Brighton and Hove Albion are set to sign a promising new right back, according to the Blackpool Gazette.
20-year old Tyler Hornby-Forbes has reportedly rejected a new contract at current club Fleetwood Town and is close to sealing a move to the Amex.
The right back broke into the first team under Graham Alexander at the League One club, but has struggled for games in recent months, with Northern Ireland international Conor McLaughlin ahead of him in the pecking order at Highbury.
He has so far played 33 games for Fleetwood, scoring two goals.
Brighton have been searching for a replacement right back since the expiration of Inigo Calderons’ contract earlier in the summer. Although it seems an uninspiring move, signing a player from a lower division, it’s not one that surprises me.
Just look at how Connor Goldson rose to first choice centre half by the end of the last campaign. Yes, injuries played a part, but even when Gordon Greer returned to fitness, he couldn’t get past the ex-Shrewsbury man in the starting XI.
I’d even go as far as saying he was ahead of Lewis Dunk in my opinion by the time April came round.
We have already signed another young centre back in Ben Hall from Motherwell during the close season. He could well be another player who in the coming months and years, could rise to become another star at our disposal.
So don’t rule this guy out just yet. He may make initial mistakes, playing at a higher level than he is accustom to, but let’s not forget he will be cover for Bruno. It relieves some of the pressure off Liam Rosenior, who is currently our only alternative wing back behind Gaetan Bong and Bruno.
Obviously no official word has come from Brighton, so let’s wait and see if the dotted line is signed before moving any further into this debate.
So the paperwork was signed last night and Glenn Murray is once again an Albion player (for a season at least). The former Albion favourite returns after five years away with arch rivals Crystal Palace and short stints with Reading (on loan) and Bournemouth.
The 32-year old isn’t a spring chicken anymore like he was back in the Withdean years, but he brings along with him some Premier League experience following his time in the big league with the Eagles and Cherries respectively.
Although manager Chris Hughton feels this is a good signing for us going into the new campaign, I look at Glenn and then look at our current top dog, Tomer Hemed, and struggle not to come up with similarities between the two.
Both are strong men who hold the ball up well. They are both deadly in the air and have that striker’s instinct of being in the right place at the right time. But both simply don’t have the pace we need to inject into this side up top.
We are too reliant on our wingers, Jamie Murphy and Kazenga LuaLua in particular, to bomb down the wing into the box and cause defenders problems.
Look at the teams that went up automatically last season. Burnley had Andre Gray, Middlesbrough had Jordan Rhodes (maybe for only half a season but that was more than enough). Both caused havoc for opposition back lines and scored the vital goals to get their teams promoted.
James Wilson was meant to bring our pace to the table last year along with Sam Baldock, but whilst one struggled to find form, the other suffered injury problems all season.
Then there is the question of whether Glenn will score us enough goals? We know he will score some big goals for us, but is he the same striker that powered in 31 goals for Palace during their successful promotion season back in 2012-13?
He is a good signing in the fact that he has been there and done it, and he will be key in the dressing room, telling the younger players not to feel too nervous and enjoy the experience.
But this makes him more of a like for like replacement for Bobby Zamora, who was released this summer, the only exception being he is younger and will be on the pitch far more than BZ was during the previous season (touch wood he doesn’t suffer a nasty injury).
So the question is where does Chris go from here? He now has three first team strikers in Hemed, Baldock and Murray, but he will definitely need to be in the market for a permanent striker. A young, pacey forward that will have the ability to score 20+ would be perfect, but we all know how difficult it is this day and age to afford one of those.
Newcastle are already using their parachute payments they received from the Premier League following last season’s relegation by signing Dwight Gayle for around £13 million pounds. We simply cannot compete with that.
However, forgetting the poor Elvis Manu, Chris and his recruitment team have done extremely well in bringing some excellent players to our football club. The likes of Beram Kayal, Liam Rosenior, Tomer Hemed, Gaetan Bong, Anthony Knockaert and Jiri Skalek have all come in settled well into the first team, so in Chris and the team I trust.
