Category: Cricket

Game on in Hyderabad

A look at the action in the first three days of the test match between India and England in Hyderabad and a photo gallery.

India and England are currently locked in battle at Hyderabad, and after three days of play there is just a chance of decent finish. This post looks at the action so far.

PRELIMINARIES

There were huge question marks over England’s selections. James Anderson was overlooked and three front line spinners were named – Rehan Ahmed, Jack Leach and Tom Hartley. Ahmed is 19 years old and hugely promising, Leach is England’s best current front line spinner (alas, not the highest of bars), while Hartley was quite frankly a joke of a selection – Lancashire’s decision to sign Nathan Lyon as overseas player for the upcoming season tells you what they think of him as a red ball cricketer. With Brook having withdrawn from the series for personal reasons even England could find no excuse for not playing Ben Foakes, so at least the gauntlets were in good hands.

DAY ONE

England won the toss and batted. 70 from Ben Stokes got them to 246, which didn’t look too bad. However India got off to an absolute flier in reply, helped by Tom Hartley bowling some utter rubbish – he was at that point going at seven an over on a turner. Only the experienced Leach, with 1-24 from nine overs was anywhere near test standard with the ball, and India were 119-1 overnight.

DAY TWO

India moved into seemingly complete control, even though their batting was far from flawless – virtually every wicket they lost was down to bat batting rather than good bowling, three players reached 80, and two of those three got themselves out in the 80s, while the third, Jadeja, was unbeaten at the close. The day ended with Axar Patel scoring 14 off the last three balls, bowled by Hartley, who in spite of being donated two test wickets never looked remotely like the real deal. India were 421-7 and ahead by 175.

DAY THREE

I missed the first session due to not understanding the workings of my phone’s alarm system – it has different settings for week days and weekends. England took the last three Indian wickets quickly, restricting the deficit to 190. The most damning stat of the innings for England was that with three front line spinners selected Joe Root, very much a batter who bowls, had taken 4-79`. By lunch England were 89-1, with Crawley gone, but Duckett and Pope, who had been very jumpy in the first innings, both going well.

The afternoon session belonged to India, with four wickets going down, but Foakes staunched the flow of wickets and settled into a partnership with Pope. In the evening session Pope and Foakes continued to prosper, their partnership reaching 112, before a freak delivery from Axar Patel, which shot along the deck, accounted for Foakes. Pope had by then completed a century, and Rehan Ahmed proved to be a good partner as well. By the close England were 316-6, with Pope 148* and looking every inch a test match number three. England thus lead by 126. Given the paucity of their bowling, even with the pitch showing signs of genuine mischief they probably need to double their current advantage to really worry India, but the situation is not completely hopeless, as it seemed to be at the end of day two.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

An Aspiblog All Time XI

A bit of fun on the all time XI theme, a look back at a James and Sons auction, and a photo gallery.

The first test match of a five match series between India and England is two days old as I type this post, but I am holding fire on that for the moment. This all time XI is picked with a view to being an entertaining watch. I have restricted it to players who played before I started following cricket, and save for allowing myself one overseas player I have concentrated on English cricketers. After I have paraded the XI there will be a section about some of the players who missed out, though I will limit myself, otherwise that section could be very long indeed.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Frank Woolley (left handed batter, left arm orthodox spinner). An attacking batter, an excellent spinner and the only non-wicket keeper ever to take 1,000 first class catches.
  2. *WG Grace (right handed batter, right arm bowler of various types through his career, captain). Cricket’s first superstar.
  3. Wally Hammond (right handed batter, right arm medium fast bowler). Over 50,000 first class runs, including 167 centuries, in spite of missing eight complete seasons in the course of his career – one to bureaucratic malice on the part of Lord Harris, one to illness and six to WWII. Considered by Bradman to possess the best of all cover drives.
  4. Denis Compton (right handed batter, occasional left arm wrist spin bowler). A great cricketer and an even greater entertainer.
  5. Garry Sobers (left handed batter, left arm bowler of every type known to cricket). No cricketer before or since has mastered so great a range of skills as my chosen overseas player.
  6. +Les Ames (wicket keeper, right handed batter). Twice winner of the Lawrence trophy for the fastest first class hundred of the season, scorer of over 100 FC hundreds, maker of a record 418 first class stumpings in his career. The “wicket keeper’s double” of 1,000 runs and 100 dismissals in first class matches in an English season was only achieved four times before the reduction of first class fixtures in 1969 made it impossible, and three of those were by Ames (John Murray of Middlesex was the other to do it).
  7. Percy Fender (right handed batter, leg spinner, vice-captain). I have remarked before on his suitability for batting at seven in a strong line up and his tactical acumen.
  8. Jim Laker (off spinner, right handed batter). In 1956 he absolutely destroyed the visiting Australians, and it wasn’t all about the pitches helping him – when Australia played Surrey before the test series had started they batted first, and Laker, on a good pitch and having not slept the previous night due to his children being sick had figures of 46-18-88-10 in the first innings.
  9. George Simpson-Hayward (under-arm off spinner, right handed batter). The last specialist under arm bowler to play at the highest level, and his five test matches yielded him 23 wickets. Someone prepared to buck the trends as spectacularly as he did must have been worth watching,
  10. Syd Barnes (right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). My pick for the greatest bowler of them all – 189 wickets in just 27 test matches, at 16.43 a piece.
  11. Tom Richardson (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). Only 14 test matches, which yielded him 88 wickets. His first class record was outstanding – he took his 1,000th first class wicket in his 134th first class match, and his 2,000th in his 327th match, both these figures being records.

