A look back at fay four at the MCG and a large picture gallery.
This post looks back at the events of day four of the test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
A DAY OF UPS AND DOWNS
At one point after a great spell of bowling from Jasprit Bumrah, in the course of which he became a member of a club of one – bowlers with 200+ test wickets at under 20 a piece (among those whose careers have ended only Syd Barnes with 189 scalps at 16.43 each even has over 150 at under 20) – Australia were 91-6, 196 runs ahead. By the end of the day they were 228-9, 333 runs to the good. That margin is significant – the biggest ever successful fourth innings chase at this ground was 332-7 by England in the 1928-9 Ashes, Herbert Sutcliffe chiselling out 135, his second Ashes settling innings in two and a half years, following his 161 at the Oval in 1926 which left England with an effectively unassailable lead going into the fourth innings. However, in giving themselves this many to defend but not as yet declaring (an overnight declaration is possible), Australia may well have deprived themselves of sufficient time to dismiss India in the fourth innings – and Australia are more in need of a win than India, who as holders of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy need only to draw the series to retain it. Bumrah’s burst notwithstanding it has to be classed as Australia’s day, but it has a dog-in-the-manger feel to it with Australia not in a position to take that attitude.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
Today there was a WNAG pizza making session at Pizza Express. This was my product in its finished state.
A look at the events of day three at the MCG and a mention of the miseries of Melbourne Stars. Also a huge photo gallery.
This post is largely devoted to the events of day three of the Australia v India test match at the MCG.
A BAD START
India had reached 164-5 at the end of day two, in reply to Australia’s first innings 474 (see here for more details). Pant and Jadeja had advanced that score to 191 when Pant fell to a truly awful dismissal, walking straight into very obvious trap set by Australia. That brought Nitish Kumar Reddy to the crease. The youngster is in his fourth test match and had made useful but not major batting contributions in all of the first three. With 84 still needed to avoid the follow-on things were looking grim for India, and when Jadeja departed at 221 it still looked bad for them…
THE GREAT REVIVAL
Washington Sundar now joined Reddy, and India enjoyed their best period of the match. The pair put on 127 together for the eighth wicket, in the process removing follow-on considerations from the equation. Sundar contributed exactly 50 of those, and Reddy was approaching a greater milestone. He was on 99 when Jasprit Bumrah was ninth out, but Siraj, a genuine tailender, rose to the occasion and held out for long enough for the landmark to be achieved. The weather also made its presence felt, eventually halting play a little early, with India 358-9, Reddy 105 not out. Australia lead by 116 with two days to play. Scott Boland, who knows this ground better than anyone else involved in the test match, reckons that Australia need to give themselves four sessions to get India out a second time. If they cannot do that India will go Sydney needing only a draw to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy.
MELBOURNE STARS MISERY
Readers of this blog may recall that the Melbourne Stars women finished WBBL10 holding the wooden spoon. The 14th edition of the men’s BBL is now well underway, and Melbourne Stars defeat at the hands of Sydney Thunder today means that they have started the tournament with five losses in a row, which even with the qualification rules being over generous almost certainly means that they will not feature beyond the league stage.
A look at developments in the Boxing Day test match so far and large photo gallery.
At 11:30PM on Christmas Day UK time the Boxing Day test match at the MCG (between India and Australia – the fourth match of a five match series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy – on this occasion) got underway.
DAY ONE
Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. This meant that debutant Sam Konstas, at the age of 19, would not have long to wait for his first bat at the highest level, since he would be opening the innings alongside Usman Khawaja, precisely twice his age, and the biggest age gap between Australian openers since Syd Gregory, induced out of retirement at the age of 42 by a dispute that left Australia without six of its leading players, and Charlie Kellaway padded up together way back in 1912. Konstas selection also meant two other things: he was only the third ever test player known to be of Greek heritage after Xenophon Constantine Balaskas (South Africa) and Athanasios John Traicos (South Africa, and, after a record mid-career hiatus at that level of 22 years, Zimbabwe). Marcus Stoinis, also of Greek ancestry, has played limited overs cricket for Australia, but not test cricket, and Ari Karvelas has played for the land of his ancestors but not as yet for that of his birth, South Africa; and Australia had a top three all born abroad – Konstas (Greece), Khawaja (Pakistan) and Labuschagne (South Africa).
