England v Australia, 4th Test, Trent Bridge, 06-10 August 2015

Great ton from Root. One of his best

Well played Root. Getting them at a quick rate too.

It is a concern that at his age his back seems to cause him regular grief. Could shorten the career somewhat.

This Root fella, he really does look the business these days.

Unlike some over-precious mentally fragile players around the World, the move from number five to number four in the batting order doesn't seem to have affected him one bit.

Lindsay no.2 wrote:Well played Root. Getting them at a quick rate too.

It is a concern that at his age his back seems to cause him regular grief. Could shorten the career somewhat.

I hope they give him the whole ODI series off. He's earnt it.


But of course they'll play him into the ground....

Warner bowling instead of Lyon. Weird.

Root looking weary and loose. Tighten up kid - we need you in tomorrow morning.

Yeah, they've finally broke Root's resolve with non stop cricket. He'll be a burnt out shell by the time he's 26

Well, isn't this turning into the mother of all hidings. Soft qunts.

Well done to the Neph on his unbeaten ton.

Well, isn't this turning into the mother of all hidings. Soft qunts.

Well done to the Neph on his unbeaten ton.

At 3-1 down, you can bet Warner (and probably Clarke) will do a Watson and score a monster ton at the Oval.

There's always the second innings here - the pitch look
now looks devoid of any life. Still, it was hardly a 60 all out pitch anyway..

skully wrote:Well, isn't this turning into the mother of all hidings. Soft qunts.

Well done to the Neph on his unbeaten ton.

At 3-1 down, you can bet Warner (and probably Clarke) will do a Watson and score a monster ton at the Oval.

Well they'd be following in the fine tradition set by the flat track bully Hayden in 2005, who having been rendered impotent by the swinging ball all series, found a flat pitch to his liking in Sarf London.

skully wrote:Well, isn't this turning into the mother of all hidings. Soft qunts.

Well done to the Neph on his unbeaten ton.

At 3-1 down, you can bet Warner (and probably Clarke) will do a Watson and score a monster ton at the Oval.

Surely LBW will get a recall and do the job himself? We'll even pick Nancy Kerrigan again to give the TAYPOC-meister another couple of years of Test career.

Oh Jonny....

Nightwatchman, really? Although Wood won't mess about if he's still in tomorrow morning I suppose. Still feels like a bit of average preservation for the lower middle order.

Henry wrote:Oh Jonny....

Oh well...still about 70 more runs than I thought he'd get and his partnership with Root should prove to be rather crucial.

beamer wrote:Nightwatchman, really? Although Wood won't mess about if he's still in tomorrow morning I suppose. Still feels like a bit of average preservation for the lower middle order.

At least they went with Wood and not Finn.

beamer wrote:Nightwatchman, really? Although Wood won't mess about if he's still in tomorrow morning I suppose. Still feels like a bit of average preservation for the lower middle order.

Weak decision. Really poor decision

Brass Monkey wrote:

beamer wrote:Nightwatchman, really? Although Wood won't mess about if he's still in tomorrow morning I suppose. Still feels like a bit of average preservation for the lower middle order.

Weak decision. Really poor decision

Well, I'm going to say that on this occasion it's not a bad decision. Nothing but sun is forecast for the next couple of days, and there's no point in sending out a shaky Stokes under grey skies in fading light at this stage.

Brass Monkey wrote:

beamer wrote:Nightwatchman, really? Although Wood won't mess about if he's still in tomorrow morning I suppose. Still feels like a bit of average preservation for the lower middle order.

Weak decision. Really poor decision

Yep that is nuts.

If he makes it through to close then he just has to charge and slog from ball 1 tomorrow. Can't have him clogging it up and wasting the chance to punish the old, dead ball.

Lindsay no.2 wrote:

Brass Monkey wrote:

beamer wrote:Nightwatchman, really? Although Wood won't mess about if he's still in tomorrow morning I suppose. Still feels like a bit of average preservation for the lower middle order.