This side has a powerful batting line up, and a spectacular bowling line up, with massive variety on show – Barnes, Richardson, Sobers in his quicker guises and Hammond to bowl pace/ seam, and Laker, Simpson-Hayward, Fender, Woolley, Sobers in his slower guises, and Compton to bowl spin plus of course the wild card of WG Grace.

MISSING OUT

The number seven slot was a two-way choice, and I opted for Fender who bowled spin over Jessop who bowled pace. I considered the presence of Woolley and Sobers to obviate the need for a specialist left arm spinner. There would have been a number of possibilities, Rhodes, Blythe, Verity and Wardle being just four of those I might have chosen. Digby Jephson who bowled fast underarm just a few years before Simpson-Hayward’s prime and was enough of a bat to be considered an all rounder was a possibility there, but Simpson-Hayward got the nod for two reasons: he played test cricket and Jephson did not, and also in view of the current state of England’s spin bowling, and some of the comments flying around that imply that England have never had great spinners I wanted to place extra emphasis on spin. I regretted not being able to accommodate either Harold Larwood or Frank Tyson, but I had only 11 spaces to fill. I also didn’t include a specialist left arm quick bowler, relying on Sobers for that. Had I done so William Mycroft would have got the nod.

AN AUCTION

James and Sons had an auction earlier this week, which did reasonably well, especially given that it was basically an appetizer for next week’s auction of sporting memorabilia. There were a few items of interest to me. Lot 68 was a pair of bookmarks, which went my way cheaply.

No prizes for guessing which bookmark I actually wanted!

Lots 141 and 142 would have been of interest to me but were beyond my purchasing power.

I did get lot 269.

The Metropolitan Railway was the original Underground railway from which London Underground developed.
The Metropolitan District Railway opened five years later, and the two companies between them completed the Inner Circle, now The Circle Line.
This did not really belong with the other items in the lot, but I have same Argentine railway stamps in my collection.

Lot 329 also went to me…

I ignored lot 399…

I had produced a very extensive image gallery for lot 400, made more so by fielding a query on that lot. However, in the end my opportunistic bid was the only one on the lot.

Lots 402 was also railway related but discipline had to prevail.

Lot 602, a model of a locomotive sculpted from coal proved, as I expected to be the case, to be beyond my price range.

I end this section with a lot that attracted a fierce bidding war (in which I had no part, other than creating the images that generated it), and ended up fetching £150, having been expected to do no more than 20-30, number 197.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Harbingers of spring, and it is only late Janaury.

Woeful Webster

A look at the BBL match between Melbourne Stars and Hobart Hurricanes, with particular focus on one of the worst major T20 innings ever played by anyone, an effort from Beau Webster than unquestionably cost his side the match. Also a photo gallery.

While listening to commentary from the Australian Open tennis this morning I had a cricinfo tab open to enable myself to keep an eye on goings on in the BBL match between Melbourne Stars and Hobart Hurricanes to decide fifth and six spots in the table.

THE HURRICANES INNINGS

Ben McDermott and Matthew Wade led the way for the Hurricanes after Melbourne Stars put them in to bat. A late flurry from Nathan Ellis, 16 off five balls including two sixes gave Hurricanes 187 to defend, a good but not invincible total.

THE STARS RESPONSE

Glenn Maxwell (32 off 18), Marcus Stoinis (48 off 32) and Hilton Cartwright (14* off eight) all batted well for the Stars, yet in spite of these three doing what is required when chasing a big target Stars never at any stage of the chase looked like favourites. The reason for this was the innings played by Beau Webster. Even with a six off the last ball of the match, by when it was already lost, Webster only boosted his score to 55* off 43 balls. For the majority of his innings his SR was actually less than 100. The result of this piece of stat padding by Mr Webster was that although only four Stars wickets fell in the course of their 20 overs they were beaten by seven runs, to end up sixth in the table. Nathan Ellis, whose late cameo had given the Hurricanes total what proved to be a vital boost, was also the pick of the bowlers, taking 2-29 from his four overs, and was deservedly named Player of the Match. Webster meanwhile has to be regarded as the antithesis of the Player of the Match – his innings cost his side the match. A full scorecard of the match can be viewed here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Dog in the Manger at the Melbourne Derby

A look back at the Melbourne derby in the Big Bash League, and a bumper crop of photos.

