A look back at the Men’s Hundred (mis)match between MI London and Sunrisers Leeds at The Oval yesterday and a large photo gallery.
The Hundred has undergone a major revamp since last summer, with the IPL getting involved in a big way. This post looks at the early stages of the competition.
NEW ERA OFF TO A FAMILIAR START
The first match of the Hundred in 2026 featured MI London (the former Oval Invincibles, and although the MI derives from the IPL franchise Mumbai Indians, who now own this franchise as well as many others we have been instructed that the required pronunciation is ‘My London’ not ‘M I London’) in action against Sunrisers Leeds (nee Northern Superchargers, also now owned by an IPL franchise, in this case Hyderabad). I missed the women’s match due to being at work, but I did listen to the men’s game.
Sunrisers Leeds, batting first, started brightly, and for more than half of their allotted 100 balls looked to be going very well. The key moment was the dismissal of Mitch ‘the bison’ Marsh for 41, caught by Sam Curran off Tom Curran, which made it 84-3 from 56 balls. That started a collapse, and Leeds were all out for 143 off the penultimate ball of their innings. Richard Gleeson had 4-25 from 19 balls and Sam Curran 2-27 from 15 balls.
Will Jacks and Jason Roy were both out cheaply for the London side, but a good stand between James Vince and Sam Curran took them past 50 before Vince was bowled for 17 to make it 51-3 from 44 balls. That brought Nicholas Pooran, one of the ultimate ‘guns for hire’ in this era of franchise cricket, to the crease to join Curran. Curran batted beautifully, but even he was overshadowed by the pyrotechnics of Pooran. The Oval is a big ground, but most of Pooran’s five sixes cleared the ropes by a very long way. In all the West Indian hammered 58 not out from 22 balls with five of each kind of boundary, Curran ended on 60 not out from 39 balls with five fours and three sixes. The London side had romped home by seven wickets with 16 balls to spare, a barely credible margin in a match in this format. Sam Curran’s all round efforts plus his captaincy of the London side secured him the ‘Match Hero’ award. Some names of changed and there is more money involved, but the franchise based at The Oval still looks formidably strong. Full scorecard here.
PHOTOGRAPHS
After a reminder to click on photos to view them at larger size we move to my usual sign off…
A hummingbird hawkmoth extracting nectar from a buddleia plant……and close up in all its glory.It rained lightly but persistently yesterday morning, and that brought the snails out in force.This red admiral has seen better days.goldfinches on a roof.This feather, which I saw lying near the Gaywood river at Kettlewell Lane Park originally belonged to a blue jay.Two bumblebees enjoying the same buddleia head.A painted lady rests on a patch of gravelA gatekeeper oblingly spreads its wings.
An account of how the first women’s test match to be staged at Lord’s panned out and a photo gallery.
Just after 12:30 UK time Sneh Rana bowled Sophie Ecclestone who had fought hard to complete her maiden international half century and England were all out for 186 in their second innings, giving India victory by 270 runs in a match they had dominated pretty much from start to finish. This post looks back at the developments in the later stages of the match.
THE INDIAN SECOND INNINGS
India led by 115 on first innings, and by the end of day two had extended that by a further 154 runs for the loss of Shafali Verma. Although Sophie Ecclestone toiled hard for England and was ultimately rewarded by becoming the first English woman to gain a place on the test match honours board at Lord’s India were always in control, and Yastika Bhatia became the first woman to get on the batting honours board at the ground when she reached her maiden international hundred. Later, when the only question was exactly when India would opt to declare Richa Ghosh racked up a rapid half-century. It was her getting to that landmark that heralded the declaration at 341-7, 456 ahead. This was over 200 more than any side had made in the fourth innings to win a women’s test match, and 38 more than the men’s all time record of 418. Ecclestone’s final figures deserve a mention: 33.3-4-118-5. Lauren Bell was highly economical, but Lauren Filer leaked runs at over five an over while going wicketless, and Issy Wong, also wicketless, was nearly as expensive.
