Jmothecat2

Yeah I was dual screening it. Tennis on the TV and the All4 app on the iPad, that cut out just before the final ball of the England innings proper because it got to 7pm and the scheduled programme changed so the app turned off the stream. Got it back on just in time to see the 'out' graphic on the big screen.

That's the most excited I've been by cricket since the last time it was shown on C4

Really gutted for New Zealand. Can't think of a crueller way of losing.

Well that was some final.

Advantage England but it really feels this next few overs are crucial. It's this sort of situation where you just want them to get themselves in but as that's not the 'England way' I've a horrible sense there's a chance they might throw their wickets away. Hopefully the gravity of the match sobers them a little.

Exactly this sort of situation that worries me. Well bowled by New Zealand to get one of the openers out before they've settled. Hopefully Root can form a partnership with Bairstow. Get to 10 overs without losing another wicket and I'll feel confident Bairstow will hang around a bit.

Williamson on now. Feels like the real battle now.

Say what you like about McInnes but I couldn't imagine him coming out with a statement like that after missing out on a signing.

Fantastic news. Best manager of my lifetime, happy to see him sign an extension.

Australia really hate Edgbaston.

Oats in the bath worked well for my two, who had chickenpox a few weeks ago. It wasn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated it, the baby breezed through it and apart from being a bit sleepier and covered in spots, didn't change at all. Our oldest was a bit more noticeably ill but she seemed happy to have an excuse to sit and watch CBeebies for longer than we usually let her.

Is he that Rangers fan who pretends to support Hearts, who was convinced Sir Derek was going to the ****?

The exciting aspect is that England could not qualify, or win the next three by a distance and neither scenario would surprise me.

Very good start by England. Bairstow is a better player partnering Roy. I wonder if England should almost become a bat-first team whatever the conditions when they win the toss. I automatically feel more confident when they are batting first.

On the one hand that is what has put England to the stage they are now, going into a World Cup as favourites. The difference between this side and the ODI team from four years ago is night and day. The problem is they've gone so far into this mindset of playing aggressive shots that sometimes they don't play the constitutions or situation all that well. They almost seem to have an all or nothing mindset with it. As if they believe if they take it easy and try to just rotate the strike and play some old fashioned one day cricket to get themselves in, form a partnership, frustrate the bowlers then they will inevitably go back to the state they were in four years ago.

Stokes is doing what a few of the others needed to. Started off somewhat slowly to ease himself into his innings and is now hitting bigger shots. This is what Morgan should have done. And he's out.

It was stupid. Second match in a row that has required something other than the 'England way' and it's going to cost them again.

England seem utterly unable to play sensibly. They look great on flat pitches but anything that requires a bit of control and they seem to capitulate.

Atlanta B player, signed on loan. 23 and became a professional last year according to the official site.

John Gallagher. That's the left-field signing I suppose.

Pretty gutted for Afghanistan.

I think that's it for me. My main interest is test cricket, and England are the only test team (aside from Ireland but that's a very recent development) anywhere near me so it seems natural to support them. To not support the ODI and T20 teams when they include many of the same players would feel contrived, and like you say there isn't a rivalry there. From my experience most Scottish cricket fans I know support England, though I did know a couple at uni who didn't, but most did.

After a decent start India are struggling a bit here.

It's pretty awful. There's a lot about this World Cup that hasn't been done well.

It's frustrating that England have spent so much time building up to this tournament, with the one day format feeling like the one the ECB have cared more about than the others, to then have now two pretty poor performances when it matters. I still think England will qualify and at their best I think they would beat Australia, India or New Zealand, but they have these sorts of performances in their locker, where the batsmen almost seem to panic when they aren't scoring quickly, even though it was a slow pitch and a pretty low run chase by modern standards. It's added a bit of excitement to the tournament in a sense as up until now it's sort of felt inevitable that the current top four would be the four to qualify and now there's an element of doubt, but if England don't qualify then it really will be a disaster considering how much has gone into creating a competitive team for this tournament.