Alex

That’s a bit harsh I think. He rode his luck early on without a doubt. But he had much more controlled second half of his innings and played some lovely shots. I mean he’s never going to be great. But i don’t think there’s any better options out there. I think him and Duckett have the best record since Strauss / Cook as an opening partnership. I appreciate that says more about what’s come before than anything btw

Really? Wow.

Yeah. I was thinking that if you asked me that question and I didn’t even know the area very well I could’ve answered that fairly easily. It was the equivalent of a warm up question to relax an interviewee or something

It’s alternative to the news not alternative news. A bit like how Gareth Keenan was assistant to the manager

I don’t know but I want some of that coffee

I know the south west isn’t the Liberal (as was) stronghold it was when I was a kid. But surely they must have a strong enough presence to have a local candidate. Or at least someone who lives locally with a knowledge of the area. Especially given the must’ve known they’d have a decent chance of winning there.

It’s alright to have a load of absolute fuckwits in the ‘red wall’ seats. Ones who mostly only got picked as Tory candidates because they didn’t think they’d get in

That’s not fair. They’re not particularly good at pretending they’re bothered

10 fucking years? I’ll take that

I suppose it’s no more ridiculous than ‘woke’ and ‘remainer’ being used as insults

I wonder if he’ll bat more properly now he’s essentially a specialist batsman.

He bats much better when he plays himself in though.

They got rid of him and Lord Gower maybe a couple of years ago. I love the latter but agree re Botham.

There’s only an hour and 10 minutes play left this evening now if you factor in the change of innings. Declaring would be absolutely fucking stupid and would play into Australian hands

Crawley has other ideas though

Not a T/20 field though. There’s loads of ones and twos to be had with the field spread though. I don’t think the declaration this evening is on. I would imagine the Aussie overrate will take the piss too.

Think they’ll look to bat once if they’ve still got the wickets in hand. I know Saturday looks like a write off but 100 run lead isn’t enough imo. Australia will look to bat time. Declaring in the first test arguably just took time out of the game and gave England less options later in the match

64% control but the smack of leather on willow on some of those shots. Gorgeous

Get the impression he’s annoyed purely because it’s a status thing. I also get the impression there’ll be some sort of crowd funding grift off the back of this. To fund some legal action that won’t take place and won’t be paid back either. Although anyone contributing doesn’t deserve their money back. He’ll shite himself the second there’s any suggestion the bank itself may take legal action over stuff he’s saying / writing about it though. Btw, this was the first thing Jeremy Vive wanted to discuss on his shit show yesterday. Like PL says, nee one gives a shite, but he seems to have called in a few favours to make this some pressing matter which is somehow linked to everyone’s freedom. I’m thinking of not banking with Coutt’s in the future like

We might still sign a starting left back even if this deal does happen. Ashby was cheap, is unproven and may well have been one to primarily improve the second string. Krafth has had a bad injury and is limited, even if he looked really good under Howe the season before last when Tripps was injured. Manquillo has been a decent servant but lacks the quality needed now. Trippier can’t play every match. Makes sense from a cover and a versatility pov. I appreciate it’s hard to get our heads round the club building a decent squad like. I’m certainly not used to it

Precisely this

Keegan’s Lorries - there’s more to us than hot dogs

Ronald was the dad’s name iirc. Pretty sure he went by that rather than Ronnie

The son with the Ferrari is now the owner. The dad must be long dead now. My uncle knew them both well as the dad in particular was bang into horse racing and was always at Gosforth Park. Apparently he was a good bloke and he built the business. The son fancied himself as a bit of playboy and got the Ferrari because he fancied himself as being a bit like Crockett off Miami Vice (the original 80s series) He nearly wrecked the business and the old man had to come out retirement at one point. The son got involved with a ‘well known family’ from the west end. They were using the haulage company to move some of their ‘merchandise’. The son then got cold feet and got a visit from said family asking if he’d like to buy some fire extinguishers. He didn’t get the hint and some vehicles mysteriously caught fire. The son arranged a meeting with them and took a bloke who fancied himself as a bit of a hard man as protection. The wannabe hard man had a gym off gosforth high street and was later involved in Newcastle Blue Star FC going bust. Which may have been more than just poor fortune. This wannabe hard man got kneecapped for his trouble shortly afterwards and ended up having part of his leg amputated. The son who shares his name with a gif-happy poster went to the police and had an armed police guard for ages. I used to see them as his dad moved into some flats right next to where my mam and dad used to live at south gosforth. And they’d always be parked outside keeping an eye out when the son was visiting. Presumably he’s learnt his lesson as this was the best part of 30 years ago

Could tell you a tell you a tale or two about the owner