England v Australia, 4th Test, Old Trafford, 19-23 July, 2023

Carey had a bit of a mare behind the stumps and Cummins struggled again in the field.

So the plan - after all - is clearly to go for the innings win.

We'll see, between the batting, the bowling, the fielding, the catching (hmmmmm....), the vagaries of the Lancashire weather and the even worse vicissitudes of Crawleyian fortune if that decision turns out to have been folly, or sense.

Red wrote:Jimmy has cost Bairstow his ton.

He seems to have been instantly forgiven. ...

Red wrote:Carey had a bit of a mare behind the stumps and Cummins struggled again in the field.

They should have watched the video of the Bairstow stumping before they took the field!

Seemingly reliant on either a material amount of play on Sunday, or Australia collapsing like Pogacar on Col de la Loze.

Or like a Reliant Robin, on the high street of Peckham.

PeterCS wrote:Hopefully Stokes is not trying to let JB get to 100.

nearly

Bairstow the Flat Pat Bully?

Crowd surprisingly un-raucous, and Aussie openers playing a difficult situation well - studiously accumulating the runs where they come.

Just dire

The entire Oz team has Warnerised itself

Mucha lluvia ahead.

If the Poms run out of time they have only themselves to blame. Slow over rates and delaying the declaration for Fatty Dropstow to get his ton. Onya Jimmeh!

On a cold night here in Sydney I went to bed as England's innings closed. Well batted Jonny, a little bit of luck but much free-flowing power hitting saw him just fall short of what would've been another remarkable England ton.

I woke this morning fully expecting Aus to be in trouble, and was proven correct.

We've been Crawled over, Rooted in the field, Jonnyed up the arse and then the England bowlers had the Wood on us.

All in all it will be a travesty if rain saves Aus, given how comprehensively we've been belted. I can't imagine England won't get an hour here and there over the weekend to clean us up and go 2-2 to The Oval.

horace wrote:If the Poms run out of time they have only themselves to blame. Slow over rates and delaying the declaration for Fatty Dropstow to get his ton. Onya Jimmeh!

Although one could argue that they figured they needed a score which ensured they might not bat again figuring that Bairstow making merry against a demoralised attack might be easier than having to dodge showers at the end in order to reach a winning total. They couldn't guarantee that the fancied Australian batsmen were going to fail again.

So much pessimism.

All we need is for Mitch Marsh and Marnus to bat like Dravid and Laxman at Calcutta, and we’ll win.

A Bothamesque 149 from Green wouldn’t hurt, either.

What's happening with the weather?

lardbucket wrote:What's happening with the weather?

apparently wet

https://worldcam.eu/webcams/europe/united-kingdom/5524-manchester-old-trafford

Little prospect of any play today, a bit more up in the air for tomorrow.

There will be play. Expect a finish like The Oval 1968.

LOL ... I have been thinking of that game ever since this one started. Get most of the water off the ground & have Derek Underwood bowling on a minefield.

lardbucket wrote:There will be play. Expect a finish like The Oval 1968.

Or Manc 67 years ago.

Sheffield Joe the new "Bradford Jim" (well, to run through six wickets, not 19).

Looks like Aussies' 12th Man will come to the rescue, though:

Sydney Precipitation


Or who knows? Marnie and the all-rounders could leave Englnd 5 wickets short with a couple of hundred stands.

beamer wrote:Little prospect of any play today, a bit more up in the air for tomorrow.

Might be a bit more rain up in that air.

lardbucket wrote:There will be play. Expect a finish like The Oval 1968.

Was a grotesquely biased happening at the time (spectators drilling holes in the ground to help drainage FFS) and is still to this day.