TWO BADLY TIMED ANNOUNCEMENTS
This day saw two announcements that for my money should not have been made at such a time. I have some sympathy with Heather Knight’s snap decision to join Tammy Beaumont in international retirement, but the announcement of this decision was definitely mistimed. The other big announcement was inexcusably timed on the part of the ECB: they chose the penultimate day of this historic women’s test match to reveal that they had axed Brendon McCullum as coach of the men’s test side. This was an announcement that should definitely have been held back until after this match had been completed. We should have been hearing about this on Wednesday, no matter that it happened on Sunday.
THE REST OF DAY THREE
The England innings had a shocking start when Tammy Beaumont in her last international innings suffered the only golden duck of her great career, bowled by an absolute beauty from Kranti Gaud. The Indians gave Beaumont a guard of honour as she left the field for the last time in international cricket. That brought the other retiree, Knight, to the crease. It was the other opener, Maia Bouchier, who was next to go, pinned LBW by the other Indian new ball bowler Sayali Satghare for 2. Off spinner Sneh Rana clean bowled England skipper Sciver-Brunt for 11 to make it 23-3. Fourth out was Knight, caught by Ghosh off Gaud for 13. Alice Capsey and Amy Jones showed signs of fighting spirit until Satghare found a way through Capsey’s defences, bowling her for 21. That brought in Mady Villiers, whose off spin had certainly been less effective than Charlie Dean’s would have been. Villiers did bat decently, but just before the close a freak catch by Ghosh did for her. Villiers hit a ball from Rana fiercely, Ghosh, close in at mid off, grabbed at the ball as it was passing her and it stuck. That was 126-6, and by the end of day three Jones and Ecclestone had added another four runs to the score.
THE LAST RITES
The powers that be had got one thing right yesterday: they had announced that admission would be free today, which meant that decent numbers showed up for what could end up being very little cricket. That eventuality gained in probability when Amy Jones was caught by Verma off Rana for 54 to make it 135-7 very early on. Jones had scored two fifties in the match, the first keeper to do so in a women’s test match, and at the time she was out they were the only two fifties for England in the match. Wong, who had had a poor time with the ball in this match, showed some heart by holding out for 33 balls in support of Ecclestone until Deepti Sharma bowled her for 1. That was 157-8, and not very long later it was 159-9, with Lauren Bell bowled by Sharma for a ten ball duck. Lauren Filer was in serious jeopardy of losing her wicket three times in her first five balls, but settled in to support Ecclestone who was batting well. Ecclestone’s innings included that rarity, an all-run four. This meant that when she reached 50 off her 61st ball care was needed – although there were seven fours in her 50 runs only six of them were actually boundaries (veteran commentator Alison Mitchell, from whom mistakes are usually rarer than hens teeth, was caught out by this detail). Then came Sneh Rana’s match ending delivery, and it remained only to settle Player of the Match. There were three candidates: Gaud for her five cheap wickets that tore apart the first England innings plus the scalps of Beaumont and Knight early in the final innings to put England right on the back foot; Bhatia for that century and her wicket keeping, and Mandhana who had scored twin fifties opening the batting for India. It was Kranti Gaud, who, rightly in my opinion, got the verdict.
A look at developments in the first women’s test match ever to be played at Lord’s, a video and a photo gallery.
Yesterday morning a test match between the England and India women’s teams, at Lord’s, the first time a women’s test match has been played at that ground (a mere 89 years behind the other big London ground, The Oval, which staged the final match of the 1937 Women’s Ashes). With many ex-players present for the great occasion (from former world cup winner Alex Hartley, in her 30s and part of the commentary team as well to Enid Bakewell, some five decades older and still in full possession of her faculties) England won the toss and opted to bowl first. This post looks at developments so far in this match.
