England v Sri Lanka Test series

[Ottawa Green]

Sri Lanka
236

England
(4 ov) 22/0
Day 1 - England trail by 214 runs.

Stumps

 

[Mexijan1]

Jut watched the highlights, poor old Mendis will be having nightmares tonight that was a snorker from Woods.

 

[Brussels Bureaucrat]

Interesting that none of the UK broadcasteds are bidding for the Pakistan tour this winter. Absolutely grim news for the future of Test cricket if even the English broadcasters don't think it's worth covering.

 

[Frank Butcher]

Interesting that none of the UK broadcasteds are bidding for the Pakistan tour this winter. Absolutely grim news for the future of Test cricket if even the English broadcasters don't think it's worth covering.

Aside from franchise cricket, I think the problem is that it’s becoming uncompetitive (which is also partly due to franchise cricket).

Look at the Windies series and what we’ve seen here so far - though admittedly very early days of course. People will always watch England, Australia and India against each other but they have become elite in Test match terms with maybe South Africa and NZ hanging on in there.

 

[Brussels Bureaucrat]

Aside from franchise cricket, I think the problem is that it’s becoming uncompetitive (which is also partly due to franchise cricket).

Look at the Windies series and what we’ve seen here so far - though admittedly very early days of course. People will always watch England, Australia and India against each other but they have become elite in Test match terms with maybe South Africa and NZ hanging on in there.

Yep. It's a vicious circle isn't it. If you're an elite cricketer from Bangladesh or New Zealand or South Africa, would you rather play for a bad-to-middling Test team in front of largely empty stadiums, or make a small fortune every couple of months as a peripatetic franchise player? It's a no-brained really.

 

[The Pilgrim]

Interesting that none of the UK broadcasteds are bidding for the Pakistan tour this winter. Absolutely grim news for the future of Test cricket if even the English broadcasters don't think it's worth covering.

Wonder if they Pakistani rights holders are holding out for an amount our broadcasters don't want to pay? It happens every time we tour India, no-one agrees rights until about a week before the series starts.

 

[Joe Totale]

Wonder if they Pakistani rights holders are holding out for an amount our broadcasters don't want to pay? It happens every time we tour India, no-one agrees rights until about a week before the series starts.

Yep. Also a lot of the action will be in the early morning, not a great time for viewing figures.

Like Indian series in the past and this brinkmanship, the outcome may be that the series ends up on terrestrial which would be good.

 

[Ottawa Green]

England 40/2, Duckett and Pope out

 

[Ottawa Green]

67/3 Lawrence out

 

[Ottawa Green]

Root gone for 42 125/4

 

[Ottawa Green]

Tea

Sri Lanka
236

England
(37 ov) 176/4
Day 2 - Session 2: England trail by 60 runs.

Smith 22 no
Brook 53 no

 

[Ottawa Green]

187/5 Brook out 56

 

[Ottawa Green]

England lead by 3

239/6

Woakes out for 25, Smith no 57

 

[Ottawa Green]

Stumps •
1st Test, Manchester, August 21 - 25, 2024, Sri Lanka tour of England

Sri Lanka
236

England
(61 ov) 259/6
Day 2 - England lead by 23 runs.

 

[Ottawa Green]

Sri Lanka
236

England
(85.3 ov) 358/10
Day 3 - Session 1:

Smith 111, 8 England players in double figures.