A look at a fabulous WBBL match that should have been even more so, a brief mention of news from across the Atlantic and a large photo gallery.
The Women’s Big Bash League 2026 is underway in Australia. This morning UK time Hobart Hurricanes played host to Melbourne Renegades in a match that was great and should have been greater.
THE FIRST 39.5 OVERS
Hobart Hurricanes tallied 154-7 from their 20 overs. Nicola Carey scored a superb 62, and Chinelle Henry provided some late impetus with an 18 ball 36. Sophie Molineux starred with the ball, claiming 4-22. At 99-1 in response the Renegades looked poised for a huge win, but then three wickets fell quickly, including Hayley Matthews, who had been bossing the innings until she was bowled by Heather Graham for 59. Georgia Wareham played fluently, but neither Sophie Molineux nor Nicole Faltum found peak form. Deandra Dottin, held back until number eight, kept her side in the contest. The final over began with eight needed for the win. With two balls to go that was down to five. Dottin hit the penultimate ball for four to level the scores…
IT WAS THE BEST OF FINISHES, IT WAS THE WORST OF FINISHES
Nicola Carey, who had followed her fine innings with two wickets, rose to the occasion, and the final delivery was a dot, Dottin not getting bat to it and wicket keeper Lizelle Lee taking it. However, with everyone preparing for a super over, the TV replay umpire was busy looking at replays, and he established to his own satisfaction, but probably not to that of anyone else (even the Melbourne Renegades players if they are honest) that Lee had taken the ball fractionally in front of the stumps, which technically meant that delivery had to be called no-ball, and rather than the super over that the game deserved the Renegades were winners by four wickets with one ball to spare. It was a fabulous match, but what a shame that it was settled by the TV replay umpire and not out on the field.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Just before my usual sign off a brief mention of events across the Atlantic, which have left the USA with the lamest of lame duck presidents (both houses of Congress now have comfortable Democratic majorities, and there have been some other momentous results). Now for the gallery…
The first of ten rainbow pictures, taken on Monday.
A look back at an extraordinary match that took place today at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore between England and Pakistan, a mention of a quiz night on Thursday and a photo gallery.
Today saw England and Pakistan face off at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore in the latest instalment of an ODI tri-series involving these two sides and Sri Lanka. England were badly in need of a win after losing each of their first two matches, and after failing to defend a score of 429 in their previous outing against Sri Lanka (a match I missed since I a combination of commitments kept me out and about for 14 hours that day) they had opted to strengthen their bowling, meaning that Sam Curran was scheduled to bat at number six. The stage was set for a crucial contest…
THE ENGLAND INNINGS
England started atrociously, losing three wickets in five overs. Just as they seemed to be mounting a recovery Jordan Cox suffered a truly horrendous dismissal, walking straight into a glaringly obvious trap set by Haris Rauf to present Babar Azam with a catch and make it 52-4. Sam Curran joined Ben Duckett in a fifth wicket stand that raised 90, and Duckett went on to a fine century. However, he and Liam Dawson were both out with the score at 187. When Overton was ninth out at 201, bringing debutant Henry Crocombe in to join Gus Atkinson it looked poor for England. The last wicket pair scored a further 40 between them, Atkinson ending unbeaten on 36. The task facing Pakistan did not look overly daunting….
THE PAKISTAN RESPONSE
The required run rate was not a problem for Pakistan, but wickets soon did become one, and when Babar Azam was bowled by Atkinson to make it 31-3 things looked interesting. A combination of good England bowling and Pakistan freezing under the pressure being applied saw more than 15 overs pass without a single boundary at one stage of the innings. Some of the Pakistanis got themselves out through being unable to cope with the fact that they weren’t hitting boundaries. At 103-6 Pakistan looked in deep trouble, and 154-9, with Haris Rauf joining Shadab Khan and 88 still needed it appeared that the fat lady was having a last gargle before taking to the stage.