THE INDIAN INNINGS
For much of the day it looked as though India were headed for big score, but in the end they were held to 285. Sophie Ecclestone took the last three wickets in the space of six balls, in the process going past Katherine Sciver-Brunt to become England’s leading all format wicket taker. She is also the leading test wicket taker among current England bowlers, and sits third in the all time all format wicket takers list behind two Indians, the retired Jhulan Goswami and Deepti Sharma, also playing in this match (contributed a 50 to the Indian cause). Goswami’s record will be going in the not too distant future to one or other of these contemporary greats. Ecclestone is the younger of the pair, 27 years old to Deepti Sharma’s 28.
THE ENGLAND REPLY
By the end of day one England had lost veteran opener Tammy Beaumont, whose last international match this will be. They started very badly today, with overnight batters Bouchier and Knight departing quickly, and being followed in short order by Capsey. Amy Jones struck an aggressive 50 before being caught by Ghosh off Sneh Rana. Then Kranti Gaud, with three wickets already to her name already pinned England skipper Natalie Sciver-Brunt plumb in front. Because of the desperate situation the decision was sent upstairs, but it was definitively out – crashing into middle stump. That was 142-6. Ecclestone was eighth out caught behind off Sayali Satghare for 11. Shortly after that Gaud was recalled to the bowling crease, and became the first woman to claim a place on a test match honours board at Lord’s when a superb catch by Shafali Verma accounted for Lauren Bell. Her figures at that juncture were Gaud 15.2-6-33-5. Had she taken the tenth wicket of the innings and conceded 12 or fewer runs doing so she would have had the best innings figures by a woman in any international match at Lords, beating the 6-46 taken by Anya Shrubsole in the 2017 ODI world cup final. As it happened the final wicket, that of Lauren Filer, fell to Deepti Sharma, so Shrubsole’s record figures stand for now (when it comes to bowling figures in cricket the number of wickets is considered paramount, and it is only when considering hauls of the same number of wickets that the number of runs conceded becomes relevant). As it was Gaud, with final figures of 17-7-37-5 had been instrumental in securing her side a first innings lead of 115, which is likely to prove a match winning lead. Kranti Gaud is 22 years old, and as recently as 18 months ago she was not even on the Indian selectors’ radar. The other England v India match today, a men’s T20 at the Hampshire Bowl near, but crucially not actually in Southampton. got underway half an hour behind schedule due heavy traffic causing the Indian team to arrive late. That match is in its early stages, but not showing any great sign of ending the Indian men’s horror tour which has seen them reach this point with five defeats and a no-result to show for their endeavours.
PHOTOGRAPHS
We start with a short video of a small hedgehog which was in the grass at Kettlewell Lane Park this morning:
Now for the photos…
A demoiselle with a slender dark blue body and wings that are half translucent and half black sits right on top of a nettle plant.A robot in Morrison’s yesterday (two pics)The pontoon jetty being well used – eight boats, of which two are survey boats that are regularly there and one is the old cockling boat the Baden Powell, but five are bona fide visitors.This cormorant has secured itself a decent breakfast (it was about 9AM when I took this one).The gallery ends with the hedgehog (five pics)
A look at the Indian men’s cricket team’s visit to Ireland and England, the latter part of which i s still in progress, a link to a chronological listing of my ‘Arisaig 2026’ posts and a photo gallery that is basically a highlights package of the last month.
I completed my series about my Scottish holiday on Wednesday, and have today created a page which lists all the posts in that series in chronological order. I now move back to the present. The Indian men’s and women’s cricket teams are both in England at the moment, with the latter playing their first ever test match, at a venue (Lord’s) whose pavilion was barred to women within the lifetimes of some of the players. I will have much to say about that match in due course, but as today is day one I look instead at the doings of the men’s side who have been playing T20Is (20 overs per side international matches) in Ireland now England.
