The International Cricket Thread

[tomd2103]

Great day of cricket from an England perspective. Great debut for Gus Atkinson.

[PaulWinch again]

Poor old Gus, going to be the least high profile amazing debut performance ever.

[paul_e]

Couple of wickets gone this morning. Brook skying a short delivery with a really poor shot and then followed by Stokes going to one that spun massively out of the rough.

up to 260 though so already have a decent lead and we really should be looking at a minimum lead of around 200-250. This is a good chance for Smith as well, in with very little pressure and with Root looking really strong at the other end.

[paul_e]

Going pretty much exactly to plan I'd say, a good debut 50 for Smith, a nice 1st innings lead and we'll clearly get some overs at them tonight, looks likely to be a 3 day test though.

[Villan For Life]

That wicket means that Stokes is only the third player in the history of the game to score 6,000 runs and take 200 wickets. Only Sobers and Kallis have done it before.

[cdbearsfan]

I'd take Anderson off and bring him back when they're nine down, finish them off. Bowl someone who never takes wickets at the other end, any Warwickshire County Championship player should do.

[Brazilian Villain]

Just seen Phil Tufnell on TatT. Bloody hell, he's looks about 80, can only assume he hasn't been well.

[PaulWinch again]

Really disappointing from the Windies, but not unexpected given the level of preparation they’ve had.

On a related point I hadn’t realise quite how ridiculous the revenue model is in Test cricket. Essentially the West Indies board make a huge loss from this tour because the home team takes all the revenue. It then works quid pro quo in reciprocal way. That’s absolutely nuts, especially it’s in England’s interest for the games to be competitive to generate interest, which impacts ticket sales, future tv negotiations etc.

That is absolutely something that needs fixing to make the game sustainable - again big 3 need to be way less shortsighted.

[Steve67]

Be over before lunch.  Ruthless from England but very Sheffield United from the West Indies.

[Drummond]

Come on Jimmy.

[Drummond]

Ah, balls.

[manic-road]

Well that's the end of an incredible career, Jimmy Anderson one of the greatest ever bowlers.

[Villan For Life]

It’s a pity that he didn’t take the final wicket but what a fantastic career, the like of which we are unlikely to see again.

[Villa Lew]

It's gotta be Sir Jimmy now!

[Border villan]

Second test.
Just before the toss an England bowler cries off. Jimmy is there by chance with his kit on.
Jimmy opens bowling and goes on to overtake Warne on all time list.
Jimmy retires at end of game.

We can all dream.