First Test: England v Pakistan, Lord's.

[yuppie]

This might be the first cricket game i follow after the SA debacle.

Just got to find a stream online now.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Edging towards England now the weather promises to be overcast.

England bat first on winning the toss. Not always a bad option to bowl first at Lord's though.

[Arthur Crabtree]

England 1 Alastair Cook, 2 Mark Stoneman, 3 Joe Root (capt), 4 Dawid Malan, 5 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Jos Buttler, 8 Mark Wood, 9 Dom Bess, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 James Anderson

Pakistan 1 Azhar Ali, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Haris Sohail, 4 Asad Shafiq, 5 Babar Azam, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Mohammad Amir, 10 Hasan Ali, 11 Mohammad Abbas

Pakistan would have bowled first.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Test cricket's second Dominic?

[Dr Cricket]

Not the toss decision I wanted, preferred if England bowled first, not sure I trust england to bat first with their dodgy batting order.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Test cricket's second Dominic?

Yes.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Not the toss decision I wanted, preferred if England bowled first, not sure I trust england to bat first with their dodgy batting order.

I much prefer Root at three. I know his stats are best at five, but it's a key position and he's the best batter by a distance and it gives him the opportunity to come in before the crisis is in full swing.

[sussexpob]

Stoneman shoulders up first ball and is pretty lucky the bounce was carrying that over.

[sussexpob]

No surprise there... Stoneman fails

[sussexpob]

Amir mixing a few testing balls with some right filth. Cook nearly runs out Joe before he faces.

[GGAS]

Stonemans last series?

[Arthur Crabtree]

If he doesn't score a ton I suppose.

Enthusiasm for the Test summer struggling to survive Boycott's first spell. Thankfully Vaughan is on now.

[Dr Cricket]

heard some of boycott comment, being rude about Abbas and ireland test cricket I believe.

[Dr Cricket]

Would be awkard for boycott when india come considering Shami, Ishant, Umesh yadav, Bumrah would be all quicker than the england test team bowlers.
Surprising enough india Test team are the 2nd fastest bowling attack in the world in the last 3-4 yrs.
Surprising enough SA are 4th.

[sussexpob]

TMS dont seem to know when to farm out the oldies.

I think Stoneman wont feature in the second test unless he plays well second up. Cant play opener at this level with that footwork..... stone by name, stone by nature.