Euro 2016 has been quite a slow burner on the pitch. After 28 matches, the tournament has produced just 51 goals, an average of just 1.82 goals a game. It hasn’t been as exhilarating as Brazil’s group phase two years ago, but off the pitch it has been far from being boring, all for the wrong reasons.
With security tightened up, many were fearing that a terrorist threat or attack could potentially ruin the footballing spectacle. No one was quite ready for the mess that was about to unfold in the streets and stadia from Eastern European Nationalists.
Why have they decided to bring violence across to France when the nation is already on red alert? Because it is a place where they feel they have a voice. The Croatians and Russians have been the leading forces both in the stadiums and in the streets, proclaiming that “UEFA is poisoned by fraud and corruption.”
If that’s so why don’t your national teams agree? The fact they are taking part in the competition must mean they are content with how it has been governed.
It may well be that internal affairs in their own countries have led to the outburst of violence, or that they just enjoy the hooligan lifestyle- maybe they have all watched Green Street one too many times.
Too many England fans felt like they were as hard as Vinnie Jones and Danny Dyer when squaring up to the Russians, but they were in fact just adding to the mixing pot of sour tasting stew these hooligans had already conjured up.
Are the French and UEFA right to have part of the blame thrown towards them? Of course they are. The segregation at all stadiums is not policed enough, meaning a repeat of the events at Marseille could well happen again.
Marseille is where it all began, where English and Russian fans collided for three solid days.
Following the two nations’ 1-1 draw at the Stade Velodrome 10 days ago, Russian “supporters” lit flares, a passive way of signalling their troops to get ready to charge. The referee’s whistle was like a starting gun used at an 100m final, as at the very moment the whistle touched his lips, the Russians sprinted towards the England fans.
Many of the Three Lions supporters, especially the ones with children, jumped over barriers at least 10ft high to avoid the inevitable violence that was about to erupt.
Russia were given a pre-determined disqualification by UEFA, should their fans cause any more trouble inside the grounds, the only place that Europe’s football governing body could control.
Outside the grounds, it was the French police who had to deal with the violence out in the streets. Water cannons and tear gas have been used frequently in an attempt to stop the fighting, with mixed results.
Russian fans again were the centre of attention in Lille when they came up against the England and Welsh fans last Wednesday, before more than 10 Russians were kicked out the country by the time they faced Wales in their must-win clash last night. They lost 3-0.
During Croatia’s match with the Czech Republic in Saint-Etienne, Croatian fans threw flares and firecrackers onto the pitch, with one set of firecrackers exploding right next to a steward. Within the Croatian stand, fighting broke out between themselves.
The Croatian national team manager described them as “hooligans, not fans, hooligans who don’t deserve a place in any society.”
The incidents seemed to unsettle the Croatian players on the field, as they let their 2-1 lead slip to the Czech Republic as the game ended 2-2.
Four Poland fans were today arrested ahead of their match with Ukraine, who themselves have caused trouble over the last ten or so days.
With Marseille once again the battleground, police used pepper spray and batons to try and end the fighting, to no avail.
With Russia and Ukraine exiting the competition, one would think the violence should calm down.
But things aren’t that simple. With the recent scenes of violence that have occurred in France, it makes one wonder with trepidation that in two years time, the World will be travelling to Russia for the FIFA World Cup.
With fierce cities like Kazan, Sochi and St.Petersburg hosting matches throughout the tournament, is it right for them to host such a mega event that tries to make the world feel together and safe. In doing so that includes equality for all genders, race and sexuality.
UEFA and FIFA will need to re-examine the videos of the Russian mob, and make a decision quick, with threats of boycotting the World Cup already being voiced over by African countries and players.
Tonight, while some of you tuck into an hot cross bun watching the finale of the Night Manager, spare a thought for Nick Blackwell, who is in an induced coma following last night’s middleweight title bout with Chris Eubank Jr.
