See England doing well 26-2 shocking batting from Cook and Trott

I turned it over to watch the IPL.

I dont think England could have picked a duller top 5.

3 down now

The usual ones will be on soon to explain why this performance is ok. Its test cricket etc etc.

36 runes in 17 overs. Jesus wept.

At least Joe Root is there now, but even he is batting depressingly slowly. Only 3 fours in 25 overs.

No wonder nobody turns up to watch test cricket.

Cook out Pieterson in, simples.

Trott should never have returned. Can't say I'll be pleased to see him line up in the ashes. Cook is finished and in any other sport he'd be dropped. Done absolutely nothing for a very long time. Ballance can go back to Yorkshire aswell. Full team needs addressing from the very top to the bottom. Aussies are gona tear us apart as it stands and a very depressing summer is on the horizon

Trott should never have returned? Are you basing that on the three balls? The bloke will score runs. To get back into the team KP has to do what he did, play cricket and score runs he's been in semi retirement for since the last Ashes. Until last week he's played nothing but T20. You can hardly consider someone for test selection on that basis. I hope he does it because I think the team needs him as a cricketer. The ECB do if theu want to sell tickets.

Balance averages 60 in Test Cricket. It would be slightly harsh to drop him after one failure.

It looks a slow pitch but our top order does look a bit workmanlike and isn't going to put bums on seats or take games away from teams in any hurry.

It's Moores who needs to go, we have a decent Test team but that bloke twatting on about skill sets and data is clueless. How boring and safe a selection is Tredwell, decent one dat bowler but he rarely gets a game in four day at County Level. He's not going to get quality test players out.

Agree with most of that, but you cant build a test team with cook trott and ballance in there, as well as Bell and Root.

As for Pieterson, I would pick him now, just to say to the others, we would rather have him in than you because you are dullards.

And Ballance looks an injury waiting to happen for the aussie bowlers. He looks flat footed.

Moores is the dullest of all though.

It's very dull I been loosing the will to live watching it can't even switch to ipl as in a hotel and a few old duffers watching test match don't like "that baseball stuff"

a bit better now. But still very very slow. Although nearly 3 an over now.

I'm not sure why the run rate is even mentioned it's the first day of a Test Match and we were 30/3 you have rebuild, plus they've scored pretty freely since lunch now the two batsmen are in. The outfield is painfully slow as well which doesn't help.

Root and Bell are both class players and both good to watch.

Agreed. Root and Bell are class players.

With them and Pieterson we would have a world class middle three.

Basing it on 3 balls, did you really write that??

I'm basing it on the fact he's a liability, his head was allover the place the last time we seen him in an England shirt and the ausies will sledge the fuck out of him again and I see a huge failure. We cannot carry an opening batsmen, especially as the other one is already being carried. I do not think he can be trusted in the biggest series of them all.

As for ballance the world cup that he shouldn't have been anywhere near by the way has given me doubts. He looked average and today didn't help change my mind. Looks well short of confidence.

Fully agree about moores. Soon as he goes, Cook will follow and kp will return. He's a must if we wana compete this summer

His career record suggests he is far from a liability.

If Cook does go, and if his form doesn't improve that's possible who is your captain?

I can honestly see him and Trott scoring loads of runs in this series though.

I'm a bit gutted Coral tweeted an offer earlier for Bell top 1st innings batsman and England to win at 9/1 and was going to put it on but forgot

Good recovery in the end by bell root and stokes.

it's always wise to wait until both teams have completed their first innings. ( Julius Caesar )

His career was superb until the mental breakdown. He clearly isn't the same batsmen we once knew. As I said earlier the ausies will torture him and I'm not seeing a good outcome for us at all.

As for Cook, root is who id make Captain. Kp in at 4 and bell to open with root. As it stands I see a 4-0 5-0 defeat depending on weather

So are you predicting a long hot summer either way then?

Nice.

I can't see the Aussies winning 4-5 nil over here. We're second favourites certainly but do you think we're going to prepare fast bouncy pitches for them? I can't see us winning the Ashes right now but I don't see as a big a gap as that between the teams in our conditions.

We're not a bad test team especially at home.

Hopefully KP is back and on fire and Cook and Trott are back in form. Add that to a fit and firing Broad and Anderson and we have a chance.

