Bopara does himself no favours by missing out for the Lions against Sri Lanka A.

If England want a fourth seamer option to replace Trott, then the natural solution is to keep Bell at three and give Ben Stokes a shot batting at six IMO.

I hope this match at Scarborough isn't going to be turned into an audition, like the last Lions match when Morgan got a big ton and Bopara missed out after scoring heavily for Essex while Morgan was faffing around in the IPL. Bopara got a 150+ at Southend last week, a notoriously bowler-friendly ground where no individual had scored more than 77 in the previous nine innings. Surely that needs to be taken into account as well as this current Lions match.

Morgan, like Broad, seems to be one of those players the selectors fancy, whereas Bopara looks like becoming another Owais Shah.

I'm sure James Taylor will do well if picked. This is his third season and he's been very consistent with no real spell of lean form of any length. He batted superbly in a losing cause against Surrey's full strength pace attack of Tremlett, Meaker, Dernbach & Arafat when I saw him at The Oval in May, and coped comfortably when Tremlett tried to bully him with short stuff. I reckon the selectors will pick him on the basis he is ready and is the better prospect in the long term, which would probably be fair enough.

Ben Stokes has only just come back after a two month injury lay off and hasn't bowled since, so it's not really the time to consider him given his lack of experience.

I like Bopara but there's something not quite right about him. Technically very correct, capable of a gorgeous innings, but there's just something missing. This week I've heard the word 'dozy' so many times about Ian Bell, well that's what I see Bopara as really, his running between the wickets, he never looks alert in the field to me, his batting in test matches was worked out easily.

The way I see Test Cricket at the top, I'm talking Ashes/This Series, you have to be alive every ball, every single ball. If you're at third man, mid on, batting, bowling, whatever - be alive. I don't think Flower thinks he has those powers of concentratuin and to be honest, I think Morgan is struggling with it. I think the T20/ODI thing he finds easy, but I've seen the same traits in him. It tests your mental state test cricket, I think that's why he'll be a Shah.

I think he's got a lot in common with Bell, who is three years older and has only really come good consistently in the last couple of years. Do you persevere with Bopara and trust him to come good? He's a former county teammate of Flower's, while Gooch coaches him at county level and is involved with the England coaching, so to be fair he's not likely to be overlooked without good reason.

Bopara in the squad for the third test in place of the injured Trott, Tremlett and Finn both included as well.

Double the chances of leaving Bresnan out then.

I think it will be an unchanged side to be honest especially with Tremlett still not fully fit apparently.
As I will be there for the first 2 days can I please ask for a) the rain to leave us well alone and b) for Sachin to get to that 100th 100 please. Thanks!!

Tremlett now officially ruled out: www.ecb.co.uk/news/england/npowe ... 61,EN.html

Tremlett now officially ruled out: www.ecb.co.uk/news/england/npowe ... 61,EN.html

Perfect morning for England even after Gambhir and Dravid got off to a bit of a flyer. Broad and Bres get 2 a piece and I struggle to see how Bresnan can be left out now even when Tremlett is fit.

It's a great position to be in when we could probably play with 5 specialist batsmen with Prior, Bres, Broad and Swann at 6-9 and stiill one of the best mid-lower orders in the world. They're a scary propostion at 7-10 for anyone and if we use Jimmy as nighchman they'd be 8-11! Swann would probably bat 8 in most test sides in the world .

Unless it's a bit of a green seamer and the cloud comes in, I'm struggling to see India taking the 20 wickets they need to win the game anyway without Zaheer and the Turbanator. If England can knock them over cheaply first time around I reckon it could be job done by Saturday.

Indian pub team all out for 224.

Cook and Strauss arre making this look like a different wicket.
The difference in quality between the 2 bowling attacks is ridiculous.

The real test will be in the winter - hopefully we now have batsmen patient enough to bat all day on their slow, low tracks. I'm sure our bowlers can win at least one test for us.

I don't know about you lot, but I feel bloody privileged to be watching such a dominant England test match team in their prime.

It's a joy to watch.

Absolutely...long may it continue!

Innit just. It's not that along ago I wondered if I'd see an England side string two wins together, never mind this sort of consistent performance.

Sure is mate, fantastic.

After seeing the new pavillion at Egbaston, in detail at tea; and the recentish developments at Trent Bridge and the Oval I am still shaking my head abou who commissioned the piece off junk that was built at Headingley. We must be lagging miles behind as a Test venue now and surely even Lancs won't mess it up as much as we have!

I hate to throw a negative into all this, but Eoin Morgan is not a test player.....I'd very quickly get him out of there and get another youngster in the side.

Morgan looks like a modern day Neil Fairbrother....One day wonder, poor Test match player.

If he struggles against this attack, god knows what the South Africans will do to him....

Relentless stuff from England with bat and ball, India just can't handle it and more and more look like they can't want to be out of here.

If the weather holds, and we score another quick lot of runs I wouldn't be too shocked if they crumble and this is over tomorrow.

Fantastic! I've waited nearly forty years for this. Luckily the ECB (unlike their Indian counterparts) prioritises the Test Match game. The boffins who calculate the Test Match rankings have backdated all their results and apparently the last time England was No.1 was under Ray Illingworth in the late 60's/early 70's, and even then there was the proviso that the brilliant South Africa side of Barry Richards, Graeme Pollock, Mike Procter etc. was barred during the Apartheid era. Going back further we were last the best from 1953-59.

Once again, while I'd like to stress it's great England are so excellent, it's a shame the Indians don't seem to take the Test game as seriously as we do, which might have made for a more compelling series. England's preparations for last Winter's Ashes series were excellent. A two month break after our domestic season followed by a series of proper First Class matches in Australia ahead of the First Test. India, in this series, resemble the England ODI team that pitched up for the World Cup: some players worn out from months of continuous cricket, others undercooked - as a team, strangely jaded yet unprepared for the prevailing conditions. The ODI World Cup, the IPL, a tour of West Indies all squeezed into the last four months or so.

It's sad the BCCI didn't take this tour of England as seriously as the ECB took the tour of Australia.

India are generally a poor touring team but a completely different proposition at home. Australia at their peak with Warne and co failed to win a series there.

340 ahead, still 7 wickets in hand I'm pretty sure if we won't need to bat again.

Farcical scenes now. Apparently it's too dark to be safe for the Indian fast bowlers to operate and Edgbaston have lost power to the lights, so everyone has to pack up and go off. Deary me.

Typical middle-order collapse

Off they go again, almost as ridiculous as the fact we are still batting.