yea it's kinda been like my poker career, steady rise fora paeriod of time followed by falling off a cliff..

i really reckon india came over and completely underestimated england. they've played a good bit against a lot of the england players in the past and probably thought that they were just better than england. the fact is a lot of the england players have improved considerably.

there is no real star player in the england team but in essence the sum of the team is greater than the individuals within it and that is why england are so succesful at present imo.

in fairness to india momentum is everything in sport and england have it at present and it's tough to stop once someone gets on top.

also expect india to perk up when the onedayers to come around and probably win 5-0. hopefully england rest a few players and blood a few youngsters(bairstow,taylor, hales, buttler, stokes, finn)

lol 2 innings left and india is yet to make 300 in a single one

Are India going to get a mass exodus of amazingly gifted cricketers like Australia did a few years ago? Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman will be pretty big shoes to fill. Virat Kohli looks like a class player but who else is there?

I'd like to see plenty of Finn and Taylor. I'm a Keiswetter fan though - how good do you think this Bairstow is? I've heard good things about him so it looks like England have serious strength in that dept.

I like kieswetter also. Bairstow keeps at Yorkshire but by all accounts at the moment he is distinctly average at keeping. He's potentially good enough to play as batsmen alone in test or odi cricket which is probably a good thing given how average his keeping is at present. Michael Vaughan speaks very highly of bairstow (not entirely surprisingly given the yorkshire link) as do a number of others who have seen him bat. he's meant to be very talented but also mentally strong. the only thing i would say is it's possibly too early(even for odi cricket) given he hadn't scored a fc hundred before the start of this season(he has 3 this season). if bairstow did come in it would almost certainly be as a batsman at this point in time.

taylor has done well for the lions this summer but has been average for leicestershire in the second division of the cc this season. He seems to be the most likeliest to get a call up now given he was given the lions captaincy/ was meant to be close to replacing trott.

i feel it would just be nice to see one or two new batsmen in the odi setup given it's a long time since we've seen anyone new in the setup and how the test and odi squad's are basically the same. a few of the test boys who have been poor in odi cricket could do with a rest. possibly stokes + taylor/ bairstow.

massive fan of finn and think he will become the best bowler of the lot

Tremlett now confirmed out of 4th Test
Jimmy Anderson apparently iffy for Thursday (quadriceps).
Graham Onions called into squad.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-...ry/527594.html


Maybe just a cover for the ECB wanting to weaken England a little and take it to five days at the Oval to increase revenue

hopefully, i've got tickets for the fifth day at the oval I don't want them to wrap it up in 4 days

Another century for James Taylor today. Surely he at least plays some part in the ODIs coming up??

Big Onions fan (I could eat them with anything ). Shame he got injured when he did - he must've been one of the first names on the teamsheet at the time. Now he's like 6th choice seamer.

Kumar must be injured right?

also come on india please last until the last day I want to be there for a close finish on the fifth day.

Wake up

Check to see if India still cant get anyone out

Confirmed

Back to dozing

They took a piece out of Strauss's helmet though.

India 10/1 to win this test on ladbrokes at 57/0 hahahaaha!!

800-5 then with a cook 300 and a bopara 0.

Someone was watching the weather forecast then.

England were 13/8..

a few wickets probably isn't a bad thing. give morgan and bopara the chance to make an innings that counts, not convinced either would do anything if england lost a wicket now but they need the chance to prove something rather than just easy runs when england are 400-5

Pietersen looking like the player he was 3/4 years ago, an attacking shot virtually every ball. Looks like the confidence is back.

Going tomorrow, hoping for England slogging in the morning and wickets/Tendulkar 100 for the rest of the day.

The Argus report into why we suck more than England do is out; chairman of selectors sacked, other selectors sacked, coach is probably going to be sacked 1year into a 3-4year contract + more sackings to come. All good news imo. The bad news: Michael Clarke not sacked, Phil Hughes not sacked, random net spinners not sacked, Simon Katich not reinstated with an official apology from the pm

Its about 5 years too late to be getting rid of the selectors who have been responsible for some of the most ineptdecisions in australian sporting history

rofl went out at 110/2, commentators saying the Indians are finally looking like a competent side.

Excluding Bopara, who is the England player in the worst form aorn? Strauss?

I know pride comes before a fall and everything, but Jesus, England look like a ****ing awesome side atm.

Carnage

seems impossible to get out to this attack unless you want fast runs. and unless you are bopara