10-2 come on

Doing brilliant today.

158-8

yep Anderson superb! Hopefully get them on the follow-on.

Depends how we feel. Might fancy another bat might we?

lets not get beyond ourlesves we have to get them out first

Agreed but we haven't had a better chance to beat the aussies at HQ in years.

Flintoffs going nuts

Freddiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeee
Boy we will miss him.
Not just for his wickets but for the effect he has on his teammates and the opposition.
Plus just want to say, Shane Warne, what a fantastic addition to the Sky team.

GAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMME OVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVER

just need rain for the rest of the summer now

What a pity Shaun Wane wasn't such a great addition to our team!

news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket ... 162048.stm Gutted much?

news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket ... 162048.stm Gutted much?

Not really he is rubbish when hes injured

He's a top bloke is Shaaaaayyyyne.

BOWLING SHAAAYYYNE!

AAAA WELL BOWLED WARRRRRRNNEEEYYYY!

I wonder if he regrets trousering the dollars from the IPL?
He will be missed more because who on earth do we replace him with?
Ian Bell - not many other options because so few England qualified players of quality to choose from.

It'll have to be Bell, won't it? He has the experience...

The only options it seems to me are;
Bell - found wanting by the Aussies last time out but as you say experienced & a good fielder.
Key - another opener, not a no. 3, not tested by this level of opposition, a liability in the field.
Shah - even against the Windies did not inspire any confidence. Always seemed likely to run himself or his partner out. Up & down in the field.
Solanki - too late for him.
Morgan - not showing good enough form, excellent in the field though.

No others really come to mind. I was always disappointed in McGrath, lacks fitness in my view. Sales (Northants) again fitness is the issue, failed to live up to early promise.
Oh for Michael Vaughan to have rediscovered his form.

Bell MUST be called up, cracking form of late

True. Lets hope he keeps it up on the biggest stage of all.

McGrath is over-weight & useless. Completely useless. Worst captain we've had.

Ramprakash anyone?

On figures alone the best English born batsman of the last decade but for whatever reason just couldn't hack it at test level (cf Hick) but now well past his sell by date at this level.
I'd go with Bell at 3, Collingwood 4 & Bopara at 5.
Less optimistic for the rest of the series without Pieterson.
But they are beatable, it will be interesting to see if & when Lee plays.

I think they'll just sledge Bell to death and he'll do something stupid. Sherrrrmaaaan.

If Lee plays the next test. I really think we'll struggle.

Having Pietersen unavailable is in a perverse way an opportunity. We get an experienced batsman who is in good form in, to replace someone who has been struggling with an injury, and not 100%.

He may get a apir in the next match, but he is also capable of getting a decent score, and is likely to occupy the crease for longer than Pietersen

I would be more worried if pietersen was scoring the majority of runs in matches so far. So really Bell could end improving the team as he can hold up play and calm the game down if some quick wickets fall. Also he is very good at close fielding.