The 25-year old was rushed to hospital after the fight and it’s been confirmed that he has suffered bleeding to the brain.
This proves just how far Boxing has come in the last 25 years by the way medics were able to get him checked quickly.
But more importantly, shows how far away the sport actually is from making sure boxers are safe once they don the gloves and enter the ring.
Of course going into this profession means you are going to take some pretty hard knocks, suffer a broken nose, cracked ribs, bruising and cuts to the face, but these are all injuries you can recover from.
In Blackwell’s case, a serious head injury could have more effects in the long term than in the short. Is boxing really worth that risk of long term damage?
Brain injury association Headway questions whether the sport is actually doing enough to preserve it’s talented individuals.
Chief executive Peter McCabe told BBC Sport: “At a time when responsible sports are rightly taking action to improve their concussion protocols to ensure participants are properly cared for when accidental collisions occur, it seems perverse that greater attention is not placed on so-called sports in which participants are rewarded for rendering their opponents senseless by targeting the head and causing damage to the brain.”
It’s hard to disagree. Everyone who watched the fight last night saw Eubank Jr utterly dominate Blackwell. He bloodied him after three rounds and then hit him with severe hard blowing shots in the seventh.
It was clear that the former Middleweight champion was struggling, yet the referee allowed the fight kept going until the tenth!
Did someone finally wake up and notice that if the fight continued we may have witnessed something far more tragic?
There is a video on the Daily Mail website, showing Eubank sr tell his son to stop hitting his opponent during last night’s fight.
He told his son to aim for the body because he knew Blackwell was getting hurt, but also questioned why the referee hadn’t stopped the fight earlier.
Apparently, Blackwell being in a coma is just normal procedure so that the swelling can go down, but I think it’s fair to say that no one wants to be in that position.
We all dream about being World Champion. No matter what sport we take part in. But this is a place we could also find ourselves if things go wrong.
I wonder how Eubank Jr has felt for the past 24 hours. He may be Middleweight champion, but like his father before him, he has reduced someone to needing hospital treatment. This is professional sport, not some fight to the death during the Roman Empire!
Boxing needs to look into this in more depth if it is to promote itself to the youngsters and move forward altogether.
Head guards are worn at the Olympics to stop such injury from occurring, and although it’s not the prettiest thing to be wearing, it at least offers some form of protection.
A more drastic move would be to stop over the shoulder shots altogether, but again, it would protect boxers from the possibility of long-term mental damage.
Rocky may just be a movie franchise, but the way things are going ,we may see an Apollo Creed v Ivan Drago moment, something no one involved with the sport wants to see.
When the away support makes up one third of the match attendance, it can really spur a team on. That could not have been more evident than at the Stadium:MK yesterday, where Brighton and Hove Albion held on to win 2-1 against MK Dons.
With over 7,000 albion fans making the trip up to Buckinghamshire, there was a sense of optimism in the air. The recent drop in form for promotion rivals Middlesbrough, Derby County and Hull City have coincided with the Seagull’s regaining there early season momentum.
It was just one defeat in 11 prior to yesterday’s vital clash, and Chris Hughton’s men knew that a win was a must ahead of a tricky looking April.
Stadium: MK ahead of MK Dons vs Brighton and Hove Albion. (Image Credit: Liam Richner)
It was a first visit for me to Stadium:MK and what a lovely ground it is. It’s just a shame it wasn’t filled to it’s maximum capacity of 30,500 as the place would have been absolutely rocking.
It was certainly a party atmosphere in the away end- compared to the subdued home MK Dons supporters. Balloons and confetti were being thrown about as if the fans were already celebrating what has been a magnificent season for the Seagulls.
With such a carnival like build-up, the first half of the match was an anti-climax. The game was very stop start, with the referee blowing for a foul every time a player went down.
