[Lord Snooty]

Elgar marching towards a century.

[themaclad]

Finishing tests on a hat trick is so under rated

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

First spinner to do it since 1938: take a bow Moeen, perfect way to end an almost perfect Test.

Time to push on and clinch the series at Old Trafford.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

This is also only the third time in history a Test has been won by a hat-trick, following George Lohmann's against South Africa in 1896 and Hugh Trumble's for Australia against England in 1902.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

4th Test Match

Old Trafford, Manchester

Irrespective of what occurs in the sodden surroundings of Old Trafford this weekend, it's safe to say that Joe Root's first Test series as England skipper won't be soon forgotten.  England's fortunes have swung from one extreme to the other and back again, while the individual triumphs and travails - Jennings' opening woes, Moeen's historic hat-trick, TBR's devastating debut - have been riveting to watch.  Cloudy skies over Cottonopolis won't keep England from seeing the silver lining as they go into this final Test needing only a draw to secure the first series win against South Africa on English soil since 1998.

But that's not to pretend that all of the questions asked of England in this last month have been adequately answered yet.  Come November 23rd we'll need a solid, settled top order ready to walk out to the middle in Brisbane: right now we have a couple of gaping holes being filled by ifs, buts and maybes, and the opportunities to chop and change and bed players in are running out.  After a string of godawful showings Keaton Jennings may just have earned himself a short-term reprieve as an opener with his dogged, determined second-innings 48 at the Oval.  Tom Westley was quietly impressive on debut at number three with assured knocks of 25 and 59 on a devilish pitch, but a question mark hangs over Dawid Malan at number five, dismissed for a total of 11 runs in the match having faced just 35 balls.

Of course, for now there's no such uncertainty over his Middlesex teammate Toby Roland-Jones, whose eight wickets in South London near enough made a cult hero of him on his maiden outing; it's simply a case of putting those heady heights to one side and backing himself to keep delivering for the remainder of the summer.  As back-up, Steve Finn will be covering for Mark Wood, and the rest of the bowling attack will be as expected.

After a week of proper Lancashire rain the outfield at Old Trafford has been looking grim, but the forecast for the first three days of play is decent enough (though cloudy), and hopefully that weather will hold out through Monday and Tuesday.  Yes, Joe and the boys would probably prefer a batsman's paradise and a stress-free draw to go with it, but it looks like we'll be getting wickets aplenty instead.  Time to finish it off in style and put South Africa to the sword.

Play commences at 1100, 4th August 2017

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

England won the toss and elected to bat. Jennings gone for 17 with a nick behind, his nine lives are almost up now. Cook and Westley now grinding SA down with some good patient play. 67-1.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

England 182-4. Another half-century for the skipper, plus 5000 career Test runs. Fifth-fastest England player to reach that landmark, and fastest in the modern era.

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT

[themaclad]

That's an exceedingly old picture of OT when it was a cricket ground not a corporate enclave

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

That's an exceedingly old picture of OT when it was a cricket ground not a corporate enclave

Yeah, I've a penchant for posting older pics whenever I can find them. This one I think was early Seventies.

[themaclad]

In those days the sun shone!!!!!