England v West Indies, 1st Test, Edgbaston, 17-21 August, 2017

Stone cold bowled but run rate flying.

Is that still K-Mart Roach? Or a new one, his son possibly?

Now Cummins nails Westley. 2-39.

Nice work Bart

Sic transit gloria Lapidarii.

Well, the two newcomers failed to cash in, while Cook and Root make it look like the flattest thing since sliced flatbread...

The WI attack looks very ordinary compared even to SA's second string. Boundaries being served up like the local balti. Noddy clearly carrying an injury, and why they've gone in with Royston Chasey as their only spin option...

Old King Cole clearly wasn't impressed with Noddy for his bizarre decision to forego two of a potential 10 overs with the new ball under lights. Even if the captain hadn't bowled himself and hobbled off injured...

Chef and AC get through to close of play, setting it up for the all-rounder engine room to really cash in tomorrow. Has to be 550 minimum from here.

A fair partnership between Chef and Neph (250+ is useful ). A shame that Weasley didn't take the chance.

England to win by an innings from here. Chef to make 300.

beamer wrote:Chef and AC get through to close of play, setting it up for the all-rounder engine room to really cash in tomorrow. Has to be 550 minimum from here.

Nice.

Disappointing given I would've guessed that West Indies' bowling was their stronger suit.

They have two Hopes in their side. Presumably named "Bob" and "No"...

Disappointing. Given that the James Bond movie marathon on Fox has now ended, i was hoping for a contest in the test but...alas.

The Ganjas have an attention span of 20 overs.

Windies are no longer test standard.

Can you say that Cook scored a soft double ton?

Red wrote:Can you say that Cook scored a soft double ton?

Of course you can, but they all look the same in the scorebook. Anyway, Chef's 88 in the third test against South Africa was probably worth another 60 runs so if he filled his boots today, I say good luck to him. It would be churlish to damn him with faint praise for this knock

Red wrote:Windies are no longer test standard.

Well, at least there's a viable unofficial second tier now, with them, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, the two newcomers and perhaps Sri Lanka if they don't find some new talent soon. The question is how motivated they are to play Tests going forwards, and whether the lesser teams will play enough to improve and develop.

Anyway, as far as Cook goes, getting 240 is never easy even if you're facing a village second XI attack, and a number of others failed to cash in. A battling 60 or 70 against a strong attack might be more valuable as an opener, but you earn the opportunity to boost your stats against weaker opposition.

Handy knock by Chef. Well done him.

Seems Roston Chase was the only Ganja trying.

Will the Windies get into Day 4?

Got to be their best player at the moment. Been a good batsman so far, and contributes as a bowler.

well done Chef.  A double ton that ranks with the great one scored by Dizzy Gillespie.

horace wrote:well done Chef.  A double ton that ranks with the great one scored by Dizzy Gillespie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yus2Q8-BOQ

Credit to WI, they've avoided an innings defeat to Alastair Cook.

Sturat matches Beefy's career total with 2 in 2 balls. Chance for a third Test hat-trick...

Inner reactions of some current & recent England players to the First Test:

Jennings: BUGGER!
Stoneman: BUGGER!
Dawson: What?
Woakes: Ho-hum.
Malan: Hee-hee!
Ballance: Kin I hev enother chawnce, please?

19 wickets in one day. England doing their bit for the environment by saving two days' worth of electricity.