This morning UK time saw the Melbourne Derby in the Big Bash League. The Renegades were already eliminated from the tournament, while Stars knew that if they won both their remaining matches they would progress to the final. It was also Aaron Finch’s final game as a professional cricketer, since that worthy had decided that a Melbourne derby was a fitter stage for his last bow than an entirely meaningless game in Sydney, which is where Renegades’ campaign will finish.

THE STARS INNINGS

Stars never really got going at any stage, with only Glenn Maxwell, 20 off 10 balls, ever looking truly in command. Beau Webster took 34 balls to score 29, which is never acceptable in a T20, Hilton Cartwright was less unimpressive, but 38 off 30 is no great shakes in T20. Opening batter Thomas Rogers managed 23 off 17. Kane Richardson (right arm fast) managed 2-17, Akeal Hosein (left arm orthodox spin) 2-18. Stars had managed 137-8, which looked inadequate.

THE RENEGADES RESPONSE

Aaron Finch ended a long and distinguished professional career with a highlu unimpressive duck, but Shaun Marsh, another oldster, and Jake Fraser-McGurk had an excellent stand for the second wicket. They were still together at the halfway stage, and had moved their side into control. They took the Power Surge for overs 11 and 12, the earliest point at which it can be taken, with a view to killing the game there and then. Those two overs yielded 19 runs but also three wickets, those of Fraser-McGurk, Jordan Cox and Will Sutherland. However, they were well ahead of the required rate, and after Sutherland was out the experienced Jonathan Wells joined Shaun Marsh, and these two veterans never looked in any hint of trouble, as Renegades coasted home with six wickets and 2.4 overs to spare. This means that Stars are no longer in control of their own destiny – if Adelaide Strikers win their final group match they will qualify and Stars will be eliminated.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off. Today was by January standards quite pleasant – dry, and the odd hint of sun poking through, and yielded a bumper crop of photos, including a grey heron, a large group of lapwings, cormorants in two very different locations, starlings, blackbirds and five squirrels (they were close enough together that there are two pictures featuring all five)…

A cormorant on the far side of the Great Ouse
The heron
Cormorants on the structure I call “Cormorant Platform”
Lapwings
closer views of lapwings
The squirrels
A cormorant swimming in the Gaywood river.

The Sandpaper Derby

An account of today’s clash between the Sydney Sixers and the Sydney Thunder, “The Sandpaper Derby” ads I have dubbed it because of some of the personnel involved. Also a photo gallery.

Today’s Big Bash League match was between the two Sydney sides, the Sixers and the Thunder. I have dubbed it the sandpaper derby because Steve Smith was playing for the Sixers and David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were both in the Stars XI. A win would ensure Sixers a place in the knockout stages and definitively end the Stars hopes, while a win for the Stars would have created a logjam in the middle of the table.

THE SIXERS INNINGS

It was recently confirmed that Steve Smith would be moving up to open the batting for Australia in test matches following the retirement of David Warner. Unfortunately for those looking for omens, Smith was out to the very first ball of this match and Sixers were 0-1 after one ball. They fought back from that early blow, and at 88-3 after 12 overs were looking reasonably placed. However they not only failed to take the Power Surge at that point, they also failed to do so an over later when they were still only three down. Then in the next over Josh Philippe was out, and the opportunity to take the Power Surge with two set batters together had been squandered. Sixers then completed a display of poor decision making by taking the Power Surge at an obviously bad time. It was only a late flourish that got them to the semi-respectability of 151-7 from their 20 overs.

