The Dean

They can open with spinners but they MUST use a new ball (spinners prefer a ball that is about 60+ overs old, so it is easier to grip and tweak).

Bongoman2

England on the ropes and start braying to the umpires to halt play.

Was it really dangerous for the English to be in the field last night?

Bunch of nonces.

mentalist

Nothing to do with the players, muppet. It's completely down to the umpires if/when light is not playable. As for Clarke, what an idiot. His only chance was to declare and tempt England with a target of about 285 (more than any 4th innings winning total at Old Trafford). As they were going at only 2.5 runs an over in their first innings, I doubt that England would have prevailed, especially given the likely overcast conditions. He has handed England the Ashes on a plate.

Bongoman2

Even the umpires said the only reason they considered the light was because of the English players constantly asking about it. Don't be naive, its been a tactic of many teams. and yes they are a bunch of nonces, seriously.

I do enjoy the bit of drama with Warner & Root. Cricket needs these type of theatrics to keep the crowd interested and stop the rot of 20/20 hit and giggle.

The Dean

Wrong - the players have no say. In the old days, a batsman (though not a bowler/fielder) could 'appeal' against the light, and the umpires made the decision after that. Now, it's down to light meters etc - though why they should stop play when the floodlights are on is a bit puzzling. Was it raining?

co durham boy

Clarke's captaincy was naive , he needs to win the test to have any chance of winning the Ashes and he doesn't take the required risk .

It's shit or bust and he knows as well as everyone that the weather will turn bad on days 4&5 .

Can't believe he didn't put England in earlier as it was his side that had the far superior hand in this test .

Dumbo

Almost, the commentators were saying last night that in the old days the umpires would have offered the batsman the option to either go in or carry on batting, they are afterall in the firing line. This is why Clarke was annoyed he thought it was his decision to make.

Under the new rules its the umpires descretion. Not raining, but maybe the floodlights hadn't warmed up.

Bongoman2

What are you on about, they were hitting it at 6 an over, before the umpires called them off, still had 30 overs up their sleeve to end the day.

Can anyone link to a rain radar for that place?

co durham boy

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/

You sound a tad bitter , maybe if the Aussies had not batted like a village cricket team in the 2nd test then you might not have had to look up to the heavens yesterday for divine intervention .

Bongoman2

Bleeding Heck, its a miserable old place isn't it.

It is Summer right?

co durham boy

I'm not going to disagree with you on that point .

Kix

The fact remains Clare didn't have the bottle to declare at the 260-280 mark and give his team a chance of winning.

The failure for Australia losing this Ashes series lies totally and utterly with him, blame the weather and the umpires bongobloke but the bottom line i your team needs to take a long hard look at their decisions, from appeals to declarations and everything in between.

To coin a soccer phrase "You're shit, and you know you are".

Bongoman2

not a good start.

Now are your bunch of nonces going to try and play for a win or draw?

The Dean

We would have gone for a win if Clarke's declaration hadn't betrayed his own cowardice.......... no faith in his team, you see..........

Kix

^^^^ What he said ^^^*