Then things took a dramatic turn, as Shadab Khan started to bat very well indeed, Haris Rauf, who Shadab was doing a good job of shielding, did all that was asked of him and England found that last wicket hard to come by. As the target came down and down impossible moved to improbable. With Pakistan 20 adrift it looked like the fat lady was finally getting her moment, as Atkinson had Shadab Khan given LBW for 97 (already 11 more than his previous ODI career best), but a review taken simply because it was there to be taken (hands were being shaken and Shadab was walking past the umpire when he made the T sign) led to a tiny edge on to the pad being detected on the replay and the action resumed. Then came a near run out during which Rauf suffered a groin strain, which fortunately cleared up very quickly. Shadab Khan moved from 99 to 103 with a four off the second ball of the 47th over. He celebrated by hitting the next ball for four more, and the ask was down to nine. The next two balls were tight and accurate and dots went into the scorebook. The sixth ball of the over was full and straight, and foregoing any attempt to secure the strike, Shadab Khan launched it down the ground for the fifth six of his innings to reduce the target to a mere three. At this point, even though the far more experienced Curran was still available to bowl, Brook decided to hand the ball to the debutant Crocombe for the 48th over of the innings. Haris Rauf, at that point on 3 not out in a partnership worth 85, drilled the first ball of the over straight down the ground for four and Pakistan’s great escape was complete. There is almost certainly some bizarre mathematical scenario by which England can still qualify for Saturday’s final, but in practice, especially given what a massive body blow losing from the position they were in when the ninth Pakistan wicket fell is, their tournament is over and they have only themselves to blame. For the record Shadab Khan scored 113 not out from 96 balls with 13 fours and five sixes. As damaging a result as it was for England, it was an unforgettable finish, and one I am very glad to have followed live, albeit from afar, and a classic proof of the appositeness of the title line “It is Never Over Until the Fat Lady Sings” to cricket in particular – the many spectators who left the Gaddafi when the ninth Pakistan wicket fell must be feeling right Charlies at seeing what they missed by doing so. Scorecard here.
A QUIZ NIGHT AT THE TOWN HALL
Fraser Dawbarns hosted a charity quiz night at King’s Lynn Town Hall on Thursday, and since WNAG were one of the charities benefitting from this I was there as part of the WNAG team (the categories were not very suitable for me, which is one reason why we had a midtable finish).
The frontage of King’s Lynn town hall, taken in daylight the morning after the quiz night
I also have one of my regular photo galleries (reminder, to view pictures at larger size click on one)…
Two gulls were fighting over this crab, and dropped it, and then flew their separate ways. It was still alive, and deeming it the best chance of keeping it so, I picked it up and deposited it into the Great Ouse – I did not think it climb the concrete unaided or that it would survive in the road.
A look back at the last day of the 2026 English cricket season, headlined by an ODI series decider between England and Sri Lanka. Also a large photo gallery.
Yesterday saw the last knockings of the 2026 English cricket season, including the third and final ODI of a series between the England and Sri Lankan men’s sides, which this post looks back at.
THE PRELIMINARIES
Sri Lanka had levelled the series by winning the second match back on Thursday. Also in that match Jos Buttler had picked up an injury while batting and retired hurt, and he was absent from this match, his place as keeper being taken by Jordan Cox. England had a slightly less deep batting order than sometimes, but the presence of Gus Atkinson, with an international century to his name, at number nine is hardly indicative of a long tail. England won the toss and although the pitch was fairly green they opted to bat first, having realized that the layer of grass had been left in place because it was a fundamentally very dry surface and needed the presence of the grass to keep it together…
THE ENGLAND INNINGS
Ben Duckett floundered to a five ball duck, finally being beaten all ends up and bowled by a superb ball from Madushanka (it was also a poor shot by Duckett but that should not detract from a fine piece of bowling). Joe Root was never in great form either, but he hung around for a time in support of Tom Banton who was batting magnificently. Harry Brook came in at number four, and now England had in form batters together at the crease. Banton reached his first international hundred. Brook fell at 218, having scored a fluent 77, which brought Jordan Cox to the crease. Banton was fourth out at 242, having scored 126 from 105 balls. Will Jacks and Jamie Overton each provided useful support to Cox who batted brilliantly. Asitha Fernando ended the innings on a personal high, bowling Cox for 76 (52) and then Dawson for a first ball duck with the last two balls of the innings, but the damage was well and truly done by then, with England posting 355-7 from their 50 overs.
