[Lord Snooty]

July
3-5, v Somerset, Taunton - Match drawn Scorecard
8-10, v Sussex, Hove - Match drawn Scorecard
14-18, 1st Test, Lord's - Pakistan won by 75 runs Scorecard
22-26, 2nd Test, Old Trafford
29-30, v Worcestershire, Worcester

August
3-7, 3rd Test, Edgbaston
11-15, 4th Test, Oval
18, 1st ODI v Ireland, TBC
20, 2nd ODI v Ireland, TBC
24, 1st ODI, Southampton (D/N, 14:00)
27, 2nd ODI, Lord's (10:30)
30, 3rd ODI, Trent Bridge (D/N, 14:00)

September
1, 4th ODI, Headingley (D/N 14:00)
4, 5th ODI, Cardiff (10:30)
7, t20I, Old Trafford (N 18:30)

[Lord Snooty]

Anderson, Stokes and Rashid called up for the 2nd test. Toby Roly Jones has been omitted from the last squad and he's off to play with the lions.
He needs to be careful then. Sharp teeth them lions.

[Lord Snooty]

England v Pakistan

The 2nd Test Match

Friday July 22nd - Tuesday July 26th

at Old Trafford
starting at 11:00

Team news:

After the failings of the batsmen at Lord's, it is the bowlers who pay the price, with both Jake Ball and Steven Finn chopped from the 14-man squad on the eve of the game, to ensure the prompt returns of Anderson and Stokes. The whittling implies it could be a straight shootout between Moeen and Rashid for the spin-bowling slot, in which case Bairstow would slide back down to No. 7 to accommodate Stokes in his favoured No. 6 position. But, given the surfeit of genuine allrounders in England's squad, there is a strong case to experiment with two spinners in a six-man attack. Chris Woakes was one of England's most solid batsmen at Lord's and is arguably wasted as low as No. 9.

England (probable) 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Alex Hales, 3 Joe Root, 4 James Vince/Adil Rashid, 5 Gary Ballance, 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 8 Moeen Ali, 9 Chris Woakes, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 James Anderson.

No overt hints from Misbah as to the make-up of his XI, but there seems little reason for Pakistan to change a winning formula. Their batsmen produced enough runs over the course of two innings - and will be better acquainted with the conditions having done so - while the trio of left-arm seamers all came good on the final day to take the pressure off Yasir. There was a minor scare in the build-up to the match when Yasir was struck on the left shoulder in the nets, but he's good to go.

Pakistan (probable) 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Shan Masood, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Wahab Riaz, 9 Mohammad Amir, 10 Rahat Ali, 11 Yasir Shah.

[Lord Snooty]

Stokes and Anderson in. Ball and Finn out. No place for Rashid.

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Lunch: England 95-1

[Lord Snooty]

Roooooooooooooooot

[Lord Snooty]

Scorecard

Day 1 close: Eng 314-4

[Lord Snooty]

ROOOOOOOOOT

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Shocking decision to give Stokes out. Very little movement on Snicko. Not conclusive evidence to overturn the umpire's decision, but overturn it they have. Boo!

[St Charles Owl]

ROOOOOOOOOT

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Shocking decision to give Stokes out. Very little movement on Snicko. Not conclusive evidence to overturn the umpire's decision, but overturn it they have. Boo!

I hate the need for replays or technology to determine if w batsman has nicked the ball. Anyone who has ever played cricket or held a cricket bat would know that the slightest nick would easily be felt by the batsman, and in that situation they should walk, not need to be given out!! Seems golf and snooker are the only two sports left with the sort of integrity cricket used to have.

[Lord Snooty]

Eng 589-8 DEC
Lunch Pak 119-8

Think we're iin control of this one.

[Lord Snooty]

A lead of 391 but no follow on enforced. Then at 11-0, the rain came. Has the skipper cocked up?
I wouldn't think so. Should be plenty of time to finish the game with a win. Most of the time lost can be made up. Unless it rains solid for the next two games, under which circumstances we wouldn't have won anyway.
Anyway, play restarting now.