Osavo

Brilliantly. Tomorrow should be another great day of Test cricket - just enough balance between bat and ball to keep this a lot more interesting than Edgbaston. I disagree and actually think the gamesmanship showed good steel from our openers. Crawley quite happy to go out and play an over, but ensured that it was maximum one over in what were the hardest conditions to bat in the whole day, physically and mentally. As the commentators pointed out, avoided an instance such as the one before lunch in the last test, where allowing India to squeeze in an extra over before lunch yielded a wicket. Not Crawley's biggest fan, and the over rates in this test have been nothing short of a disgrace, but I didn't mind that. If the shoe was on the other foot, Rahul and Jaiswal would have been doing exactly the same.

Great bit of needle at the end there.

Completely daft single to take for the sake of trying to get Rahul through to 100 before lunch. Why? They were absolutely cruising, barely a chance all morning. Great throw down by Stokes but it's brainless cricket to give him the opportunity. Good for England, mind.

KL Rahul always looks so unflustered batting in England. Was brilliant in 2021 and looks top class this series too. Terrific player. Astonishes me that he averages <35 in test cricket!

Kuldeep Yadav would have been licking his lips at a 5th day pitch with this target. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and all that. What a great test match by the way, great way to kick off what should be a captivating series. Just hope rain doesn't ruin it tomorrow and we get a result either way.

Boxing Day test, days 1 & 2 sorted for me. Cannot wait! Hoping we're still in it by then...

Calvin Bassey too. Not with us but building a solid Premier League career with Fulham.

Great to see Tongue back. From what I've watched this season on the streams, he has looked very quick and bowls a really awkward length for batsmen. Really interested to see how Cook gets on. On a purely numbers basis, has been the standout bowler in the County Championship for a few seasons now.

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.