THE EMERALD ISLE
Ireland have a bit of a tradition of embarrassing theoretically more illustrious opposition, going back as far as 1969 when they caught a visiting West Indies side on a very green pitch and rolled them for 25. They have added India to their scalp bags. Their victory in the opener might have been put down as a fluke, or to India being unfamiliar with Irish conditions, but when they repeated the dose in the second and last match to win the series it looked like India had major problems.
IN ENGLAND SO FAR
From Ireland India travelled east to England for a five match series. India had put up a good total in the first match when rain intervened and washed the rest of the match out. Three more matches have been played since then, and England have bossed all three. The most recent took place yesterday evening, and showcased most of India’s problems, with one exception – until last night Shreyas Iyer, recently promoted to the captaincy had done little with the bat since taking the reins. Last night he batted beautifully, scoring an unbeaten 80 from 49 balls. The problem was that his team mates combined to score a mere 78-7 from the 71 balls he did not face in the innings, a truly abysmal rate of scoring for this format. That total of 158 did not look likely to pose a threat to a confident England side, and in the end it was made to look an almost comically bad one. Harry Brook led the rampage with 79 not out from just 35 balls, while Phil Salt was also in brutal form. In the previous match India had bowled first, seen England score 201 and responded to a stiff challenge by slumping to 76 all out and defeat by 125 runs. With the final match of the England leg of this tour to take place at 2:30PM tomorrow India’s record for the trip stands at five defeats and one washout – and although at the time of the washout I thought they had been favourites to win that match their subsequent efforts suggest that actually England would have chased that one down as well. I have an idea as to the root cause of India’s problems on this tour: the IPL happens in (generally) small grounds on incredibly flat tracks, where scores of 250 in 20 overs are not uncommon and bowlers are seen as merely providing the deliveries to be hit for yet another succession of sixes, while the pitches in Ireland and England although good for batting have not left the bowlers completely out of things. Indian T20 batters tend to struggle in anything other than conditions tailor made for them, while the bowlers have grown unused to being significant factors.
PHOTOGRAPHS
While I have been concentrating for blogging purposes on my Scottish holiday it has been a splendid time for photography, and the gallery I now present is a highlights package spanning most of the period from 7th June, my first day back from holiday, to the present (reminder that photos can be seen at full size by clicking on them)…
A damselfly with a slender mainly black body and blue ring round the tail segment.Some pictures (six) of a hummingbird hawkmoth among the lavender.Goldfinch pictures taken through my front window.Cinnabar moth (four pics)red admiralAll legs and antennae (two pics)A set of pictures taken at Cavies and Cake in Fakenham just before work one Thursday (I was there with WNAG)Pictures from the NSOs second ever relaxed concert at the Corn Exchange on the 21st of JuneCaterpillars (three pics)A painted lady A spectacular beetle on a nettle leaf.A green damselfly of some description.This insect with a ,long blue body and wings with black tips is a demoiselleCaterpillarA red admiral and a European peacock on the same buddleia head.This coin recently passed through my hands (it is in circulation, not a proof coin).A comma butterfly
A look back at three splendid cricket matches and a photo gallery.
Not only are both the women’s and men’s English domestic T20 tournaments now in full swing, there is also a T20I series going on between England and New Zealand women’s teams. This post, typed as I listed to Bears v Somerset in the men’s tournament looks back at three classic matches.
ENGLAND v NEW ZEALAND
This one did not start out as though it would develop into a classic – New Zealand were 5-3 in the second over and 11-4 in the fourth, batting first. Linsey Smith was the chief destroyer, claiming three victims with her crafty slow left arm swing (note she rarely if ever actually spins the ball, it is all about movement in the air for her). Then New Zealand were dug out of trouble by a fifth wicket stand of 159. Sophie Devine with 87 off 57 balls was the principal scorer. England were never quite on terms in the chase, and the issue was virtually settled by two errors in successive balls from Maia Bouchier. First she was guilty of ball watching, resulting in the run out of the vastly experienced Heather Knight, and then on the very next ball she suffered one of the softest dismissals you could ever see. That left England needing pretty much two a ball and with two brand new batters together at the crease, and New Zealand were in control from then on, winning eventually by 14 runs to level the series, with the next match to be played tomorrow.
