England are 190/3 at Lunch on Day 3. Cook is on 75 from 173 balls. I'm glad he finally scored runs. When he came to the crease, he was fully aware that he has not scored many runs in recent times. This is his 50th Test. He has scored 2 centuries in his last 25 matches while he scored 7 centuries in his first 25 matches. Cook is the youngest ever player to play 50 Tests for England. Seems like England are never going to drop Broad or Cook. I would have said Anderson too, if England wouldn't have dropped him in the 1st Test against West Indies in the Caribbean earlier this year. The reason why I wanted Cook to be dropped is because he has technical flaws. I want him to work on them and come back into the team soon. When Strauss came into the side, he was an aggressive batsman but, to cement his place in the Test side, he changed his game a bit. He is still capable of playing aggressively, which he showed in this Test too. Cook, on the other hand, went the other way. He was picked to play Tests for England way back in 2006 against India. He has been scoring runs with a good strike rate in County cricket to prove that he is good enough to play ODIs for England. I want Cook to play in Tests only and Broad to play in ODIs and Twenty20 only. Test cricket is tough, wickets are hard to come by. Also, he can become a better bowler in ODIs if he concentrates just on them. England have better bowlers. I can't believe Sidebottom is still sitting out.
The review system is a funny thing. It didn't benefit England one bit in the 1st Test but in this Test, when the umpire gave Boucher not out, the 3rd umpire gave it out, using technology. Then when Morkel was not out and England reviewed it, they took 45 seconds to do it, which is a lot. The review system has worked in this Test but it still kills the excitement. Imagine watching the 5th Ashes Test, England need 1 wicket to win the Test and the Ashes, England appeals, the umpire gives it out, England players and fans are celebrating, Australia reviews it and the 3rd umpire says it's not out.
By the way, in the KP run alone marathon in the 1st Test, KP wasn't out, Trott was, as KP kept running and passed Trott, who was slightly out of the crease. This Test will be a draw, if bad light or rain interrupt the game like they did on Day 1 and Day 2. I simply adored the 7 overs bowled after tea on Day 1, which produced 3 wickets. On Day 2, Onions and Anderson were rather awesome with the new ball, created trouble for Morkel and AB de villiers, but it was Broad who got the reward. Onions bowled much better than what his figures will tell you. But the MOMENT OF THE MATCH was Smith's run out by Cook.