West Indies v England | 3rd Test | Antigua | 15-19 Feb 09

[Oxy]

Amazing test match!

 

[Ghoshtbuster]

lol @ Eng

 

[161]

lol @ cricinfo's headline - "Windies complete the great escape"

 

[Boi]

Great batting there at the end by Fiddy and Powell!!

Chak de!!

 

[12thMan]

Great game. I didn't watch a single ball last two days and it was just fun following it here and cricinfo. England should have won it an hour ago so will be pretty disappointed.

But well played by both teams. Great entertaintment

 

[Oxy]

Its pitch black out there now!

On a sidenote - 2 evenings ago, Ian Botham said England would look silly if they set WI 500 - and the game finished with them on 9 wkts down.

 

[161]

Its pitch black out there now!

On a sidenote - 2 evenings ago, Ian Botham said England would look silly if they set WI 500 - and the game finished with them on 9 wkts down.

oh my ... ) )

 

[rhussain33]

Botham was right, what cost them the game was their 2nd innings batting and sending anderson in as nightwatchmen when they where basically 300-1. That cost them an extra hour, on top of them trying to get a higher total then what was really required, that probably cost them another hour. 2 hours they cost themselves for those silly decisions, else they would have had the game.

 

[Big Harvey]

Fidel Edwards is making such a habit of getting his team out of jail, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets a call from Sir Allen Stanford tonight!

 

[rhussain33]

I was thinking at that moment, what the heck you lot doing... i was right. peitersens got a bad knock on the hand, and flintoffs hip is gone, they maybe both out on next test. which is great. Bring on adil rashid, and bopara.

 

[Boi]

Fidel Edwards is making such a habit of getting his team out of jail, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets a call from Sir Allen Stanford tonight!

Good one! )

 

[kablooee87]

We've had some incredible cricket this season. Let's hope the Pakistan series follows suit...though I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Pak_NM]

Yeah we've had the Aus - SA series down under and now the first 2 test matches in WI that have all been crackers.

Shows why test cricket is the ultimate.

 

[ali_ed2006]

Can't believe I feel sorry for England, they deserved to win this one.

 

[12thMan]

What effect did the late start have on that? The over rate didn't look that slow.

I was wrong. I was going by ending time and thinking play started at 11 instead of regular time of 10 (someone may have posted start delayed by an hour and that might be me). In the end the day lost 15 minutes (I think). Which looks better or same as other days of the match.

Next match will be good as England has to win it

 

[Random Aussie]

Haven't really been following this but how did England manage to not win this game?

 

[12thMan]

Haven't really been following this but how did England manage to not win this game?

Malik didn't make some right decisions from end of day 3 but it also looked like regular English captaincy or game (send in the night watchman, sometimes slow or meaningless batting by team, not sending Flintoff hoping Prior and Board will score fast and then end up sending Flintoff anyway, looking for the expected 500 lead and knowing showers are expected on day 5). The real Malik kush huwa (is happy).

What a day it would have been here if this was Pakistan team drawing

 

[Random Aussie]

Massive from WI to not lose this game, the WI of old would have laid down and given up their 1- nil lead.

 

[Big Harvey]

Massive from WI to not lose this game, the WI of old would have laid down and given up their 1- nil lead.

They wouldn't have had a 1-0 lead in the first place!

 

[the Great Khan]

Surely this game shows thAt harmless is finished?? Fred was injured and still bowled better..anderson is third rate too..eng have real bowling problems...broad,fred,swan and then two places up for grabs..monty's bakwaas..ashes will be tight but I think the oz will win

 

[12thMan]

Going by commentary Swann bowled well so he should be in next match. Since Flintoff is injured and may not play, depending on the pitch it will not be a bad idea to play 2 spinners (Adil Rashid and Swan) with 3 pacers and Collingwood bowling 8-10 overs. Adil Rashid can bat a little too, probably like Board when looking at international level (and not county). If Flintoff is fit they will have a hard time dropping a pacer as this might be a temporary fit. England missing Hoggard???

if Bopara can bowl then I think they will go with him if Flintoff is injured as batting can be thin - Flintoff is #6 in batting

 

[Amjid Javed]

Fidel Edwards is making such a habit of getting his team out of jail, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets a call from Sir Allen Stanford tonight!

