They do. Agreed.

But Lungi caned the IPL which are anything but fast bowler friendly.

Lungi is a champion. So is Rabada. These boys are bowlers and future ATG's.

SA also have good pitches for fast bowlers to bowl on.

Abbott and Morkel retire to County Cricket. Welcome to future superstar Lungi Ngidi. ;-)

It is an amazing production line of seamers.

Basically Shai Hope is demonstrating that he has some talent (first evidenced in England last year in that test they won), and Hetmeyer has announced that he is a slogger who is dangerous on roads. When I say slogger - he plays orthodox shots, but he takes the boundary on for 6. He will look to launch 6's over cover off the quicks. And he will smash spinners straight down the ground.

Holder continued his good form with the bat. 

And the rest of the West Indian batting was pathetic. Same ol' same ol'.

I'm not sure what is going in terms of results in the India/Windies series in India?

I've seen a bit on TV.

I'm going to bump this one.

England too good for India at home in this last test series.

I expected India to be better. Ravi Ashwin struggled compared to to Indian wickets.

Moen Ali's spin bowling has improved out of sight for England. Anderson and Broad continite to be a potent threat o English wickets. T

The crowds were good too.

New Zealand have achieved a series win against England.

The series was played in New Zealand.

The Kiwis are now ranked  third as a Test nation - one place above Australia.

From what I've seen in Australian and South African conditions, the Aussie attack of Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins and Lyon is the best of all by some margin. In the Ashes  series I don't think Cummins and Hazlewood have hit top form at this stage in the series.

New Zealand are playing the Windies in NZ in the Second Test.  The Kiwis won the First Test  first by 10 wickets.

The Windies have taken 8 for not many in the second Kiwi innings. Shannon Gabriel bowled very fast up to 145 kph late in the day. The Windies need to make 400 odd to win. The Kiwis have taken two early wickets in Windies second dig.



At Hamilton there is barely a spectator in the ground. From what I've seen it is the same in South Africa, West Indies and New Zealand. Few spectators are turning  up to watch test cricket in these countries. Sri Lanka is marginally better. Sometimes it is the high cost of tickets relative to  average wages. They are turning up in England, India, Australia and Bangladesh.

I've been surprised too.

Morkel, Olivier and Rabada in particular have been impressive against Bangla.

South Africa have Steyn, Philander, Morkel, Morris all injured yet theyve called up Dane Paterson who averages 23 in FC. Their fast bowling depth is crazy. 

Test cricket is only strong in South Africa in Cape Town and Durban, and only in the Christmas-New Year period. Nobody would be rocking up to watch Bangladesh right now.


In other news, a great test match was just played in the UAE, surprisingly won by Sri Lanka. They managed to bowl Pakistan out for 114 in the fourth innings, winning by only 21 runs. Hearth taking 11 for the match.


England won the ODI series against the West Indies, despite some notable performances by Evan Lewis, Gayle, and Jason Holder.

It might be to spread cricket to more remote regions. They've done it in Australia, NZ and India.

Is it because the SA gov has become increasingly anti white ?

South Africa are playing Bangladesh in Potchetstroom. In the first dig SA made 3-493 declared with Bangladesh 9 for 308 in reply. All of Morkel, Rabada and Olivier have  bowled over 140 clicks. No doubt Bangladesh have improved away from home.

There were hardly any spectators at the game. Potchetstroom looks like a pretty remote place.

Absolutely. Good news for cricket.

I was watching Stoneman, Cook's opening partner and he looked okay when I saw him.

 Good round up, Lastbroadcast. 

Some good news - a world XI side has been assembled to play some T20 cricket against Pakistan in Pakistan.

The team includes a number of players from around the world, including South African captain Faf Du Plessis and West Indies spinner Samuel Badree.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/20667069

England won the third test at Lords by nine wickets. Stoneman and Westley chasing down the 107 to win.

Earlier they bowled West Indies out for 177, James Anderson taking a career best 7 wicket haul. Shai Hope scored the only half century for the

Pretty ordinary game for the batsmen, neither team cracking 200 in either innings.

Day 3: https://youtu.be/CdF1p6l31-I



Overall it was a mixed series for both teams.

The West Indies batted very poorly in two games, but Braithwaite and Shai Hope won the second test on their own with their avalanche of runs in both innings. Shai Hope was the pick of the Windies batsmen. On the plus side, the Windies fast bowlers looked in good form for the first time in.a long time, especially Kemal Roach.

England need to look at their poor fielding, especially in the slips cordon. They also need to find a solution to their top order batting woes. The number 3 batting slot and the opening slot are very shaky at the moment. After four years they still haven't really found a replacement to Strauss as Cook's partner.

Windies managed to bowl England out for 195. Kemar Roach put himself on the honour board with a 5 wicket haul for the Windies.

They lost 3 wickets in the final session to be 3/90 in response, only 22 runs ahead. Shai Hope is still at the crease on 35. They'll have to bat well tomorrow to set England a target.

James Anderson took his 500th test wicket by bowling Braithwaite.

https://youtu.be/DHUIFTRix3c

The Windies finished Day 1 bowled out for 127. However England struggled to bat on it too, losing 4 early wickets. Cook and Root are already out, and are going to need Stokes, Bairstow and Moeen Ali to bail them out yet again.

England must be getting worried about their top order woes. Their middle and lower order are very strong but you can't always rely on them to bail you out. They need to find an opening partner for Cook and a new number 3 (or Root needs to bat there).

On the plus side, Stokes finally found some form with the ball, taking a 6 wicket haul and reverse swinging the ball all over the place. His form will be very important going into the Ashes this summer.

Day 1 highlights: https://youtu.be/dpYZnC6dTFw

The English series is now keenly contested after the Windies won the last test.

Elsewhere in Asia, India managed to chase down 170 with 4 balls to spare in the first T20 against Sri Lanka.

West Indies have won the toss and are batting in the 3rd test against England at Lords.

They have lost one wicket already after 12 overs, Anderson getting Braithwaite out. Currently a rain delay.

Cant believe the Windies beat England when the Poms were at home. A big victory for them.

Actually the SPNIndia YouTube page has full highlights of the SL-Ind ODI series, plus a few highlights from the test series. I'll put the link up top.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM02DhrrkptNN4yvqNX5FRwV2qLh5Yek9

India whitewashed Sri Lanka in the One Day series 5-0.

Most notable was the performance of Indian Fast Bowler Jasprit Bumrah who took 5/27 in the third game and ended up man of the series. He looks a good prospect for India in white ball cricket.

Some official Highlights:
Bumrah's 5/27 - https://youtu.be/BYylrFQjTaY

Game 3 Full highlights (no sound): https://youtu.be/1IAEFVsI4rU

2nd ODI highlights: https://youtu.be/YjAcxfPGFKE

What a victory for the Windies!

I think we play the Poms at home this season. Yes, Warner struck Root.