jim mk2

Enthralling day's cricket at Lord's...... tough battle between bat and ball as two teams fought hard and gave no quarter for the upper hand. Proper Test cricket and no slap and tickle I thought England were 100 runs short but we'll see what happens. Bumrah is an extraordinary bowler, averaging about 19. He's got Root out so many times now and did it again today.

That was proper Test cricket today, England carefully building the innings through Root getting his head down and not playing any silly shots supported by Pope and then Stokes. Pope remains a flawed player, playing daft shots outside the fifth stump when he went in. Crawley is in last chance saloon for me, averaging 30 and about only 18 in the last year of so.

Pope dropped and lucky to survive 1st ball Since then it's been proper old school cricket, scoring below 3 an over

He’s charging down the wicket, trying to play T20 shots. When you’re trying to build a big total in a game lasting 5 days. He might get a big score, he might not. Either way it’s not cricket as we know it (Jim)

Root failed badly in the last Test. You’re only as good as your last game

The above shouldn't happen. Amateurish, people not qualified for the jobs they're doing, not doing their job properly, so eventually businesses fail. Plain wrong. Happens right across the country and the economy. Why are we surprised that the same is happening at Ewood?

England win toss and bat first (hurrah). Lovely day, perfect for batting. No excuses, time for Crawley, Duckett, Pope and Root to deliver

So the 1980s and 1990s Test era was not entertaining? Wonderful players such as Botham, Gower, Gooch, etc, Flintoff in the 2000s - really? Those players knew how to attack and they knew how to defend and play cautiously too, when necessary. Going back to the 60s and 70s, Boycott was a superb technician, without parallel in batting technique, and the master of building an innings and not giving his wicket away.. I used to love watching him battle against the great fast bowlers of the day - Lillee, Thomson, Holding, Marshall and the rest. And there were dashers then too - Milburn, Dexter, Graveney and others could belt the ball around the ground when needed in Bazball style. They were great players in the true sense of the word; the likes of Crawley, Pope, Duckett etc wouldn't get in an England 4XI against the players of those eras England were underperforming under McCullum's predecessors and the only way was up after those miserable failures. There's been some good wins under him but in the most important series of all, they got it completely wrong Who can forget 2023 when Stokes's stupid declaration at Lord's gave extra time that Australia made full use of to claim a victory that should never have happened, and in the second Test, when England hooked again and again to fielders in the deep with Lyon off injured and the game at England's mercy. England 2-0 down when they should have been 2-0 up and the Ashes gone This summer against India and the winter tour down under is the ultimate test of whether Bazball is a success. If England come through and win both series I'll take my hat off. And to be honest I don't care how England do it - as long as we win, because winning (and not losing sometimes) is all that matters. Entertainment is for children

What was Smith playing at yesterday? Smashing the ball around the field as if it were a run chase, hits 2 sixes in successive balls then gets out trying to hit a third. Totally brainless in the context of the game and why Bazball is flawed

It's the rigid mentality of Bazball that's so annoying Engfland prefer to bat fourth and chase a score but that defies logic when they win the toss, it's a good batting wicket and they put a very good batting team like India into bat first. Then, 1000 runs for India later, refusing to bat for a draw which would have been an excellent achievement equal of any run chase. And before anyone points to the first Test, India would have won that too if they hadn't dropped so many catches Then there's the nature of the defeats - absolute thrashings. This 336-run defeat follows the 423-run loss in Hamilton, the nine-wicket thrashing in Rawalpindi, the eight-wicket defeat by a poor Sri Lanka team and the 434-run thrashing by India last February. It's all or nothing - with no in between. England say they want to follow Strauss's team and become world No 1 - they haven't a prayer playing brainless Bazball cricket

The The instant gratification generation on display. Pathetic India's fine bowling (and England's poor bowling) has been noted

Cardiff 2009. One of the best, most tense, most excruciating Test matches of all time as England’s last wicket pair Anderson and Panesaar held out for an improbable draw. Atherton’s one man defiance of South Africa to secure a draw. Brilliant games that lives long in the memory. There is a middle way between attack and defence, all the best teams do it and the best teams would have fought tooth and nail for a draw today. This Bazball England team is not one of them.

My mistake - but the point stands. A poor defeat ..... long may it not continue

Deeply (literally) disappointing performance by England - wrong call on the toss (again...... England got away with it in the first Test) , and then outbowled and outbatted from the first day. This Test was eminently saveable with sensible batting today and a mindset to dig in for a draw but the win/lose mentality of this team meant there was only going to be one outcome. Bazball nonsense To make it worse, it's the first time India have won at the England stronghold Headingley and India showed England how to bowl well in English conditions. The England attack looked toothless and there needs to be wholesale changes for the next Test. Combined with the women's defeat in the Euros it's been a depressing weekend for England

Nixon makes a living on filing football gossip. It puts food on his table so it doesn’t matter to him whether it has a semblance of truth as long as it fills the column inches (in newspaper terms). In reality his nonsense can be ignored because only a tiny fraction of his stuff actually comes true There’s a couple of posters on here who have their ears to the ground on what’s going on in Ewood. Real contacts. They’re the ones to watch

The Lionesses were pussy cats tonight. Disappointing, tepid performance and big game against the Dutch on Wednesday.

Another poor day for England and needing about 6 an over this is a match they cannot win From this position they need to forget this stupid Bazball mindset and aim to bat the whole day tomorrow A draw is a perfectly acceptable result and would be as good as a win if they can achieve it

England lose last 5 wickets for 20 runs. Innings included 6 ducks and 2 150s. Bonkers Bring back Boycott and Barrington

Normal service resumes with Duckett and Pope. 587 looks a long way off

Shocking news. Awful. Excellent player and seemed a nice lad too, recently married. RIP.

Baath is a very good defender and a big loss - really disappointed to see him go. And Derby only gave him a one -year deal too - which says it all about the cretins at Ewood.

Neil Hawke, another Aussie, was the East Lancs pro in the late 1960s. Yours truly faced him in the nets a couple of times. My grandad loved watching Learie Constantine (“Conny”) - one of the all time greats - at Rammy. He used to dash down to the ground when word got round that Conny was “in”. Another Ramsbottom pro was Clive Rice, one of the best players to play for South Africa and had a great career with Notts.

Michael Holding played for Rishy too. Saw him play at Ramsbottom early 1980s, wanging it down at amateur batsmen. He was very fair though, no short stuff and kept the ball up to the bat. Dennis Lillee played for Haslingden in he mid 1970s. Great win yesterday and it will be good to beat India in this series. But as above it's the Ashes that really counts for me and England's pace bowling attack in this Test would not be good enough down under. If Archer and Wood (and Atkinson, who I really rate) were fit and firing on all cylinder we might have a chance.

We always played 2 touch football in training - it speeds the game up and forces you as a player to think quicker and get your first touch right You have to wonder if Rovers should do the same because it would improve Dolan’s game.

I don't think "Bionic" Bradshaw achieved the heights expected of him either. Died last year, only 67