Konstas played a magnificent innings, showing no sign of any nerves. His use of ramp and scoop shots forced India to deploy run-saving fielders directly behind the wicket, which also meant reducing the slip cordon so as not to leave gaps in front of the wicket. Left arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja got him, with, as is so often the case with this bowler, a ball that didn’t actually do anything – it just went straight through and hit a pad in line with the stumps, for a 65 ball 60, which came out of an opening stand of 89. Khawaja completed a much more pedestrian 50, as did Labuschagne, and by the close of day one Steve Smith had also exceeded 50, and it was still there. Bumrah claimed three wickets in the course of the day, and without him Australia would have been well and truly out of sight by the end of this day. A score of 311-6 was still a good effort. Khawaja did not make my all time Ks XI, but his stocks have risen since August 2022, and he would merit consideration now, although I might still stick with Karunaratne. If Konstas’ debut knock was any sort of clue to his future career then he will displace Majid Khan as the right handed opener in that XI before he is done.
DAY TWO
I missed a fair amount of this day’s action due to the inconvenient time of its happening, but I did get to see both India’s best and worst moments of a day that ended with Australia in total control. Australia reached 474, Steve Smith reaching 140, and Pat Cummins boosting the score with a late 49. India lost two wickets fairly early, but then a fine third wicket stand developed between Yashavsi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli. Half an hour before the end of the day it looked fairly evenly poised, and Jaiswal looked set for a century. Then Jaiswal played one towards Cummins, not a fielder whose arm should be challenged, set off for the single, only for Kohli, ball watching, to ignore his partner’s call, which resulted in the end of Jaiswal for 82. Kohli himself then edged Boland to Carey, and nightwatch Akash Deep also failed to survive until the close. Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja were thus together at the end of the day, with India 167-5, still over 100 runs short of avoiding the follow-on. India will have their work cut out to emerge from this with anything other than a defeat, which will mean that only a win in Sydney will see them retain the BGT.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
There are a lot more pictures from Fakenham than usual in this gallery – I had misread a notice about library opening hours and had a lot of time to kill after work on Tuesday and did so doing a lot of walking.For all that it has Fakenham in its name this defunct train station is actually just into the adjoining village of Hempton.The last picture from Fakenham.This picture and the next were taken on Christmas Day morning – the rest of that gallery will appear in my next post.
A look back at yesterday and today’s BBL games and a large photo gallery.
Yesterday Brisbane Heat took on Adelaide Strikers in the BBL, and today saw Melbourne Renegades face Perth Scorchers. This post looks back at both matches.
A LAST BALL THRILLER
The fortunes of war swayed hither and thither in this game, and there were periods when each side appeared to be heading for an easy win. It ended up being a day of triumph for Nathan McSweeney of the Brisbane Heat, recently dropped from the Australian test side after three matches in which he achieved basically nothing. Bashing the ball around in a T20, even one of high standard, is a rather different exercise to fronting up to Jasprit Bumrah with the new ball in his hand in a test match, and McSweeney made the most of being in a less intimidating setting. He scored 78 not out off 49 balls, backed by another former test player, Matt Renshaw, who scored 54 off 27 balls. Nevertheless, in spite of the heroics of these two, it took Brisbane Heat until the final possible ball to secure the win, and they were seven down. Strikers efforts had a touch of Rome and Avignon 700 years ago about them – Ollie Pope scored 34 and held a catch, while his namesake Lloyd took 2-17, – but even with two Popes on side simultaneously they were unable to win in the end. Scorecard here.
A GAME OF FOUR QUARTERS
After 10 overs Perth Scorchers, having lost the bat flip and been put in, were 48–4 and seemingly already beaten. They rallied to post 143-8, a total that still looked inadequate but at least wasn’t downright risible. Cooper Connolly scored 66 for the Scorchers, and Canadian international Matthew Spoors managed 29. Other than those two only extras with exactly 10 reached double figures. Tom Rogers was the pick of the bowlers, with 3-22 from his four overs.