The ground went from party central to a rather loud silence within those opening 45 minutes- something had to give the place a bit of noise again.
Step up Gully and the team mascots. As part of the MK Dons family fun day, the mascots had a race from one side of the pitch to the other (Watch here). Forget Usain Bolt, this was the 100m race that we all wanted to see!
Gully flew out the blocks and by the time he crossed the halfway line he was in the lead. I’d like to say he won, but I think it was too close to call with the chicken on the outside who came out of nowhere!
With the feel-good factor back, Brighton went on the offensive early in the second half. Tomer Hemed came on to replace Sam Baldock, who went straight down the tunnel, and the Israeli striker made an instant impact.
Brighton’s number 10 won and then converted a penalty to give the Seagulls the lead. Six minutes later, he latched onto Jiri Skalek’s cross to head home powerfully for his 13th goal of the season.
The crowd were going crazy. 2-0 up and controlling the match, it looked like it was going to comfortably be a fourth win in six games.
James Wilson came close to making it 3-0 but his first time effort was saved brilliantly by Cody Cropper.
But, as many Brighton supporters will know, the Seagulls never make life easy for themselves. Bruno, who usually is superb at the back, gave away a cheap free kick, and MK Dons scored from the resulting set piece to get back into the game.
Hemed was again involved in Kyle McFadzean’s red card with fifteen minutes left. The MK Dons defender appeared to elbow the albion striker in the face, resulting in an early bath.
The striker could have gained his hattrick when the ball fell to his feet 10 yards from goal, but he hit the ball wide of the post.
He did guide the ball into the net eventually with a couple of minutes to go, but he was ruled offside by the linesman.
Then the controversy started. Dons swung a corner in which hit Tomer Hemed in the face. However the referee adjourned the ball hit his arm and gave a penalty in stoppage time. Incensed, half the Brighton team got booked for complaining and time wasting.
The albion fans’ hearts were in their mouths. Shocked, they knew if this went in it would be a huge blow to their promotion charge.
Carl Baker stepped up for the hosts…and missed the target to send the Seagulls’ players, coaches and supporters into raptures.
The coaches were jumping around the touchline in delight at the miss, they knew how much this game meant, and when the full time whistle blew, the fans had a belief this was their year.
The Brighton players also celebrated passionately at the final whistle in front of the travelling support, with Chris Hughton applauding the fans for a good two minutes.
The chanting began. “WE ARE GOING UP! SAY WE ARE GOING UP!” The noise was deafening. Fans jumping around, celebrating, some with tears of delight. They had been through it all in those last 20 minutes, and in the last few seasons they would arguably have seen their team draw that game. They just sense it’s their time.
The coach journey home was a quiet one. A majority of the fans slept, others trying to soak up what had just happened.
But one thing’s for sure. This club is together, and the good run keeps going. You just sense this could finally be the year Brighton break into the top flight for the first time in 36 years.
BBC Sport are reporting a major change to the qualifying system in an attempt to make the sport more engaging and unpredictable.
Following Sebastian Vettel’s four back to back World Championships, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have dominated the F1 world for the past two years. A poll last year revealed that ratings for coverage of Formula one across the world has dropped by 30% (thats around 175 million viewers) in the last six years.
As a result, the FIA has been working hard to find solutions to make 2016 more competitive.
One of those suggestions is a radical change to qualifying- where drivers will be eliminated every 90 seconds rather than at the end of the session.
Pole position will be contested by the two remaining drivers in a 90-second shootout at the end of Q3.
The proposal still needs to be confirmed and teams have not fully committed to the idea, but it could make team tactics all the more important.
We should see less of the teams sitting motionless in the pits feeling comfortable with their times and more time on the track constantly posting lap times.
However, faster cars such as Ferrari and Mercedes will more than likely still be able to ease into Q3 with a single lap posted.
Pit Crew Online’s Ferrari writer Jack Prentice feels that the change won’t make the sport anymore competitive or engaging for audiences.
