England vs West Indies 2nd test Headingley

[Aidan11]

Wis survive that tricky period.

[yuppie]

Excellent turn around from England, but WI will be wondering about their feilding and bowling no balls. They have let England of the hook here.

Great test match for the neutrals.

[mikesiva]

Headingley had quite a few empty seats today. I can see why they reduced ticket prices to £15.

[bigfluffylemon]

Another absorbing day in what has turned out to be a thoroughly gripping test match. England definitely have the advantage, but all three results are still possible. The pitch has been fairly flat and 314 off 90 is not too daunting in the limited overseas world we live in now. Unlikely but definitely possible. If West Indies are, say 180/4 at tea with 35 overs left, it could be a thrilling finish.

Well batted England. I was very critical of their resolve yesterday, but they dug in and ground out a score. 6 individual 50s is quite impressive - with the exception of Bairstow (what a moronic shot), everyone played to the situation very well. And the top order contributed. After this and the Oval, have they finally learned how to adapt to the situation?

2nd 50 in the series for Malan, and this one with his side in trouble. It should have earned him a flight to Oz. I also like what I have seen of Stone man. I think he's been a little unlucky, but his technique seems decent, as does his temperament.

Going to be on the edge of my seat tomorrow.

[Making_Splinters]

Interesting day's play where the balance went back and forth all day essentially till Moeen and Woakes' partnership. By no means an unchase-able target and I was slightly surprised England declared with Woakes still at the crease. Should be a good day tomorrow.

[bigfluffylemon]

Excellent turn around from England, but WI will be wondering about their feilding and bowling no balls. They have let England of the hook here.

Great test match for the neutrals.

Yep, West Indies will only have themselves to blame if they do go on to lose. For everything they did well over the first three days, there were too many dropped chances.

[bigfluffylemon]

Interesting day's play where the balance went back and forth all day essentially till Moeen and Woakes' partnership. By no means an unchase-able target and I was slightly surprised England declared with Woakes still at the crease. Should be a good day tomorrow.

I was surprised too, but I think it was a commendable decision, even if it didn't pay off with a wicket. England under Strauss and Cook were quite conservative. They could have batted on and killed the game off completely, but this signalled that they want to win rather than settle for a draw, gave just enough of a carrot that west indies will have a crack at the chase, and probably caught West Indies by surprise to boot.

[alfie]

Terrific comeback from England - aided by some sloppy fielding/overstepping by West Indies , who seemed to get discouraged quite early. Always likely that the strong late batting would eventually cash in as the bowlers tired , though I didn't expect them to get quite so many after those three wickets fell just after the midpoint of the day.

Seems a sensible declaration although it didn't get a result in the six overs. I don't think West Indies have a prayer of getting the runs : sure England just made 319 in less than the full day ; but they started at 171/3 against a ball sixty overs old and bowlers who had been in the field for two sessions already. Also do not expect England to deliver a procession of no balls.

The draw is certainly possible. Don't think the pitch is any monster, although there was considerable spin there and I'd imagine will be more tomorrow for Moeen. England will hope to take a few early with the new ball as they won't get another one until the last hour (though that was another sound reason for the declaration ; gives them a good number of overs with the second new ball if needed at end of day). They took 19 in a day at Edgbaston so they should fancy 10 here ; though this match has had a few twists and turns so nothing can be assumed.

Reckon Malan just about booked an Ashes trip...not yet sure if he is really what is needed in that spot but it would be strange to overlook him now after the last two battling but determined efforts. Not as if the alternatives are lining up...

Woakes redeemed himself for his poor first innings bowling with a fine batting performance ; but they'll certainly be looking for better from him tomorrow in his primary role. Actually wouldn't surprise me if we got a Stuart Broad special to close this out ; but really all the bowlers need to turn up if they're to finish the job.

And finally : what can you say about Moeen ? Well I will forgive him for the dolly drop now - maybe Broad will too

[bigfluffylemon]

Now it's Cook's turn to drop an absolute sitter. Poor Broad, he's had little luck this summer, but he's bowling well here. We've had the bat beaten, edges past the slips, lbw shouts, a dropped catch, everything but a wicket!

[bigfluffylemon]

Broad deserved that. Would rather it was Brathwaite though.

[mikesiva]

Powell out for 23...another failure.

[backfootpunch]

Would like to see moeen on very soon

[bigfluffylemon]

Yet another drop, but a spectacular piece of bad luck for Hope results in it being a wicket anyway.

Brathwaite is leading a charmed life here. Apart from two drops, how many edges have gone just wide or just short?

[Making_Splinters]

Terrific comeback from England - aided by some sloppy fielding/overstepping by West Indies , who seemed to get discouraged quite early. Always likely that the strong late batting would eventually cash in as the bowlers tired , though I didn't expect them to get quite so many after those three wickets fell just after the midpoint of the day.

Seems a sensible declaration although it didn't get a result in the six overs. I don't think West Indies have a prayer of getting the runs : sure England just made 319 in less than the full day ; but they started at 171/3 against a ball sixty overs old and bowlers who had been in the field for two sessions already. Also do not expect England to deliver a procession of no balls.

The draw is certainly possible. Don't think the pitch is any monster, although there was considerable spin there and I'd imagine will be more tomorrow for Moeen. England will hope to take a few early with the new ball as they won't get another one until the last hour (though that was another sound reason for the declaration ; gives them a good number of overs with the second new ball if needed at end of day). They took 19 in a day at Edgbaston so they should fancy 10 here ; though this match has had a few twists and turns so nothing can be assumed.

Reckon Malan just about booked an Ashes trip...not yet sure if he is really what is needed in that spot but it would be strange to overlook him now after the last two battling but determined efforts. Not as if the alternatives are lining up...

Woakes redeemed himself for his poor first innings bowling with a fine batting performance ; but they'll certainly be looking for better from him tomorrow in his primary role. Actually wouldn't surprise me if we got a Stuart Broad special to close this out ; but really all the bowlers need to turn up if they're to finish the job.

And finally : what can you say about Moeen ? Well I will forgive him for the dolly drop now - maybe Broad will too

Very true, I'd say Westley's goose is cooked personally rather than Malan's. I don't think Malan has what it takes to succeed at this level, but he has shown improvements in both technique and temperament already.

I've said it before, the biggest problem is the batting order over the personal, how does it make any sense to have: Cook, Rookie, Rookie, Root, Rookie? There's just so much pressure on both Cook and Root, not to mention the new players in the side. Surely: Cook, Rookie, Root, Rookie, Stokes / Ali, Rookie makes more sense just to break up the experience and lack of experience in the line up.

In terms of players, we're pretty much stuck with Stoneman regardless of how he does in the final Test, neither Jennings or Hameed are making any runs leaving pretty much Robson, Burns and Browne as options, that said there are still potentially 9 innings for the two cast offs to get back into form.

To replace Westley for me it has to be Hales, batting at 4, though triple L is making some useful runs today against Warwickshire.

[mikesiva]

That's an unfortunate way for Kyle Hope to go...run out off a deflected ball for a duck.