THE SRI LANKA INNINGS
Sri Lanka never looked like getting anywhere near the huge total they had been set. Kusal Mendis, century maker in the second match of the series, produced a fluent 35, but once he was out to the last ball of the ninth over to make it 53-3 no one did a great deal. The run out of Rathnayake by Archer, which caused a deal of confusion because Cox had actually dislodged a bail before the ball arrived, stood because Archer’s throw actually removed a stump from the ground. That was 77-4, and with Charith Asalanka and Dunith Wellalage following in short order it was soon 82-6. Sachindu Colombage and Janith Liyanage also one after the other, 104-6 becoming 106-8. None of Eshan Malinga, Asitha Fernando or Dilshan Madushanka, the three remaining Sri Lankan batters, have any batting pedigree whatsoever, and imagining that they might some score 250 between the three of them would have been fanciful to say the least. Malinga actually did reach double figures, a feat beyond the other two, who managed 8 between them. The match ended when Eshan Malinga swept at Will Jacks and Joe Root, soon to be named as England’s ODI player of the season, pouched a sharp catch at leg slip. The margin was 232 runs. Scorecard here.
Shortly before that Somerset and Surrey had shaken hands on a draw at Taunton, with Surrey five down in their second innings and almost 200 adrift. Somerset had built a first innings of 309 – 731 against 422, and had hoped that Leach and Vaughan could spin through Surrey’s second innings, but a couple of interruptions put paid to that. Tom Abell had scored 307 for Somerset, beaten among Somerset natives only by a 310 from Harold Gimblett many decades ago, although overseas stars Justin Langer and Viv Richards have also recorded higher scores for the county.
A look at how Warwickshire became county champions for the ninth time in their history and a large photo gallery.
The last round of county championship fixtures for the 2o26 season is going on. Although some matches will be going in to tomorrow we know where the county championship is going, and this post looks back at how that happened.
WARWICKSHIRE WITH THE STRONGEST FINISH
Going into the penultimate round of fixtures there were three teams seemingly duking it out for the title, Warwiwckshire, Nottinghamshire and Somerset. Both Nottinghamshire and Somerset slipped up in that round while Warwickshire won to take a 12 point lead into the final round.
In the final round Nottinghamshire faced Yorkshire, Somerset entertained Surrey and Warwickshire were at home to Leicestershire. It was obvious by the afternoon of day one (Thursday) that Warwickshire were faring better than the other two, and by the time day two ended Nottinghamshire’s challenge was also officially over, but Somerset were still theoretically in contention, though they would need to win and for Warwickshire to lose, and Warwickshire were in almost complete control of their match, having built a first innings advantage of 247 and already claimed three Leicestershire second innings wickets before the end of day two.
This morning belonged to Warwickshire, and by lunch time Leicestershire were eight down, a long way in arrears, and the title was as good as secure. Tom Scriven, the Leicestershire number nine, fought his way to 49, comfortably their highest individual score of the match, but then Ethan Bamber bowled him to claim his fifth scalp of the innings and ninth of the match and give Warwickshire the match by an innings and 79 runs and with it the county championship for the ninth time in their history. It was an appropriate way for the championship to be officially settled since Bamber, released by Middlesex in a ‘Decca Records’ like move by someone who questioned his temperament, has been superb as the spearhead of a very impressive Warwickshire bowling unit this season.
Just moments ago Yorkshire completed a one wicket win over Nottinghamshire. At Taunton the match is still ongoing, and Tom Abell for Somerset has reached a new career best of 228 not out, with Somerset now 174 ahead on first innings, which brings a win for them in to the picture should Surrey collapse in their second innings.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off (reminder – click on an image to view it at larger size)…
A look back at yesterday’s Metro Bank One Day Cup final between Middlesex and Leicestershire and a photo gallery.
Yesterday saw the final of the Metro Bank One Day Cup at Trent Bridge. The two sides contesting the trophy were Middlesex and Leicestershire. This post looks back at a splendid match.