“It isn’t needed,” he said.
“They tried to fix something that isn’t broken, there are more pressing issues such as the financial sides of the sport that need to be addressed.
“Qualifying was one of the most exciting parts of the weekend as it was. It doesn’t need the 90 second eliminations.
“If your starting a lap at a track such as Spa which takes around one minute fifty seconds to complete, you could be out randomly before you have even got through the first sector, or before you complete your lap.”
It’s early days as testing ahead of the 2016 season has only just begun, but there has been a show in improvement from both McLaren Honda and Red Bull compared to their 2015 models.
Whether or not that means that they will keep up with the likes of Mercedes is yet to be seen.
Other suggestions to make the sport more competitive include making the cars wider with bigger tyres and allowing fans to vote for a driver of the day for each race.
Further along the line we could see head protection introduced in 2017 following the death of Jules Bianchi last July.
For many, the result at the Oval in the final Ashes test of the current series will seem irrelevant, with England already regaining the Ashes up in Nottingham two weeks ago.
But Alastair Cook’s men can’t be complacent on the field, as Australia will look to seek little consolation with victory. It will also be the final test appearances for both Michael Clarke and Chris Rodgers. Both will look to end with a flourish.
Clarke is disappointed with his performances this summer, but is grateful to the Australian Cricket Board for what has been a glittering career.
“I would have liked to have played better in this series, admitted the Australian skipper.
“But I think it’s the right time for me to walk away.
“I’ve given my heart and soul to Australian cricket and every time I’ve walked on I’ve given everything I had for the team.
“I’m very fortunate to be the 43rd Australian cricket captain and I’m very proud and honoured to have had the opportunity.”
England will be attempting to win a fourth home Ashes test in a single series for the first ever time. They will have to do that without James Anderson, who isn’t 100% fit. But with an unchanged side named for the Oval, you can expect England to attack with a similar ferocity as at Trent Bridge.
A win would also see Cook and Co. rise to second in the ICC world rankings, ahead of Australia. Draw or defeat would see Australia retain their ranking of second, with England just behind in third.
For most of the team though, the main reason to put in another top quality performance is so they can carry momentum with them to the UAE this winter, where they face Pakistan.
Players like Adam Lyth and Mark Wood will hope to catch the eyes of the England selectors with solid displays. Lyth has struggled with the bat, scoring the second-lowest average for England in this Ashes series (12.28).
Joe Root will look to cement his place at the top of the batting rankings with a big score at the Oval, with Stuart Broad (rank 2nd) also looking to edge ever closer to Dale Steyn (rank 1st) at the top of the bowling rankings.
Finally, if England win it will be the sixth test victory of the calendar year, the first time that has happened since 2011, when they were ranked the best test team in the world.
So with so much at stake, and a chance for a little bit of payback for the stick and abuse the side suffered down under 18 month ago when they were whitewashed 5-0, why should England ease off?
Australia are on the ropes, with players now calling it a day and injuries, England have never in my lifetime had a better opportunity to rub salt into the very deep Australian wounds.
With a green pitch, fans can expect another wicket-fest like the other test matches this summer. With bounce and swing, the fast pace bowlers can once again commence a fierce attack at the stumps.
It will once again be a very important coin toss when Alastair Cook and Clarke meet on the wicket tomorrow morning- with both teams hoping to bowl first and gain an early advantage.
England managed to win the third Ashes test with two days spare, as they crushed Australia by 8 wickets at Edgbaston.
Ian Bell continued his resurgence with the bat with an unbeaten 65, as the hosts managed to chase down their target of 121 for victory inside 32.1 overs.
Joe Root also contributed an unbeaten 38 to settle the match, despite the hosts losing captain Alastair Cook for just seven at the start of the innings.
Australia had earlier added 97 runs before losing their three remaining wickets- with Steven Finn recording his best test figures of 6-79.
