Latest from the Tests.

Root has been majestic,  and Atkinson  promising, but the batting is shaky abd totally unreliable.  Ducket is a disgrace, plays every ball, ahd gives bowlers an opportunity 6o -70% of the .time. Crawley never  knows where his off stump is, with his front foot frequently  nowhere to be seen near the pitch of the ball. Brooke plays in a similar vein, as does Pope

Cummins and the other Aussies  myst be licking their lips at the prospect of this shower appearing soon for a test series.  No bets taken for the outcome.

Playing entertaining  attacking  cricket is one thing in 20/20  style, but winning cricket,  against quality, serious opposition is another.

I unusually watched the England 2nd innings for a while yesterday Mark & it was the worst batting I have seen from any International team in a long time. Which superbrain's idea was it to replace the injured Crawley with Lawrence who, to my knowledge, has never opened in county cricket.

He was clueless - his only real scoring area being leg side he was so easy to contain & Duckett at the other end is not much better. Brooks is fast becoming a liability with quite a puerile attitude as shown when the Sri Lankan seamers kept their line outside off - a quite legitimate tactic.

England have unearthed a couple of decent players this series - Smith is quality & Atkinson could prove to be a decent replacement for the aging Woakes. Why MacCallum didn't select the most promising young opener in county cricket to come in for Crawley baffles me. As you say the Aussies will be looking forward to bowling at this rabble. I would persevere with Crawley but we badly need to find a 2, 3 & 5. I would keep Smith at 6 with a fit again Stokes at 7 provided he can bowl decent spells.