Melbourne Renegades made a racing start to the chase, though they lost wickets along the way. Jacob Bethell and Laurie Evans seemed to have settled things with a 50 partnership, but Bethell fell to the fourth ball of the tenth over to make it 96-4, at which point drinks were taken. With a mere 48 needed from 10.2 overs Renegades should not have been in the slightest hint of trouble, but they played some brainless cricket in the second half of their innings. They were eight down and had only one over remaining when they finally sealed. Will Sutherland, a member of the ‘not even the best in the family’ club (outranked in his case by sister Annabel, whose many achievements include a test match double century against South Africa), saw the Renegades home to a not entirely well deserved win with 15 not out in the closing stages. Scorecard here.
An account of today’s Sydney Smash (Sydney Sixers v Sydney Thunder) match in the Big Bash League, and a photo gallery, highlighted by a particularly fine Little Egret at the meeting point of Nar and Great Ouse.
The Sydney Smash (as mentioned in my previous post) is the name given to the derby between the two Sydney outfits in the Big Bash League. This post looks at today’s instalment which was an absolute classic.
THE FIRST 30 OVERS
The match was of a good standard without promising the spectacular developments that came in its final quarter. Sydney Sixers won the bat flip and put Sydney Thunder in to bat. The Thunder innings was dominated by an 88=run stand for the third wicket between Cameron Bancroft and Oliver Davies. Bancroft scored 70 off 52 balls, and Oliver Davies 47 off 34 balls. Joel Davies, Oliver’s brother, was in the Sixers line up and had a poor day, recording 3-0-36-0. His allocation was completed by Todd Murphy, which proved a poor decision by the Sixers, as Murphy’s sole over went for 20. Akeal Hosein (West Indies, left arm spin) had 2-23 from his four overs, and Ben Dwarshuis (Australia, left arm fast medium, left handed bat), of whom there will be more later had 2-26 from his four overs. Thunder had 163-5 from their 20 overs, respectable but not invincible. The first 10 overs of the Sixers response looked a classic case of laying the groundwork – without doing anything special Sixers were 79-2 at the halfway point of the chase, just a fraction behind the required rate but with eight wickets standing and a two over Power Surge to come. Many would have concurred with my own opinion expressed at the time on mastodon (my social media platform of choice) that Sixers were favourites…
OVERS 31-35
A combination of some disciplined bowling by Thunder and a horror show from Moises Henriques (he is of Portuguese descent for those wondering about the name). First of all Henriques barbecued his third wicket partner Jack Edwards who was going superbly at the time, by setting off for a very optimistic single with Edwards going to the danger end. A direct hit throw had Edwards sufficiently short of his ground that he did not wait for the TV replay before turning for the pavilion. Having handed Thunder an opening, Henriques helped to make it a wider one by becoming badly bogged down. By the end of the 15th over Sixers were 107-3, needing 57 off the last five overs to win…
OVERS 36-40
Jordan Silk had struggled to get going, and when Henriques fell to the second ball of the 16th, with the Power Surge just taken, it was 108-4, 56 needed off 4.4 overs, which works out at exactly two per ball. Lachlan Shaw now joined Silk, and immediately hit his first ball for four. The first Power Surge over yielded 10 runs and that wicket of Henriques (for 17 off 22 balls). The second, entrusted to Nathan McAndrew, reignited the chase, Silk at last finding his touch. In total 17 came from it and no wicket, which meant that 30 were needed off the last three overs. Daniel Sams, vastly experienced, bowled the 18th over, and for five balls looked to be winning it for his side. The sixth ball went for four, which reduced the ask to 24 off the final two overs, but even with the four only six had come from the over. Ferguson, the New Zealand quick, was given the 19th in the hope that he could kill the chase before the final over. When he shattered Shaw’s stumps with the first ball thereof it looked a good call. Dwarshuis hit the second ball of the over for a massive six to start his innings in emphatic style, but only three further runs accrued from the rest of the over. Sixers needed 15 off the last over, and Thunder would have been the happier side at that point. However gambling on Ferguson for the 19th over meant that the final over was in the hands of off spinner Chris Green. When just five came off the first three balls (2,2,1) it still looked good for Thunder. However Green now lost his bearings and sent down two consecutive wides to reduce the ask to eight. A single of the next delivery brought Dwarshuis on to strike with seven needed off two balls. Green bowled a juicy full toss, just a fraction outside off and Dwarshuis, for all that he is more bowler than batter, was plenty good enough to dispatch it way, way over wide long on for six to level the scores. The final delivery was just short of a length and in line with middle and leg stumps, and Dwarshuis coolly turned into the onside for the winning single. Dwarshuis ended with 20* (8), Silk with 36* (25). Dwarshuis’ late blitz in conjunction with his bowling efforts secured him the Player of the Match award. A full scorecard of this classic contest can be seen here.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Today’s gallery starts with lots 638 and 641 from what will be the March 2025 auction at James and Sons, but the rest of the pictures are from yesterday afternoon and today…
My 2,500th blog post, featuring a cricket story, a review of a science book and lots of photos.
