Amir

How old is this Amir fella really? I'm sure he was classed as "19" when he first played in that World 20/20 competition over here and that was a couple of years ago now, yet he's classed as "18" now...must have long years in Pakistan!



Having said that he is an immense talent whatever the age. He may be as good as Wasim was one day.



And good comeback from the one England batsman who can say he's performed on a consistent basis this past 12 months.

Broad and Trott were immense today. Really enjoyed that.

I really enjoyed the cricket today I must say. Watching Peter Pan of Pakistan rip through the top half of the order was exciting as I sat there contemplating England being all out for less than 100. Then Trott and Broad came in and well and truly turned the game from a certain defeat to a winnable position now. I kept saying "If these can get to 150 we'll be okay" then "200, 250, 300, etc". I always thought years ago that Broad could turn into a Flintoff-esque allrounder and although in truth he'll always primarily be a bowler some of the strokes he played today were sublime.

Broad is a miles better batsman technically than Flintoff ever was/is/will be and the last thing we want is him to turn into a Flintoff-esque all-rounder ie one where he very rarely gets runs.



Still don't like the bloke but maybe this will help chill him out a bit and start respecting the opposition a bit more.

I don't know what to make of it





Only the 17 Wickets down so far today!!

Betting scandal in the current test match apparently.



Check out the NOTW tomorrow

Looks like match fixing is going to raise its ugly head again, which is a shame because it will overshadow what has been another very good England performance.

Its on the NOTW Website now.



Dear me it sounds bad!



However, part way through, the guy accused mentions he knows a global superstar very well. The NOTW declined to name this global superstar. How very noble of them

Doesn't look good. The no balls bowled were of the kind you simply don't get in professional cricket, stepping over the crease by up to a yard.

Horrible dark and gloomy morning hangs over Lords this morning



What action this summer involing the Pakistan team was totally legit?!



Sad day for Cricket

If Pakistan do not turn up today I think that should be the end of them as an International Cricket team

Turned up but are not warming up on the pitch

Sadly it's endemic Pakistani cricket, and it won't seem to go away, an uncle of mine was a cricketer in Pakistan and he's got story after story he could tell you about it.



If it's proven then something drastic has to be done to rid cricket of the problem, it may only be individual players but the authorities in Pakistan have to get a handle on it, if this means taking a long ban from international cricket then so be it.



Having said that I expect Pakistan are far from the only ones.

Will they get through to lunch?

No. This is the grimmest cricket I've sat through for a long, long time.

That final morning ruined the test series for me, which is sad.



England have played really well but now there are huge shadows over the matches, got to feel for Broad after a great knock to have all the talk being about match fixing etc.



Really enjoyed the SS chat during the day, some really strong opinions especially from Holding. If found guilty then they have to be made examples of although the ban should match the level of involvement too.



Wonder if the ODI's will go ahead now....

I can't see how any of the directly implicated players can take part if they do, the evidence is there for all to see.



I hold no hope for a proper inquiry with proper results at the end of it all though, time and time again these things have been swept under the carpet.

I've never known anything like it. On the face of it the level of fixing in this match at Lord's as presented by the News of the World sounds fairly innocuous in terms of influencing the result of the match, i.e. giving away three runs by bowling deliberate no balls, but now no one knows what else might have been fixed in the past. In fact, having read Sunday's NotW in full it seems Pakistan were trying desperately to win the Lord's Test so Salman Butt, the ringleader of the corrupt players, would be retained as captain! It is also suggested Pakistan threw their Test in Sydney earlier this year with the Aussies 40/1 with bookmakers to win it at one stage.



Pakistani cricket is so turbulent, with often bizarre selection and recall of players and captains, I don't trust anything they do now and have no interest in watching them. The forthcoming one day internationals really ought to be cancelled IMO. If I was an England player I wouldn't feel like playing against Pakistan right now, or for some time to come. The players implicated in this scandal surely cannot take part if they do go ahead.

That would be my preference, the games to go ahead with the three players suspended.

The history books will show a convincing series victory for England with no mention of match fixing

All three players caught up in the scandal will not play again in the Tour due to their "menta suffering", with Sky sources suggesting they won't play again until their innocence is proved.



The Pakistani High Commissioner has said he believes in the players' innocence.

Scotland Yard to interview the 3 players aswell.

One thing I picked up on when looking at the pictures was were Salman Butt was looking when the no balls were bowled, each time he was looking at the bowlers feet. Surely when fielding at short mid off (or somewhere in that area) your attention would be on the batsman, especially when it's a 90mph man steaming in.

Let's be honest. These guys are as guilty as sin. I find it incredible that they are even trying to fight these allegations. It was so blatant. You don't get 2nd XI village cricketers over stepping by the amounts these lads did. They should admit their guilt and hope the ICC is lenient on them.