Cricket

It’s stalled a little in the first session, good recovery from SL. 163 with 5 wickets left is not impossible I guess but we are still odds on.

THE NUT!

That was closer than it should have been. Bet England were worried for a bit! Nice play by Sri Lanka tail though.

W h i t e w a s h

Great win but concerned it papers over some of the cracks.

Jennings hasn’t been properly tested since his failure to get runs against a good pace attack in the summer. Are Burns, Jennings and Bairstow going to stand against to Australia next summer? Not so sure.

But great to see Foakes and Leach come in and make such an impact.

That was a lot closer than if should have been, but watching Pushpakumara having a go was very entertaining. That was a pretty good Test series, especially coming after the series v India which was the best in years.

Can concentrate on the footy for a while now.

Don't see any issues with Burns and Bairstow at home.

Big issue for me is how they fit someone like Leach into the side in English conditions, right now it means dropping someone

Bairstow has always been vulnerable to short, fast bowling. He’ll get plenty from Hazlewood and Cummins next summer.

ECB have changed eligibility criteria, Jofra Archer now free to play for England from January. Get in.

Anybody know why the Aussie fans were booing Kohli?

I assume it’s primarily because they lack class rather than any genuine reason.

I guess they are hypersensitive about being shown up by a better team. It can't be helped by comments like this from the Australian coach.
If Australia celebrated like Kohli, we would be the worst blokes in the world: Langer
Australian cricket is in a pretty low place just now. Langer's attitude can't help. Maybe that's why the crowd at Adelaide is so thin, the more respectful fans are staying away.

They will use the weather as an excuse for nobody turning up

Lords ballot opens today - anyone have any knowledge about what the stands to pick to have most chance of getting tickets? i.e. which are least popular?

Ashes year = take whatever you can get

Also thoroughly enjoying Paine and Kohli going at each other, the former isn't as beta as I thought he was

Yeah, but you need to specify which stand you want to be in when you enter the ballot - was hoping there was a way of maximising the opportunity. Will also be going for Ireland tickets. Days 1-2 - I have no confidence in us stretching it further than that...

In that case I'd probably say the lower tiers of the Edrich/Compton stands, purely down to the fact it can get a little chilly down there. Mum is texting me about the exact same thing, haha

Sir Alastair Cook <3

For anyone wanting a cricket fix today's BBL game between the Thunder and Strikers is on BT Sport's YouTube channel for free. Butter and Root about to have a bat, might see some fireworks

King of Spain assumes new position

Kohli is a fucking freak, 39 ODI tons. Only 12 behind Tendulkar...

Dhoni: What a finisher!

followed the link from the AG article

made me laugh fondly

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jan/08/the-spin-england-west-indies

Feel sorry for MS after seeing how few boundaries he'd hit and then Karthik's strike rate with only two boundaries! Apparently he was doubled up with cramp. How far back did they put the ropes, New South Wales?

Anybody know why Buttler has missed out in the first warm up game?