Osavo

Absolutely brilliant Test match cricket!

Abbas swinging this game on his own. Why he was omitted from the Pakistan Test team for so long is a mystery to me, yes he's not the quickest but his control of line and length is second to none. Superb bowler.

What's the point in having an under 26s band if you're just going to charge the same as an adult? Terrible pricing.

Great to see. Looks a decent crowd too, fantastic to see people engaging with the One Day Cup instead of the Hundred. Noticed there are some great games happening in the Cup this year. I've seen a lot of close games, involving up and coming players and it's been brilliant to watch. Long may it continue.

Didn't even realise this nonsense started tonight. Seems like they have toned down the marketing for it this year, no?

Nemanja Vidic. People laud him as one of the best PL defenders ever, but was just being bailed out by Ferdinand most of the time.

You are quite right. Makes the decision even more baffling!

Pleased to see Pennington called up. He's really impressed me so far this season and looks to bowl a great line very consistently. As others have said, Smith decision makes no sense. Very good player, there's no doubt, but if you're going to move on from Bairstow/Foakes (the latter of which I don't agree with), surely Robinson is the next cab off the rank. Positive batting and very good glovework, he's surely better in both departments than Smith? Strikes me as big county bias again. And I don't think the difference between Div 1 and Div 2 is anywhere near wide enough for that to be the justification.

Yeah, I saw him out in Nottingham after the One Day Cup final and he is absolutely colossal. Seemed a really nice lad but was obviously absolutely battered

He's definitely on the radar. Trouble is, there is quite a depth of white ball left-arm seamers - may struggle to get in ahead of Topley, Wood and Curran.

Be interesting to see him given a go, for sure. His first class average is exceptional and he's done it for a sustained period now. Just wonder whether he's got that extra nip which would trouble top-class batsmen. Selectors seem to have an obsession with building a team for the 23/24 Ashes though, rather than picking the best team to win in the here and now.

View seems to be he's not quick enough for Test cricket.

Phenomenal, what a day. This really is the team that just keeps on giving.

FA Cup 4th round day.

Well, that was bloody easy. A Christmas stroll in the park. We are going to waltz to this league title.

Pakistan is traditionally a lot more seam friendly though. I seem to remember Anderson and Robinson extracting a lot of reverse swing there which is unlikely in India. I do worry that our spin attack won't be good enough to do the heavy lifting. Conversely, we do have some excellent players of spin in our team in Duckett, Root and Brook, so there is hope. My main hope is that the BCCI don't just prepare minefield pitches like last time, which somewhat ruined the series.

South Africa seam attack looks immense, Burger looks a great find and generates really good bounce. Great batting by Kohli throughout, shame some of his teammates couldn't stick with him.

He's certainly getting better as the season goes on. His finishing is massively improving, he works hard and he occupies his full back with good quality movement. I still have my doubts on whether he quite has enough to succeed in the Prem, but he certainly deserves a chance. Output of 12 contributions at this stage is not to be sniffed at. Easily worth the cash we paid, as well.

I'm minded to trust Maresca's judgement but I do struggle to see why we gave Choudhury a new deal. I've not seen enough from him to warrant another three years and he certainly isn't good enough for the top flight. A useful squad player at this level but long term we've tied ourselves in at 50k per week for a player who is likely of little use to us. I guess the club think that they can potentially squeeze a fee for him in the summer but it's risky.

Disagree with this. Think Fatawu is very good at tracking back and helping out his full back.

Agreed. Would have been defend-able if bowlers could actually hold a length.

This will be close. Think we do have a defend-able total despite the disappointment in the way we lost our wickets.

Hope not, but almost guaranteed to with all the extra revenue it'll bring in.

I'm sure I read somewhere that Anfield wasn't picked because it's pitch size doesn't meet UEFA regulations for international tournaments. Could have completely dreamt that, mind.