Day 1 definitely, I was thinking that it was a results wicket, however it seemed to become easy paced as the game went on.

I suppose it just didn't disentegrate as you would hope, and as there was no swing or seam, ended up as a draw.

Though we did drop plenty of catches- ie AB on 8.

Usually a bit more bounce at Jo'Burg, so here's hoping it isn't another 600 plays 600.

Amla just isn't a captain, which I think even he knows.

Only England could hit 600+ declared and then be hanging on

Years of pro Kean propaganda from the media hasn't done the man much good, still hasn't been linked to an English job since the day he finally fecked off.

Just goes to show how tainted he is within the game.

I found the post match scenes really illuminating.

Souness was obviously a tough task master, no cosy relationships with the players there, yet he ensured that the lads were given the plaudits they deserved, i.e. insisting that Hughes went up with himself and Tony Parkes.

I can imagine working for Souey was intense and perhaps why things began to quickly unravel in the last 12 months.

Three years on from the last beating in the UAE and we still can't bat against spin... and these days we can't bowl it either.

Could be a match winning inninngs that.

Really tidy player, think Bell's days may be numbered...

Went last night, classic Bond really.

No pis$ing about- fast cars, women, gadgets. Nice nod to the back catalogue with the SPECTRE organisation.

Daniel Craig is really in his element now, ridiculously OTT at times, but he does it all with a knowing smirk.

Really enjoyed The Martian. Thought Matt Damon's performance was excellent, kept you captivated though on his own for long periods.

Sean Bean makes me laugh. He's Sheffield's answer to Sean Connery.

Seems odd that they'd ignore Rovers, the fact that in his first job he almost pulled off back to back promotions on a shoestring would surely be a great addition to any eulogy.

The pitch in Dubai usually offers more than this one, not been many draws there.

We can't have three Tests like this, terrible advert for the game.

Anyway my point being that this website isn't as out of kilter with the wider fanbase as some try to make out...

I don't disagree that he's a good squad player, however I always felt Evans and Williamson were a better partnership.

Bowyer may well have felt that Lowe was the best man for the job before Guthrie and Akpan joined. The quality of their performances however now surely make it unlikely we'll see Lowe as a starter again, so hopefully this whole argument can be put to bed...

Pathetic ain't it matty?

It's borne out of frustration.

It goes without saying that Jason Lowe is nowhere near good enough to be playing centre midfield at this level. Yet, he will be picked time after time to the detriment of the team.

It's also not fair on Jason himself, who is a good pro and shouldn't be the target of the ire, Bowyer has only himself to blame for the selection blind spots.

Jbizzle is saying something similar on another thread, I think trying to paint the members of brfcc as perhaps even revelling in others misfortune.

'Real fans' at Ewood wouldn't say such things, right?

Well pretty much every fan I heard yesterday was saying things like 'thank f*** he's injured', 'at least that injury's made Bowyer's mind up for him' etc etc.

Hales in the Test squad? He's in horrific nick.

Some tremendous Diggin' In to get that draw. Lost 1 wicket all day.

Shame Test players have forgotten how to do it.

I was there bob, gave them a right good hiding. Spurs fans lobbing their STs on the pitch (last game of the season, go figure!), 'wot a lowd a rabbish!'

Duff's final game.

Know what you're saying 1864, but I think a lot of it must be down to budget cuts.

For example, the TVs/big screen offering used to be called 'RoverVision' with theme music, screencards, a proper studio etc.

Now it's Neil Yardley pitch side reading out the teams, then legging it up to the gantry to do the commentary for Radio Rovers, then legging it back down to do the half time (now pitiful) draw, then legging it back to do the second half commentary, then chatting to the Radio Rovers host post match between interviewing players and Bowyer.

Radio Rovers is the same, no features, no guests, hardly any callers. Just a load of crap music pre match (who listens to music on medium wave these days!), then a studio chat and a couple of interviews post match.

Think back to the glory days and it was a completely differnt operation.

The chances of that were diminishing year on year through lack of investment. Even multi champions league winning Allardyce (He must be to have this strange reputation that is gargantuanly bigger than the sum of his parts) was angling for an excuse to jump ship before the sheet hit the fan. Retirement he called it. Even in the final weeks he was putting the feelers out for a new job. Like I said in hindsight anything can be claimed. Even the clairvoyant notion that everything that has come to pass was foreseen at the time. More utter revisionist tripe Nobody knew just how wrong they'd get it and they couldn't have done more wrong if they tried. 4 utterly useless and pointless managers later............

No, but plenty said that sacking Allardyce WAS wrong. In fact, I went on and on about it to anyone that would listen from day 1. Pull out my posts from the time or have been sitting in my area of Ewood.

Ok, with minimal invesment who had more chance of keeping us up there? The bloke who had seen and done it or a punt in to the unknown? We had just tried that after Hughes went.

Just admit it Shaun, it was a dreadful, unnecessary desicion that has hastened our demise.

Absolutely unreal that after the last 5 years, Allardyce still has his detractors.

It's not just this place, a bloke at Ewood told me it 'was still the right decision' on Friday. Such nonsense used to make me angry, now I'm just bemused.

All the club needed was to hold on to the PL for 3/4 more years, just look at also ran PL clubs like West Brom, they can now turn down £30million bids for their players and buy their own at £15million+ solely down to the new TV deal. Look at what well run clubs like Swansea are acheiving on average crowds of 20,000.

Those clubs could and should have been us. As John Williams used to say, 'we are the model' for aspiring middle to small ranked football clubs.

Keeping Allardyce would have helped us be part of the PL cartel for the forseeable future, securing our future for generations, but 'it was still the right decision' he said as he looked out on an empty Ewood Park as we sat in the bottom 3 of the Championship.

I got in the car just as 'Xavier' came on.

They rarely have callers on these days, especially so close to full time. As others say he was obviously lined up beforehand. Didn't sound Lancastrian.

Spent 10 minutes babbling on about the fans, then probably realised he should be a bit more balanced, said we needed to buy a striker and went. Very odd.

Tough tour of the UAE coming up, we all remember the last one and Pakistan have a tremendous record there.

Seeing England flounder to Lyon at the Oval doesn't bode well.

To be fair it's not just England. So many Test matches are seeing batting collapses. This series didn't see one close match.

The ongoing Sri Lanka/India series has seen India skittled for 120 in the first Test, Sri Lanka the same in the second test.

The art of saving the game/coping with scoreboard pressure seems to be vanishing.

Good to see Jos play, he needs a good knock with the ODIs and T20 Finals Day (hopefully!) to come..