Dr Gloom

I was listening to TMS yesterday and they were talking about the importance of having an established top 7 going into the Ashes. We have that now Pope has found some form, and Bethell breathing down his neck will hopefully spur him on. And despite the criticism of Bazball, often justified in its early stages, what Stokes and McCullum have done is create an atmosphere where batters play their natural game now while also adapting to the game situation. The questions for me are still about the bowling attack. Agree with Alex that a fit Stokes helps provide balance but it would be great to have a pool of genuine pace bowlers that we can rotate in Australia. We need to wrap Wood up in cotton wool so he’s fit. Play bowlers more suited to English conditions against India if that’s what needed to endure Wood is on the flight. Archer feels like a Hail Mary pass at this stage but it would be amazing if it comes off and he’s part of the Ashes squad.

He looks super fit too. A bit rusty with the bat but that’s to be expected after all that time out and he’s still soneone to be feared at number 6

apparently he could be coming back into the squad for the edgbaston test next week. seems a bit reckless when you look at how his body has broken down and how little red ball cricket he's played in recent years. they're desparate to see if his body is up to a few tests before deciding to pick him in the ashes squad.

yeah - it could have backfired but i can see why stokes decided to put the in. i also agree with tom that it was an arrogant move, but one with some reasoning behind it. they're rightly confident in chasing down a target on a decent pitch though. they no longer seem certain to collapse when wickets start falling. that's multiple chases of 300+ to win games in recent years. feels like we're moving into the second chapter of bazball. they're still playing aggressively, ticking along at well over 4 an over with the bat, but it's not as macho/brainless as it seemed at first.

This move is a guaranteed hex on our transfer business. Thanks for nothing Andrew

you definitely get an exciting prospect from abroad for a lot less than the prices mooted for Elanga or Semenyo. We’ve been linked with Bakayoko, Kubo, Kuhn et Al but sounds like Eddie prefers PL experience this time.

Perhaps we can bump the offer up by giving them the Greek keeper back

i like the player but if the price is £60m of thereabouts.....i dunno. you might get semenyo for that price, who looks a more exciting prospect to me.

still the greatest form of the game

it's been some test match, this

the art of the deal

Saw Trevor Noah at the Apollo yesterday. A comedian at the top of his game. A two hour set absolutely flew by. He took questions from the audience at the end and just riffed for the last half hour - superb talent

Andor is the best Star Wars spinoff for ages. Really great TV. Another shout for Dept. Q too. Enjoying it so far about four episodes in

His quotes man. I probably shouldn’t laugh but he’s strangley hilarious, which is perverse given how dangerous he is. Absolute loose cannon. Who knows what he’s going to do or say next? He was tweeting about regime change this morning

They hit a hospital a few days back. Iranian strikes already killed 24 Israelis and injured many more. It’s something they are used to. My family have all cowered in shelters over the years at various times. Air raid sirens are common in Israel, particularly in Haifa in the north, which has been targeted by Hezbollah rockets, and the desert area east of Gaza, where Hamas used to fire its rockets into. I have family in both areas. You’re right that Iran will suffer far greater casualties. They don’t have an iron dome defence system and Israel took out a lot of its antiaircraft defences.

Israel has played a terrible hand in this. They’re the aggressor in this case. Netanyahu only managed to cling to power, after several elections failed to produce a governing majority, by forming a coalition of all the worst fringe politicians in the country. Imagine if we were governed by Reform and the English Defence League. It’s that bad. Worse actually because he’s got the religious fundamentalists propping him up too - and they really do believe in a one state solution, ethnic cleansing in other words. These nutters do not speak for the majority of Israelis, just as the Iranian regime don’t speak for all Iranians. My family in Israel are going through hell. My cousin recently had to undergo chemotherapy in an air raid shelter.

this. The international rules-based order has collapsed. The UN no longer serves any purpose, nor seemingly does the US constitution.

Wykiki dispelling the myth that Yorkshiremen are tight by coughing up £360 for a hotel room before quickly restoring it by complaining about paying for a coffee

I don’t think this is the trigger for world war. That hangs on Trump’s reaction to China invading Taiwan. And why wouldn’t they? The international rules-based order has collapsed. Everyone else is at it. Glad to see we’re staying out of it for now. It looks like they didn’t use Diego Garcia last night.

I’m still feeling sanguine about the transfers. I think we’ll add depth to the positions where we’ve been linked with players - it’s no secret we’re after a RW, a RCB, a CF and a GK. possibly a midfielder too if one of Willock or Longstaff are sold. If we’re still in this position a month from now it’ll be more concerning because Howe said he wants the business done quickly. In my mind that means before pre-season. The weird mini window has probably skewed expectations. We’re still only a week into the “normal” window. Howe has earned the chance to bed the new signings in so it’ll be disappointing from the club if the signings are left to the last minute. When the new signings do land, I also expect them to be players we’ve barely been linked with rather than those that are being peddled by their agents in the media.

I think Mitchell probably was a good appointment on paper. His recruitment record is impressive and he had been doing a massive job, basically running the technical side of the entire red bull operation (what Klopp is doing now). But for whatever reason, it didn’t work. None of us know exactly what went on but it feels like Howe, his nephew and Nickson are now calling the shots on recruitment. The club need to back them after three austerity transfer windows. Surely they will. Can’t expect Howe to work miracles every season

Probably means they don’t have to sell Sememyo now. Or they’ll just extract £90m from Chelsea when they inevitably come calling

Hot Mitch summer is coming to the boil. I could barely sleep last night, fucking sweltering