Weak decision. Really poor decision

Yep that is nuts.

If he makes it through to close then he just has to charge and slog from ball 1 tomorrow. Can't have him clogging it up and wasting the chance to punish the old, dead ball.

Well like I said, it's good they chose Wood rather than Finn. Wood has shown great potential with the bat, and he can certainly get on with it. In the Flower/Strauss era it would have been Finn every time.

Henry wrote:

Lindsay no.2 wrote:

Brass Monkey wrote:

beamer wrote:Nightwatchman, really? Although Wood won't mess about if he's still in tomorrow morning I suppose. Still feels like a bit of average preservation for the lower middle order.

Weak decision. Really poor decision

Yep that is nuts.

If he makes it through to close then he just has to charge and slog from ball 1 tomorrow. Can't have him clogging it up and wasting the chance to punish the old, dead ball.

Well like I said, it's good they chose Wood rather than Finn. Wood has shown great potential with the bat, and he can certainly get on with it. In the Flower/Strauss era it would have been Finn every time.

Um, no it wasn't. It was always Anderson.

taipan wrote:

Henry wrote:

Lindsay no.2 wrote:

Brass Monkey wrote:

beamer wrote:Nightwatchman, really? Although Wood won't mess about if he's still in tomorrow morning I suppose. Still feels like a bit of average preservation for the lower middle order.

Weak decision. Really poor decision

Yep that is nuts.

If he makes it through to close then he just has to charge and slog from ball 1 tomorrow. Can't have him clogging it up and wasting the chance to punish the old, dead ball.

Well like I said, it's good they chose Wood rather than Finn. Wood has shown great potential with the bat, and he can certainly get on with it. In the Flower/Strauss era it would have been Finn every time.

Um, no it wasn't.  It was always Anderson.

I'm talking hypothetically if they were in charge of THIS team. With Anderson out injured.

Henry wrote:

Brass Monkey wrote:

beamer wrote:Nightwatchman, really? Although Wood won't mess about if he's still in tomorrow morning I suppose. Still feels like a bit of average preservation for the lower middle order.

Weak decision. Really poor decision

Well, I'm going to say that on this occasion it's not a bad decision. Nothing but sun is forecast for the next couple of days, and there's no point in sending out a shaky Stokes under grey skies in fading light at this stage.

Call it understandable if you like. It was still a weak and feeble decision

Henry wrote:

taipan wrote:

Henry wrote:

Lindsay no.2 wrote:

Brass Monkey wrote:

beamer wrote:Nightwatchman, really? Although Wood won't mess about if he's still in tomorrow morning I suppose. Still feels like a bit of average preservation for the lower middle order.

Weak decision. Really poor decision

Yep that is nuts.

If he makes it through to close then he just has to charge and slog from ball 1 tomorrow. Can't have him clogging it up and wasting the chance to punish the old, dead ball.

Well like I said, it's good they chose Wood rather than Finn. Wood has shown great potential with the bat, and he can certainly get on with it. In the Flower/Strauss era it would have been Finn every time.

Um, no it wasn't.  It was always Anderson.

I'm talking hypothetically if they were in charge of THIS team. With Anderson out injured.

Well you can talk hypothetically as much as you like of course. When they were in charge of THAT team it was always Anderson. If he wasn't out injured that was.

I thought this pitch was supposed to be a "disgrace". Looked a piece of piss when England were batting - some swing and nibble to keep the bowlers interested but not much else.

Jonny B's a travesty of a batsman, but I can't help willing him to do well. He's got a good attitude and seems a genuinely nice bloke. But he's got the reactions of a corpse and half as a good a technique.

Don't mind the nighwatchman, to be honest. Bat once, bat long. Stokes, Buttler, Moeen (at 9!) and Broad still waiting to join Root tomorrow, Wood's good for a few lusty blows in the morning.