Root could be captain and is a good shout but I'm for letting him get on with what he's good at, captaincy can come later.

Mitchell Johnson must be licking his lips. Trott is finished. It's sad to see but honest. He should not play another test for his own sake. As for Cook words fail me. Please resign the captaincy and go back to county cricket

By the way Richie it remains to be seen about Trott. His dismissal this innings was an absolute Jaffa, high pace swinging profusely you can't judge him on that.

This Taylor kid looks useful for Windies

It was as good a ball as you'll see. Trott at his absolute best would have got out to that. You sound like Piers Morgan taking about cricket and let me tell you that's not a good thing!

He's scored a load of runs in the last 8 months or so he's certainly not finished. Not sure he should be opening though why bat him (coming back into the team under pressure) in a position he barely ever has? If you are picking this line up you have Joe Root in the team who has been an opener since birth. Trott has opened 20 odd times in his first class career.

One Test will not prove that he's still got it or not.

Cooks form is a big worry now, it has gone on too long.

Jerome Taylor looks a good bowler to me as well, so his first 20 runs won't come easy in this series.

Some good points there PJ. Don't understand why you bring a guy back into the team and stick him as opener when it's not his natural position, I know Ballance has done well at 3 but opener is such a specialist position.

Agree about Cook, forgetting captaincy debate he doesn't warrant a place on form and others would have been dropped.

I don't watch cricket in the same one eyed way people watch football. I actually want the Windies to be good and think it's tragic seeing the empty grounds compared to the pulsating vibrant packed houses in the days they were in their pomp (and thrashing England by the way). Test cricket sadly is almost dead outside of England and Australia which for me is tragic. Maybe I am getting old and behind the times but that makes me sad as I still love it

Trott should have came back into the team at 5, less pressure, put Root up to open.

Taylor looks ok facing cook and trott as most bowlers would. To suggest trottt would have been dismissed with that ball before his illness is just madness. It only looks good as it got him out. Years ago he was facing way better bowlers and smashing 50s and hundreds for fun. He is not the same player. It's very sad to see such a great player become what he has. He still looks frightened. Like I keep saying the ausies will rip him apart both on and off the field. This series is about building confidence for the only series that really matters. I'd prefer to win the ashes over the World Cup. Maybe if there was a test World Cup if think differently. I have Aussie relations and I enjoy the banter but it's looking likely to be very 1 sided and for the 1st time for a very long time im dreading the ashes.

However trott and cook will remain in the side and time will be given simply because they both used to be world class. Moving on is our only hope, we must field a side that will compete against a top draw seam attack. Kp has to play

So he he nicked an absolutely perfect 90mph away swinger that he had to play at because of his 'illness'

Really!?

Regarding the Ashes it looks like whoever play for England we will get pummeled, the Aussies seem to have pulled through another excellent group of players and have depth in all departments particularly seam bowling.

However their class in skills is not matched by their class in attitude, what a bunch of wankers

yeah that gary ballance looks TOTALLY out of his depth, doesn't he RB ?

Hopefully im wrong about him, looking good for a 100. West Indies and austrailia are different gravy though. Time will tell if he's good enough. Like I say hopefully im wrong and he does the business.

As for trottt and Cook it's funny how Taylor isn't punishing everyone else with these amazing deliveries that he bowls. He's a good player but he wouldn't make the Aussie 2nd team and that's the point I was trying to make. Trott has faced 19 balls off a side who everyone else is hammering and has been dismissed twice and scored just 4 runs. Again time will tell but it's fairly obvious he isn't the world class number 3 we once knew.

Lyth has had an unbelievable 12 months this time last year he'd signed to be Marske's overseas pro in the NYSD league as his place wasn't guaranteed in Yorkshires team, obviously he never played a game for them!

I agree with MadJohn he should have opened to throw Trott in at the top of the order almost seems like heaping more pressure than he already has on his shoulders.

Surely now he won't make the next squad. I feel sorry for the bloke. A legend who now isn't good enough but somehow expected to open.

He has developed a technical flaw early in his innings were he walks at the bowler and is on the move at the point of delivery. Opening the batting against a new ball at Test level that isn't going to work. But in Antigua when he actually got in he stayed still and looked like Jonathan Trott batting. It's probably down to nerves.

