2nd ODI: England vs Australia at Lord's

Australia will be looking to continue their dominance over England in 50-over cricket, having won 10 of their last 11 meetings.

I am hoping David Willey finds his way back into the England team for this second ODI. He is an exciting young cricketer that gives England's bowling attack some much needed variety.

Sadly..Wiley has to sit out this game.Wiley had some good pace and accuracy as well,which is pretty dangerous..I think ENgland have missed a trick by not playing him


Warner retires hurt after Fin fires in a nasty blow on warner's thumb..Second ball of the innings..!

A few takeaways from this game.

1. No Willey makes me sad. Get him in the side to give the attack some much needed variety.
2. Jos Buttler could probably do with a rest. It has been a very long summer and he has really struggled as of late.
3. Australia really missed a trick by not playing Pat Cummins earlier in the Test series. He has been a complete handful for England since coming into the side at The Oval.
4. The break from cricket has done Eoin Morgan a lot of good.
5. Australia's sportsmanship still leaves a lot to be desired. Nothing new there.

Stokes.. ::confused::


Did the third umpire consider Stokes to have purposely prevented the ball from hitting the stumps or he recognised that the batsman was protecting himself( which he clearly was), but still considered that to be obstruction.
Makes me think further If the batsman isn't supposed to defend himself from the throw, then what else is he supposed to do?

For me, Joel Wilson's (the third umpire) biggest mistake was reviewing the footage in slow motion. Umpire's Dharmasena and Robinson gave a soft signal for not out. In order for Wilson to overturn that call, there had to be absolutely no doubt that Stokes' actions were deliberate.

At real time speed, Starc hurled the ball from five yards away at full pace. Stokes' initial reaction was to defend himself. To flinch is everyone's natural reaction to an object being thrown in your direction. Stokes had all of 0.3 seconds to react. I am not sure how Wilson was able to determine that his actions were a deliberate attempt to deflect the ball. 

The Australians have now opened the door for all teams to start hurling the ball at batsmen in an effort to get a cheap wicket.

Exactly..Teams desperate for a wicket will start deploying this tactic to pick a wicket and the other one will start to whine about it.
Cricket as a game is losing its substance.The umpires atleast should have had common sense.

Stokes instinctively raised his hand toward the ball whilst reflexively moving his body away from it. This all happened in a split second; he wasn't purposefully blocking his stumps. It definitely looked suspicious in slow motion, but in real time it was obviously all protective instinct.

Thankfully, as I had hoped for, England have decided to give Jos Buttler a rest and Jonny Bairstow will come into the side for the remaining three ODIs. Buttler has had a very heavy workload this summer, and while his glovework has improved, he has really struggled to find any form as of late.

If you remember a match between Ind Vs Pakistan way back in 2006 i guess.Inzamam was given out for blocking the stumps when the fielder (Raina) aimed from a distance.

He really was and had to be given out.I recollected the sequence,both instances differ..COmpletely..

I am taking this into consideration because,when we compare instances,w get a feling of how the situation furled out and wat decision should have been taken

Brendan McCullum, in his weekly column for The Daily Mail was critical of Steve Smith:

Video of the Murali run out McCullum referenced in his article:

www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket/articl...-spirit-cricket.html