The tourists slogged the ball around the ground, with Peter Nevill leading the charge by reaching a half-century. He was caught behind not long after though, when he edged Finn’s delivery into the gloves of Jos Buttler.
Mitchell Starc and Paul Hazlewood added 28 before the latter was caught brilliantly by Root.
Starc, who had also slogged his way past fifty, clipped Moeen Ali’s delivery to extra cover, and to the roar of the England crowd- England had set themselves up nicely to finish the match within nine sessions.
England were however up against a resilient Starc.
As a result, the Aussie fast bowler dismissed both Cook (7) and Adam Lyth (12) early on. He clean bowled the England skipper with a fastball that swung inwards devilishly.
He then caught under pressure Lyth for LBW to leave the home fans holding their breath.
But Ian Bell, who has received criticism throughout the series, proved his credentials with a calm, professional half century, which included five boundaries. However he did offer Australia a great chance for his wicket.
Australian captain Michael Clarke spurned a simple catch when the Warwickshire batsman edged Starc’s pacey delivery to slip.
It proved to be the deadliest of blows to the tourists, as Bell and Root saw out the game to leave England one win away from regaining the urn.
It was another ‘reaction’ performance from England, which seems to be a constant theme in this year’s Ashes series.
Australia bounced back from a crushing first test defeat to smash England at Lord’s last week to level the series.
But this week it was England’s turn to turn the tide of the series in their direction once again, with three days of brilliant cricket. Including the two 6-wicket hauls by James Anderson and Steven Finn- the first time that happened in a test match by two English bowlers for 34 years.
“The way Jimmy Anderson bowled in that first innings was fantastic,” claimed a jubilant Cook.
“It’s also been an amazing comeback from Steven Finn. Standing there at slip, you thought he was going to get a nick every ball. The character he has shown to come back after a lot of hard work is incredible.”
Steven Finn added: “This week has been fantastic and I’m thoroughly enjoying Test cricket again.
“There were a few nerves in the first few balls and you question yourself but after that it was focusing on getting people out.
“I did doubt at times if I’d play again but knew I could be good enough again. To be stood here now, there is no better feeling.”
Australia will have to ponder on their batting performance after they failed to post decent totals on what was a relatively flat pitch.
“It’s very hard to explain,” said Clarke.
“Credit has to go to England, they bowled well on day one and we didn’t bat anywhere near we’d have liked. I still would have batted first; you can see the wicket has deteriorated.
“It swung and seamed throughout the whole game. We probably had the best batting conditions, we just didn’t execute with bat and ball.”
The fourth test commences on August 6th at Trent Bridge.
England produced another day of mesmerising cricket to leave themselves on the brink of winning the third test at Edgbaston.
Steven Finn continued to impress on his return to the England fold with a five-wicket haul, as the hosts ripped through the Australian batting line up for a second time in as many days.
Australia, who started the day perfectly when Mitchell Johnson dismissed Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes inside three deliveries, are facing what looks like an impossible task to stay in the test match. They ended the day on 168-7, a lead of just 27 runs.
Moeen Ali’s 59 and Joe Root’s 63 helped the hosts reach 281 before being bundled out. The highlight being Ali and Stuart Broad’s record breaking eighth wicket partnership for England at Edgbaston, which consisted of 89 runs.
Australia started strongly in their second innings- with opener David Warner scoring a 35-ball fifty. It equalled the quickest half-century in Ashes history by Graham Yallop.
However, with Australia looking good at 62-1, Alastair Cook switched Finn to the Pavilion End, and the test swung back into England’s favour as a result.
The Middlesex seamer dismissed Steve Smith for the second time in the match when the Aussie top-edged, gifting Jos Buttler the simplest of catches.
Then after Tea Finn reeked havoc. Michael Clarke and Adam Voges edged two of the seamers deliveries to third and second slip before Mitchell Marsh was cleaned bowled.
And when James Anderson claimed his seventh wicket of the match, dismissing danger man Warner in the process, Australia were just 111-6.
