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One 75cl bottle is the theoretical full allowance per person. But at Lord's, unlike the Oval, there is a very civilised method in operation:
"You don't have any alcohol do you?"
"No."
Bear in mind for future visits. Also remember Julian's "approx 75cl" labels could come in useful.

It works even better as a member. That tie serves a purpose!


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Are the Sri Lankan batsmen as attractive to watch as they used to be? Very stylish I always thought, well the good ones anyway.

[Remark from Owen regarding Ian Bell's 9 to follow here]

LGTrotter wrote:Are the Sri Lankan batsmen as attractive to watch as they used to be? Very stylish I always thought, well the good ones anyway.

Not as attractive as their bowling is right now.

djewesbury wrote:[Remark from Owen regarding Ian Bell's 9 to follow here]

OK you have drawn me into this. I feel slightly less resentful of Bells dismissal today than in the first innings, true he has once again proved his worth (about 9), but it is when he plays well in situations that count and then gets himself out without making any tangible difference. WHICH IS ALWAYS.

LGTrotter wrote:Are the Sri Lankan batsmen as attractive to watch as they used to be? Very stylish I always thought, well the good ones anyway.

They played very nicely but rather slowly. Sangakkara was fluent but very watchful.

My god. Ali gets a 4 with his first ball and loses his wicket with the second.

Suddenly I might not have any prior engagements tomorrow morning. St John's Wood at 11 am, anyone?

djewesbury wrote:St John's Wood at 11 am, anyone?

In theory my babysitting task will be finished. I’d have to go to TBH, leave a bottle of SV97. Then to Lords, with a ‘backup’ bottle of same, and get there by 11am. Hmm.

Permission being sought. I give it about 25% chance.

Edit: lucky me. Granted.

It seems to have turned boring again.

It has got interesting again! Excellent innings from Ballance. We have a decent lead and SL need to work hard tomorrow. Worth a chase for them surely. Both sides can win, that's much better than it looked yesterday.

A lack of ambition from Cook methinks. Should have declared half an hour ago and got after them.

Apparently tickets to watch the draw being played out tomorrow are £20 at the gate.

DRT wrote:A lack of ambition from Cook methinks. Should have declared half an hour ago and got after them.

Apparently tickets to watch the draw being played out tomorrow are £20 at the gate.

I think it's hard to call. Sangakkara and Jayawardene could drive through a last-innings run chase in the right circumstances.

JDAW and I are going to the game.

djewesbury wrote:JDAW and I are going to the game.

I will be sure to check in on the blog to keep abreast of developments.

Ballance to the century with a 6. There's the declaration, overnight, presumably?

djewesbury wrote:

DRT wrote:A lack of ambition from Cook methinks. Should have declared half an hour ago and got after them.

Apparently tickets to watch the draw being played out tomorrow are £20 at the gate.

I think it's hard to call. Sangakkara and Jayawardene could drive through a last-innings run chase in the right circumstances.

I can't imagine the Sri Lankans going too crazy to get these runs. You have mentioned the two players who will be sworn to not getting out, if they are 280-1 about tea time they might have a swipe. #attritional.

Hard to say no if you happened to be at a loose end and nearby. Enjoy.

The captains have misjudged this. At lunch they should have shaken hands on a draw, and agreed a 20-over quickie, the batting order being the reverse of that in the first innings. Much more fun.

The man next to me clearly doesn't understand what this beautiful game of ours is all about. Honestly, to propose a childish knockabout instead of this stately procession…
"I'd feel a lot better about this game if there were six wickets just now," he just said.
Oh dearie me.

Guilty as charged.

LGTrotter wrote:

djewesbury wrote:All our lights are on.

But nobody's home.

Their minds are not their own.

7 overs left... SL seven fer...

Go on, get one more, just to keep them honest.

That was a really exciting, erm... draw.

DRT wrote:A lack of ambition from Cook methinks. Should have declared half an hour ago and got after them.

my view hasn't changed. If SL had gone in a man or two down at the end of day 4 England would now be congratulating themselves of a fine tactical victory. Still, at least Roooooooot got his hundred.