THE MIDDLESEX INNINGS
Leicestershire began well, reducing Middlesex to 71-5, with all five batters falling to catches by wicket keeper Ben Cox. At that juncture Harry Duke, once of Yorkshire, joined Ryan Higgins, in his second spell at Middlesex after a few years at Gloucestershire in the middle. The pair added 135 together before Duke fell to a catch by Stevie Eskinazi off Ian Holland. Tom Helm managed seven before being pinned LBW by Rehan Ahmed, the first and as it turned out only batter to be out other than caught in the entire innings. This was Ahmed’s second scalp, the first coming when Luke Hollman edged a googly through to Cox, one of the five early dismissals referred to above. Higgins completed an excellent century, and was then immediately out, caught by Nick Kelly off Holland to make it 224-8. That was Holland’s fourth scalp, and not long later he made it a five-for when he had Toby Roland-Jones caught by Ben Green. Holland incidentally is one of the few USians to be involved in high level professional cricket (Tara Norris in the women’s game is another). GThe innings ended at 231 when number 11 Naavya Sharma, unlikely to be moving up the order any time soon, gave Eskinazi a catch off Ahmed for the leg spinner’s third scalp of the innings. Ian Holland had 10-1-36-5, Rehan Ahmed 9.5.-1-55-3 and Tom Scriven 9-0-39-2. While not a huge total 231 was lot better than had seemed likely at 71-5, and it was clear that Leicestershire would need their wits about them to succeed in the chase.
THE LEICESTERSHIRE INNINGS
Leicestershire needed 232 to win, Middlesex needed 10 wickets, since there was no way Leicestershire would be short of the target if they batted for 50 overs. This innings soon boiled down to a contest between the Middlesex bowlers and Nick Kelly, who played a superb innings but did not get anything like sufficient support from the rest of the order. Veteran medium pacer Toby Roland-Jones bowled his full 10 over allocation early in the innings and captured 3-27. At 175-6 with Ben Green, who has a List A 150 to his name providing Kelly with staunch support Leicestershire were still in contention. It was at that point that Tom Helm, who would surely have played for England but for a miserable history of injuries, made his considerable presence felt. First he had Green caught by Josh de Caires to make it 175-7, and then after Nick Kelly and Tom Scriven had advanced the score by a further 13 he virtually settled the issue by having Nick Kelly caught by fellow centurion Higgins for 103. That left Leicestershire needing 44 to win and only bowlers to get them (Scriven is a capable lower order batter when he has someone to support but it would have been asking a lot for him to mastermind this chase on a tough pitch). Ajaz Patel got to 7, including one four, before he became the third victim of an immaculate display of death bowling by Helm, going to a catch by Zafar Gohar. Three balls later, with the score at 200, Scriven was last out, caught by Surrey reject and now Middlesex skipper Ben Geddes off Sharma for 10. Middlesex had won by 31 runs, and the difference had been that Higgins (whose 100, 0-41 from eight overs of medium pace and two catches got him Player of the Match) had real support from Harry Duke, whereas Leicestershire’s centurion, Kelly, was playing a lone hand – the next highest score of the innings was 16 by Rishi Patel, while the most balls negotiated by anyone save Kelly (107) was the 25 faced by Ben Green. Scorecard here.
A look at the T20I series that has been going on between the England and Sri Lanka men’s teams and a photo gallery.
The England and Sri Lanka men’s sides have been playing a T20I series. The third and final match is in progress as I type, and it is an indication of the way things are going that I am already calling it a 3-0 series sweep for England, even with 14 overs left in the match.
MATCH ONE ON TUESDAY
Sri Lanka won the toss and inserted England. That was the only thing that went right for them all evening. England piled up 254 from their 20 overs, Harry Brook helping himself to a century. Faced with a total like that Sri Lanka were unlikely to get anywhere close, and in the end the margin was 119 runs. Sonny Baker distinguished himself by taking 3-12 from his four overs.
MATCH TWO ON THURSDAY
England won the toss and put Sri Lanka in. There were moments when Sri Lanka looked capable of posting a respectable total, but the second half of their innings was a sad tale, going from a relative high of 84-1 at half distance to an inadequate 145-9 at the end of the 20th over. England knocked off this target with almost eight overs to spare to settle the series with a match to spare.