A 45-wicket partnership by Peter Nevill and Johnson saved the tourist’s blushes, but Finn wasn’t done yet, and got Johnson just before the close of play.
Finn’s 5-45 was his first five wicket haul for England in just under two and a half years, but the bowler admits the game is far from over.
“The game is definitely not won yet,” he said.
“They have players who can bat so there will still be pressure. We need to do a professional job tomorrow.
“It has been a while since I’ve played Test cricket so to come here and take wickets was great.”
For Australia, it is an evening to ponder on how they can save this test match. Johnson did manage to reach the 300-test wickets milestone though with the dismissals of Bairstow and Stokes. The fast bowler was however, not satisfied by his team’s performance.
“It’s not ideal, it’s not something we’re happy about,” admitted Johnson.
“We’re 23 runs ahead and we need a big partnership in the morning to get the ball rolling. We played some shots we didn’t need to and the guys will be disappointed. We need to stop this rot.
“It looked at one stage like we wouldn’t make them bat again. If we can get to 120 or 130 ahead we’ll have a really good crack at them.”
James Anderson ripped through the Australian batting line up to help England seize early control of the third test at Edgbaston.
With the series tied 1-1, and on a day consisting of several rain delays, England’s bowlers were able to whittle Australia down to just 136, before ending the day on 133-3.
Anderson posted his best ever Ashes figures of 6-47, while Steven Finn repaid the selectors for his inclusion with the crucial wickets of Steve Smith and Aussie captain Michael Clarke.
On a pitch that appealed to the England seamers, the tourists could only manage to withstand 36.4 overs at the crease, although Steve Rodgers managed to record his ninth test half century in 11 matches.
Finn, who was making his first England appearance since being dropped 18 months ago from the last Ashes series in Australia, managed to get the two crucial wickets of the innings. Firstly, his perfect delivery to Smith was caught behind. Clarke was then clean bowled for just 10- meaning his batting average over the last 12 Ashes test has fallen to 19.2.
However, it was James Anderson who was the man of the hour. Unplayable at times- he swept aside more than half of the Aussie batting line-up alone. Adam Voges and Mitchell Marsh were caught behind, Peter Nevill clean bowled and Mitchell Johnson caught at fourth slip before he capped off his innings with the dismissal of Nathan Lyon.
“We’re very happy, especially after losing the toss,” claimed Anderson after the day’s play.
“We created pressure to get them out for a low score and then the guys batted well.”
The Lancashire bowler also had words of praise for fellow seamer Finn.
“He (Finn) has had a tough 18 months and worked so hard to get back in the Test side,” Anderson said.
“So everyone in the dressing room is delighted for him and he looked a threat.”
Stuart Broad also got in on the action, taking two wickets to rise to fifth on the all time test wicket takers list.
After bowling Australia out, England looked to score a decent total to take total control of the test, but things didn’t go so smoothly. They lost a wicket early as Adam Lyth sliced a Paul Hazlewood delivery straight to slip.
Alastair Cook and Ian Bell made a 57 run partnership before the England captain picked out Voges at square leg.
Bell himself had a mini revival at his home ground, scoring a half-century. But he gave up his wicket needlessly as the day fizzled out. The Warwickshire man lost control of his bat after attacking Lyon’s welcoming delivery, causing his shot to go up rather than distant. It resulted in gifting David Warner the simplest of catches.
England will still be happy though with their performance, especially after their showing at Lord’s last week.
Another strong day and they will certainly be favourites to take the third test and lead the series 2-1 with two still to play.
“It was a very disappointing day,” admitted Rodgers.
“England put us under pressure and we didn’t respond. You have to give their attack credit, but there are times when you have to fight, and some of the shot selection…we needed to have a better day.
“The pitch was quick enough and England exploited it well and hit the right lengths. It could be difficult in the fourth innings, but we’re behind the game at the moment.”
Liam Richner 