Cook has no ruthless streak. Will he ever have that?

DRT wrote:

DRT wrote:A lack of ambition from Cook methinks. Should have declared half an hour ago and got after them.

my view hasn't changed. If SL had gone in a man or two down at the end of day 4 England would now be congratulating themselves of a fine tactical victory. Still, at least Roooooooot got his hundred.

Cook has no ruthless streak. Will he ever have that?

I was listening to TMS and one of the commentators rather coyly saying Cook was a 'conservative' captain. It was a sort of recognition that he was no good at it and sort of a recognition that we are stuck with him.

I think Cook looks at his most awful when he is trying to look and sound ruthless, like watching Gordon Brown smile.

Of more immediate concern is his batting.

LGTrotter wrote:Of more immediate concern is his batting.

I disagree. If his spinelessness as a captain was sorted out by sacking him his poor batting would cease to be a problem when he wasn't picked by his successor.

KP for captain.

Or bring back Mike Brearley. He could never bat when captaining England so it wouldn't matter that he's now 72.

AHB wrote:Or bring back Mike Brearley. He could never bat when captaining England so it wouldn't matter that he's now 72.

You will notice I have trimmed your first suggestion.

My nomination for an alternative captain on the lines of Mike Brearly would be Paul Collingwood.

Give it to Rooooooooooty - some Yorkshire grit is what is needed.

Some say that Yorkshire men are Scotsmen with the generosity taken out, I like to think of them as unfortunate souls who weren't born north of the wall. Give him a chance - he might prove to have more of a spine than the prawn currently in charge.

Whilst I would not wish to propagate stereotypes doesn't Root seem to have something of the Hovis boy about him?

Grit is rather too drab a necessity for England captain, you need somebody who has an instinctive grasp of situations, think the Lancastrian Vaughan.

LGTrotter wrote:Whilst I would not wish to propagate stereotypes doesn't Root seem to have something of the Hovis boy about him?

If the lad can cycle up hill with a basket-full of wholemeal without blubbing like a girl he would be good enough for me.

'England captain Alastair Cook has called for a crackdown on "personal" attacks on his style of leadership.' Says the beeb.

I call on Derek to get behind the England captain and to withdraw the remarks which have so undermined him.

But then again whingeing that nobody loves you doesn't help. Nothing says 'needy loser' louder.

Hilarious. Not only is he spineless on the pitch now he's telling his Aunty B on us.

Time for the eggs and flour...

The ECB wrote:Bell, who made his debut as a fresh-faced 22-year-old against New Zealand 10 years ago, has been one of the key players in a golden era for England, which saw them win four Ashes series and become the number-one ranked Test team in the world.

During that time Bell has scored 6,787 runs at an average of 45.24, with 20 centuries and a highest score of 235 in a style that has been a delight to watch.

Form an orderly queue please.

djewesbury wrote:

The ECB wrote:Bell, who made his debut as a fresh-faced 22-year-old against New Zealand 10 years ago, has been one of the key players in a golden era for England, which saw them win four Ashes series and become the number-one ranked Test team in the world.

How is 4/10 the "golden age" for England? Doesn't that mean Australia won 6/10?

Or is this some kind of subtle English humor?

Glenn E. wrote:

djewesbury wrote:

The ECB wrote:Bell, who made his debut as a fresh-faced 22-year-old against New Zealand 10 years ago, has been one of the key players in a golden era for England, which saw them win four Ashes series and become the number-one ranked Test team in the world.

How is 4/10 the "golden age" for England? Doesn't that mean Australia won 6/10?

Or is this some kind of subtle English humor?

It's not 4/10. It's usually only played every other year (although since the seasons are out of sync, the gap is either 18 months or 30).
At the moment they are being shunted very close together in the schedule because of fixture clashes but that's an aberration.