MATCH THREE TODAY
England won the toss and again chose to bat, and it was deja vu. Sri Lanka reached 83-3 at the high water mark of their innings, but once again floundered badly in the closing stages. On this occasion they were all out for 124 with seven balls left unused. Wanindu Hasaranga suffered a bizarre dismissal, dislodging a bail with the toe end of his bat while facing Jofra Archer. Kamindu Mendis played the best innings for Sri Lanka, but it ended horribly when he ignored the fact that Old Trafford is wider than it is long and took on a pull against Archer, succeeding only in sending the ball directly to Jacks, carefully positioned a good few yards in from the boundary for this precise eventuality. Harry Brook and Jos Buttler are enjoying themselves at the moment, and already, with over 12 overs still available, England need less than 30 more to win. The hapless Madushanka has just given away five wides to move England past 100. It was his fourth separate infraction of the over to boot. With 23 now needed I suspect that the usual mid-innings drinks break will be superfluous. The previous sentence was prophetic – England reached the target in just 9.4 overs to seal the 3-0 sweep.
A look at goings on in the test match at Edgbaston, and a photo gallery in two parts – A St Nicholas special and a general gallery.
It is now tea on day three of the third and final test match of a series between the England and Pakistan men’s teams. This post looks at what has happened so far.
DAY ONE
England, 2-0 up in the series, were unchanged, while Pakistan had a number of changes. England won the toss and opted to bowl first. The only Pakistan batter to fare well in the first innings was Saud Shakeel, who got in to the 40s before he was dismissed. Pakistan managed a mere 133 all out. England were going well in response by the close.
DAY TWO
I did not get to witness any of this day’s play due to work commitments. England took a first innings lead of 320 and Pakistan two wickets down in their second innings by the close.
TODAY
I had another commitment which caused me to miss the first session of today’s play, which was Pakistan’s best batting session of the series. They continued to bat well in the afternoon session, but a superb catch by Lawrence off Atkinson sent Shan Masood back for 95. Babar Azam was also dismissed this session, caught by Jordan Cox, keeping wicket in place of the injured Jamie Smith for 76. These two dismissals mean that as yet there has not been an individual century in this series. Saud Shakeel and new wicket keeper Ghazi Ghori batted through to tea at 297-5, 23 short of making England batting again. At the moment it looks very likely that England are still going to win, but bigger turnarounds have happened – Headingley 1981, when England were 92 short of making Australia bat with just three second innings wickets standing and ended up winning by 18 runs being one such.
THE COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP
Warwickshire, Somerset and Nottinghamshire all won their games. With two rounds of matches to play Somerset are four points clear of Nottinghamshire, with Warwickshire a point further back, and everyone else well behind this trio.
PHOTOGRAPHS
On Wednesday morning St Nicholas Chapel was open as I walked past, and I went in. Before my main gallery I have a…
ST NICHOLAS SPECIAL
I start with a composite picture juxtaposing the organ with an information board about that instrument:
On the left of this picture is a front on shot of the organ at St Nicholas Chapel, on the right an information board about said organ.
The rest of the gallery…
GENERAL PHOTOS
Now for my usual sign off…
This butterfly is a new one for me. The tail segment sticking out beyond the wings is an unusual feature, and the white wings with black borders are new to me as well (four pics).
Early yesterday evening Oliver Price claimed the final Derbyshire wicket to give his side victory by 213 runs with 6.3 overs left to be bowled. That brought an end to the latest round of championship fixtures. This post looks back at the main events of yesterday (see here for details of the two matches that ended on Friday).
KENT v WORCESTERSHIRE
This match was threatening to get interesting win the visitors needed just over 100 with five wickets left, and Brett D’Oliveira closing in on three figures. While not being anywhere close to the standards of his grandfather Basil this D’Oliveira is a solid county batter, and given proper support by the later Worcestershire batters he could have made it very tense indeed. In the end Kent had 84 runs to spare, and D’Oliveira was left stranded with a century to his name.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE v DERBYSHIRE
The county of my birth have been having a rotten season in the county championship, coming into this round with only one win to their name. It did not look like changing when they batted on and on in their second innings against Derbyshire, finally declaring to set the visitors 318 in 45 overs. Batting out for the draw should have been straightforward, but Derbyshire had a horrible collapse at the start of the innings, plunging to 41-6. The only batter of substance left was Martin Andersson, who dug in grittily. The fact that it took 24 overs for the last four wickets to fall underlines how atrociously the early Derbyshire batting failed, with six of them falling in the first 14.4 overs of the innings.
