1st Test England v Pakistan, Lord's 14-18 July

[Aidan11]

Going to be short on overs again.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Yes! Just adding a little meaningless nuance.

[Dr Cricket]

Arthur have you seen the indian pitches in the last 5 yrs.
No way would they cope with the spinners in india if they can't cope with Yasir on Day 2 at lords when the ball isn't even turning.

Even england best spinning playing batting line up struggled to bat in Asia, even they average around 30 in Asia and basically only won one Series in Asia for their efforts and only 4 test wins in Asia between 2006-2012 excluding Bangladesh.

[Arthur Crabtree]

See above.

[backfootpunch]

Woakes one of the few england players who seems to value his wicket

[Arthur Crabtree]

Who says the all rounder is dead ;)

[backfootpunch]

Arthur have you seen the indian pitches in the last 5 yrs.
No way would they cope with the spinners in india if they can't cope with Yasir on Day 2 at lords when the ball isn't even turning.

Even england best spinning playing batting line up struggled to bat in Asia, even they average around 30 in Asia and basically only won one Series in Asia for their efforts and only 4 test wins in Asia between 2006-2012 excluding Bangladesh.

India would be better off playing us on non turning tracks

Our batsmen can't play spin either way whereas our spinners will pose a threat on a raging Turner but be cannon fodder on a flat deck

Playing on a raging Turner is our only chance to win

[Dr Cricket]

Woakes one of the few england players who seems to value his wicket

Really love his attitude, he could be England kallis average 40+ and take 250+ wicket.
Could see him averaging well in Test cricket and is actually quite skillful with the ball.
of all the all rounder he is probably the only true all rounder considering I would pick him for his batting and bowling, not sure Stokes would fit that requirement, and the likes of Mitch marsh, Ashwin, Jadeja don't fit the requirement either.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Going to lose three overs again.

[Aidan11]

He certainly deserves his place in the side on merit now.

[Dr Cricket]

Arthur have you seen the indian pitches in the last 5 yrs.
No way would they cope with the spinners in india if they can't cope with Yasir on Day 2 at lords when the ball isn't even turning.

Even england best spinning playing batting line up struggled to bat in Asia, even they average around 30 in Asia and basically only won one Series in Asia for their efforts and only 4 test wins in Asia between 2006-2012 excluding Bangladesh.

India would be better off playing us on non turning tracks

Our batsmen can't play spin either way whereas our spinners will pose a threat on a raging Turner but be cannon fodder on a flat deck

Playing on a raging Turner is our only chance to win

yeah the best tracks would be the ones in 2013.
enough spin to destroy Australia but not enough for australia to take wickets.
Very hard to actually produce decks like that though and so easy for it to become a raging turner which last 2-3 days.

one thing is guaranteed though is wickets for the bowlers, currently test matches rate 20-50% higher when India are winning and wickets are falling in heaps.
no one wants to see the dead wickets of the past in india.

Edit even when India lost in 2012 the ratings were higher than before in Dead wickets.

[Arthur Crabtree]

I like it that Woakes hasn't come in and automatically tried to dominate, as bowlers-who-bat normally do. He's playing within himself, not chasing runs.

[Aidan11]

All on these two batsmen again.

As with today, tomorrow could be an interesting session.

[Arthur Crabtree]

England coped ok in UAE. Didn't thrive, but weren't hopeless. And they may well get good prep in BD before the India series. I imagine they'll struggle badly on a Dhoni type turner, but it's a big call to say they will be hopeless on flat tracks, against a lesser leggie than Yas and an (very good) offie.

[Dr Cricket]

over rate are shocking in this test.
one of the captains should get a ban, really ICC should be more strict on this.