Quote Originally Posted by Pedro de la Rosa View Post
Haven't England won 10 of their last 14?

The declaration meant a result was possible. There were 6 overs left, with the tail and then it is a new day, Root has to get in again. The big mistakes are Anderson is so undercooked, Bairstow too. There isn't a front line spinner to step in for Leach, and not taking the new ball was mental.

Also, on Bairstow. He is a world class batter and I'm pretty sure that's the worst he's ever kept.
I'd argue they'd have been able to move the game on quicker without declaring. I think there were 6 overs left in the day when they declared, lost 2 overs due to it so the Aussies faced 4 overs. Bright blue skies, pitch not doing much and root pinging sixes into the crowd. Just let root carry on playing T20 style for the last 6. They could well have ended up with another 50/60 quick runs against what was a tired looking bowling attack. As it was , Warner and khawaja had to face 4 overs in good conditions, they were probably glad to get out for a bat. If it was September and cloudy , and the ball was swinging round corners it would have made a lot more sense