England v Pakistan 2020.

[bigfluffylemon]

Well gosh. I was not expecting that. Well played England. A good time for Woakes to finally remember how to bat. And he's been bowling very well too. No doubt this means Buttler secures his place in the side for the next two years.

I read that England haven't beaten Pakistan since 2010 (and that was the infamous series with the corruption, so a bit of a cloud over the result). Something of a bogey team for England, who've beaten pretty much every other team at home in the last five years. A good opportunity here.

Archer is looking ineffectual, and Root should be at 4, so I hope there is some rotation. I'd drop Archer and rest Anderson, and bring in Crawley and Curran.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Gentle Ben to miss the rest of the series for personal reasons. Obviously a big blow for England. And obviously hope it's nothing very serious.

[sussexpob]

Of course, the logical conclusion to draw is he was listed as too injured to bowl, bsent a few overs down anyway, and has probably injured himself enough to not be picked again.

But it's much better for the captain and the team to not admit the stupidity in that, so just issue a press release saying he going to miss it without giving a reason, then tell the press it's disrespectful to ask anymore questions.

[alfie]

Of course, the logical conclusion to draw is he was listed as too injured to bowl, bsent a few overs down anyway, and has probably injured himself enough to not be picked again.

But it's much better for the captain and the team to not admit the stupidity in that, so just issue a press release saying he going to miss it without giving a reason, then tell the press it's disrespectful to ask anymore questions.

Don't think so. Wasn't his father ill a little while back ? I heard he is headed for NZ and suspect this is down to serious family health issues . And hope for the best for them.

[Durhamfootman]

It's been confirmed on the Durham match feed that he's flying straight out to NZ

[bigfluffylemon]

It's been confirmed on the Durham match feed that he's flying straight out to NZ

Given the international travel situation, if he's allowed to do that, it must be pretty serious.

[sussexpob]

When his father was ill last time after a stroke, the ECB were not shy on giving the details about what happened, and Ben didnt feel the situation urgent enough to miss any games. This is despite the fact that at the time, the mystery illness raged in the camp and players were routinely missing training, so it could have easily been covered up if privacy was any concern.

The statement and mainstream press indicate he leaves at the end of this week, not that he jumped on the first plane. He is a Kiwi citizen by birth and holds full citizenship, he therefore has no legal restrictions on entering other than to quarantine. A friend just went through a process for an identical situation (my English friends Kiwi wife, moving back home to care for a dying relative).... the situation does not count as an emergency exception since two English woman went out in June, got released to visit family before quarantine, only to spread the first cases of Covid in NZ for three months. Now anyone doing this has to quarantine. The two of them spent 17 days in total in a secure unit, as they needed a negative test result after 14 days to leave, and there is a huge backlog of tests.

So if hes waiting a week to go out, has 15 days minimum quarantine waiting for the negative test, and has to get a flight there which normally takes a day, but atm more 2 days minimum due to the government shutting down the majority of regular flights and companies pulling connection routes, thats well over 3 weeks before hes wandering around Kiwiland free to roam. Doesnt really smack me of urgency. If I were earning seven figures a year, and it was urgent, id fly half way round the world just to get there 2 hours quicker.

Of course, the last time he had time off his England requirements, he landed in Christchurch for a holiday proclaiming he was there to work on his golf swing and had time to turn out for Canterburys provincial side for a few smack around T20s. Said he was enjoying spending time at his former home and with friends and family.

[Durhamfootman]

Is Ollie Robinson a genuine contender for the second test?

I did wonder why he wasn't playing for Sussex last game. I hadn't realised that he'd been called up

[Durhamfootman]

Did Ben Coad get called up as well, or was he just injured/rested by Yorks?

[Arthur Crabtree]

Benco was rested because he's in my FL side.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Robinson in, Stokes out in the squad.

[sussexpob]

Is Ollie Robinson a genuine contender for the second test?

I did wonder why he wasn't playing for Sussex last game. I hadn't realised that he'd been called up

Anderson is being Anderson, his performance always drops in back to back tests in recent years. Archer I'd be surprised to see play.

He's got a decent chance

[Durhamfootman]

Anderson is going to play a another back to back test by the looks of it. I'm sure Woakes will play after his performance in the last match. Will Broad play or will they rest him ahead of the 3rd test?

[Arthur Crabtree]

Cricinfo says.

England (possible): 1 Rory Burns, 2 Dom Sibley, 3 Zak Crawley, 4 Joe Root (capt), 5 Ollie Pope, 6 Jos Butler (wk), 7 Chris Woakes, 8 Dom Bess, 9 Jofra Archer/Mark Wood, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 James Anderson

[sussexpob]

Cricinfo says.

England (possible): 1 Rory Burns, 2 Dom Sibley, 3 Zak Crawley, 4 Joe Root (capt), 5 Ollie Pope, 6 Jos Butler (wk), 7 Chris Woakes, 8 Dom Bess, 9 Jofra Archer/Mark Wood, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 James Anderson

Good to know England has our two best bowlers potentially carrying the drinks while Kent wrack up batting records against our reserves.