The Cricket.

[mickd1961]

It’s Foakes not Woakes! I hope that Foakes keeps his wicket because that will help him keep his place as the team’s wicketkeeper. Also, Mick, glad you use the correct terminology, ‘batsmen’!

I know it’s Foakes, spell checker must’ve changed it.

If Woakes was fit we’d have won this match already.

[9goals2hattricks3pen]

I just don't get England's muddled thinking when it comes to trying to resolve their most obvious problem the top 3. Why is Pope batting at 3? He averages 30 batting at 5 and 6 and only 18 batting at 4. He has never batted at 3. The answer on TMS is they wanted to get him in and 3 was the only vacancy. Why did they HAVE to get in a batsman averaging under 30 with 1 Test century?

A requirement of an opener is a discipline. Not a label I would easily attach to Crawley. I would pick 3 specialist openers as recent history tells us No3 will be batting in the first 5 overs.

What a dog's breakfast.

[kettering_baggie]

Excellent innings by Joe Root, 10,000 test runs, great achievement. Well done, too, to Ben Foakes for his innings supporting Root to bring home the win. Hopefully, that will cement Foakes’s place in the side, he is, after all, the best wicketkeeper in the country.

[mickd1961]

As soon as I saw Burns and Sibley I knew they were sh y te and I said so.

Lees is as limited as Sibley.

People get too hung up on batting order, the simplest way of limiting your chances of being 30-3 is to open with Root and Stokes because the figures already prove they face the most balls in most matches.

Root is facing the new ball most of the time anyway so this argument over him batting at 1, 2, 3 or 4 is irrelevant anyway,

I’d even consider Foakes as an opening bat as he has such a sound technique.

Bairstow could also open, it would be good to have a pugnacious opener.

Vince is still worth trying again in my opinion, lovely player to watch.

I’d rather see Crawley coming in at 4 or 5 because I do think he’s a real talent when the ball is softer.

A mate of mine watches Worcestershire and he raves about young Haynes who he said is a cert to play for England.

Pity Woakes is unfit again, lovely bowler and a real quality number 8 batsman.

[Bombers right foot]

We’ll done to Root and Foakes, superb innings by both.
We had Lees at Yorkshire, he was a decent player until he had a loss of form, joined Durham initially on loan and has blossomed, given a run in the England side I think he will make a fist of it something Sibley and Burns never looked like doing

[Bombers right foot]

Stokes again,what on earth is the guy playing at, opened the door for the Kiwi ‘s could quite easily go into the 2nd inns 75-80 deficit

[WBA1955]

I thought this thread was going to be about Michael Gove.

[mickd1961]

What a win that is.

That will go down in history as one of the greatest test matches of all time.

1700 runs.

35 wickets.

Score 550+ first and lose.

Score 190 ( Mitchell ) and Blundell over 100 and lose.

5 big centuries in the match.

Ball flying to all parts and Anderson still take 5 for 80 odd and reduced his bowling average even further on a run fest wicket.

Then to score 300 off 50 overs on the last afternoon is just fantastic.

Bairstow got 98 in sixes FFS.

It’s like Botham and Willis v Australia at Headingley in 81.

Second only to that match in my opinion.

Two problems however.

Crawley needs dropping for Brook and Moin needs to replace Leach.

What a day though and what a difference a positive captain and coach and head of cricket in Rob Key have made to our team.

These are the world test champions we’ve beaten in this series, an unbelievable day of cricket.

[phild]

Well summed up Mick an extraordinary day indeed!! 160 runs to get at tea and I thought the usual collapse was on the cards. But it just shows what a change of mentality can do for a team. This match will be long remembered

[kettering_baggie]

Good to see Ben Foakes have such a good game, he’s the best wicketkeeper in England and should have been in the team long ago. The match also had eleven dropped catches! That might be a record, too!