*Official* Pakistan in England and Ireland 2016

[Howe_zat]

Shot skip

 

[Howe_zat]

1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2 in that over. Good one-day batting against a very one-dayish sort of field.

 

[Compton]

I really like Root at 3, if only because his partnerships with Cook are absolutely brilliant.

 

[Groundking]

Cook to run a ball ton up then declare.

 

[91Jmay]

Cook twin centuries on the cards here.

 

[Zinzan]

Martin Crowe-esque that pull stroke from Root, in that he appeared to have all the time in the world.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Speed we are going today they can both get another ton and not worry about wasting too much time.

 

[91Jmay]

Root might be close to tonning up himself if he carries on at this rate, can see him getting out though.

 

[Captain_Cook]

Cook twin centuries on the cards here.

Root will be in the 80s. Doubt he would declare on Root so close to twins as well.

 

[Compton]

Root will be in the 80s. Doubt he would declare on Root so close to twins as well.

At this rate Root could well ton up before Cook.

 

[Howe_zat]

That was brisk.

Fielders don't appear to be at the races. Already onto batting mentally I expect.

 

[Zinzan]

Could somebody fill be in as to why England are still batting with ominous weather forecast? Their lead is 530, not 330.

 

[Compton]

I know Pakistan haven't covered themselves in glory, but I can't imagine there have been many test matches lost when the number 3 chalks up over 300 runs.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Could somebody fill be in as to why England are still batting with ominous weather forecast? Their lead is 530, not 330.

The crims used to call it mental disintegration.

 

[91Jmay]

Could somebody fill be in as to why England are still batting with ominous weather forecast? Their lead is 530, not 330.

The forecast isn't that bad, but it is a bit of a risk. If Pakistan end up needing to bat out 120 overs that is doable I think.

 

[Compton]

Could somebody fill be in as to why England are still batting with ominous weather forecast? Their lead is 530, not 330.

The forecast is fine.

I disagreed with Cook's decision to not enforce the follow on, but once he made it he has to commit to batting at least an hour this morning. I'd probably bat an hour, an hour and a half. Get a quick half hour in before lunch so they have to start twice against a new ball.

 

[Compton]

Over 50 runs already this morning

Good effort.

 

[Scaly piscine]

This scorecard from 10 years ago shows why Cook didn't follow on.

ENG 551/6d
SL 192
SL 537/9 (f/o)

Match Drawn

God people in here going full on 'one swallow makes a summer' argument. Or a world champion who understands game theory far better than most said it was wrong so it must be right. The last few pages must be an appreciative nod to PakPassion. Declarations are totally something you can look at with a maths brain and make better calls than professional cricketers. Because the main variables are bad light & umpire interpretation (which as said yesterday they were very lenient with), rain (you can get hourly percentage chances on it occurring - which varied between 10 and 33 percent when I last checked, the higher ones were more for tomorrow), the sort of typical range of scores that are in Pakistan's ability, as well as how many overs they can bat. I don't expect Cook to interpret all these factors, but England have plenty of backroom staff who would make a better call than Cook with Broad and Anderson whining in his ear about having to bowl more than 12 overs in a day.

It's not about exceptional examples, saying it is wrong to enforce the follow-on because a team batted out 199 overs once. It is about what gives you the best chance. Cricket is all about playing the percentages. There's never a 100% foolproof option. Whether it is the game as a whole or a particularly delivery. You can't play in fear of making a mistake or having a bad result. It's like when Sri Lanka got bowled out when they only needed to bat out 40 or so overs for a draw. It was unlikely, but you give yourself the best chance of winning and you will win more games ultimately.

Australia have gone full-moron ever since they lost when enforcing the follow-on. They've completely ignored the fact they could have replayed that Test 1000 times and never have lost again. That it took all time great innings, a full day's play without a wicket falling, a comically inept Australian batting performance. The focus should be on that, not the decision because the decision was correct.

Here there should still be attention paid to the decision, no matter what happens, because it was a shocking decision and they need to learn from it.

 

[Howe_zat]

I know Pakistan haven't covered themselves in glory, but I can't imagine there have been many test matches lost when the number 3 chalks up over 300 runs.

Don't think there has been much danger of losing for a while.

Had a dig after reading your post, Root is close to an England record for most runs in a Test by a number 3.

Batting records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[Zinzan]

The crims used to call it mental disintegration.

The forecast isn't that bad, but it is a bit of a risk. If Pakistan end up needing to bat out 120 overs that is doable I think.

The forecast is fine.

I disagreed with Cook's decision to not enforce the follow on, but once he made it he has to commit to batting at least an hour this morning. I'd probably bat an hour, an hour and a half. Get a quick half hour in before lunch so they have to start twice against a new ball.

All fair enough, provided Pakistan don't somehow hang on 8 or 9 down for 384