[Cricket] England v Pakistan, 1st Investec Test at Lord's, Jul 14-18, 2016

[Finchley Seagull]

Woakes is a revelation this season, remember seeing him at Horsham a few years ago and I thought he was the worst England Bowler I had ever seen - oh all right maybe second worst to Jane Dirtyarms.

His batting has been superb too. Really turned himself into a good test bowler who offers good late order support with the bat. Apparently averages 16.8 for his 10 wickets this summer.

Think he'll stay in instead of Finn once Anderson and Stokes are fit, which would mean Woakes batting at 9 and Broad at 10. Strong batting line up!

 

[CHAPPERS]

Stokes expected back next test.

 

[Machiavelli]

His batting has been superb too. Really turned himself into a good test bowler who offers good late order support with the bat. Apparently averages 16.8 for his 10 wickets this summer.

Think he'll stay in instead of Finn once Anderson and Stokes are fit, which would mean Woakes batting at 9 and Broad at 10. Strong batting line up!

Amazing line-up, almost as if there's no tail. Just need to get the front order sorted, still plenty of question marks there.

 

[Titanic]

Lunch Day 1

Pakistan 76-2 (26 overs)

26 overs

 

[Uncle Buck]

Amazing line-up, almost as if there's no tail. Just need to get the front order sorted, still plenty of question marks there.

I suspect that will take another year or so to sort.

Hales needs to kick on after a reasonable effort against Sri Lanka. Ironically he will probably be fine on the Aussie wickets, if he can survive the two sub continent tours this winter.

Root at 3 is annoying, he was doing well at 4 and really Vince should have been told he would be number 3.

Ballance has a decent test average, but was found out by the Aussies, be interesting to see if his tendency to play deep in his crease has been sorted.

What I am struggling with is who are the next batsmen to come in. Am glad they have not gone back to Bell. Expected them to bring Butler back for this series, with Bairstow losing the gloves, which would have been harsh on Bairstow.

 

[Finchley Seagull]

I suspect that will take another year or so to sort.

Hales needs to kick on after a reasonable effort against Sri Lanka. Ironically he will probably be fine on the Aussie wickets, if he can survive the two sub continent tours this winter.

Root at 3 is annoying, he was doing well at 4 and really Vince should have been told he would be number 3.

Ballance has a decent test average, but was found out by the Aussies, be interesting to see if his tendency to play deep in his crease has been sorted.

What I am struggling with is who are the next batsmen to come in. Am glad they have not gone back to Bell. Expected them to bring Butler back for this series, with Bairstow losing the gloves, which would have been harsh on Bairstow.

They were talking about Buttler just batting rather than taking the gloves back, which would be a possibility. On form, he'd deserve a batting place in the team.

Presumably Stokes comes in for a bowler when fit, which would drop Ali again (which is a shame as his record at seven is good).

As you say, Hales needs to kick on and start doing well and Vince needs to improve. Not sure Ballance has improved but we could bring Buttler back in for him. Agree re Root. Moving him up the order before led to his only poor run of form for England, although hopefully he's a better player now.

Borthwick might be another option to come in if needed. It is easy to forget that a year ago Bairstow didn't look test quality. Now he's one of England's key players. We need another batsman or two to turn their test chances round (and Hales is doing a decent job so far this summer).

 

[Dave the OAP]

I think if Hayles started to struggle I would have gone back to lythe. He was found out against the Aussies, but there again most of our players have come a cropper one time or another against the Aussies. But he is a class act and deserves another shot at some time.

 

[Taybha]

Imran Khan probably the coolest dude on the planet

 

[CHAPPERS]

Borthwick will surely at least travel to the sub continent for his bowling. Surprised he hasn't been blooded in this series.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

Pakistan win toss and BET

Corrected for you ....

 

[Uncle Buck]

Borthwick will surely at least travel to the sub continent for his bowling. Surprised he hasn't been blooded in this series.

I would think Ali, Rashid and Ansari will go as the slow bowlers.

Borthwick needs to leave Durham if he wants to be seen as a bowler.

If Rashid does well in the winter, that could be the end for Ali. Whilst Ali has done a job for England, his bowling has not kicked on as much as it should have.

 

[Uncle Buck]

I think if Hayles started to struggle I would have gone back to lythe. He was found out against the Aussies, but there again most of our players have come a cropper one time or another against the Aussies. But he is a class act and deserves another shot at some time.

The issue with Lyth last summer was he stopped doing all the things that made his a success at Yorkshire.

He has got a good score in this round of games and if he can learn from the mistakes, then he may well come again.

 

[pasty]

First test wicket for Ball

Ali lbw b Ball 7

Pak 77/3

 

[Pavilionaire]

First test wicket for Ball

Ali lbw b Ball 7

Pak 77/3

Great ball from Ball.

This is a tidy spell from the debutant.

 

[Taybha]

Already mentioned by [MENTION=13]CHAPPERS[/MENTION], but:
-- home ground
-- and, one that suits his bowling style.

Well i really really would love to be proved wrong by Finn but he simply looks lost and lacking any sort of self belief already .

 

[Titanic]

Broad strikes. Four down.

Bit of a bonus... Younis Khan just scoops a drive to midwicket.

Pakistan 134-4 (43.5 overs)

 

[pasty]

Chipping away slowly but surely. Not been a bad day for England overall so far.

 

[spring hall convert]

We've done alright here but it's going to be tough to win this match with 3 bowlers.

 

[Pavilionaire]

Tea has come at the right time for England, we're getting a bit ragged and Finn needs to find a mirror so he can take a long, hard look at himself.

 

[pasty]

We've done alright here but it's going to be tough to win this match with 3 bowlers.

Considering Lords has failed to produce a single positive result in ANY 1st class (none 1 day) match this season, I think it'd be tough to win this match with 10 bowlers.