KP's already been dropped so he will make a century as always.

just waiting for our bowlers to mess it all up, if there's one thing about english cricket is that we can never bat and bowl well in the same match

Here comes the collapse... Pitersen bowled, 3 balls later Flintoff bowled for a duck.

405-6

We've moved onto 434-6 with Collie on 73 not out and Prior on 16. In order to win this test, we need to score at least 550 and then throw everything at the Windies for the last 30 minutes today. I can't see it happening (seen it all before in the past) but we need to get them out for under 350 and enforce the follow on.

566-9 dec.

Colly out for 113.

Harmison gets Gayle for 30.

45-1

Windies now 276-8. The game is there for the taking.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-New...2315224687?f=vg

So THATS how he made his millions eh?

Windies all out for 285 - enforcing the follow on.

Swann takes 5.

We must be shit if we dont go on to win this, great performance from Swann

England chosen not to take the follow on...

eh?

no-follow on, wtf???

Strange decision but I guess they don't want to bat last, fearing a turning wicket on the last day. No faith in the bowlers either.

True, but surely if the pitch is deteiorating and coming into the favour of the bowling team, it would be better to finish them off quickly.

I see in the 2nd innings that they lost Strauss cheaply early on and were 31-1 at the close, a lead of 312, if we can push on and get a lead of 400-450, then we could win it, but only if we have at least a full day to bowl out the Windies

Hopefully they can score some quick runs tomorrow morning - you'd hope so given the 312 lead we already have and the fact Shah, Pietersen, Flintoff etc are all capable of doing so. Bit worried about Flintoff's batting these days though - he seems a bit poor for a number six; rarely getting fifty and I don't think he's got a century since the last Ashes iirc.

Last thing we want from this match is a repeat from the first India test.

I doubt the bowlers wanted another day in that heat - understandable, but a tad risky.

England 60-odd for two, we need another 120 then put the Windies back in for three hours today

Just listening to the great Sir Viv Richards on BBC Test Match Special and what an honour it is listening to one of my cricket heroes. For those not old enough to have seen him in action, Viv was one of the most stylish and aggressive batsmen to have played the game. Over 8,000 Test runs at an average of more than 50 - and in an era of genuine fast bowlers (the likes of Lillie and Thompson), 100 first-class centuries, voted in the top 5 cricketers of the 20th century, Wisden cricketer of the year, world cup winner, the list goes on. He also played for probably the greatest Test team, the West Indies during the 1970s were fearsome.

Oh and he represented Antigua at football in the early 1970s.

Viv Richards - a cricket legend

119-3 We should wrap this one up soon

Cook's just moved on to fifty so he'll be out soon.

Not looking good so far, windies are 59-0 and the runrate is above 3 an over

80odd for 2

Even better, 96-3

Seems like England's judgement could well pay off...









...for once

Well a whole day now to get 7 wickets

It wasn't judgement, they didn't really have any choice. Harmison was suffering from heat sickness and Flintoff has had a problem with his hip. The cortisone injection allowed him to bowl today, but he wasn't at 100%. Just for whoever criticised his batting - he got 50 in the first test and then 24 I think in the second innings of that match, the only England batsman to have done anything at all in the second innings. In the second test he was out straight away to a ball that kept ridiculously low, there was nothing he could have done about it. Then in the second innings, yes he was out for a duck but, again, he was injured. I am normally the first to criticise Flintoff's batting but I don't think you can really have a go at him for that in this series, not yet anyway.

Not a great performance from Strauss today, yes there were injuries but England were scrabbling around for runs in a nondescript way, and I could hardly believe his strategy of wanting to get 500. Yes, there is the psychological barrier of 500 runs but there is also the psychological boost for the Windies of taking eight of our wickets and seeing the effect of the injury to Flintoff. We handed them some momentum, didn't really score runs at the rate we needed to and left ourselves with a difficult task of getting them out in four sessions, when it could really have been nearer 5. Only rash batting by the Windies (Sarwan in particular, apparently) has saved us from a nervous night. England should win now, but it could have been a bit easier.

He only got 43 in the first innings of the first test, but yeah I agree it's harsh to single him out for criticism this series. I was basically thinking on the lines of how you tend to think regarding his batting - it's been very disappointing all the way back to the 2005 Ashes. We saw what he can surely still do back then, but since then he's not scored a century iirc and his record for a number six is surely very poor. Just hoping the team can get the seven wickets tomorrow to secure victory. Sarwan and Chanderpaul especially are immensely talented, so they're the main threat to that but it would be a great opportunity missed if they can't win this, surely.

Windies are now 353-8 and the light is fading, once again it looks like we will fail to finish off the opposition

EDIT: As i say that, Windies have just lost their 9th wicket, Swann taking his 8th wicket of the match

Hope this isn't India all over again where we failed to take the tenth wicket and drew the Test.

Come on England

As soon as the Windies are offered the light meter, the game's over so i guess we've got about 3-4 overs to get that 1 wicket

This is really frustrating. England's pointless pissing about yesterday may have cost them the match. That and the injuries, but regardless of the injuries there was no way the Windies were going to get anywhere near 500. Why waste an hour and a half if you have a reduced bowling attack and so are going to find it more difficult to get their batsmen out?

This is worse than being a Newcastle United supporter

Light meters are out

Light meters out, offered to the batsmen, they've immediately taken it

Its a draw

FUCK

That's twice in two years we have drawn Test matches where we have taken nine wickets in the second innings, first India and now the West Indies. That must be something of a (unenviable) record.

Well England have got themselves off to a fine start in the third/fourth test. Strauss has another century (I make that his sixth in under a year) and Cook has fifty and isn't out yet.

169-0 at halfway through the day's play.

200-0 don't remeber ever seen england on that score before, impressive stuff!

The wicket is a batters dream apparently. So with only 4 bowlers this time, England need to score big, or they could have problems with the ball.

221-0 at the moment, apparently its England's best opening stand in nearly 60 years.

Bout you're right, this pitch is just dead, i think were gambling on that the conditions will change over the next couple of days.

Cook fails to convert a fifty and gets out slicing a hook shot. I'm getting a sense of deja vu somehow...

Actually in fairness he batted well and got 94, which is hardly a bad score. He just needs to get a century some time.

Struass bowled a few balls later.

242-2

Strauss was out first.

Can't deny he's had a great resurgence since a poor series against South Africa. It's his fifth century since then and he has four centuries and has remembered how to bat aggressively. I'm glad because I've always been a fan of him.

Coincidentally he's always batted better when he's had the captaincy

CLOSE OF PLAY

301-3 (Pietersen 32no, Collingwood 11no)

Very good 1st day me thinks, now we can just hope the conditions start to turn in the bowlers favour so after hopefully adding another 100-150, we can skittle them out cheaply and this time ENFORCE THE FOLLOW ON

340-4. We need to reach 500 then put them in to bat and (hopefully) enforce the follow on.

I see that Freddie has flown home. Lets hope he's Ok for the Ashes

600-6 declared, we have 3 days + one session to bowl them out twice

Windies are 83-1 at the close

Not looking good

I'm worried it's going to turn out like last game. Excellent batting though, even if it was against a poor seam attack on a dead pitch. How the same team managed to bowl us out for 51 I'll never know.