THE SEVERN BRIDGE DERBY
Yesterday in the men’s T20 tournament Glamorgan entertained Gloucestershire. The match was an absolute nailbiter, going right down to the last ball, when Matt Taylor succeeded in getting a delivery from Fazalhaq Farooqi away for the four runs Gloucestershire still needed. This match was 158 plays 157, and was a far better spectacle than 260 plays 240 on a road could ever have been.
THE LONDON DERBY
At noon today Middlesex and Surrey assembled at Lord’s in the men’s T20 tournament. Yet again a low scoring match proved to be an absolute belter of a game. Middlesex batted first and managed 143-8 from their 20 overs, and that represented a decent recovery from a low water mark of 89-6. After 10.3 overs of the Surrey innings Middlesex looked in charge, with Lawrence having just gone to make it 56-4. That brought Laurie Evans in to join Surrey skipper Sam Curran. Curran assumed control of proceedings and played a magnificent knock, while Evans did all that was required of him. With three overs to go the pair were still together and the ask was down to 27. The 18th over effectively sealed the deal, with 24 accruing from it, including three sixes by Curran, the last of which took his score to 70. It took four more balls, three of them legal, for the job to be done, a wide and two singles accruing, with Curran appropriately scoring the winning run. In the end Curran and Evans did their jobs so well as to make it look like a very comfortable win for Surrey, but those who actually followed the game know different, and that the final margin of six wickets with nine balls to spare is a deceptive one.
A look at the events of Essex v Warwickshire in the Women’s T20 Cup, as I prepare to listen to Surrey v Lancashire in the men’s competition, and a photo gallery.
The English domestic T20 competitions get underway today. I shall shortly be listening to Surrey v Lancashire in the men’s T20 cup, but this post looks back at the game between Essex and Warwickshire in the women’s competition that happened earlier this afternoon.
A ONE WOMAN SHOW
Warwickshire found themselves batting first after the home side won the toss and opted to chase. When they were 80-1 approaching halfway things looked to be going well for them, but then Aussie import Georgia Redmayne was out to eh last ball of the 1oth over, to a return catch by Sophia Smale. Thereafter no one was able to stay with Abigail Freeborn, who batted excellently, for any length of time, and it took a big finish to boost Warwickshire to a final total of 164-8, of which Freeborn’s share was an unbeaten 86 from 56 balls, while Redmayne had scored 36 from 30.
ESSEX CRUISE HOME
Essex started the chase at a racing tempo, and even though they lost Grace Scrivens for 18, caught by Mary Taylor off Phoebe Brett that merely brought Cordelia Griffith in to join Alice Macleod, and the pair added 119 together in ten overs before both were out in successive deliveries, Macleod run out for 59 off 38 balls, and Griffith bowled by Millie Taylor (the two M Taylors are twin sisters just for the record) for 68 off 37 balls. The job was effectively done by then, and it took a mere four more deliveries for Joanne Gardner to finish the job, with Jodi Grewcock, miscast as an England opener in the recent ODI series against New Zealand, at the other end not actually getting to face a ball.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
Mother and child – a muntjac fawn stands right next to its mother in Kettlewell Lane Park.
A look at the latest round of county championship fixtures, now approaching a conclusion, and a large photo gallery.
Another round of county championship fixtures approaches a conclusion (indeed a number of matches have already ended), and this week marks a transition point – The T20 cup gets underway on Friday which will mean a break in the championship programme.