 

[Amjid Javed]

Well done West indies they have been competative in both test and deserve their 1-0 lead so far, i hope they can win this series as it would be such a boost to W.I cricket!

 

[Keith]

Congrats to the windies. I am specifically impressed, not that they drew the game, but in the manner in which they drew the game. They were never in it and after their 1st innings mess they were not even in it for a draw.

Along comes england and bat themselves out of the test match, that from a winning position.

I have said before that i hope that the windies do not flatter to deceive. They have performed strongly in the 1st test and then tend to fall away as the series continues. That didn't happen here and of that i am very happy for them.

England managed to snatch a draw from the jaws of victory. Go windies.

 

[Amjid Javed]

I think W.I need to review there team.

Whilst powell preformed heroically in both inns with bat his main job as a bowler has been poor. I think W.I need to look at another seamer instead.

Also Devon smith got starts but threw it away and Rind Hinds looked very scratchy, only probelm is who can W.I bring in?

 

[siccric]

W.I. is nothing without their big guns i.e. Sarwan, Chanderpual and Gayle. That's what made their first win in the series such a special one- the younger guys all contributed. If only they could keep it up more often

 

[OZGOD]

LOL @ the Pom Poms

 

[AZ]

thrilling game...gutsy stuff from Powell, Fiddy and Flintoff...and they say Test cricket is boring

 

[Muhammad]

I think W.I need to review there team.

Whilst powell preformed heroically in both inns with bat his main job as a bowler has been poor. I think W.I need to look at another seamer instead.

Also Devon smith got starts but threw it away and Rind Hinds looked very scratchy, only probelm is who can W.I bring in?

Smith generally looks the part but he's been given plenty of chances and just hasn't been able to consistently put together good scores. Next test is all or nothing for him.

With Powell you get one decent test followed by rubbish, it's the story of his career, he's got the tools but he empty between the ears, might make it to Barbados but will he make it beyond?

Don't actually see Windies changing their team.

 

[Saj]

Well a lesson for the negative captain Strauss.

The decision to not enforce the follow on and the decision to bat so slowly on day 4 at the beginning must be haunting Strauss and his team mates.

 

[James]

Good game, very disappointing result. had to follow the climax on 'phone internet' as I was out in a bar at the time, and couldn't resist constant peeking at the score. I'm tired of us always failing to win games we dominate by a wicket or two, it happens at least once a year at the moment. that's too much to be an unlucky coincidence - more a sign of 2nd innings performances that aren't up to standard, and conservative declarations.

I still think we can win the series, given that we were completely untroubled in this match, which is normal for us v. the Windies. they just had one great day, which is something that every rubbish team has once in a while. It wouldn't be a distinguished win, but man, please can we just win a series of some description?

 

[Taurus]

Strauss was right NOT to enforce the follow-on. However, the negative approach thereafter gave the Windies a sniff, and on a flat pitch, that alone was enough for them to stick in and steal away a draw. England could have had five or six more overs had they been a little more aggressive or even if they'd had something of a gambler's spirit. Unfortunately, England are such a poor side at the moment that they seem to want to make sure the draw is in the bag before going for the win. An admirable stance...when you're 1-0 up in a series. But when Test wins are scarce and you're adrift, it's time to accept that the merest possibility of defeat, the worst-case scenario, the 'what if the West Indies perform a miracle?' question should not dog the team down and rob it of valuable time towards forging a win. England's over rate too was not greatly impressive until the end; just as with India at Lord's we failed to rush through. Time pressure may not appeal to a captain, but when you're hurrying through the overs I cannot imagine for one second that the opposition would be at all enamoured with you - they have less time to think and time only to react. Finally, lest we forget, it's 'minimum overs' meaning that if you got through the 90 an hour early, the game would go on.

Poor stuff from England all told.