ready for the match to start..
a draw seems likely but you never know especially after witnessing the last day chaos in the last game. i hope pk doesn’t play for a draw now.

Gilo bowled by Afridi. Gordon bennett it’s cold here, I’m off to hide under the duvet…

Brrrrr…

Reverse sweep by a tailender? That’s *got* to annoy the bowler…

Only 30 behind now

Morning all - Harmy bowling well I think - think he has found the length for the sub-continent. I’d like to see the yorker a bit more though.

last tour, we bowled ‘em out for 158 at Karachi. Well, I can dream can’t I?
Hectic morning - must be off to a meeting. Gonna miss all those lovely wickets

ok, cricinfo (Will?) reckons they were running on the wicket. I didn’t see it, anyone else?

jess.. on the first warning.. butt was not running on the wicket at all.. the ump. seems to be punishing butt for afridi’s antics..
on the second warning butt just had one step on the pitch.. ump. some what justified to call this one.. but still very harsh.
i think the umps are still punishing pk for afridis antics.. which is not on because afridi has been separately punished

G’day everyone,
I just saw replays of this and thought that the first one was harsh and he only really took half a step, if that, in the “danger zone”
But the second one was a little bit fairer, but still a touch and go line desision.
But afridi really did muck up!!

If we skittle them out for 200 then game on.

aha! so this is what is was all about.

Law 42.14
(a) If either batsman causes avoidable damage to the pitch, at the first instance the umpire shall, when the ball is dead,
(i) caution the batsman. This caution shall continue to apply throughout the innings. The umpire shall so inform each incoming batsman.
(ii) inform the other umpire, the other batsman, the captain of the fielding side and, as soon as practicable, the captain of the batting side.
(b) If there is a second instance of avoidable damage to the pitch by any batsman in that innings
(i) the umpire shall repeat the above procedure, indicating that this is a final warning.
(ii) additionally he shall disallow all runs to the batting side from that delivery other than the penalty for a No ball or a Wide, if applicable. The batsmen shall return to their original ends.

they key wraye is:
“causes avoidable damage”
this is ofcourse a matter of interpretation
but whatever intrepretation the umpire has of that needs to be applied consistantly. most umpires go with 2 steps in the danger zone. in the case of butt it was 0.5 step on the first warning and the second time 1 step
i’ve got the match on tape.. reviewed it and found many batsmen both from pk and england getting away with 2 steps in the danger zone!
hair is the one who is having problems today.. maybe continuing to feel anger towards afridi..

Really? I need commentary! And my bloody supervisor rescheduled our meeting to later in the day, so I didn’t even need to leave in the first place. Aarrrgh!

yes.. wraye… what a ball.. it swung back a foot to take off stump.. brilliant ball..
shut up the whole crowd.. it did… pin drop silence..

aahhh, missed by a whisker.

Chris, knowledge not in my head (cannot claim credit for that) but I do have Law 42 pinned above my bedstead back at home and I know where to look in the ‘Net. What a saddo.

Mani, in that case, it sounds very harsh indeed.

great bowling by flintoff..
england have a very good chance now to win this test..
a total around 210-230 is going to be no problem for england

Has Hair ever been involved in controversies before? Hmmmm…..let me think now.

jess.. yes that’s what was said last time.. but unlike pk.. england is not the type of team now that makes the same mistake in a row..
they will take it slow this time.. they will just need a couple of runs per over.. and they don’t have to worry about bad light because they can just play on and make use of all the overs for the day. the only chance pk has is akhtar pulling a freddie and taking a few quick wickets.. tresco,bell and pietersen wickets would be the key for pk
getting 2 point something runs/over for england is going to be a cakewalk

’s gonna be a draw.

Much as I would love to see England actually go for a win, it’s getting too close for comfort. Inzy will want to bat on beyond a 250 lead, say 20 to 25 overs tomorrow morning while we try to pick off his partners. It will be very interesting to see how Inzy defends his partners - with his history of running them out, or getting run out himself. That bumps the runrate up close to 4/over for England. Heavy asking. I reckon, the light will decide it.

what about umpire hair awarding england some runs.. he loves controversy..
so look out for him awarding some much needed runs to england..
i can’t see how this will not happen because the warnings today were very harsh…
and inzi a number of times ran right down the middle.. but hair ignored this.. i guess he doesn’t want to upset big inzi but will pick on little butt… give butt a break hair.. as if he doesn’t get enough stick for his name already..