We made them bat again 
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Oh dear!!
The Windies have been a revelation, very disciplined and outplayed England in all areas.
Great to see them back playing proper Test cricket.
Our top order is in disarray.
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On current form, not a single England player would get into the W.I. team
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Joe Root said before the series that āit doesnāt matter where the runs come from.ā Well, hopefully now he can see exactly how flawed that mindset is. The middle order/tail canāt keep bailing out the opening partnership, they will lose confidence eventually, because they are having to change their game. Changing their game is in conflict with how they are being told to play too - confusing. Rootās game looks shaky, Stokes has gone from a swashbuckling bat, to someone less assured as to what his role is. This goes for a few of them. All of us understand that the major difference between test cricket and other forms of the game is time. The England team donāt. When the management are constantly telling the players and us that they are going to attack at every juncture, it goes completely against the 100 odd year evolution of the game. You canāt do that it wonāt work, not all the time. What West Indies have done and done brilliantly well, is look at Englandās flaws and play the game on spicy pitches, knowing that all they have to do is use the traditional virtues of line and length bowling and disiplined batting (against bowling that holds no real fear for them) because They know that England, particularly with the bat, canāt do it and get impatient. They only have to do those trad things better than England. Itās looked like a series win for Windies since the second morning of the first test and I cant see England getting a result in the third either. England are a confused mess. I think they have been complacent too.
I hope that when Bayliss has gone after next season, we can get a coach that wants to play the game conventionally with specialist players in certain positions to allow the fantastic players we do have to shine. Stuffing the team with bits and pieces all rounders is wank. We need a top class spinner, a bowler with real pace and openers who can blunt an opposition attack by soaking up pressure. Curran for instance is a fantastic prospect but England donāt need a no.9 bat who bowls a bit of left arm dibbly- dobbly. What is that all about, really?
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Curran looks to have a solid technique, could he become a top order batsman ? He also plays the situation probably better than anyone bar Root.
We just donāt seem to have the top order batsmen around. I donāt watch much county cricket so I stand to be corrected.
I think he could be a top order player but Iām not sure he can learn in test cricket. He has the game for sure though.
Iām mystified by Denly. A seasoned pro, who knows how to play the game gave his wicket away cheaply. It doesnāt make sense to me. His dismissal in the first innings was retarded, Iāve not seen the second but didnāt sound greatā¦ The West Indies top order have played with discipline and restraint. Non of them are world beaters, they have just batted with a plan. Why canāt we find a couple of openers who can make the bowlers bowl at them, why all the swipinā? None of them can leave the ball. Itās maddening. The team seem arrogant to me, they think they can just smash their way out of trouble. Hopefully this will be a wake-up call.
This is certainly a factor. Positive cricket shouldnāt and mustnāt mean reckless cricket and our top 5 need to heed that. Ok, in the right circumstances I have no problem with the likes of Buttler and Stokes getting out when trying to take an attack apart with expansive shots, but they can only do that if the right foundations have been laid.
I canāt remember the last time those foundations were in place to allow it though. Weāve been trying, and failing, to find an opening partnership since Strauss retired. IMO only Hameed looked anywhere near replacing him, but he seems to have gone backwards since then.
Kids entering the game now want to emulate Gayle & co and see Ā£Ā£Ā£ās in T-20 careers. Nobody wants to be the next Alistair Cook and thatās worrying.
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So he skippers the West Indies to a superb series victory that at least has a chance to kick start a renascence of test cricket for the West Indies and the ICC ban him? 
Rules are rules, Iām afraid. I would have enjoyed watching him in the final test, but I guess you canāt have one set of rules for one team and not another.
renaissance btw 
(I realise your spelling is valid, just looks wrong though)
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I agree but my phone wouldnt have it!
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I agree but there wasnāt exactly a lack of time on the game. A fine would have done imv. Shouldnāt the umpires and the match referee be ensuring it doesnt get to this?
I guess it depends a bit on how many times he might have been warned etc. during the course of the match. Is there a publicly released referees / umpires report for a test match?
I understand about the time element, I think they are just implementing the rule to the letter.
Itās a great shame that he will not be there to lead his side in their finest hour for many a year.
I would back this WI team to do well in England.
Iām not even sure they get any on field warnings. I think (I may be wrong) it is up to the captain to ensure they donāt drop below the required rate.
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Ah ok, Iām pretty patchy on the more admin end of the rules in a lot of ways.
As I say, I canāt be certain, but Iāve never seen an umpire warn a captain about over rates on the field.
I assumed he had instructions to slow the over rate so the fans watched at least three days of cricket 
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Itās not very often that I agree with Agnewās views on cricket, but this time he seems to have it pretty much right.
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