Cricket

[Husky]

5 of us heading down. Quite looking forward to. Hopefully the rain will keep away. Either way it'll be better than the dross at Huddersfield.

Quite! I heard Jos Butler is available to play too.....

Are you driving down? Looks like an overnight stay for me (though haven't decided Kent or London), no way to do it in a day on public transport.

[Gav]

I'm think of going, tickets still available but it's a long way, even for me down here in West Midlands.

[Husky]

Looks like Canterbury student village for me. 2 miles from the ground, 200 yards from Asda.

[matt83]

Quite! I heard Jos Butler is available to play too.....

Are you driving down? Looks like an overnight stay for me (though haven't decided Kent or London), no way to do it in a day on public transport.

Train down to Canterbury for 11.08 think we arrive via Euston and St Pancras then staying down. After we went to Chelmsford and missed the last train home not worth risking it. There's a few nice pubs round the cathedral I hear. Sure Canterbury will be nicer than the last place I visited in Kent when rovers got Gillingham in the cup and stuck us in a rickety scaffold type stand.

[Husky]

Open return is definitely the way to go. And unless you book half a century in advance it's no more expensive than 2 singles anyway.

[Mattyblue]

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

[Gav]

Not made it down today but looking forward to the game.

Speaking to some Worcestershire fans in the pub last night, what a farce that was! They won the toss and batted second knowing the rain was coming, but for a ground that has no floodlights, why start at 5.30pm!

Amateurish.

[Gav]

Great start and end by Lancs, lost it a bit in the middle but a very manageable target.

Fingers crossed.

[matt83]

Should bloody win from here even being a pessimist. They rallyed in last 5 overs but hopefully finals day here we come!!!

[ABBEY]

And that shot shows why 20/20 isn't real cricket

[ABBEY]

Blimy that got a tad close

[Baz]

Got a bit lucky there, totally took their eye off the game. Should have cruised that last 5 overs.

[Husky]

@#/? me! What a game. You couldn't ever get more dramatic than that! On to Finals Day again.............

And as an added bonus; I didn't think about Boywers bores all day.

Oh Lanky Lankkkkkkkkyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

[MCMC1875]

Shaping up to be a good Bank Holiday weekend.

Fri night Rovers v Bolton.

Sat T20 finals day.

[oldjamfan1]

I see Liam Livingstone got glassed in a pub fight after the T20 quarter final. Thankfully it looks like he will be ok. Bloody cowardly thing to do that, some right Kents down there http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-33970941

[Husky]

Shaping up to be a good Bank Holiday weekend.

Fri night Rovers v Bolton.

Sat T20 finals day.

Nice of them to put the game on Friday to accomodate the masses of Blackburn cricket fans.

[oldjamfan1]

England win the toss and bowl first. I somehow think the Aussies might make a better fist of their first innings this time, though we live in hope!

[Husky]

Bit of a damp squid this last Ashes test. Weird too - I certainly can't remember a final Ashes test where England had nothing riding on it. It was usually close or England were trying to avoid 0 wins.

[Baz]

Hopefully this will serve as a reminder that England arent as good as the first 4 tests have led to believe. This must be close to being the most unbalanced set of tests in a series ever, every test has been a walkover so far.

[onlyonejackwalker]

Correct. Rub their noses in it, especially Smith, the next captain. But this is England - we're too nice. I'd keep Lyth one last time.

His shot selection is diabolical for an opening bat. Check out our opening partnerships this series. Pathetic. Such a key position, have to say our selection has been badly flawed.

If Haddin catches Root in that 2nd test we'd have probably lost this series. Australia have thrown it away with their batting in much the same way wd have tried to do. Should have been much, much closer.

I was always taught to protect my castle and not give my wicket away cheaply. Too many players in this series have simply gifted their wickets for it to have been high quality. 3 day test matches tells it's own story.

[jim mk2]

It's been the same all series - two abject batting teams neither of whom know how to knuckle down in adverse conditions. At least we've won the series - which is all that can be said from England's indifferent performances.

[onlyonejackwalker]

It's been the same all series - two abject batting teams neither of whom know how to knuckle down in adverse conditions. At least we've won the series - which is all that can be said from England's indifferent performances.

Fully agree. I think the shorter form of the game is reducing concentration spans and changing players techniques. Watching the Aussies give us slip fielding practice has been embarrassing.

Lyth - Bairstow - Ballance - Stokes. Not sure any of those are good enough as batsmen.

Bell has been ropey and very disappointing. Cook has struggled also after looking really good earlier this year. Root has done well at times but some very low scores have taken the gloss off his performances a tad.

Poor batting from both sides. Rubbish at times.

[Gav]

The Ashes are won, they've been taking it easy for the past 7 days so this performance isn't a surprise really.

As for the T20 finals, tickets sold out.....so it's TV for is sadly.

[Baz]

The Ashes are won, they've been taking it easy for the past 7 days so this performance isn't a surprise really.

As for the T20 finals, tickets sold out.....so it's TV for is sadly.

If they have been taking it easy, then thats a poor reflection on them as professionals. Would the Aussies do the same?

Also, regarding T20 tickets where available up until today if you really wanted them Gav.

[onlyonejackwalker]

The Ashes are won, they've been taking it easy for the past 7 days so this performance isn't a surprise really.

As for the T20 finals, tickets sold out.....so it's TV for is sadly.

Im not having that. Which bowler lkikes being battered all over the park and which batter likes being dismissed cheaply? Especially with International careers on the line?

Truth is the Aussies have applied themselves better than us when batting. Like we did compared to them in other tests.

Our opening stats make very poor reading; 7, 17, 0, 12, 19, 11, 32 and 30. Ouch!