England vs West Indies First test Edgbaston

[backfootpunch]

The constant droaning of this song from the crowd is doing my nut in

Great minds think alike.

They clearly let a load of villa fans in

[Making_Splinters]

Malan just doesn't look like surviving at this level. I wish Sky could give you the option of turning down the effects volume, the crowd is beyond insufferable. I can't imagine Day Night tests are particularly family friendly.

[ianp1970]

The constant droaning of this song from the crowd is doing my nut in

Great minds think alike.

They clearly let a load of villa fans in

If that's the Villa song then no wonder their team is $H!T - who could stand playing in front of such a racket for 90 minutes every fortnight??

[backfootpunch]

The constant droaning of this song from the crowd is doing my nut in

Great minds think alike.

They clearly let a load of villa fans in

If that's the Villa song then no wonder their team is $H!T - who could stand playing in front of such a racket for 90 minutes every fortnight??

I think it's an England football song

I'd never sit in the Eric hollies stand for a test, full of mouth breathers in fancy dress who drink 20 pints and make a racket

I feel like shooter mcgavin

[Dr Cricket]

what the hell, looks cold, doesn't look much of a full house.
what is this football, chanting the football songs and stuff.
not a fan of day night cricket in the uk, at least in australia it works and the weather is good and the fans actually want to watch cricket during the night.

[Making_Splinters]

150 for Cook, been a really good knock from him today, just needs to make sure he's there in the morning.

[Dr Cricket]

Malan just doesn't look like surviving at this level. I wish Sky could give you the option of turning down the effects volume, the crowd is beyond insufferable. I can't imagine Day Night tests are particularly family friendly.

doesn't even look like the crowd are even there to watch the cricket, wonder how many are there to get smashed, just like the T20 blast games.
probably explains the empty stadium now.
it will have to see if day night test works outside the novelty aspect of it.

[sussexpob]

I feel like shooter mcgavin

This is Cricket, for GOD SAKE man

[Making_Splinters]

Good day for England, well, Cook and Root.

[backfootpunch]

I feel like shooter mcgavin

This is Cricket, for GOD SAKE man

Go back to your shanties

[Arthur Crabtree]

Pretty hard to stand the drunkenness at international games until 6pm. Might be intolerable by 9pm.

[Making_Splinters]

Pretty hard to stand the drunkenness at international games until 6pm. Might be intolerable by 9pm.

People are still at the ground for the same amount of time though, and today wasn't the first time I've been highly annoyed by the singing in the crowd, the Moeen, Moeen, Moeen Ali chants from the last tour of South Africa were pretty unbearable. If the ECB want to push cricket as a more game of all walks and backgrounds then we're going to get a lot more of a football atmosphere, Edgebaston hasbeen known for years as the ground you get that sort of atmosphere, Vaughan was even promoting it before the start of play. Headingly is the other that springs to mind.

I've not seen much international cricket outside of London for a few years now, but today was nothing worse than what I have seen at Friday night T20s at the OVal.

[Alviro Patterson]

what the hell, looks cold, doesn't look much of a full house.
what is this football, chanting the football songs and stuff.
not a fan of day night cricket in the uk, at least in australia it works and the weather is good and the fans actually want to watch cricket during the night.

Because Public Transport in England does not cater for late evening events and services are still stuck in the dark ages, Birmingham New Street station is something like 2.5 miles from Edgbaston. In Australia they tend to put on chartered services for a number of events.

Day/Night cricket is pointless in England when the evening cools down quickly or daylight lingers, public transport becomes less frequent after 6pm and virtually non-existent after 9pm.

[bigfluffylemon]

A few thoughts from my day there yesterday:

It was a packed house (not 100% full, but over 90% - pretty good for a weekday against a poor opposition), but the Hollies stand did get annoying after a while. Other parts of the ground were more civilised, thankfully. It was interesting that the crowd began to clear out in the last hour to the extent that the ground was half empty by 9.30, but the consensus was that the shuttle buses back were going to cease shortly after 9.30, and people were concerned that if there was heavy traffic leaving the stadium, last trains/buses home might be missed, or they'd be getting home at midnight with work tomorrow. Something the powers that be have to work on.

Good to see Cook back among the 100s, even if that was probably the easiest international hundred he'll ever score. He's had it tough in the last couple of series, without an opening partner to rely on, and has probably done better than his average suggests, but with several 50s but no ton, good to see him convert to a big one.

Stoneman looked to have a good technique in his brief stay at the crease and was unlucky to get the best ball of the day early on. Westley on the other hand never look comfortable, and did not convince at all. Malan played very tentatively after giving that initial chance (I can't believe how much respect he showed to part time spinners who were a class below those he habitually destroys on the T20 circuit), but he was clearly growing in confidence towards the end. Being not out overnight will be good boost for him, and he'll never have a better opportunity to get a score and cement his place. That said, hard to say if he'll be a long term solution. He came in to bat at what should have been the hardest time of the day to play, under lights, fired up Roach, new ball due, and was instead allowed to play himself in against several overs of Brathwaite's unthreatening spin.

The pink ball did more or less what was expected - a little early movement but that went away quickly, but then it did a bit more under the lights, especially the second new ball. Emphasis on a bit, however - it was hardly jagging about all over the place.

West Indies bowling was horrible all day, and backed up by some atrocious fielding. It wasn't just the misfields, but the complete lack of effort chasing things down and backing up the bowlers. Cummins was pick of the bowlers for me, at least managed to put together a few consistent overs in a couple of spells. Roach ran in hard and gave it his all, but is down on pace from his peak and still gave away too many cheap runs. Holder was completely innocuous and never looked like taking a wicket, Chase can only have been bowling to try and up the (pathetic) over rate, and Joseph was simply appalling - I think he bowled a boundary ball every single over, and never got more than two deliveries in a row on target. I think it was a mistake for the West Indies to go with a four man pace attack with no spinner, despite what I said above about spinners at Edgbaston - Bishoo would have lent some variety and control to an otherwise wayward and one-dimensional attack.

Unless West Indies get better, fast, it's going to be a horribly one-sided series, but that won't surprise anyone.

[The Professor]

Surprises me how many people called the last two sessions of yesterday 'boring'

Two exceptional batsmen going about their business is one of the best things you can see.