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE HOIST ON OWN PETARD
Northamptonshire might have thought they were doing OK when they needed 205 to win the fourth innings. However their own pitch preparation came back to bite them. They had prepared a spinning surface hoping for their bowlers to benefit, but it was Durham left arm spinner Callum Parkinson who reaped the rewards, with six cheap wickets are Northamptonshire crashed for 50 in the final innings.
THE STALEST OF STALEMATES
A combination of a flawed points system (on which I have animadverted before) and lack of enterprise by both counties consigned Nottinghamshire v Leicestershire to an early grave, awaiting only the formality of handshakes at the first legal opportunity. Once Leicestershire had avoided the possibility of being made to follow on, partly with the assistance of Josh Davey, who also helped his former county Somerset in the process neither side showed any interest in making a game of things. Leicestershire could have challenged Nottinghamshire by declaring as soon as the follow-on was avoided, effectively daring them to set a target if they were game. Nottinghamshire once they finally got the elusive wicket could have decided: OK, we still have a decent lead, and we are going to throw the bat for 20 overs and see where we end up, and if Leicestershire fancy attempting the chase good luck to them. In the event as indicated Leicestershire batted on until that last wicket fell, and Nottinghamshire showed no interest in anything other than a polishing up of batting averages. This is precisely the sort of event that underlines the folly of assessing a draw as worth half as much of a win. One result of this is that Somerset sit on top of the table, four points ahead of Nottinghamshire.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
A hornet mimic fly in flight, approaching some greenery on which a small green insect rests.A damselfly with a green body, resting on a green leaf.A wading bird, probably of the sandpiper family (three pics) near the Nar outfall.A holly blue butterfly.A louse, of the type sometimes called a pill bug because its defence mechanism is to roll itself up into something looking like a pill and very well defended.
A look at two of the matches in this round of championship fixtures that have already finished and their implications for the table, plus a photo gallery.
There is a round of county championship matches in progress with today officially day three of four. The two matches in which I had most interest, Surrey v Yorkshire and Somerset v Glamorgan are both now finished. This post looks at what has been going on.
AN INNINGS WIN
This morning at decision time I opted to listen to Surrey v Yorkshire, since I thought that one was probably going to end before Somerset v Glamorgan. I had failed to account for just how spineless Glamorgan would prove to be. They slumped to 183 all out in their second innings, which gave Somerset a win by an innings and 64. The scores there were Glamorgan 194, Somerset 441, Glamorgan 183. This puts Somerset at the top of the championship table, and although they were one of the eight sides involved in the first properly organized county championship in 1891 they have never won it. Scorecard here.
A LOW SCORING THRILLER
Surrey won the toss and opted to bowl. When they had Yorkshire all out for 185 they would have felt reasonably good about that. They themselves then sank for 83, conceding a first innings deficit of 102. They then rebounded by bowling Yorkshire out for 82, leaving themselves to match Yorkshire’s first innings score in the final innings of the match to win it. When Burns and Sibley reached 40 still together it looked on. Then Jack White pinned Sibley LBW. Surrey now gambled, sending Rahul Chahar in at number three. The gamble failed, the Indian being bowled for a five ball duck. Not long after that Burns was also out, caught by Dom Bess off George Hill and it was 52-3. Wickets continued to fall regularly by Josh Blake dug in and held firm. Even so, when Tom Lawes was seventh out a further 70 runs were still needed to win, which looked a tall order on that surface. However Matthew Fisher, who had already claimed eight wickets in the match, including 6-25 in the 82 all out, now provided Josh Blake with excellent support and the pair clawed their way towards the target. They had got to 170, 15 short of winning, when Fisher edged a ball from Hill to Will Luxton to fall for 33. Auqib Nabi, an Indian seamer who can bat a bit – he has a List A century in his native land – now joined Blake. Nabi had just hit a six to move Surrey to within two of the target when he tried to go big again and sent the ball pretty much straight upwards and James Wharton got underneath it to make it 183-9. Dan Worrall, the sort of old style tail ender who does not bother to take guard when he arrives at the crease, now joined the fray. He survived the last two balls of Ben Coad’s over, and then Blake negotiated a very good over from George Hill, but could do no more than survive it. The next over started with another dot, but then Worrall got the second away for four and Surrey had sneaked home by one wicket. The match had seen an aggregate of 537 runs for 39 wickets. This is not even close to a record – in 1878 when The MCC faced off against An Australian XI at Lord’s the match aggregate was 105 runs for 31 wickets (MCC 33 and 19, Australians 41 and 12-1). Josh Blake in the final innings had scored 43 not out from 183 balls. It is a result that somewhat eases Surrey’s relegation worries, but everyone from fourth place downwards is under threat, so tight is it at the bottom. Scorecard here.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off (periodic reminder, you can view images at larger size by clicking on them)…
A hummingbird hawkmothFlowring ivy plays a vital role at this time of year. This head has attracted two pollinators at the same time.I got this 50p in change at Morrison’s today.
