I wish someone at the ECB could Explain what Mark Wood is doing in the squad if they feel he is not yet fit enough to play. He is just a name on a sheet of paper then with no real purpose. Wood is 33 and will not be bowling at 94-95 mph for much longer. His career has been full of injury and so much time off that 28 Tests in 8 years is not that good. He will I feel, leave the game soon like Archer and Stone because he cannot go on being picked as a non-playing cricketer. So England might as well risk it all and let him loose on the opposition and if he breaks down again, then it will mess up the Test match but it's better than saying 2 years down the line that he is fit and ready when his best years are behind him. As for Woakes, he should retire from Tests so that he can at least spend the last few years of his career, actually playing and not being messed about by selectors who don't want to pick him.

I am making no predictions or hints at what is to come. I have been chastised by coolerking and quite rightly so, I must know my place.

Looks as though this one is now dead and buried along with my Harmer comments. I should have just shut up, can't win them all really.

You cannot keep coming up with new things whenever there is a bee-in-the-bonnet of someone who think we need change. If all these 'New Fans' are appearing, are they just watching The Hundred or other thing also. If all they want is The Hundred then the whole thing has been a waste of time if they are just watching the one competition, then it has achieved nothing at all.

Harmer has had little success against us for a few games now so we should be confident about scoring off him. Even though his record is pretty superb over the last 6-7 years, I have never seen him bowl well so if he could just keep that up for this game it would be nice.

Am I right in thinking that Lawrence is going off to the England squad (And be replaced by a sub batsman) but we are without Woakes who is not allowed to play part of this game and then be allowed to piss off. What the hell is going on with so-called 'Team England' who seem to be able to mess counties around left, right and centre.

A really strange looking side. Believe it or not, I was just on the BBC site to look at the 2 teams and Moeen Ali's name was there. I had to look again and then after 10 seconds, it disappeared and Dom Bess appeared. Pity we lost the toss with all those spin options.

Yes, no one on here I think would try and push aside the importance of Birmingham to the club and it was obviously a good idea to put the club into a big city rather then just anywhere else in the county. Would it be the same if we all had to travel to Nuneaton or Leamington or indeed, how many would. No disrespect to either of those places.

Still not happy with the 'Birmingham' part of our name and never use it to the point of correcting people (In a nice, soft, cuddly and delicious way) when they say it at work but I think the Hollies stand now like to live up to a certain level of expectation based on reputation alone and it can get out of hand sometime. I would never want to watch cricket in that stand and sometimes I think the game comes secondary to the actual behaviour that is projected.

Yes, I can only agree with how good it is to see us making runs without Hain. Thought Maxwell was going to go big last night, that's always the problem with being one six-hit away from a landmark, the temptation to get it with one hit but he did play well and kept the impetus of the innings going. Not sure what the crowd numbers were last night but I am sure some of the 'Bearboffins' we have out there will know.

Bald_Reynard mentioning bowlers not bowling their full lot of overs, both Maddy and Chopra were good at that, seeing some bowlers have tight spells and then making sure the most expensive bowlers came back to get even more of a hiding.

They both left at the end of the Kent match at Edgbaston when we won the 2nd division title and it was also Trott's last game. 3 players like that going in 1 season, what a blow. It seems huge now but we have not done too badly despite that.

Henry you are a lucky man, that was a wide but you got away with it. Perhaps our good fortune for having to listen to some very biased 'Home' commentary.

It wasn't as extreme as some, like when Hampshire lost half of their games in 2010 and ended up winning it. Especially as they had a runner in the final and all 3 batsmen ran at the same time causing confusion and the umpires let them get away with it and win. A bit like they did last year in another farce.

Either way, I do not want to see county cricket played in a 'Bazball, (Yes, I hate that term too) type of way and then silly field placings for the sake of it and captains who play on hunches rather than using their brain. I enjoyed the 18 team division where at least everyone played each other at some point and much better than the days of playing 22 3-day games, a bit like it is now where you play some teams twice but others only once. It is also important to play the CC during a Test series so that if there is an injury or loss of form, anyone coming into the side has got some games behind them in the same format.

It would be nice wouldn't it. At some point you feel it is coming. Perhaps if/when we get to the quarter final and don't mess it up like last year and other years, he will have a great finals day when all the shots come out and we can win it. I always feel, like Neil Carter did, that if you finish top of the group, you should go straight into finals day and the 2nd and 3rd teams in the 2 groups should then fight it out for the other 2 places. Nothing worse than seeing a side scrape into the quarters and get to finals day and win it.

Glad we didn't lose that, after the Test, I was ready to explode. Bethel, that's a dream little innings.

So glad I didn't have the time off to go. I would be a miserable wreck after that. People who say that the catches/stumping cost the game, well if England had got 500 like they should have, the whole circumstances would have been different and the same thing cannot happen twice if the scenario changes. Keeping Root on, well even I could see that Cummins was going to go for him and if I can see it then why couldn't the skipper. Wood must come in for Anderson who was unfit and had no form whatsoever. If I have to hear 'Cricket was the winner' or 'Pure Cricket' once more on the BBC site, I will scream like a banshee.

According to 'The Met Office', there is a 60-90% chance of rain from 6am till lunch and then a 30% chance from 1pm onwards so all those with tickets looking for a classic finish might have to watch a few groundsmen trying to clear water off a pitch. If we only get 50 overs, the odds are on England rather than Australia as the rate will slow too much when they lose wickets on a sweating pitch.

Yes, and if only because he is a pro cricketer who wants to play, not be stuck in and out of various changing rooms around the country. Also, if because of injury he is called into the England squad at any time, it would be nice if he had some playing time rather than go into a game rusty and underbowled.