Great job by the bowlers this morning and then Sibley and Butler batted very well although not sure some of the fielding placements were very well thought out. India will be a much tougher ask
Sibley has some grit about him, had a tough time out there, but saw us over the line. Good wins in alien conditions, we'll do well to win a Test in India, but we will have a stronger squad to work with
Disappointment for Ireland in the UAE playing Afghanistan. They have lost the first two matches in the three match series which hurts any chances of qualification via the League format scheduled now to end in March 2023. Afghanistan have uncovered two very exciting young players in Rahmanullah Gurbaz an opener and Naveen ul Haw a right arm seamer so their progress continues unabated. Ireland need to find someone to replace Boyd Rankin as currently their attack is pretty one paced.
I've been looking to see who's broadcasting the India tour (hoping it wasn't BT Sport as I've just got rid of it) and it turns out no one in the UK is currently showing it. The rights were bought by Star Sports as the host broadcaster and they happen to be owned by Disney. The rumour is Disney may not bother selling on the rights to a UK broadcaster and instead stream it on their own Disney+ platform.
India test series to be on Channel 4 in conjunction with Sky or BT? https://inews.co.uk/sport/cricket/i...t-series-uk-live-coverage-bt-sport-sky-848462
Confirmed now that the India v England series starting this Friday is back on terrestrial TV for the first time since the famous 2005 Ashes series. Channel 4 have won the rights to the coverage, fantastic news. Can't believe the 2005 Ashes is almost 16 years ago now, I was there! (well at the Old Trafford draw at least...) https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...rights-for-england-test-cricket-tour-of-india
Hm...or is is official? https://twitter.com/NHoultCricket/status/1356565049570189312 Have the papers jumped the gun - wouldn't be a first!
A good start and Root and Frank Sibley looking solid. It would have been even better if Burns had remembered it's a test match not a T20.
Solid start today, shame Sibley got out in the last over though, I knew that would happen! Fingers crossed it doesn't spark a collapse tomorrow morning... Well played Joe Root too, captains innings in his 100th test. Fair play.
Yes but Sibley will be kicking himself. 2nd test in a row where he had a great chance of a 100 and to get out in the last over of the day after a 200 stand....India will feel if they can get Stokes early in his innings they are right back in the game...
Absolutely right. An excellent day for England but can quickly go wrong. 400 an absolute minimum from here but should be looking at closer to 500. Pitch did nothing but sure it will take spin as the game goes on. Really enjoyed watching this morning. Why did Sky not want this? Looks like a great series to have
This is the essence, and delight, of Test cricket isn't it? 250-3 is fine but you have to keep concentrating and make sure you get to 450 plus, otherwise you lose the initiative and possibly the match.
Sky did want it, but I used to work at the ECB and they're desperate to get cricket back on free to air. The whole concept of The Hundred was basically created to get Cricket back on the BBC (the bbc said they wouldn't show T20 because it's still too long, hence 100 balls). This series didn't fall under Sky's contract so they saw the opportunity to get it back back on free to air.
Thanks Forza - useful info. Interesting that the ECB can choose to give the deal to a (presumably) lower bid in order to get cricket onto the free to air channels, or effectively tell Sky that they can't bid.
They did say last time we hit 450 or something and still managed to lose ! Hopefully without their other top line spinner India won’t be such a threat in the 2nd innings having to to rely on Ashwin although of course the seam bowlers are excellent.
Yeah, i'm quite surprised they didn't follow the money as a number of my friends have recently ben made redundant by the ECB! I think they have a really good relationship with Sky, as Sky let Channel 4 show the World Cup final on 4 for free as well at the request of the ECB.
