Cricket fred

[Banquo]

Moeen did a grand job, shame about how he got out having done the hard work.

Pleased for Crawley- always sets the tone even if he doesn’t kick on enough

[Banquo]

Bazball schmazball . Great batting, mainly risk free....now keep at it.

[Banquo]

great knock from Crawley. Shame he didn't get 200 but hey.

[Puja]

Tailor made for Brook here. Get his eye and and start weltering the ball to all corners. You almost don't mind if he gets 24 in 12 balls and gets out - we've still got Stokes and Bairstow to come. If we can get 150+ lead in quick time, that'll be just what we need to get a result.

Puja

[Banquo]

bad luck for root, deserved a ton

[fivepointer]

Great days cricket from England. great knock from Crawley, ably assisted by Mo and Root. Tomorrow morning could be fun.

[Puja]

Great days cricket from England. great knock from Crawley, ably assisted by Mo and Root. Tomorrow morning could be fun.

Brook, Stokes, Bairstow, Woakes, Wood, Broad, given the challenge to make 100 in the quickest time possible. Could be carnage, although I'm not sure in which direction!

Puja

[Donny osmond]

Great days cricket from England. great knock from Crawley, ably assisted by Mo and Root. Tomorrow morning could be fun.

Brook, Stokes, Bairstow, Woakes, Wood, Broad, given the challenge to make 100 in the quickest time possible. Could be carnage, although I'm not sure in which direction!

Puja

It's going to be an absolute riot!

[Banquo]

Great days cricket from England. great knock from Crawley, ably assisted by Mo and Root. Tomorrow morning could be fun.

Brook, Stokes, Bairstow, Woakes, Wood, Broad, given the challenge to make 100 in the quickest time possible. Could be carnage, although I'm not sure in which direction!

Puja

It's going to be an absolute riot!

Kaiser Chiefs are lunchtime entertainment

[Which Tyler]

Great days cricket from England. great knock from Crawley, ably assisted by Mo and Root. Tomorrow morning could be fun.

Brook, Stokes, Bairstow, Woakes, Wood, Broad, given the challenge to make 100 in the quickest time possible. Could be carnage, although I'm not sure in which direction!

Puja

With the forecast, I can't see the score particularly making a difference to the intended declaration (obviously, as high as possible, but...)
Declare with enough time for 5 overs before lunch. If that means 140 up, then so be it; if it's 220 up, great.

We need to get as deep into the Aussie batsmen as possible today

[Puja]

Two run-out chances missed by Australia already. I don't mind us getting out trying to slap the Australians around to keep the pace up, but it seems a bit bizarre to be risking our wickets for quick singles.

Puja

[Which Tyler]

Brook's decided to join in with some runs then.

Listening on TMS for the first time in... decades
Work still gets in the way, but... it's okay

[Banquo]

Oz oddly passive. Measured for us, scoring at a casual 4.5 an over.

[Puja]

Oz oddly passive.

Reminiscent of watching England in the late 90s Ashes - demoralised, broken, out of ideas, and effectively waiting until the opposing batsmen are done with them.

Puja

[Banquo]

in fairness they frustrated Stokes out

[Puja]

I'm surprised we've not looked to go completely swing-happy already. It's hugely risky with so many players back on the boundary, but we also have a 120 run lead and 6 wickets in hand. Time is more important than not being bowled out and you'd've thought they'd look to go big.

And, with that, Stokes is bowled taking a swing at something. My timing is impeccable!

Puja

[Which Tyler]

IMO, time we declared and had a go at their top order.
Well done Aus for keeping us to 150-up, but... we need to be bowling

OK, new ball, that might make a difference - hit out or get out

[Banquo]

I'm surprised we've not looked to go completely swing-happy already. It's hugely risky with so many players back on the boundary, but we also have a 120 run lead and 6 wickets in hand. Time is more important than not being bowled out and you'd've thought they'd look to go big.

And, with that, Stokes is bowled taking a swing at something. My timing is impeccable!

Puja

scoring at 4.5 is fine- the lead needs to be enough to make Oz think they have to score to get out of trouble. The weather is the tricky thing to judge.

Plus Oz have bowled very well in the last hour

[Banquo]

possible would have had 10 mins at the Aussies pre lunch. Prob would declare at lunch to save the 10 min switch over, but suspect they want as many as possible.

[Which Tyler]

scoring at 4.5 is fine- the lead needs to be enough to make Oz think they have to score to get out of trouble.

Too late I think - sounds like Aus are already confident that the weather will force a draw, and hand them the ashes

[Banquo]

scoring at 4.5 is fine- the lead needs to be enough to make Oz think they have to score to get out of trouble.

Too late I think - sounds like Aus are already confident that the weather will force a draw, and hand them the ashes

hmm. we shall see. Looks clear most of this pm and on and off Sunday. Sat looks pretty ropy.

Oz managed 24 overs, poor really, and we still scored 120+.

[Puja]

scoring at 4.5 is fine- the lead needs to be enough to make Oz think they have to score to get out of trouble.

Too late I think - sounds like Aus are already confident that the weather will force a draw, and hand them the ashes

hmm. we shall see. Looks clear most of this pm and on and off Sunday. Sat looks pretty ropy.

Oz managed 24 overs, poor really, and we still scored 120+.

What is the benefit of squeezing another 20-30 runs out after lunch though? It's not like this is our second innings and we need to get all the runs we need here. Get Australia in and get bowling - if you're right and the weather holds, then we've got our entire batting lineup to chase a small target with, but if the weather doesn't, we need as much time at them as we can possibly get.

The only thought I can have is letting Bairstow get to his 50, but that does seem off-brand for this team. Maybe a con to make Australia think they're bowling and then throw the openers in with little prep?

Puja

[Puja]

Either that or Stokes is having a passive-aggressive go at all the people who criticised his attacking declaration on day 1 of the first test.

Puja

[Banquo]

Too late I think - sounds like Aus are already confident that the weather will force a draw, and hand them the ashes

hmm. we shall see. Looks clear most of this pm and on and off Sunday. Sat looks pretty ropy.

Oz managed 24 overs, poor really, and we still scored 120+.

What is the benefit of squeezing another 20-30 runs out after lunch though? It's not like this is our second innings and we need to get all the runs we need here. Get Australia in and get bowling - if you're right and the weather holds, then we've got our entire batting lineup to chase a small target with, but if the weather doesn't, we need as much time at them as we can possibly get.

The only thought I can have is letting Bairstow get to his 50, but that does seem off-brand for this team. Maybe a con to make Australia think they're bowling and then throw the openers in with little prep?

Puja

No idea, as I said I'd have declared before or during lunch. I do get the point- they don't want to have to bat again....but I don't agree. I think they've done well this am btw- had they gone snooker loopy and got themselves out cheapish, it would have nullified a lot of yesterday, and Oz bowled well.

[Banquo]

that's fckd it....hover cover broken down and raining