:panja's a c*** emoticon:

The powers gone to his head,Dave.Shame it didn't go to his shite thread title though.

:panja isn't a c*** emoticon:

Anyway, on topic.

I'll be watching the Aus v Ind test to see what the threats are and will report back post haste.

What do you reckon of our chances? I'm fairly optimistic...

I see the Aussies have started well in India? Ponting's making the wicket at Bangalore look like a holiday camp.

I like Ponting. I also like reading and going for long walks..

I thinking you've spelt poncing wrong, Panja.

Hussey has been batting well and the Indian attack doesn't look over threatening from the brief highlights I've seen.

Harbijam and Crumble look very ordinary don't they? Brett lee's making them look like he bats at three, not nine. Be interesting to see how the Aussies bowl at them, seeing as they haven't got a decent spinner in the team..

I see the Orstralians are getting a bit of a stuffing in Mohali. Their bowling attack is so one-dimensional now that McGrath and Warney have retired, with Brett Lee bowling with Johnson who then get replaced by Watson and daybootant Siddle. No spinner of any note except for Michael Clarke, who rips it about as much as Michael Vaughan does - In other words, not very much..

And as the sun goes down on day three, India are nearing a lead of 300 with all second innings wickets left and two day to go..

Yay. Screw you Ponting you little cock.

Yet another lamentable show by the pokers and prodders who pose as batsmen. Yet again Ian Bell did what Ian Bell does best; to wit he manages to look rather classy for an over or two before getting himself out to a lame shot. Self evidently the others are no better. Worth a Grr! or two of anyone's money, is that.

A piss poor performance all round from England...still there's only six more ODI's left now..!
K.R.O.

England have to learn and learn fast, that they cannot nurdle runs on perfect batting strips. The Indians took advantage of a small ground by hitting high and long all innings and yet Bell and Prior opened the innings and took one boundary and eight singles off the first four overs? Astonishing, really.

So, in summary, we were shit!

We've always been a crap ODI side to be fair? I don't get anywhere near as excited about ODI's (unless it's some World Cup action) than I do about the Tests, perhaps it's the Cricket purist in me but there just doesn't seem to be any grace or fine technique in them, just slog-a-thons?

That's true Bobby to a degree - say, a PHd in Chemistry? but you have to take ODC (that's one day cricket, as opposed to ODI which isn't a different ball game but it's certainly a different acronym) as another format of the game. Whilst test cricket is great to watch and eat an M&S prawn salad to as the game unfolds over the five days, there's nowt as entertaining as watching a ball sail over your head and into the carefully prepared Lamb jalfrezi in the stalls, and a s Paul Weller once opined, That's entertainment..

Even if I wanted to I couldn't disagree with that Panj, for sure ODIC (that's One Day International Cricket and an acronym to satisfy us both) is entertaining but I just don't give it the same credance clearwater revival that I give the FDTM (that's Five Day Test Match, acronyming at it's very finest) in short, I don't give much cotter to us losing the one day series, but much more cotter will be delivered upon receipt of the tests!

Test cricket has and always will be the bench mark for a successful side and brings with it the rewards that only the FDF (five day format) can. Having said that, and I just have, if you were given the choice of being in Andrew Symonds or Justin Langer's shoes, would you pick the player who's racked up more Test hundreds than Doug Walters, Ian Chappell, Mark Waugh and Bill Lawry, scored AEP (an eye-popping) 1481 runs in 2004 and who together with his bludgeoning comrade Matthew Hayden, has screwed up textbooks and record-books alike, making Greenidge and Haynes look like strokeless stonewallers, or would you rather be the other bloke?

Matt Prior. Opened the batting today when we needed a run a ball to win and he goes about the run chase by scoring a snails pace 38 off 64 balls.


cu*t..

Agree in general about Prior but that Vile supporting c*nt Bell didn't help things by getting himself run out so early so Prior had to stay around a while.

I only watched our innings and thought we were kind of unlucky.
KP took the 3rd powerplay at a great time and it almost changed the game. If he and Freddie had stayed together for another 4 or 5 overs I think we would have won.

That said, KP getting clean bowled through the gate was poor to say the least.

Two down ...five to play we are surely going to win one or two of the remaining games....
K.R.O.

Well...three down now...though at least we did have ago this time and if it wasn't for the Lewis-Duckworth-Toss-pot method we might have actually won...??
K.R.O.

I'm afraid England are being left behind in the one day world of cricket, especially by the Indians. The IPL Twenty20 league has revolutionised how cricketers approach the one day game whereas the English players play as if they've got a Nat West sponsored 60 overs to get to the target. With 198 needed off 22 overs, Bell and Shah have reached 22-1 after six overs!!

Dismayed,
Jersey..

8th over - Eng 48-2 (D/L par score is 71-2)

Bell went for 12. "I don't think that's raised Bell's auction price at the IPL" - Angus Fraser..

I'm watching what's supposed to be an exciting game of one day creekit here but with England batting first it's like watching a warm up act before the main event. During the power plays where the fielding side have to have eight fielders in the circle, England managed to hit a mere 45 runs off 10 overs? It's simply not good enough. Why Paul Collingwood is batting anywhere higher than seven is a mystery. He took 12 balls to get off the mark and was finally out for 40 with a strike rate of 50.
We're sooo far behind the Indians now in this format of the game.