Putting him back in the team as an opener is almost hanging the bloke out to dry he's barely ever opened in first class cricket when he is already under pressure is almost unfair to the point of being cruel.

I've just heard Boycott talking about Rahul Dravid, about as classy a number as you'll ever see. He hated opening just could not get his head around it, it's a completely different game. He should have came back into the team at 5 or 6 as you can't move Ballance.

Feel for the bloke he's been badly let down by management in the last few weeks.

Surely Moores will get his cards this week?

Wrong manager wromg captain wrong philosphy wrong tactics. We bat far too slowly we pick the safe bowling and battimg options all the time. Its all very depressing.

Yet deliberate by moores and cook.

Why are you obsessed with run rate in Test Cricket, the pitches in the Carribean in all three tests have been painfully slow, England's run rate has been better than the Windies. The team selection I agree on if you aren't going to pick Adil Rashid on a pitch like that then why even take him. We were basically trying to bowl out a team on the most spinner friendly pitch you'll see with two part time spinners. Clueless reading of the pitch and tea selection. Surely Moores will get the boot.

.

What a horrific way to end an amazing career. Moores and Cook want sacking immediately. They have actually said the tour was a success and the team is improving!! Absolute joke. The current west undies side should result in a 2-0 or 3-0 win depending on rain. 1-1 is shocking.

Moores does not deserve that job

Saw a HUFC Flag in the Hewitt & Inniss stand on day 1.

Good to hear Moores has put out of his misery.

against a leicestershire county side that haven't won a four day game in two years, and who have dropped pietersen 4 times.

Was that you by any chance Kev

I think Strauss has read Aido's post

Did they really need another meeting to again tell him his England career is over.

I worry about this from Strauss as the bloke clearly dislikes how KP tainted the end of his England career and captaincy, he did act like a bellend it's fair to say. I mean he was heard calling him a c*** live on Sky last summer!

So with that in mind is Strauss really making this call with the best interests of English cricket in mind or settling a score?

I'm sure New Zealand and Australia are delighted.

The only sport where form is irrelevant. Bunch of ponces....and Andrew, buy a wig, you look SHIT !

English Cricket is fucking pathetic.

The aussies will be pissing themselves laughing.

Strauss is a fucking retard. He didnt need to say anything, and like Michael Vaughan said, just pick your best players.

So the ECB tell Pieterson to stop playing the IPL and find a county- he does as that.

They tell him he needs to score runs to get back in the English team- he does that.

Then Strauss tells him he still not getting back.

If I was KP I would just get it over and done with and take the heaviest bat I could find, wrap it round the back of Strauss's baldy fucking nut and insert a full set of stumps up his ring piece very roughly.

Give it up KP, you'll never win against the retards that run English cricket.

Write another book and blow the lid off the fucking lot of them!

The ECB are becoming the biggest joke in sport. Downton's sacking of KP was farcical. Graves says that England should beat a "Mediocre" West Indies side - they don't. Moores was the last to know about his own sacking. On the day KP gets a triple century he gets told it doesn't matter despite Graves telling him to get a county and score runs (for which KP pulled out of a lucrative IPL contract).


Strauss isn't even in the job yet and is causing controversy.

Strauss is a moron. Perfect candidate to run english cricket.

The ECB are totally pathetic and have treated many people badly and made some laughable decisions but while Pietersen has been completely shafted this time (again poorly, even vindictively treated), I can't see a massively convincing case to have him in the side.

His test record recently has not been great, he's injured a lot, he's getting on and his presence obviously causes problems with some of the camp. I can't see how having him in the side will avoid an Ashes humping and quite possibly a home defeat to NZ. I think we need to look to the future and I think there's decent candidates already in the middle order, okay not yet consistent enough but could be.

The bowling is where we really lack and I'm more concerned about that than having KP back in the side

Wait until Johnson and Stark get at the batters, then tell me the bowling is the main problem.

So you think KP will hit Johnson and Starc all over the park? The problem is he might try and then brainlessly chuck his wicket away when we most need him. He didn't do much the last time we faced them.

We are fucked with him and without him. The batting is a bit stronger than the bowling.

The problem will be that Aus will (providing weather is decent) rack up 400-500 each time deflating everyone then skittling us for 200 as we are prone to being mentally shot.

I think we just need to look to the future as much as I like KP when he's in form and despise him when he throws his wicket away.