Welcome to my 2,500th blog post. The only thing I could think of about the number 2,500 for this post is that it is the square of 50, which is coincidentally the age I will be at my next birthday.
A NEW TALENT ARRIVES
The Men’s Big Bash League is now in full swing, and today is a double header day. The second half of that double header, the so-called ‘Sydney Smash’ derby between Sixers and Thunder is currently underway. The first match took place in Tasmania, where Hobart Hurricanes hosted Perth Scorchers. The Hurricanes won by eight wickets with four balls to spare. All else in the match was overshadowed by the batting performance of Mitchell Owen, who came into this match without a century in any form of professional cricket to his name, and with a mere 89 BBL runs IN TOTAL from 14 previous BBL matches. By the end of the 19th over he was on 96* but was at the wrong end, with a mere seven needed. His partner, Ben McDermott, got a single off the first ball of that finakl over, which was also called ‘no ball’, reducing the ask to five, and meaning that Owen was back on strike with five needed and a ‘free hit’ on the way. He cashed in, smashing the ball in question for four to reach three figures off the 63rd delivery of his innings. He scored the winning single off the next ball. Given that the Hurricanes target had been only 156 there was only one conceivable candidate for Player of the Match, and Owen duly collected that award. Scorecard here.
A FEW WORK PHOTOS
In the week just gone I have been imaging toys that will go under the hammer in March (the week before that I did what was almost entirely a ‘copy and paste’ exercise to create the stamp section of the April auction, lots 501-750 inclusive). The following pictures are the galleries for two of the lots from this week:
SCIENCE BOOK RECOMMENDATION
One of my recent library finds was “Life is Simple” by Johnjoe McFadden. This book is both history and science, covering the life and work of William of Occam, and the role that Occam’s Razor, the notion that unnecessary hypotheses should be disposed of, has played over the last seven centuries since it was first proposed. The book is a wonderful read, and I would recommend it wholeheartedly.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off (remember photos can be viewed at large size by clicking on them)…
A look at how England Women completed an emphatic victory over South Africa Women in the test match at Bloemfontein, meaning they had won every element of the tour, and a photo gallery.
England’s Women completed their tour of South Africa by winning a thumping victory in the test match, meaning that they have won every leg of the tour, having already won the T20I and ODI series. This post looks back at what happened in the closing stages of the test match.
KNIGHT HOLDS ENGLAND 2ND INNINGS TOGETHER
England had a 114 run lead on first innings, and they extended that to precisely 350 on a pitch starting to misbehave . There were two noteworthy performances, one on each side. Heather Knight was chiefly responsible for England getting as many as they did, fighting her way to 90. Nonkululeko Mlaba was the bowling star for the proteas, taking 6-79 to give her 10 wickets in the match.