Stone the crows! Have you seen what's happened at Headingly? England only need another 32 runs to avoid the follow on!

djewesbury wrote:

The ECB wrote:Bell, who made his debut as a fresh-faced 22-year-old against New Zealand 10 years ago, has been one of the key players in a golden era for England, which saw them win four Ashes series and become the number-one ranked Test team in the world.

During that time Bell has scored 6,787 runs at an average of 45.24, with 20 centuries and a highest score of 235 in a style that has been a delight to watch.

Form an orderly queue please.

I think I had my place at the front of this queue. I was looking at the high scores he has made on Cricinfo and then looking up the test scorecards, I am right, he has scored many runs in the valiant pursuit of his career, I have never seen him score a run when it mattered for England. There may be odd occasions where he has, please don't remind me of them. He has usually scored big when somebody else already has scored a century. He seems hapless, plucky is the kindest word associate with him. After 100 tests he still has the look of a bunny. You could throw a sausage roll in any county dressing room and hit 2 players with as much talent as him. I cannot imagine what kind of pictures of the chairman of selectors he has in numbered vault in Switzerland, but they must be dynamite. There is something about him that brings out the bully in me, which I really don't like. The most preposterous thing he has done in a long career of seeming faintly ridiculous was the cage fighting. Does anyone remember when he felt he needed to become more edgy and he went and trained in Thailand or somewhere? I haven't laughed so hard since the foreign secretary shared a bed 'to save money', he is just never going to look tasty. And then there is the MBE. And he still gets the short leg job under the lid which says to me his team mates think he's a sap too. I could go on, I'll get another drink and have a go.

I apologise in advance for all the various levels and kinds of offence I may have produced.

And of all the people who talk nonsense in the post match interview he has a unique ability to stitch together cliche into a single babbling noise.

LGTrotter wrote:You could throw a sausage roll in any county dressing room and hit 2 players with as much talent as him.

I wish someone would throw a sausage roll at me - haven't had one in ages

DRT wrote:

LGTrotter wrote:You could throw a sausage roll in any county dressing room and hit 2 players with as much talent as him.

I wish someone would throw a sausage roll at me - haven't had one in ages

And that is excellent news. Make sure you eat healthily over the weekend.

I think Graeme Swann did very well on TMS. A natural, he was only five minutes in there and was slagging them all off. Very dry.
Thanks Owen, I enjoyed that!

I missed today's session. Did Cookie do anything stupid that I should be ranting about?

DRT wrote:I missed today's session. Did Cookie do anything stupid that I should be ranting about?

Who, Ray??

No. Cook spent a good amount of time sensibly working out his position at the crease, working out where his off stump was and trying to get his technical faults corrected, as a result of which he looked far more fluid than at any time recently.

Perhaps the personal insults have been taken in the spirit in which they were intended and he has taken note of the fact he has been rubbish recently?

DRT wrote:

LGTrotter wrote:You could throw a sausage roll in any county dressing room and hit 2 players with as much talent as him.

I wish someone would throw a sausage roll at me - haven't had one in ages

There was a baby bel cheese thrown at one of the Sri Lankan fielders today!


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Here's hoping. If so this could be an exciting match.

DRT wrote:Perhaps the personal insults have been taken in the spirit in which they were intended and he has taken note of the fact he has been rubbish recently?

Here's some optimism. Cook has always looked to me like a solid England opener (rather than most of the 'Essexed' openers). He has scored a ton of runs with preternatural concentration and an amazing ability to play to his strengths. He's having a bad time, I see no reason at all why he won't come through it. In Cook we trust, no really...

LGTrotter wrote:

DRT wrote:Perhaps the personal insults have been taken in the spirit in which they were intended and he has taken note of the fact he has been rubbish recently?

Here's some optimism. Cook has always looked to me like a solid England opener (rather than most of the 'Essexed' openers). He has scored a ton of runs with preternatural concentration and an amazing ability to play to his strengths. He's having a bad time, I see no reason at all why he won't come through it. In Cook we trust, no really...

Have you been drinking the drain cleaner again?