And they've both gone. Seven down with not much "batting" left The other lot could have 4 sessions to knock it off in singles

And almost 6 down. Bairstow escapes by a whisker England on the golf course before the end of play?

Reverse ramp attempt by Root on the first ball of the day - which went over the top of the stumps Entirely pre-conceived shot and totally reckless This isn't bold, attacking cricket - it's stupidity

Backs to the wall today ...... England need to bat all day to avoid defeat. Three wickets down in the first session and it could be curtains. No Bazball bollocks. Proper fighting Test cricket please

This Song - The Stranglers

World in Motion - New Order

And 27-2. Here we go

A "positive" attitude is fine .... but not all the time. Sometimes pragmatism is required, such as now when England need primarily to make a decent score in order to avoid defeat. Throwing wickets away with reckless shots with more than 2 days to go isn't positive, it's downright stupid. England may win the match from here (or may not) but the declaration will never make sense to me. Two batters with their eyes in, tired bowlers after a long day, and possibly 50 runs or more given away

7 runs innings lead. Silly declaration on a 5-day match, dropped catches, should have been so many more. England have to bat the rest of today and most of tomorrow to avoid defeat

Bairstow dropped another. He should be dropped as a wicketkeeper

Que? England won matches before McCullum turned up This is about a very questionable declaration, surrendering a strong position when Root and Robinson were going along very nicely and could have made the match safe by posting a very big score and scored some psychological points against the other lot As it stands it’s easy to see a scenario in which England can easily lose this match. Bazball is fine when it works but there’s a load of hype around it too and Stokes seems to have taken an unnecessary risk We had a long debate about it down our cricket club last night and the consensus was it was a daft decision

Playing out exactly as I thought - they'll make 450 or even 500 leaving us with a first innings deficit and fighting to save the game.

It's a gamble - it might pay off, but equally it might not. The thing is, at 393-8 you've a chance to take the score beyond 450 and more or less make the game safe. As it stands, the other lot will feel they can now get 100 or more runs ahead and put England under considerable pressure. To me, it was a reckless and unnecessary decision. But we'll see. If England win the match it will be vindicated.

Is anyone actually watching this? Why?

England declare at 393-8. Extraordinary because that's a 450-550 pitch This is not Test cricket as we know it Jim Root in supreme form. You can bet at least 2 of the other lot will get similar scores

It was poor. Losing 3 wickets in the first session was poor. This is a 400 plus pitch

Crawley useless last ball before lunch

Bairstow is best when he's attacking and batting at No 7 means if England are struggling he may have to shepherd the tail to a decent score , which is not his natural game. No 7 is too low for him. Bringing back Ali is unlikely to work. His bowling average is Ashes matches is poor and his batting is very hot and cold. The lack of decent English spinners is worrying Whatever the line-up England are more than likely to be 50-3, because they usually are, and it's also more than likely England will lose the first Test, because they are often poor starters in Ashes series. It's important we beat this lot - there's nothing better in cricket. Nothing.

Gordon McQueen - another one lost early to dementia https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63664992 Top player in his day. Saw him play for the great Leeds team and for ManU in the 1979 Cup final v Arsenal

Championship clubs “living beyond their means” according to a Deloitte’s report. The average wage / revenue of clubs is 108 per cent, having risen for 5 years in a row, with most clubs increasing loans in an “unsustainable manner” as they gamble on promotion to the riches if the Premier League

They didn’t want Colin’s back to basics football style either The same sort who were also happy to see Sam sacked. They never learn

He thinks EPL is acceptable too. Low standards.

As above, I couldn't really care less about English clubs doing well in Europe any more. The 1980s/90s days of supporting Forest, Villa and Liverpool in the European Cup with teams composed of a mix of British players, and British managers, with whom you could identify. have long gone. I didn't watch the Manchester City - Inter Milan game and showed only a passing interest when it was on the 10pm news, something that would have been unthinkable in the past

Some great goals and memories Poignant was David Thompson with a rare header. Saw him outside Ewood shortly after he'd had to finish because of a knee injury He looked absolutely distraught. Very good player

And go back to its true and best form, the European Cup, knockout football home and away from the first round