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

[Arthur Crabtree]

England in a great position. And pleased to see WI resisting.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Tredwell did ok because the WI obviously talked about attacking him, and he made that hard. He changed pace and angle well. Did a job for the team in an attritional way, and it's only day two, but he didn't really look threatening. Flat pitch, obviously.

Cook was reluctant to keep catchers in again, even though the catches would have carried to the slips.

[Robert]

England in a great position. And pleased to see WI resisting.

Great?

[ddb]

What are WI gonna do without Chanderpaul?

[SaintPowelly]

What are WI gonna do without Chanderpaul?

Score at more than 2 an over ?

[yuppie]

What are WI gonna do without Chanderpaul?

No longer play tests?

[Alviro Patterson]

What are WI gonna do without Chanderpaul?

Call up Chesney Hughes?

[Durhamfootman]

What are WI gonna do without Chanderpaul?

open a jerk chicken stall?

[hopeforthebest]

We have a conservative, scared rubbish captain who has no idea how to make good decisions. He and no doubt his mentor (Moores) didn't notice that WI took wickets in the morning session before the pitch and conditions changed. A decent captain would have been aware that on the morning of the second day there was a rain shower and taken advantage of the chance to give Jimmy the new ball first thing by declaring on 341.
Now they start day three and must wait until after lunch to get a new ball. Of course there's every chance that the WI batsmen will aid England by crap batting but Cook doesn't deserve that to happen.

[mikesiva]

Let's say, all of the above....

[budgetmeansbudget]

We have a conservative, scared rubbish captain who has no idea how to make good decisions. He and no doubt his mentor (Moores) didn't notice that WI took wickets in the morning session before the pitch and conditions changed. A decent captain would have been aware that on the morning of the second day there was a rain shower and taken advantage of the chance to give Jimmy the new ball first thing by declaring on 341.
Now they start day three and must wait until after lunch to get a new ball. Of course there's every chance that the WI batsmen will aid England by crap batting but Cook doesn't deserve that to happen.

Not sure any captain in the world would have declared at 341-5 at the start of the second day. In hindsight it may have been a good move, but although you should always be wary of an England collapse, you shouldn't necessarily have expected it in that situation.

[hopeforthebest]

We have a conservative, scared rubbish captain who has no idea how to make good decisions. He and no doubt his mentor (Moores) didn't notice that WI took wickets in the morning session before the pitch and conditions changed. A decent captain would have been aware that on the morning of the second day there was a rain shower and taken advantage of the chance to give Jimmy the new ball first thing by declaring on 341.
Now they start day three and must wait until after lunch to get a new ball. Of course there's every chance that the WI batsmen will aid England by crap batting but Cook doesn't deserve that to happen.

Not sure any captain in the world would have declared at 341-5 at the start of the second day. In hindsight it may have been a good move, but although you should always be wary of an England collapse, you shouldn't necessarily have expected it in that situation.

It's not hindsight, if you look back on this thread you will find me saying why the on earth are England still batting. By doing so they gave the WI bowlers more wickets that our bowlers should have been taking. In all probability England would now have 10 WI wickets and be half way to winning instead of just 25% there.

[dan08]

We have a conservative, scared rubbish captain who has no idea how to make good decisions. He and no doubt his mentor (Moores) didn't notice that WI took wickets in the morning session before the pitch and conditions changed. A decent captain would have been aware that on the morning of the second day there was a rain shower and taken advantage of the chance to give Jimmy the new ball first thing by declaring on 341.
Now they start day three and must wait until after lunch to get a new ball. Of course there's every chance that the WI batsmen will aid England by crap batting but Cook doesn't deserve that to happen.

Not sure any captain in the world would have declared at 341-5 at the start of the second day. In hindsight it may have been a good move, but although you should always be wary of an England collapse, you shouldn't necessarily have expected it in that situation.

It's not hindsight, if you look back on this thread you will find me saying why the on earth are England still batting. By doing so they gave the WI bowlers more wickets that our bowlers should have been taking. In all probability England would now have 10 WI wickets and be half way to winning instead of just 25% there.

We would also have a smaller lead.

[Gingerfinch]

I don't see us batting on as the wrong decision. Runs on the board in the first innings are worth their weight in gold.

[Aidan11]

The first session of the first two days is where it all seems to happen so England will need to get a few out early otherwise a draw looks likely.