A HORRENDOUS COLLAPSE
South Africa had an awkward mini-session to negotiate before the tea interval. A target of 351 already looked fairly mountainous to begin with, and when Laura Wolvaardt was trapped LBW for 4 to make it 8-1 it took on Everest proportions. Right on the stroke of tea Lauren Filer trapped the other opener Anneke Bosch LBW for 4 and it was 15-2 after 5.2 overs. At 22 Bell had Annerie Dercksen caught by Beaumont (a slightly controversial dismissal, as the umpires conferred before giving it, and the only doubt they could have had was whether Dercksen had actually made contact – Beaumont had certainly made the catch). Then came the period that ensured that the third day would be the last (I was at work when this happened, but listened to the commentary on catch up when I was back home). At 31 Sune Luus was bowled by a beauty from Bell, and then Nadine de Klerk suffered a horror run out immediately after (would have been a horror in any situation and any format, but in a test match with the innings in the process of going into freefall it was particularly atrocious). Two runs later Sophie Ecclestone, who had relieved Lauren Filer, pinned Chloe Tryon plumb in front. When Sinalo Jafta was trapped in front by a superb ball from Bell it was 44-7, and moments later Beaumont took a catch off Ecclestone to account for Kapp whose 21 represented the sum total of protea resistance in the fourth innings to that point. It was then 44-8, and it was known that Ayanda Hlubi was not going to bat due to being injured. Tumi Sekhukhune and Nonkululeko Mlaba added 20 to this dismal total, before Mlaba was run out, failing to get her bat grounded quick enough to beat Bell’s throw. It was appropriate that Bell finished the match – she had taken four cheap wickets in each innings (4-49 and 4-27) in addition to effecting that run out, and was named Player of the Match. The England bowling unit was excellent (Dean didn’t bowl well in the only innings in which she got to bowl, but that was the only blemish). Lauren Filer’s pace, Lauren Bell’s swing (and cut, a new development for her) with the added awkwardness created by her height, the craft and guile of Ecclestone and Dean and the reliable medium pace options provided by Nat Sciver-Brunt and Ryana McDonald-Gay meant that the injured Kate Cross was barely missed in the event. If you are wondering how England were able to accommodate six genuine front line bowling options in a test match line up the answer is simple: Sciver-Brunt is one of the best batters in the side, and Dean, Ecclestone and McDonald-Gay can all be considered all rounders (although she batted at number nine in this match I suspect that McDonald-Gay will be moving up the order before too long – she is probably better with the bat than either Dean or Ecclestone). A full scorecard is available here.
Detailed looks at the men’s match between Australia and India and the women’s match between South Africa and England that are currently in progress, a mention of the men’s match between New Zealand and England, a 35 second video and a photo gallery.
The New Zealand and England men’s teams are currently playing the third match of a series already won by England, while the Australian and Indian men’s teams are playing the third match of a five match series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and the South Africa and England women’s teams are playing a one-off test match to end England’s tour there. This post looks at goings on in these matches, the second and third in a bit of detail as I have been able to follow them. As for the first, suffice to say that it looks like England are copping a hammering and that said result will be entirely justified.
THE GABBA: AUSTRALIA v THE WEATHER
The third match of the series for the Border-Gavaskar trophy in Brisbane has lost a lot of time to the weather with possibly more interruptions in the two days that remain. The weather has done rather more to stand in Australia’s way than India have managed. India won the toss and opted to field, a lure that has tempted several captains there in the past, though the results should influence modern era skippers against doing so: Hutton put Australia in in 1954-5 and they scored 601-8 declared and won by an innings and 160 runs, though England fought back to win the second, third and fourth matches of that series; Border put England in in 1986-7 and they scored 456, bowled Australia out twice and knocked off the runs needed in the fourth innings; and finally Hussain put Australia in in 2001-2, the hosts were 367-2 at the end of day one and won a thumping victory. Unless the rain persists Rohit Sharma will come away with the same result as those three did – Australia have scored 445, a total kept within some sort of bound only by Jasprit Bumrah who emerged with 6-79. In such batting time as the rain has allowed them in their own first innings India have limped to 48-4, meaning that Australia need 16 more wickets to win and are 397 ahead, given that we are going into day four and there is still rain about, if they do indeed bowl India out for 245 or less it will be mandatory to enforce the follow on.
