Sri Lanka 9.30 start Thursday morning …. We need to win all the remaining games to have any chance so c’mon England you can do it ! Who’s watching ?
Skybet "boost" 5/4 for England to win, hit the most sixes and have the most runs after 15 overs. Time to be patriotic
congratulations England on climbing 2 places up the table in 2 days despite not playing. Maybe that's the secret.
The bet I said wasn't worth it when England win and both sides 250+ runs was evens and seems easier. Although it begs the question why an experienced player like Matthews wasn't good enough for the original squad and gets a wicket with his third ball.
Wtf happened they were cruising when the openers were batting. I went on a work call for an hour and we’re 5 down!!
Wonder if Strauss still thinks The Hundred is good for England cricket? ODI champs to ODI chumps in four years.
I honestly didn’t think he’d hit that, but think it might have been sneaking down leg anyway. Regardless of that reprieve, it’s another shocking performance.
No idea how he gave that catch out. You just couldn’t tell from the replays so surely it’s not out? Not that it takes away anything from how abject we are.
I watch a lot of cricket. Domestic and international. Once a third umpire is involved in a low catch it’s rare they are given out unless the view is very clear and shows the fingers are underneath the ball. They only ever gave ones like those out when they used to do the ‘soft decision’ thing; where they couldn’t definitively decide the on field decision was wrong etc. Now there’s no soft signal it’s purely up to the third umpire - and he needs to be sure a catch is taken cleanly to give it out. I am honestly flabbergasted that he gave that out. Sky commentators praising the third umpire for a ‘brave’ decision. It isn’t brave whatsoever - we’ve all seen the replays. You can’t see. He’s guessed. There’s absolutely no way you can be sure he caught it. He might have caught it. The fielder thought so. Stokes watching from the non-strikers end said it bounced. The on-field umpires weren’t sure. The replays are nowhere near clear enough and the benefit of any doubt, never mind that much doubt, should always go to the batsman. It won’t affect the game as we have been woeful anyway - but that really is a pretty poor bit of umpiring. You could see from the Sri Lankan celebrations when it went on the screen how shocked they were to get it - that tells you all you need to know. It’s the inconsistency that’s the issue. There is clear precedent that those are given not out, and I can guarantee that another close low ‘catch’ in another game will be given not out - probably one that has clearer images suggesting the fielder may have caught it. The more I think about it the more I think it’s a shocking decision. EDIT Stokes gone now. What an abysmal team we have become. Embarrassing.
Bat first, chase, makes no difference. We’re ******* ****. Some of the best players in the world when on form, but they’re not. And they’re led abysmally. The captain and coach have to go. I said it the other day on this thread. (EDIT, apologies it was in the England v SA thread). Nothing we’ve seen since suggests I was wrong.