Again Cook has put personal landmarks before the team. If he had inserted SL for a few overs last night they could have lost a couple of wickets under difficult circumstances and given his strike bowlers two bites of the cherry whilst fresh. Defintely wouldn't put Engalnd out of this though. If they can pick 3 or 4 up with the new ball before lunch SL will probably crumble. Sanga key as always.

lot of aggression on this thread regards declarations.  Remember you can only play the cards you're dealt and Cook's got no real spinner.  Without that he's not only missing potential wickets, but also a good means of control if SL make a good start and start to look aggressive themselves.  With only two experienced seamers and a flattish deck and no spinner he cannot declare 10 overs ago.  That would have left 321 in 100 overs.  Utter madness to give SL that much of a sniff.

Obvs the d1ckheads in the Sky comm box will be making the noises about what they would have done, but they've forgotten their role in life.  They are simply TV commentators, not some alternative England management structure.

I suspect England will try and bat until Lunch to secure the draw..

strategically (based on the bowling attack having no spinner, and a spinner being less necessary at Leeds) it's much more likely that Eng win at Leeds than they do at Lord's, so make sure Lord's is not a loss and you prob win the series 1-0.  It just amazes me that people keep harping on about decs (every single time Eng are on top in a game and batting 1st) when the strategy they've been following for several years is tried and trusted.  Call it cautious if you want, but batting longer also allows you to attack for longer in the field if the early wickets don't tumble, and can dishearten a batting line up who have nothing to bat for except time.  Sure there's the odd time it may cost them the win, but they do not have 4 top class bowlers. They have 2, so you have to be careful.  If Eng and SL are both mid rank teams there's no shame in making sure you don't lose a game you don't need to.  Pretending you can make decisions as if you are Clive lloyd and it's 1984 is just crazy.  It's a batsman's game now and teams can and do chase these big scores with more regularity than before.  400 is no longer impossible.

Sky comms are way off the mark with their whole approach. This constant analysis and opinion on absolutely everything is just wnak.  They should just be calling it ball-by-ball with the odd reference to a seagull/sandwich/number 47 bus.  If ever there was an art form where it's true to say less is more it's cricket commentary.  witness Thursday morning;  Warne hectoring Athers and Nasser the answer a question about whether the captaincy was affecting Alastair Cook's batting.  And on aand on and on...
Just shut the f up and tell us he's pushed it to mid off...

and what happens when Eng win anyway (after having batted "too long" before the dec) ?  Which does happen much more often than gets remembered.

I'll tell you what - it becomes a non-conversation.  Sky have moved on to other pressing matters...They only remember the one time the game finished 9 wickets down with a draw, 6 years and 50 Tests ago...

good lord, didn't realise nass had gone that bald. strauss catching up.

need to have a word with Warne and Vaughan (although Nass is probably too mean to spend the money on it)

On England even if just to trade so basically betting on new ball wickets - conditions look good for swing

Come on England!

its dark BUT no rain today...sadly.

10 minutes from the firt wicket - excited

bpp - it's more about the time than the runs for me.

i think we've had three or four 2nd innings declarations in the last 3 years and every time we've had the opposition in before the start of the fifth day

in the two declarations (or was it three) last year had the opposition in before the fifth day so isn't this a slight departure from the tried and tested formula?

as for commentary, all sports journalism is pretty odd, given that so many journalists seem far more keen on sharing their own opinions rather than providing a neutral description of events.

actually more than 3 or 4. lots in that india series but on every occasion we had them in before the start of day 5.

this is not a deliberate departure; this is a function of having been 6/121 yesterday.  Which is because SL are no mugs - Eng have not had the total control to do everything they may have wanted in some sort of laboratory style controlled experiment.  It's a match and the oppo are trying too.  Sky/we (Eng watchers) forget this and end up obsessing about england...

gud thing draw ......

surely broad looking for the lh lbw, and then more slips and gullies for silva

Yep I missed another trick not backing England at 3 last night.  I am not sure  have the mindset for trading in and out.  I think the wicket price has been discounted already to some degree anyway.  Both openers are in good form.  2 wickets down and we have a ball game.  just one with the new ball and I think we can head down to Trini where a faster pitch might help and atrocious WI but NZ have to be favourites.  Have not got much news on the game so am holding back.  Was going to lay WI at 2.6 but they have moved out to 3's.

England back up to 3 already?

i must be missing something!

amazing! I lumped Eng at the start of the day at 2.72 and layed 2.4ish. Gave myself a few overs for a bonus wicket and then took a bit of green. Not made much on this game to be fair as I'm a draw layer! Happy to make money on any draw to be fair

Lanka up with the run rate!

lunchtime prediction: 109/3