**** England v Pakistan 1st Test Lords ****

aaahmmmm.....that day 4 

edge of your seat Dilly ::confused::  Pak win by 75!! di'ze plenty :

This loss definitely stung. If nothing else, at least England have been thoroughly entertaining as of late across all three formats of the game. Something that hasn't always been the case in recent years.

This must be a conflicting series for you. If Pakistan win the series 3-0 or better, they jump to the top of the rankings, pushing Australia down to second. So in order for Australia to hang on to the number 1 ranking, you have to root for England to win at least 1 Test match.  ;D

We can do without the Oz support thank you eh Undameister me old mucker?

2-1 England....where would that put us in the rankings Dilly?

2-1 would catapult us to second in the rankings with 110 points. Pakistan would remain third while India would drop to fourth.

England would still move up to third even if they lose the series 2-1.

That is my prediction Sir....

and If Swept ??  :-\

If England were to get swept, England would remain fourth, while Pakistan would leapfrog Australia as the number 1 ranked side in the world. Every cloud has a silver lining.  ::LOL::

Shabash !

Obviously Pakistan snaffled up the final 4 wickets for next to nowt which made the margin of victory look much wider than the tension and action on the field.

With Woakes and Bairstow still at the crease, England needed 88 runs with 4 wickets in hand. During their 30 over partnership, Pakistan threw the absolute kitchen sink at them. Yasir and Wahab bowling in tandem was electric stuff. It really was edge of the seat stuff. That was as good a spell of bowling in tandem that I have seen in a while, and Bairstow and Woakes stood toe to toe with them, and somehow eeked England back into a position where they might have pulled off the unlikely.