First Test: West Indies v England, Antigua, April 13-17.

[rich1uk]

rain saves us

[mikesiva]

I wonder if there's a sign in the west indies dressing room which says 'mediocre'? They may well be, but this could fire them up a little.

Holder un-Ballances Gary for 10!

[sussexpob]

Ballance may well be a fine player in years to come, but at the moment he needs to be with Yorkshire working into some form. His ODI experiences have stripped him completely of confidence.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Well done West Indies. And working out bowling first.

Now a nice rest for the bowlers and Bell returns to a panicky dressing room.

Nick Knight! Ballance got out because he was anticipating a rain break!

[Aidan11]

If this is mediocre I'd hate to see what they'd do to us if they were above average.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Ballance may well be a fine player in years to come, but at the moment he needs to be with Yorkshire working into some form. His ODI experiences have stripped him completely of confidence.

True. But they couldn't have left him out.

[Aidan11]

Bad news for England.

They have to go back out.

[sussexpob]

Ballance may well be a fine player in years to come, but at the moment he needs to be with Yorkshire working into some form. His ODI experiences have stripped him completely of confidence.

True. But they couldn't have left him out.

Why not? He played the whole of the world cup like he was scared of hitting the ball

[Gingerfinch]

Ballance may well be a fine player in years to come, but at the moment he needs to be with Yorkshire working into some form. His ODI experiences have stripped him completely of confidence.

True. But they couldn't have left him out.

No, even with a poor world cup, he is averaging 60 in tests. I said he was under pressure though, and thanks to the world cup farce, he is.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Having posted nonsense about wickets taken on this ground (there have only been two games!) the ball is turning off a pristine pitch.

[mikesiva]

Having posted nonsense about wickets taken on this ground (there have only been two games!) the ball is turning off a pristine pitch.

And only one four-day match was played at North Sound this PCL season:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=20202&start=45

[sussexpob]

Ballance may well be a fine player in years to come, but at the moment he needs to be with Yorkshire working into some form. His ODI experiences have stripped him completely of confidence.

True. But they couldn't have left him out.

No, even with a poor world cup, he is averaging 60 in tests. I said he was under pressure though, and thanks to the world cup farce, he is.

Hasn't got really past 20 in 8 matches now, and he looks completely lost technically and mentally. Looking past these few matches, he would have been better in the care of a proper coaching setup like Yorkshire than with this shower of rubbish England team

[Durhamfootman]

looks like this match is hard work.

not for the players, but for the viewers

[Aidan11]

I'm trying not to get annoyed so far despite our batsmen doing their best to **** me off.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Youre right again Sussex. But... you have to do what seems to be obvious, to a certain extent. It's easier to explain Ballance being picked in the event of an England defeat, than him being left out.

250 will probably be competitive, given a weak West Indies batting line up.