jim mk2

Who was that big Spanish lump from the Souness era - Yordi ? And there was a Spanish left winger whose name escapes me. Orr wasn't a bad player but probably had the worst attitude of any player I've seen at Ewood. I'd have lumped him in training in my playing days.

And MY opinion is you don't know your googlies from your Chinamen. Great performance by England today - far too many "foreign" players in the team obviously.

Nonsense. There are lots of players with dual nationalities through their parents - Stokes, Strauss, Pietersen among many others. And why should the dad's nationality be more important than the mother's ? It's a global marketplace - people move around and settle in other countries. Your stance is straight from the myopic UKip England for the English policy manual.

Jennings holds British citizenship through his mother, who was born in Sunderland. How that's for "plastic" ? Rubbish In that case Ted Dexter would have played for Italy and Colin Cowdrey for India.

Yep, but perhaps Coyley can get Lowey and Co to break the mould. If not they'll revert to being Coyle and Lowe again.

The advantage of that team is that Ali is better at No 7 and there is runs in it from 5 to 10. But it is still a very brittle top order; Duckett looks nervous at Test level while Billings is not a Test No 4 either. It's not difficult to see a 4-0 rout here unless England can make at least 400 in the first innings - which they have failed to do consistently for many years now.

Important game this weekend, even more so than usual, because a good result would show that the the win at Newcastle was not a fluke, that the team may genuinely have turned the corner and that we have real hope we can stay up. Even a draw wouldn't be that bad. A defeat however would cancel out all the good feeling from the Newcastle match and revive all the old doubts. Come on Rovers!

Didn't Forest win 5-2 away in their last match ?

Ali gone cheaply again, now 47-2 after India made the sort of total England should have scored.

Another below par total - England are about 100 short of where they should be. I'll say it again - Ali at No 4 is far too high and was never likely to be the solution to England's fragile top order.

Ali is not a Test No 4. Seven should be his highest. And playing Buttler purely as a batsman is a huge risk too given his weakness against spin.

Yeah, we get it. You don't like tennis. Alot of people consider golf boring too. Now why don't you go away and let us celebrate a world champion?

Andy Murray wasn't a "rich kid" but he had very supportive parents (mother). The days when our backstreets produced top-class footballers and cricketers are long gone and the best players in most sports these days have usually had huge parental backing. This doesn't necessarily mean they have money but they certainly have in most cases made sacrifices so their offspring can prosper. Andy Murray reaching world No 1 in a sport where we have been traditionally no-hopers is a fantastic achievement and should be celebrated.

Now 7 down. Four "batsmen" have gone for less than 10. England's batting has been suspect for a years now.

Good to see you back - where have you been ?

You're confusing racism with nationalism and for the record and from memory, I've criticised the NRA and the Republican party, English exiles supporting Australia at cricket and very few others.. The problem with racists is they use subjects like cricket or the EU referendum as a cloak to mask their true feelings and give them some sort of respectability. The likes of you loves knocking liberals for supposed PC attitudes but then don't like it when it's pointed out your rants might be construed a different way. At least that's the way they comes across. It would help us all if everyone were able to use direct language and label someone a racist when they clearly hold those views. But then that would upset the PC brigade and the moderators (again).

It's not unusual. I've acquaintances born and raised in England with Welsh and Scottish parents who always support Wales and Scotland against England. They say it's in the blood and how they were raised. I've no problem with it to be honest - it's staying loyaql to your roots, ethic or otherwise, though like I've said I draw the line when they refuse to back England against other countries. Going to Old Trafford and expecting locally born supporters of Pakistan to be cheering for England is a bit naive.

You wouldn't expect English expats in Australia or India or wherever to support the home team anymore than you would a Rovers fan who has moved to another town to support the local side against Rovers. I've no problem with Pakistanis or Indians etc supporting their country of ethic origin against England - but the ones who won't support England in matches against other countries or indeed anything at all get me down because it's rude and disrespectful to the country that has given them a home. They're the ones I'd stick on the first plane out of the airport.

Nasser was born in Madras, India. Loving the racist undertones in a cricket thread. Personally, I wouldn't expect Britons of Pakistani origin to support England in an England v Pakistan game but I would expect them to support England against any other country. That's the difference to me.

Fantastic game of cricket - would love to have been there. England looked finished at 98-6 but Woakes and Buttler played brilliantly. Woakes is finally developing into an international cricketer and it will be great to see him play alongside Ben Stokes in all forms of the game over the next few years. But what's happened to Joe Root ?

Brilliant night in Swansea. Libraries gave them power. http://www.nme.com/news/manic-street-preachers/89605

If Ainsworth weren't Blackburn-born, would he be a candidate ? Of course not, so why just because he is local do they think he would be a good manager?

Sam'll sort 'em out.

You've acknowledged that the rules allow Lancashire to sign overseas players. The residency rules allow overseas players to play for England after 7 years. As it happens I would rather counties didn't sign so many overseas players because I like to see local lads in the Lancashire team But that's not the point. The likes of Stokes, Pietersen, Trott, Prior etc etc etc etc have mostly English roots and have made England their home. Stokes has been here since he was 11, talks like a good Cumbria lad and probably would not want to play for NZ anyway. The bottom line is birthplace is irrelevant. Do you seriously expect Ted Dexter to play for Italy, Douglas Jardine, Colin Cowdrey and Bob Woolmer for India, Derek Pringle for Kenya, Phil Edmonds for Zambia, Freddie Brown for Peru, Dermot Reeve for Hong Kong or Geraint Jones for Papua New Guinea ?? Get real. I played club cricket for 50 years so I know a thing or two about the game. What's your excuse ?

Correct, at last. It's called globalisation. You might have heard of it. Cricket's no different. Trott by the way is of English descent, via the famous Albert Trott. He also holds a British passport. Just so you know.