West Indies v England, 5th Test, Port of Spain, Mar 6 - 10

Bell's got another number three role to settle into now. Number 3 behind Shah and Bopara in the contest for the final batting place in the England line-up...

Augustus wrote:On a serious note, isn't it time KP batted at three?

They had to basically order him to bat at four, much against his wishes.

He doesn't fancy going in earlier.

beamer wrote:Bell's got another number three role to settle into now. Number 3 behind Shah and Bopara in the contest for the final batting place in the England line-up...

Number three in the battle to be the player stood-down to accommodate Michael Vaughan and his "good record against Australia" hurrah this summer.

Don't know why, he's used to coming in quite early and has generally scored bigger when that's been the case. He's not the hyper-aggressive bat he used to be either. 3 should be his spot now, he's had 50 Tests, it's time.

Refused to promote himself up the order when he was captain of the ODI side, even though logic suggests that your best batsman needs to face as many balls as possible.

Wouldn't budge from number four.

I'm going to send him hate mail telling him he's a wimp until he bows to my superior logic.

Like I said, it was a hard enough job for Fletcher and then-captain Flintoff to persuade him to move up from five during the last Ashes. He wasn't having it.

It was only when England's frequent collapses on the tour left him batting with the tail for the majority of the time that Pietersen himself decided he needed to bat higher up the order.

Only caught the mid afteroon session as had to do some work for a change but fark me, was that boring or what?

Must be the first time i've actually seen a team go for the draw from ball 1 of a test too!

And WIFAN assured us this pitch wouldn't be a road like the last one...

Only hope is one of the farkers breaks up finally and provides something for the spinners.

WIFAN wrote:FFS how many times do we have to tell you, whatever wicket our team asks for, we get the opposite. The QPO wicket has never been a road

kkf wrote:

Give up dude. They would never believe you.

WIFAN wrote:
Hard ears these people!

It will take a fuggin miracle to make that wicket a road.

It's pretty poor stuff from the WICB if its deliberate - it hardly makes for decent cricket & puts results over entertaining the paying public, though I absolutely totally understand why WI would do it.

England can't really sook over it either. They were the ones who had a horror hour in Jamaica & then farted about sending in a nightwatchman to block it out with a 300 lead.

Not so much a road as a farqin runway.

I must admit I am ashamed of all concerned. But in a way it is comforting that this incredibly negative thought process by the West Indies is going to backfire on them massively.

All the grass that made it an excellent cricket wicket last year has been cut, leaving a slow, low dustbowl. It might be a road now, but on day 4 and 5 it is going to be horrible to bat on, and SHiv has torn a muscle in his groin and is going to be limited in his movements even if he can bat at 7.

Now the team selection was just diabolical. JT got injured which is unfortunate, but it seems the loss of their gun bowler has sent them into a completely negative state of mind. We do not play a defensive brand of cricket very well, our recent test wins have all come from incisive pace bowling and skillful batting, so I am certain this test will be a disaster.

I love my team, but I almost hope they lose for their shameful attitude to this test, the continued disrespect shown towards specialist spinners and the amazing decision not to select an extra pacer in the squad given JT's health. It's almost as if they are desperate for Powell to play by any means.

I am amazed at our attitude given that we thumped them in the most comprehensive fashion imaginable just a month ago.

Just take a subi view of it all . . . you may not win the series, or even a test in the series, but look at the runs your batsmen have been scoring. Must be a few individual records?

And although it takes some of the shine off it, this would be a great series win for the Windies. I'm sure their players are just as frutrated with the conditions . . .

PeterCS wrote:Not so much a road as a farqin runway.

The score reflects the fact that we're playing with one test bowler in the match. Ryan Hinds turned a couple on the first day. Monty and Swann should have a field day with our batsmen especially if Shiv is out.

[sigh] Another road paved by the curators, I see.

Rumour has it that Owais Shah is so weak that even having an score with numbers that require stretching, such as 29*, causes him to cramp up. It would never have happened on 11.

kkf wrote:

PeterCS wrote:Not so much a road as a farqin runway.

The score reflects the fact that we're playing with one test bowler in the match. Ryan Hinds turned a couple on the first day. Monty and Swann should have a field day with our batsmen especially if Shiv is out.

Exactly. Put 650 on the board, get 5 men round the bat and see if the Windies are comfortable having to bat for 3 days on a low, turning wicket. We should have won the 3rd Test, and the way this is going we should win this one.

Very accomodating of the Windies to help us out though, having weakened our batting line-up so the tail starts at 7, they respond by dropping their match-winning spinner and only picking two bowlers ... and Daren Powell.

Gary 111 wrote:Rumour has it that Owais Shah is so weak that even having an score with numbers that require stretching, such as 29*, causes him to cramp up. It would never have happened on 11.

Has to be said Ace has looked a bit malteser balls so far...

Gary 111 wrote:
Exactly. Put 650 on the board, get 5 men round the bat and see if the Windies are comfortable having to bat for 3 days on a low, turning wicket. We should have won the 3rd Test, and the way this is going we should win this one.

Pass me the optimist pills Gazza, we'll need a day to get close to 450 and Shiv can block out a day and a half by himself!

Retired bored.

JKLever wrote:

Gary 111 wrote:
Exactly. Put 650 on the board, get 5 men round the bat and see if the Windies are comfortable having to bat for 3 days on a low, turning wicket. We should have won the 3rd Test, and the way this is going we should win this one.

Pass me the optimist pills Gazza, we'll need a day to get close to 450 and Shiv can block out a day and a half by himself!

Nah, think the Windies have shot themselves in the foot this time.

Of course I haven't seen a single delivery from this series and am basically just reading the over-by-over report in my lunch break so my blind ramblings hold little credibility. But England will win. Once you stop trying to win a cricket match - e.g. 16 overs of Gash before tea, then often you'll find yourself losing...

Gary 111 wrote:

JKLever wrote:

Gary 111 wrote:
Exactly. Put 650 on the board, get 5 men round the bat and see if the Windies are comfortable having to bat for 3 days on a low, turning wicket. We should have won the 3rd Test, and the way this is going we should win this one.

Pass me the optimist pills Gazza, we'll need a day to get close to 450 and Shiv can block out a day and a half by himself!

Nah, think the Windies have shot themselves in the foot this time.

Of course I haven't seen a single delivery from this series and am basically just reading the over-by-over report in my lunch break so my blind ramblings hold little credibility. But England will win. Once you stop trying to win a cricket match - e.g. 16 overs of Gash before tea, then often you'll find yourself losing...

You haven't factored in the work-to-rule slo-mo (call it suspended animation) directed by Christle. ...

Strauss is the 2nd England captain to hit three centuries in an overseas series, the other being Wally Hammond who achieved the feat against South Africa in 1938-9. He is also the second captain to hit centuries in three consecutive matches, the other being Graham Gooch against New Zealand and India in 1990 (although Gooch hit a triple-century and a century in both innings of the Lord's Test against India that year).

How did KP fail on that pitch?

He was on the phone to Graeme Smith just before he went in to to bat.