Just don't rate him or warm to him

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How on earth can you not rate him? 😕

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I agree to a degree. I wonder if Root will blossom once he's established himself as an opener? Classically the numbers 4 & 5 (where he used to bat) are stroke makers. The downside of playing too many strokes is that you're more at risk of getting out. Trescothick was an exceptional talent. It's a shame his personal issues curtailed a very good Test career.

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Just like some people dont rate footballers Matty, he certainly has no personality, he would prefer a bore draw rather than try for a win, many have moaned at the selection for this test , well he also had an input into it. If we had played SA this series the score would probaby have been reversed .

 

He always has a stupid schoolboy smirk on his face everytime I see him

Just my opinion.

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Englands opening partnerships

27 , 11 , 18 , 22 , 47 , 0 , 34 , 17 & 68

Puts an awful lot of pressure on the batsmen coming in

Good piece from Atherton on the openers, mentions Cook is world class if you bowl above hip height at him which is what they did in the Ashes series in 2010/2011, showed a graphic how the Aussies have changed how they bowl at Cook meaning he has to go looking and chasing the ball.

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Pieterson presented with an award today for becoming Englands most prolific run scorer of all time ( all forms of the game added up)

 

Top 3

KP 13,352 runs  266 matches

G Gooch  13,190 runs  243 matches

A Stewart  13,140 runs  303 matches

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But I thought you would be one of those wanting him to be more adventurous? That's the problem - if you go after the ball you're more likely to give chances.

Cricket is all about bowlers and batsmen trying to work each other out. The good batsmen work it out and I'm sure Cook will do so, with some help from the coaches.

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Given the number of matches, that just underlines what a class act Gooch was. And in a pretty awful team most of the time too!

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It is 75 years ago since that famous Test at the Oval when Len Hutton made 364 and England won by a huge margin of an innings and 579 runs.

The Oval has not been the greatest ground for Aussie victories. Since WWII, they won Oval Tests in 1948, 1972 and 2001. The 1972 one was dubious because it was a 6 day Test and it went well into the 6th day. It should have been a 5 day Test like the others in that series. Illingworth was not impress.

England won Oval Ashes Tests in 1953, 1968, 1985, 1993, 1997, 2009.

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A very rainy misty morning in London today looks like it will last all day as well so I doubt there will be any play today. Which would make the draw inevitable. So a 3-0 win for England not bad. Considering how poorly we have batted this series goes to show just how crap this Aussie side is.

 

When was the last time Australia didnt win a single Test in a series?

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May as well shake hands, call that the series and refund those who bought tickets for days 4 and 5. Tomorrow will be a pointless display of going through the motions.

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Sun starting to break through here a couple of miles from the ground.

Radar looks rubbish though

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Yep, started raining again.

May as well call it all off as a draw now.

Quality player, but always felt uneasy watching him bat. Anyone else recall how high he used to hold the bat. It was almost 45 above the wicket at times.

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Play just abandoned for the day without a ball being bowled.

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Watching the rain hammer down today was more fun than watching England block for a draw!

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Another connoisseur of Test cricket, evidently. 

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Not when the ball arrived it wasn't....

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Indeed. Through the line with the ball accelerating the opposite way [sn_bsmil]

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Tomorrow England avoid the follow on. Cook declares and invites the Ausseis to give us a total to chase. Would add a a bit of interest 

There's only four things wrong with that statement....

1.  Cook won't declare (until the final hour, when they can shake hands and walk off)

2.  The Aussies wouldn't declare

3. England wouldn't take any risks in their second innings

4. There isn't enough time left to engineer anything. Even assuming 7 hours tomorrow

 

Other than that, good plan....

 

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I don't think he was being entirely serious you know, Pete? 😂

You're right about Cook, though. If we had a lead of a 1000 with 5 sessions left, he'd probably still be batting.

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I know he was joking - that's why I provided an excessively detailed riposte......

I think people may be forgetting that there's another 5 test matches starting in 3 months' time.  Psychologically Cook and Flower want England as much on the front foot as possible to end this series.

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