force at least a draw, most certainly. If it is a draw though and they go on to loose the last test...........

Test cricket, there really is nothing like it

[Aidan11]

I suspect Cook won't declare overnight but they may go for some quick runs for the first hour.

[Dr Cricket]

Expect quick runs tomorrow but they will declare around 400-450 depending how quick they score runs they probably want about 70 overs at Pakistan maybe more.

They won't give Pakistan a sniff of victory.
Draw is probably the likely results since the pitch is horrible and placid and slow,

[backfootpunch]

I'd consider playing mooen as a batsmen and picking rashid

Mo is no front line spinner but would be a very useful part timer

Something like

Cook
hales
Root
ballance/vince
bairstow
moeen
stokes
woakes
rashid
Broad
jimmy

[backfootpunch]

Expect quick runs tomorrow but they will declare around 400-450 depending how quick they score runs they probably want about 70 overs at Pakistan maybe more.

They won't give Pakistan a sniff of victory.
Draw is probably the likely results since the pitch is horrible and placid and slow,

Surely another 30 is plenty

340 in 85

Then you get 5 overs with a second new ball at the end of the day

[yuppie]

Remember you also loose a couple of overs for changing innings. If England bat for 5 overs, then Pakistan will have to face 83 overs. Obviously declaring at lunch or overnight wont effect this.

I cant believe England will bat Pakistan out of the game. The last thing they will want is for the top order to shut up shop. They need a little bit of a carrot there. With the series at 1-1, England have a great chance to try and force the win here. They might not get another chance in this series. They can win the series here, why risk waiting to see what can happen in the next test?

You could argue as well that the best bowling conditions might be first thing. The best time to get some early inroads.

In saying all this, Cook will probably bat till drinks.

[Gingerfinch]

Bat for half an hour, get 40 runs, then lob them in, is what I would do. Not sure what Cook will.

[The Professor]

Thing that I like most about Bairstow is he tricks opposition captains into setting fields that work to his advantage and then let's rip.

[Making_Splinters]

Bairstow is an interesting one. The general consensus was that he was never going to be Test class after his first stint in the side, yet here he is looking a top class batsman a season or so later.