MrDuck

I loved it. Full of excellent gags, and the Morrissey jokes were superb! I like that the Ant Man movies are a little less epic than the others, and they are as you say absolutely fun. Brilliant twist at the end to link it in with the Infinity Wars ending.

And Hales beats the record in the next game with 87 off 32!

Our ODI side is very strong, but I'd certainly have him in the squad as an option for the world cup - form allowing. Better option than Wood.

Yes, it's easy to see it as a cynical move, but it's worth noting that the 7 year rule is an ECB rule. Changing it to 3 years brings ECB regulations in to line with the ICC regulations on this matter. He's been pretty vocal from the word go about wanting to play for England, although whether that motivation is purely financial I guess only he knows. I seem to recall an interview where he said his reasoning was two-fold... he wanted the chance to play a the highest level he could, so he came to England, and the Windies snubbed him a few years back so he decided he'd try and play for England instead. Seen a lot of him over here during the Big Bash, very likeable guy. And I've never seen a better last over bowler in T20! The thought of us having a top class genuinely fast bowler available is pretty mouthwatering

Perhaps, although the rules seemed a bit silly... if you're father is British and your mother is West Indian, then I would think the logical thing is to let the player choose.

Oh this is very good news! https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/46382499 I've only seen him play T20, but he's a phenomenal T20 bowler... genuinely quick, most exciting young English player I've seen in a long time. His county record looks pretty good too... would love to see him in the squad for the Ashes and the World Cup.

Right delete this thread now please!

I think for the first time in a long time we have depth in a few key positions and can afford to select on a horses-for-courses basis. Mo is probably our most consistent spinner, but Leach is a great option and Rashid has taken more international wickets this year than anyone else. Likewise you could pick Woakes, Sam Curran or Tom Curran without weakening the team in any obvious way. Foakes is the best keeper... but we can squeeze in an extra bowler if Bairstow or Buttler keep, and they're both decent keepers. Nice problems to have, and I think a lot of these players now know they have to be at their best consistently or they'll be benched. Just a shame we don't have the same quality of options at the top of the order.

My wife kicked me out of the house because my Arnold Schwarzenegger impression was really bad. But don’t worry... I’ll return.

Predictably he's spent most of the best years of his career on the bench.

Really good series in Sri Lanka, and England have showed signs of real progress. Hopefully another good series in the West Indies will lead us in to the next Ashes full of confidence.

Bruce stopped the rot initially, I don't think anyone can sensibly argue with that. Unfortunately he then failed to kick on, and ultimately left us in the shit. So I'm fairly ambivalent about his tenure.

I want to see Bruce or Henry get the job just to watch Zatman explode.

The bans were not just for cheating per se, but for "bringing the game into disrepute" - the length was calculated to represent the damage they did to the image of the game here. While Australia is pretty ambivalent about things like racism and domestic violence, they get very angry about people cheating at cricket. The appeals from the players union to cut the bans came in light of the review of Cricket Australia, which concluded that the whole organisation was promoting a win-at-all-costs mentality across the board. The union thus decided that the three players should have bans reduced as it wasn't their fault... as if Cricket Australia execs had been in the dressing room holding a gun to Warner's head to make him cheat. Thankfully the appeal was dismissed out of hand, and the cheating Representatives for Wellingborough must continue to lie in the beds that they themselves willingly made.

All the PL clubs seem to be able to find the money to give Scudamore his gift - yet only 4 PL clubs (Everton, Liverpool, Chelsea, West Ham) pay all their stadium staff a Living Wage. <sigh>

Only manager that ever made Gabby look like a footballer, no mean feat.

The 'Behind Closed Doors' podcast from Gary Lineker and Danny Baker is well worth a listen

I haven't read that one, but Sansom's Shardlake series is excellent.

There are now more documentaries about Hitler than there are grains of sand on all the world's beaches.

Good win, good test match!

Harry Kewell sacked last week by Notts County. How long before he's managing in the A-League?

Sam Curran for the number 3 slot then ?

Ah football, the people's game. ???

Joe's announced his retirement. To be honest I thought he'd already retired, didn't realise he was in the MLS. Always liked him, but never felt he realised his full potential, despite winning a bunch of trophies for Chelsea. Saw him a few times absolutely running the show for West Ham in central midfield as a youngster, but he never really played that role at Chelsea or for England... always seemed to be pushed out wide where he was less effective, at least when I saw him.