A WAKE UP CALL FOR SURREY
The first match I followed in this round saw the most successful of all cricketing counties, Yorkshire, taking on number two in that list Surrey. Surrey have been formidable in recent years, and in theory they have a very strong squad this year. However their results have been patchy, and this match was a horror show for them. They won the toss on the first morning, and that was about the last thing that went right for them. First they threw away the advantage winning the toss should have given them by opting bowl first in conditions that were not suitable for doing so, then a catch offered by Adam Lyth was dropped, which set the stage for a huge partnership between him and Jonathan Bairstow. Day two was heavily weather affected but Yorkshire racked up 486. It was day three (yesterday) that was the real killer for Surrey. It was only 56 from Sean Abbott, selected for his bowling, that even got them to 200, and with an advantage of 282 and just over a day and half to go Yorkshire did not hesitate to send Surrey in again. By the end of the day Surrey were 83-5 in their second innings, and any hope they might have of escape appeared to rest on the shoulders of Sibley (33 not out overnight). Just five runs had been added in the morning, and not a lot of time had elapsed when Sibley edged one from Aussie seamer Jhye Richardson into the slips and Harry Brook pouched the chance to make it 88-6. It was now a question of ‘when’, not ‘if’, with there being no one else left who could dig in for the long haul. At 90 Jack White pinned the other overnight batter Josh Blake plumb in front, and at 95 the same bowler ripped one through the defences of Jordan Clark. Sean Abbott and Matthew Fisher resisted a while, adding 25 together before Matthew Revis had Fisher caught by Root. That brought Dan Worrall, a member of the increasingly endangered species known as the ‘genuine tailender’ to the crease. The Aussie veteran, as per his usual custom, did not even bother to mark a guard. On this occasion he connected with a few lusty blows, amassing 18 before George Hill bowled him to give Yorkshire a win by an innings and 127 runs. Abbott was unbeaten on 33, giving him 89 for once out in the match, and the decidedly unusual record for a number nine of having top scored in one innings and second top scored in the other.
SOMERSET SET FOR SUCCESS
At Taunton Somerset are taking on Sussex. The weather is more likely to baulk the home side than their visitors, though it is holding good for the present. The two sides have just broken for tea with Sussex 111-7 in their second innings, after being made to follow on, a mere 162 runs short of avoiding the innings defeat (even in the most absurd of all ‘won after following-on’ matches, at Headingley in 1981, England were only the equivalent of minus 92-7 at their low water mark, when Graham Dilley joined Ian Botham at the crease). The Taunton floodlights have failed on two occasions in this match, though both times they have not been off for long. If Somerset win this, they will go second in the table, four points behind Nottinghamshire, who will soon be recording a draw against Hampshire. Somerset being behind Nottinghamshire will help to highlight the absurdity of awarding eight points for a draw – Somerst will gave won three matches, Nottinghamshire only two, but Nottinghamshire record will also include four draws, whereas Somerset have lost one match and drawn two to go with their three wins. While I have been preparing this for publication it has started raining in Taunton, so Somerset may yet be denied their win.
PHOTO GALLERY
Before sharing the gallery for this post, I have created a page containing links to all my ‘Pensthorpe 2026‘ posts. Now for my usual sign off…
A look at day one at Trent Bridge where Nottinghamshire and Surrey are playing and a large photo gallery.
Another round of County Championship matches got underway today. My focus is on Trent Bridge, where one of the oldest and strongest of all county rivalries is happening – Nottinghamshire v Surrey.
THE STORY SO FAR
Around the time the County Championship was put on a properly organized footing these two sides were the strongest in the country. The first properly organized championship happened in 1891, at which point Surrey were dominating things after Nottinghamshire had dominated the first half of the 1880s. This then is a rivalry with a lot of history. Last season Nottinghamshire won the title, after Surrey had won in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Surrey won the toss this morning and opted to bowl. They took two early wickets, before Joe Clarke and Ben Duckett had a good partnership, ended by the dismissal of Duckett on the stroke of lunch. The afternoon belonged to Nottinghamshire, with Clarke and Jack Haynes building a substantial partnership. Post tea Surrey have come back into things with Dan Worrall bowling superbly and Sean Abbott nabbing a couple of wickets, but Clarke has found another good partner in Fergus O’Neill, and with bad light having just ended play for the day this pair are still in occupation with the score now 317-7, Clarke 129 not out and O’Neill 31 not out, Worrall 5-61, Abbott 2-63.
