leicsmac

It does seem to happen more often than not, though usually there's something of a score on the board when it happens because of the playing style England have adopted - today is a bit of an exception there. These two looking to steady things a bit and see off the new ball. They're both the kind of players that can then score faster as time passes.

I may have underestimated the possibility.

23 British singles players entered. Maybe two or three make it to the second week?

The England batting lineup is at least as good as the Indian one here, and the Indian attack sans Bumrah is certainly no more threatening than the English one. If they don't at least match this first innings total, it'll be because of sloppy errors - which is of course possible.

Yep.

Looks like a nailed on draw now unless the England batting line up have a total meltdown, twice.

Shouldn't have talked a junior member of the squad into cheating tbh

For what it's worth, this is actually a pretty good representation of wider UK polling data - from the stuff that I've seen in UK polls, around 8-10% of the UK population at large share the same belief, so it tallies. It's just unfortunate that might be a big enough number to shape policy now and in the future. And yes, Brandolini's Law applies a lot in this case.

Damn, sorry about that. It's an archived example of this article: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01830-5 All of the programs and ideas mentioned here still exist now; however I have no confidence that they'll still exist in five years time, or even sooner, which is rather my point and why I'm speculating that it might be a better idea for the UK to back a different horse long term.

I'd be interested in knowing why.

https://archive.is/ohLG8 The administration of US President Donald Trump is hacking away at funding for research institutions — aiming, it says, to eliminate waste and bias in government-funded research. This is disrupting science in ways that are rippling well beyond laboratories and lecture halls. Here, Nature’s Careers team looks into some of the figures that might indicate wider disruptions to the scientific enterprise. Are the UK's "closest ally" really worth sticking with in terms of science at the present time?

It's true that dehumanising fellow humans rarely ends well. However, the question then arises whereby exactly how do you work towards a less tribal world where that dehumanising does not occur (as must be done) without likewise dehumanising those who want to retain the status quo?

He was good enough to hold up an end to allow some very good quicks room to do the job, for the most part. Swann was actually a strike bowler.

Funny how this keeps popping up. Not sure why a vibe that has (by and large) made a team from a total wreck to a winning one excepting very rare circumstances against the very best teams away from home deserves such ire. There's been a lot of spinners who have shown promise in the counties but then not repeated that at Test level. One of those ongoing conundrums, Swann aside.

One thing this all is showing is that Atkinson and at least one of Wood or Archer is needed to supplement this attack. I would add finding a quality spinner, but that seems like a unicorn hunt right now.

Need another breakthrough or two before close to have won the day, I think.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckg33r1xgymo From Somalia to mainland Europe, the past two years have seen some of the most ravaging droughts in recorded history, made worse by climate change, according to a UN-backed report. Describing drought as a "silent killer" which "creeps in, drains resources, and devastates lives in slow motion" the report said it had exacerbated issues like poverty and ecosystem collapse. The report highlighted impacts in Africa, the Mediterranean, Latin America and Southeast Asia, including an estimated 4.4 million people in Somalia facing crisis-level food insecurity at the beginning of this year. ....By January 2023, the worst drought in 70 years had hit the Horn of Africa, coming from years of failed rainy seasons in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia. This followed the deaths of an estimated 43,000 people in Somalia in 2022 from drought-linked hunger. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cd0v29vydx4t Much of Europe and parts of the UK have been in the grip of an intense heatwave over the last few days, with temperatures continuing to soar today. Pictures coming in from across the continent show people attempting to find some relief from the heat at public water fountains and water distribution points. Temperatures exceeded 40C in both Portugal and Spain, days after both countries experienced their hottest June days on record. France, the Netherlands, Greece, and Italy also experienced scorching temperatures which saw Paris under a red heatwave alert and two deaths recorded in the Italian cities of Bologna and Bardonecchia. Wildfires continued to rage on the western coast of Turkey as more than 50,000 people have been evacuated from impacted areas. England also had its warmest June on record, according to the Met Office, while the UK saw the second warmest June since records began in 1884. Temperatures are expected to fall significantly in the UK from Wednesday, but will remain high in parts of Europe. Good news first, the world's in great s- ...uhhh, never mind.

Yeah, it's a proper conundrum, hence the thinking carefully. A possible solution would be closer research ties with the above mentioned Commonwealth, European and Scandic nations - as a bloc that could bring enough power to mean something in terms of the world research field.

Certainly. A Commonwealth/Scandinavian/European alliance on scientific development would be quite something. But in all seriousness, the UK may at some have to make a choice between joining one group that don't share many cultural and linguistic values but are pushing science forward in a way that is necessary to not only make the world a better place but also guarantee its survival, and sticking with another that shares at least some UK historical and cultural values, but also seems bound and determined to stagnate scientifically in a way that benefits no one, except maybe themselves in the short term.

If the Chinese aren't already the world leaders in scientific research and development, they will be very shortly, and the UK might want to consider that very carefully when choosing who to partner with in the near future in terms of scientific projects.

Superb mockers mate.

India living a charmed life here, could well be three down.

Think these conditions are much better for fielding first tbh. Which England are doing.

It's so much easier (and cheaper, and nicer) to not address a small problem now and let it be someone else's problem when it becomes a big problem later. Short term thinking. But that's not a UK-specific issue, sadly.

Very straightforward first up for Jack the Ripper.