THE GHOSTS OF DRS PAST AND FUTURE HAUNT CSA
This test match will almost be the last such game involving either sex not to feature the Decision Review System – both the England innings, and the South African response still in progress have featured moments where the absence of DRS for this match has been crucial, and England have been the beneficiaries of both. Tammy Beaumont was given not out in response to a concerted appeal for LBW on the second ball of the match, and South Africa would certainly have sent it upstairs had DRS been in place, and would very probably have seen it overturned. In the South African innings their skipper Laura Wolvaardt was on 65 and frankly looking impossible to dislodge when a ball from Ecclestone struck her pads and she was given LBW. Wolvaardt made it obvious that she was certain that she had nicked it into her pads, and with DRS in place she would have sent it upstairs and it would have been overturned. Maia Bouchier scored a century on her test debut, and Natalie Sciver-Brunt also contributed a ton, reached off just 96 balls, to England’s efforts. England fell away a bit late in their innings, but a score of 395-9 declared is not to be sniffed at. At 237-3 with Marizanne Kapp and Sune Luus going well South Africa looked to be heading for somewhere close to parity, but Kapp being bowled by Ryana McDonald-Gay opened an end for England, and wickets have been falling regularly since then. The latest go has been Chloe Tryon, clipping one from Lauren Bell straight into the hands of Tammy Beaumont. Luus had succumbed just previously to a fearsome burst from Lauren Filer, finally fencing one into the gloves of Amy Jones behind the stumps to go for 56. Number nine Tumi Sekhukhune has just got off the mark with a four, but at 275-7 South Africa are 120 adrift with only three first innings wickets standing. Things have moved on while I have been preparing this post for publication – Lauren Bell has bowled Jafta with a beauty and then with her next ball, assisted by the number 10 backing away so much that she was practically in a different post code from the ball, removed Nonkululeko Mlaba’s middle stump. Nat Sciver-Brunt has just terminated the innings by pinning Ayanda Hlubi LBW for 1 and South Africa are all out for 281, giving England a first innings lead of 114.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Before I produce my latest photo gallery I have a short video to share with you…
A look at a category of book I have enjoyed discovering during 2024 – modern retellings of mythology. Also a large photo gallery.
It is no secret to readers of this blog that I am a voracious reader. One oeuvre that I have discovered in 2024 is modern retellings of mythology. This post looks at some of those books.
THE STARTING POINT
I have had an interest in mythology for virtually as long as I have been capable of reading. Thus when I saw “Daughters of Sparta” by Clare Heywood on the shelves of King’s Lynn library it was pretty much automatic for me to select it as one to borrow. This retelling of the stories of Helen and Clytemnestra from their own perspectives proved to be even better than I had dared to expect, and I soon found myself keeping an eye out at all three of the libraries I regularly visit for similar books.
MY EXPLORATIONS OF THIS THEME SINCE THEN
That was the start of an ongoing exploration of retellings of these myths which has gone to encompass Natalie Haynes (“A Thousand Ships”, “Children of Jocasta” and “Stone Blind” (Medusa’s story from her own perspective, rather than that of Perseus), Jennifer Saint (“Ariadne”, “Elektra”, “Atalanta” and just recently “Hera”, which provides the feature image for this post, Madeline Miller (“Circe” and “A Song of Achilles”), Laura Shepperson (“Heir of Venus”), Phoenicia Rogerson (“Herc” – the story of Heracles/ Hercules told from the perspective of everyone except the hero himself), Pat Barker (“Women of Troy”), Lauren JA Bear (“Medusa’s Sisters), Claire North (“Ithaca”, “The House of Odysseus” and presumably a third volume to come, telling the story of Odysseus from Penelope’s perspective), and from a different oeuvre of mythology Sophie Keetch (“Morgan is my Name”, “Le Fay”, and I know there is a third volume to come in this series). All of these books have been very enjoyable to read, and I cannot pick a favourite.
PHOTOGRAPHS
This gallery does not include the feature image, but does include all three elements of that composite image. Remember that all pictures can be viewed at larger size by clicking on them…
aspiblog 