2nd Test: England v Bangladesh: Chester-le-Street 2-6 June

[Occasional Fan]

Please place your comments before and during the match here.

[flanflinger]

Shall we have bets on

1. Whether it lasts beyond two days
2. Which England Batsmen will get to his double hundred first
3. Whether the Bangladeshi's can last beyond 50 overs -in either innings

[Rachael]

Question: will the batting order definitely be the same? I wouldn't be surprised if it were... but the advantages of letting someone else bat with Strauss at the top of the innings must be worth considering given that there's a fair chance no-one else will actually get to wield the willow!

[flanflinger]

Rachael,

They may swap it if they have to have a second innings, but even then I doubt it. This side is very proffesional and sees these games as Test matches to be won, not warm ups....

[Victor Frankenstein]

on the same note flan, i think that england are in an awkward position of not wanting to appear disrespectful to bangladesh, either as a team or a country, hence playing their best side and playing in their normal order. I do think that for the second innings though they could get away with changing a couple of places in the batting order without causing offence (ie jones opening with strauss, he does open with kent from time to time). Having said that though, it's not as if strauss, tresco and vaughan are in such a rich vein of form themselves that they can afford to forego an opportunity for some batting practice.

[Occasional Fan]

I don't think we know the order yet, but for the reasons FF and VF give, I very much doubt it will change.

[Richard Jenkins]

this is the dilemma. England want to win but also i suppose to give bangladesh a chance to learn some skills/techniques; really, England could win with just one innings. Perhaps if vaughn wins the toss he should forfeit his first innings? or is this to patronising?

[Occasional Fan]

It's either patronising or otherwise disrespectful. I doubt it will happen, and I wouldn't want to see it. It would just be a slap in the face for the visitors.

[Trescothick]

Am i right in thinking this is not being shown on channel 4 rather just sky sports?

[Kirsty Harris]

Yep, Sky currently get one test match per summer, with the current deal ending this year. It's a good thing, really, because at least all the Ashes tests will be on Channel 4...