A look at the closing stages of the second test match of the England v Pakistan series and a photo gallery.
Late yesterday afternoon Harry Brook took a catch off Josh Tongue to dismiss Mohammad Ali for 8 and end proceedings with Pakistan on 194, which coincidentally gave England victory by 194 runs and an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three match series. This post looks back at the salient events of the last couple of days.
PICKING UP THE STORY
When I published my previous post England were 162-6 in their second innings, an overall lead of 342. Daniel Lawrence was on 37 at the point, and there was a little more play on the Saturday, in the course of which he completed a fine 50. England overnighted on 177-7, a lead of 357, with Lawrence 50 not out. Lawrence is starting to show that he is worth his place as a middle order batter, which he has to do – his status as the team’s spin option is purely nominal, and any wickets he takes in that capacity will be a bonus.
THE SUNDAY
England extended their innings to 208, a lead of 388 overall. Pakistan in their three previous innings in the series had tallied 417 runs in total. Imam-ul-Haq was out the match with a calf strain, so England had only nine wickets to take. Ollie Robinson pinned Azan Awais LBW for 6 and three balls later bowled Abdullah Shafique for a duck. Babar Azam got a vicious delivery from Archer, which lifted nastily on him, but a player of his experience should have been able to do better than fend it into the hands of Jordan Cox at third slip. That was 14-3 and a very familiar situation for Pakistan in this series. Shan Masood and Saud Shakeel showed some spirit, Shakeel especially batting impressively, while Masood resisted stoutly. When Masood and Mohammad Rizwan were both out in quick succession, Masood for 26 and Rizwan for 1, both LBW to Robinson, it was 115-5, effectively 6, and the question was whether a decidedly fragile tail could summon up sufficient resistance between them to enable Shakeel to reach three figures. Ali Usman’s official position of number eight looks too high for him, never mind the actual position of number seven that Imam-ul-Haq’s indisposition left him occupying. On this occasion he managed a score of 9, and helped the sixth wicket to put on 35. Mohammad Abbas, who had earlier bowled his way on the Lord’s honours board, now batted better than he usually manages. Abbas had seen Shakeel to the brink of the magic three figures, and it was the specialist batter who fell in the end, taking on a short ball from Tongue and aiming at a long boundary. He connected cleanly, but the required carry was too long for him and the ball sailed straight into the waiting hands of Harry Brook, ending his innings for a splendid 97. Saud Shakeel has a fine test record, but not many of his runs have been scored outside Asia, so this big score was especially important for him. There can be few test playing countries whose conditions would be more alien to a Pakistani who as yet has not been a county overseas player than England, and the shot that ended the innings was about the only black mark against him – and had it gone either side of Brook instead of directly to him he would have been on the honours board. Mohammad Ali and Mohammad Abbas added 18 together in a final act of resistance before the catch referred to in the introduction ended things. Oliver Edward Robinson with figures of 13-6-11-4 in the first innings and 14-5-24-4 in the second was named Player of the Match. Officially the match ended in the evening session of day four, but without some fairly major intervention by the weather it would have been over round about lunch on day three – there were 206 overs of actually playing time. Pakistan are usually noted for being inconsistent but in this series there has been no such inconsistency – they have consistently not been good enough. Scorecard here.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
A Speckled Wood butterfly obligingly taking its ease on a succulent green leaf in Kettlewell Lane Park.A gibbous moon standing out against the blackness of the night sky.The Nar Outfall at high tide this morning.Out with the old – this photograph makes it clear why replacement had become a matter of urgency……and in with the new – I found this rather more robust cafetiere in Boyes in central King’s Lynn this afternoon after drawing a blank at Morrison’s in the morning.