What's the wicket like Panj? We'll probably get 270, but I can't see if it's good enough or not.

We got exactly 270 DK. The wicket is a batsmen's paradise at the minute but India are batting under the lights and apparently the pitch is subject to a bit of dew of an evening so that may help the England bowlers.

Oh, hold on, Anderson's been dropped in favour of Harmisson, who doesn't swing it.

I think if Shah had have come in at three we would have got 300. Collingwood played and missed so many times I was starting to feel sorry for him, in fact I was turning my head when he was facing Khan. Shocking.

Big mistake not playing the Shah at 3...he's the only one on form...could cost us the game..

Those Indian common taters who narate the game....why can i understand them fine but when i phone to complian about my broadband i cant

Or get a variable rate on your mortgage instead of the fixed rate, or ask for a credit limit extention, or put an order in for a take-out..


Oh

I'm very fond of Bumble(in a manly way of course) he's the Sid Waddel of Cricket....great entertainment...time for a knighthood me thinks.

Any sign of those pair of ******* Duckworth & Lewis lurking in the background anywhere...?
K.R.O.

The one hyooge difference in the two sides is the spinners and how we and they play them. When the Indians were bowling part-time bowler Yuvraj bowled 10 overs for just 38 runs and Bharji at the other end got England's run rate down from 6.12 to somewhere around 5.00. Graham Swan bowls one over and Sehwag's eyes light up; 21 runs later and KP puts a consoling arm around him, probably to say take a rest or even better, go and check in for the next flight home..

Bumble says it's an exhibition as Sehwag and Sachin tear into the England attack. It's beautiful to watch unless you're wearing an England kit of course.

121-0 in the 17th over. I hope Collingwood holds his head in shame..

Sammy Patel's been hit for 18 runs off his two overs so KP brings on harmy because at 134-0 after 19 overs he needs wickets. Sachin's facing on 49 not out and caresses a single through backward point (I think) for his 90th half century in one dayers. Two balls later and the little maestro is out, clean bowled. The collapse is on.

On comes Ravi Bopara for the first time this series, which is odd when think he's in the team as an all-rounder. Second ball in and he almost snares Verandah who gets a lucky inside edge which whistles (couldn't hear which tune) to the boundary. Sehwag goes to 90 off that shot from a mere 69 balls. A single later and it's Yuvraj facing and he offers a difficult C&B which Ravi puts a bit of coriander on and accepts politely.

India are 168-2 after 23 overs. The collapse is still on..

Are you watching Sehwag bat, Ian Bell?

Cor blimey! Next over up and Broad snatches Verandah LBW for 91. The ball was clearly going down the legside but hawkeye has no say here and Sehwag has to walk. You can hear a pin drop out there at the moment, in fact I think I just did, or was it a samosa?

The collapse has been put on hold as the Indian captain Dhoni, ably assisted by Raina, take the chasing total to 189-3 off 31 overs. It was a 320 pitch from the start if ever I saw one.

Stuart Broad's one day tour seems to be over as he makes his way to the pavilion mid-over, leaving Bopara to finish off the last two deliveries. Commentator Shastri thinks he may have the runs but i doubt he'd get them in this form..

Replays show that he clutches his hamstring after the delivery and that's not good news.

India need 37 off the last 11 overs and they still have a power play to erm, play with..

At a canter. I don't think 350 would have been enought the way England bowled there. India go 5-0 up in the worst of seven series..

Exciting that wasn't it

I fair near fell of my futon at one point Boberto. England are disappointingly shit at ODI's I fear..

Beat again...no excuses was there..??..but we lost the toss....mm.. that didn't help of course ...er... did them sly bloody foreigners uses a old two headed penny...??.. and we promptly called tails...?
K.R.O.

KP said before the game that he would have batted first anyway Smudger as the ground is apt to a bit of swing late on when the lights come on. The only problem with that is that we left our main swing bowler in the dressing room when KP preferred Harmy to Anderson.

I don't think it matters when we bat against these Injuns. First, second, a bit of a go in between? The results going to be the same..

So then, England finally agreed to go to India after all and the first test starts tomorrow in rainy Chennai instead of somewhere where the sun will shine but the risk of bombings will be higher. The prospect of a full house has been bolstered (that's where you throw new material over an old item of furniture) by the fact that there'll be 5,000 members of indians elite army in the stands.

Prior is preferred over Ambrose and Swan replaces Broad as the only changes from the side that last played Zud Afrika.

I may get up early tomorrow morning just to see how heavy the rain actually is..

After watching the first twenty odd overs, I've got to say that the wicket has draw written all over it. Tsk at those Indian graffiti artists.

I've put £5 on it (along with 77p on an innings defeat that I placed before seeing the state of the wicket)

189-3. Pieterson got a rather magnificent 4.

It's swinging towards my 77p bet again. Cricket's a fickle mistress.

Whats the name of this weirdo umpire and why does he do that crooked finger shit?

Billy Bowden. He chuffing class, in a camp way.