Nottinghamshire have probably had the better of the day given that Surrey chose to bowl, but we are all set for a cracking contest just so long as the weather doesn’t behave too badly (it is fine here in Norfolk, which I hope will hold tomorrow since that is the day of the annual WNAG trip to Pensthorpe).
PHOTOGRAPHS
The first two pictures in this gallery are from the sale I am currently putting together at work, the rest my usual sort of stuff…
This is lot 155 in the auction I am currently working on, and the full gallery for it runs to six images, but I sharing just two, this full picture……and this close up of a 2d blue with a GWR perfin.
A look at the final stage of Surrey’s ruthless disposal of Sussex in the county championship and a photo gallery.
This post looks back at the last stages of the match between Surrey and Sussex in the county championship which ended on Monday evening.
THE VICTORY PUSH
Although Surrey lost their last three wickets quite quickly they had piled up a lead of 264 by the time the last one fell – 622 against 358-9 declared. First class debutant Adam Thomas scored 120 of those runs from number seven, and I suspect we will be seeing plenty more of him, and higher in the order. Sussex started their second innings with the most obvious requirement being to reach the close of day three with little damage done. The very first ball of the innings, from Matt Fisher, hit and injured Tom Haines, and Sussex limped to 76-4 by the end of the day. They fared a bit better on day four, but for much of it an innings defeat looked more likely than not. They eventually avoided that, but were only able to establish a lead of 13, one run less than the lowest total Surrey have ever been dismissed for (against Essex in 1983, Neil Foster and Norbert Philip doing the damage with the ball). Surrey did lose two wickets while scoring these runs, making the final margin eight wickets, which decidedly flattered Sussex.
A look at developments in Surrey v Sussex, where the home side have taken a firm grip on proceedings, and a photo gallery.
The current round of Championship fixtures is now deep in to day three of a scheduled four. I have been following Surrey v Sussex.
WEATHER INTERVENES
Play ended early yesterday due to bad light and rain, with Surrey having reached 292-2 in reply to Sussex’s 358-9 declared. Due to yesterday’s interruption extra overs were scheduled for today. Today has been dominated by two players at opposite ends of the spectrum. The veteran Dom Sibley, as so often a near immovable object at the top of the Surrey order, was finally sixth out after 518 minutes and 377 balls, for 187. Surrey at that point had 446 on the board, an advantage of 88. Jordan Clark managed a mere 5, which made it 461-7. That brought Sean Abbott in to join first class debutant Adam Thomas. The pair are still in residence as I write, and have boosted the Surrey score to 600-7, with Thomas topping three figures on his first class debut, and Abbott, better with the bat than most number nines, well past the 50 mark. I suspect that if Sussex do not capture the last three wickets (and there is little sign of them being capable of doing so) Surrey will declare at some point at this evening to have a shot at Sussex tonight. In an otherwise sorry looking list of Sussex bowling figures one name stands out: Jack Carson, already with a ton to his name, has figures of 34-4-128-4, which is very respectable in such a massive score. Henry Crocombe has had occasional moments of looking threatening, but has a modest 27-4-89-1. Tea is now being taken with Surrey 615-7, a lead of 257 so far. I would expect Surrey to bat on a bit after tea before declaring (a new ball, due in another four overs, does not seem quite so threatening when it will be the third such of the innings).
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
The three runners raising money for WNAG in this year’s GEAR (right foreground), with the crowds of other runners plus three big buildings, Fraser Dawbarns, The Corn Exchange and Bishop’s Lynn House providing the back drop.A large beetle with a red-brown body, black legs and antennae rests on a green leaf in Kettlewell Lane Park (two pics).
aspiblog 