England vs West Indies First test Edgbaston

[ianp1970]

I'll be at Edgbaston to see what lies in store today

[budgetmeansbudget]

Almost 400/3 and Stokes, Bairstow and Ali still to bat.

Only following on cricinfo but Malan appears to be struggling even against a bowling attack as mediocre as this Windies one.

[Making_Splinters]

Malan out, while he made 65 can't say he convinced at any stage during his innings. Just doesn't look good enough at this level as of yet. Hard to see him succeeding in Australia.

[mikesiva]

Roston is the new Murali!

England have their backs to the wall, at 449-4 at lunch/dinner....

[ianp1970]

Just said to my mate that it'll be 600 for something declared then 60 for 6...

[bigfluffylemon]

Malan out, while he made 65 can't say he convinced at any stage during his innings. Just doesn't look good enough at this level as of yet. Hard to see him succeeding in Australia.

Agreed. Cook was making hay, and yet against a weak bowling attack Malan was tentative, and had to battle to get to 65. And a pretty tame dismissal in the end.

Cook for 200. It may not be strong bowling, but concentrating long enough to bat through four sessions of a test match is quite the achievement, regardless. Passes 11500 runs and he's still only 32 - reckon he'll finish second only to the little master in the all-time test run scoring records.

[ianp1970]

Edgbaston is always a great ground to watch cricket. Only disappointing thing about a full house is the lack of food, drink and toilet facilities. Queues everywhere!

[meninblue]

200+ for Cook

[sussexpob]

Bizarre wicket that. Murali strikes again.

[sussexpob]

One thing I don't get is why day night tests start so early. Surely if ending at 9, for most of the summer you only get dark for an hour? Wasn't the point to get the post work crowds in, so maybe starting 4 to 11 would be far better. Bar would make a roaring weekend trade then

[mikesiva]

Chase gets his second wicket...I wonder if Bishoo should've played.

[alfie]

Roston is the new Murali!

England have their backs to the wall, at 449-4 at lunch/dinner....

Second wicket for Murali Chase...Stokes gets a bit too cute and a good catch at slip ...

England obviously looking to push on here : might have been fun if Ben had stayed in a while. Ah well here comes another Ginger...
Imagine they'll declare - depending on the weather - with an hour or two to go pretty well regardless of the score. So Cook won't have time to get 300 : but it's been a mighty fine innings anyway , even considering the severely limited bowling attack.
Giving up the captaincy seems to have refreshed him as a batsman - and since Root hasn't suffered it looks a win-win , so far at least. Let's hope he can keep it up in Australia.

[sussexpob]

Chase gets his second wicket...I wonder if Bishoo should've played.

Maybe with holder there, a full time spin option would have been better.

Windies main problem has been Joseph though. His spray and pray style means he's not getting enough ball, and captains having to dig deeper on his 3-5 options.

Joseph is young. First look at him, but he comes heavily endorsed by some reliable windows legends....not bowled well here at all

[mikesiva]

The history of West Indies versus England....

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/west-indi ... headtohead

The Windies made considerable progress since 1928, which was arguably the worst WI team to tour England...until now.

[DiligentDefence]

The wretched singing has started again and it's only halfway through the second session.