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.

The problem is, pitches at Edgbaston have a 'Reputation' because of that 1995 pitch v West Indies when the game was over before lunch on the 3rd day. That was a dangerous pitch and was 2-paced and ever since then, people who do not know much about anything let alone cricket, see m to think Edgbaston has green pitches and even Mike Brearley on the strength of that Test, then blamed the pitches there for Warwickshire winning championships even though I do not recall him being there under any capacity. If he looked at an attack that had Donald, Small, Munton, Brown, Reeve, Welch, etc, then he might have come to a different conclusion. The Headingley pitch when England beat West Indies in 2 days (2000?) didn't get the same degree of criticism. Whether or not Stokes got any say in this pitch, is debatable as groundsman hate being 'Told' to prepare a pitch of a certain kind. Edgbaston is like Headingley, you look up before tossing and take your chances. The pitches here over the years have been good and when winning the CC in 2021, our pitches were praised as every home game went into the last session of the final day. It might be that because the pitch in this Test hasn't broken up at all (Yet?), that people think it is dull but if you consider that we are not halfway through the game and the 3rd innings has started, it might produce a bit for the bowlers, Rain permitting.

I too heard that comment but England did not make Australia play at enough deliveries. The problem is, Stokes wanted a dry and bare surface with no grass. If you ask for that, you cannot complain if the ball does very little. The pitches at Edgbaston are not known for pace so what were the bowlers expecting. This being the case, then England should have no problem getting runs in the 2nd innings should they. If not, it could be a defeat as the rain that was forecast today by all accounts is not coming until later and there might still be enough time left for a result to happen.

A true Bear through and through.

Well, England's bowling looked insipid at times once the early glories had passed. Moeen only turned a few and went for a few but Anderson hardly beat the bat and Robinson looked like a very ordinary choice. Mark Wood must wonder why he wasn't in instead of the samey bowlers that were on show. If Australia get a lead of 100+, we will see if people look differently on Stokes' reckless declaration.

'Strange' or stupid, only by tomorrow will we know. England were only ever going to get 4 overs in so why bother to declare. England might have gone into day 2 with 440 on the board and who knows, only 8, maybe 9 down. We have handed the initiative to Australia if they get close or beyond the England total. Stokes is trying to be too clever and I hope I am proved wrong.

We have to play Surrey at The Oval in September and if they haven't already run away with the title by then, we will have to win it somehow. Never thought Kent's bowling was very good when they played us and on a flat pitch they must look very poor and makes you wonder how they never made many in the first innings.

Looks as though this could be a horrible day for us. Surrey are just 70 away from a big win and if we do not get these wickets soon, an even bigger gap opens up at the top.

Confident of victory which would be spoilt by a Surrey win. You get the feeling that Kent could wilt in the heat but hope not.

Have faith Tayls79, Surrey have been out-played and showed that they are not invincible as some think but I know what you mean about a run chase in the 4th innings. Without any more rain I think we will win but a problem must be to enforce the follow-on or not. If it feels right to bowl, carry on and enforce it. All depends on what Notts get. If they are 200 allout, why bat again with a 370+ lead.

We are scoring quicker and I doubt it has anything to do with wickets lost. Even when we were not many wickets down, the scoring was slow and made us all wonder why this was so and even Hain on these pages was accused of taking too long to get going.

91-1, we'll take that. Might be a green pitch but the outfield looks lightning fast so we must cash in here and get a big total.