England V West Indies Test Match Series 2020

Jofra Archer has been excluded from the 2nd Test, after breaching the bio-secure protocols. He visitednhis Brighton home bewteen the 1st Test in Southampton & the 2nd in Manchester.

The toss has been delayed by rain. It's expected to cause a 90 minute delay whilst the pitch dries.

Archer has apologised but he now has to isolate for five days and take two COVID tests. and both have to be negative. I will accept his apology as a cricket fan but he should have known better

I honestly don't understand why the cricketers are under such strict rules, the footballer are not , they are doing everything like normal just getting tested twice a week, doesn't make sense that the cricketers have to be locked away, in my eyes Archer did nothing wrong,

^^ Regardless of whether you agree with the strict protocol, they all have to buy into this. He has 1. let his own teammates down, Anderson lives near Old Trafford, yet he can't see his own children. 2. he has potentially put his own countrymen at risk, there have been hardly any cases of Covid in the Caribbean & all but 3 players were happy to visit a country that still hasn't got a grip of this virus. An obvious difference to Football is that this is an International Series. So a selfish attitude, not a team player.

(16-07-2020 11:17 )winsaw Wrote:  I honestly don't understand why the cricketers are under such strict rules, the footballer are not

According to the government, cricket needs stricter rules than other sports because "the ball is a natural vector of disease" in that it constantly and regularly passes through numerous pairs of hands, not to mention that outfielders and bowlers traditionally use sweat and saliva to polish it, and unlike other sports it can't be frequently changed, as the same cricket ball, unless a batting side is dismissed quickly, has to be used for at least 80 overs, which is virtually all day.

West Indies win the toss and decide to bowl first.

Root's back, as is Broad, Woakes and Curran

something tells root might have to turn his arm over for an over or few to compensate Archer's exclusion

After rolling us over in the Caribbean, England are again making Roston Chase look like a world beater. He has a bowling average in the high 40s.

Close day 1 - England 207-3 (82 overs)

Sloppy dismissals either side of lunch & the wicket of Root after the mid-session drinks break, left England in a bit of a hole at 81-3. But Sibley & Stokes held firm in an unbroken 4th wicket partnership of 126. West Indies bowled well in the main, although they didn't make our batsmen play enough. 1st Test Man of the Match Gabriel sprayed it around & looked out of sorts, he was off the field for some time, but returned late in the day to see his captain drop a chance, putting down Sibley at slip. A slow outfield led to a lack of boundaries, England will have to negotiate the 2nd new ball tomorrow & hopefully bat themselves into a position to be able to take advantage of their long batting line-up & try to accelerate the scoring in order to move the game on to allow themselves time to force a win to level the series.