THE THUNDER RESPONSE

Thunder set off like a train in pursuit of this seemingly moderate total, and were 44-0 at the end of their four over initial Power Play, 17 runs and one wicket better than Sixers at the same stage. However, veteran left arm spinner Steve O’Keefe bowled the fifth over, and he produced one that scooted through low to bowl Alex Hales for a fluent 28. Four balls later Bancroft, the Thunder number three, was on his way back, and five overs into the reply Thunder were 46-2. Warner and Kohler-Cadmore stopped the haemorrhage of wickets, but neither batted with any fluency, and in the tenth over Kohler-Cadmore holed out to Moises Henriques off the bowling of Hayden Kerr to make it 63-3, Kohler-Cadmore’s share 6 off 12 balls. The new batter was Oliver Davies, and he also failed even to strike at a run a ball, making 15 (18) before he was caught by Jack Edwards of Sean Abbott to make it 87-4. Daniel Sams, in at number six, proceeded to edge one from Ben Dwarshuis and it was 88-5 in the 15th. Two runs later Chris Green fell to a catch by Vince off Edwards to make it 90-6. With one ball of the 17th over remaining Warner became O’Keefe’s third victim, ending one of the worst T20 innings ever played, considering the circumstances and Warner’s vast experience (this was his 357th T20 match as a professional), 37 off 39 balls, with two sixes and a four early on, so that ex-boundaries he managed a measly 21 off 36. That was 101-7, and Thunder were pretty much done for. A late flurry from number 10 Liam Hatcher (20 off 10 with the game well and truly lost, a knock which should have had some of his supposed betters squirming with embarrassment) got Thunder to 132 when they were all out with one ball left of their allocation, defeat by 19 runs. O’Keefe, whose wickets of Hales and Bancroft started the turning of the tide, and who also accounted for Warner, and finished with 4-0-13-3, was deservedly named Player of the Match. Full scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Brisbane Heat Guaranteed to Top the Big Bash League

A look at how Brisbane Heat secured top spot in the Big Bash League earlier today and a large photo gallery.

Today’s Big Bash League Match saw Brisbane Heat take on Perth Scorchers. Heat came into the game knowing that a win would guarantee them a first place finish, while Scorchers knew that a win would ensure them qualification. I missed the Heat innings due to a morning commitment in town, but I listened to the Scorchers chase after I got back.

SCORCHERS PULL UP SHORT

At the halfway stage of the chase Scorchers were 80-3 chasing Heat’s total of 191, some way behind the required rate, but with Laurie Evans just starting his innings. Two overs later they were 103-3 and looking much better placed. It was at this point that they took their Power Surge, which was always likely to have a major impact on the outcome. I believe they were right to do so, with two batters both going well at the crease together. However, having picked a good moment to take the Power Surge you then have to make good use of it, and Scorchers did not. Spencer Johnson bowled the first over, and his six legal deliveries were good, but he also bowled three wides along the way, and was probably fortunate that a couple of others weren’t called. The second Power Surge over was better for Scorchers, and with six overs to go they were 122-4, needing 70 to win. Evans played a fine knock, reaching a half century off 28 balls, but no one else did enough (Ashton Agar who came in at number seven was especially culpable, scoring slowly and almost being run out when arguing with Evans over the merits of taking a single early in an over). Evans won the argument, and fortunately for Agar the bowler, Spencer Johnson, foozled the run out attempt. The next two balls after the spurned single saw Evans hit a four and then score three off the next, illustrating why he had not wanted to give up the strike so early in the over. Scorchers fell further and further behind, and by the time the 20th over came round they needed 30 from it to win with two tailenders together. The final margin was 23 runs, and Michael Neser secured Player of the Match, having placed a vital innings with the bat, fielded superbly and claimed two wickets with the ball.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

My main errand this morning was being at a cheque presentation in this building, in my capacity as WNAG Secretary.

Brisbane Heat v Hobart Hurricanes

An account of a thrilling BBL encounter between Brisbane Heat and Hobart Hurricanes, plus a photo gallery.

At 8:15 this morning UK time the Big Bash League encounter between Brisbane Heat and Hobart Hurricanes got underway. This post looks back at the match.

THE BRISBANE HEAT INNINGS

Hobart Hurricanes won the bat flip and put Brisbane Heat into bat. Josh Brown and Colin Munro opened the batting for Heat, while Riley Meredith took the new ball for Hobart Hurricanes. A very fine over was marred by the last delivery, which was hit for four to make Heat 6-0. Corey Anderson bowled the second over, and it was a poor one – he bowled two wides, and conceded nine runs in total, four of them off the eighth delivery, necessitated by the bowling of the wides. Nathan Ellis, the Hurricanes captain, and veteran medium pacer Chris Jordan bowled the fourth over of the opening Power Play. Both bowled well, especially Jordan, and Heat were 22-0 after four overs. The fifth over, bowled by left arm wrist spinner Patrick Dooley, should have produced the first wicket but Tim David dropped an absolute sitter. Hurricanes continued to ring the changes, with the sixth over being bowled by a sixth different bowler, Nikhil Chaudhary. This over yielded eight runs including a four, but also a wicket of the sixth ball, Josh Brown, caught by Macallister Wright to make it 35-1. The seventh over finally saw someone bowl a second over, Riley Meredith. This over yielded a mere four runs and Heat were 39-1. Chaudhary bowled the eighth over, and it seemed to have ignited the Heat innings, Munro taking 20 from it, including two sixes and a four, 59-1. Dooley bowled the ninth over, and after five excellent deliveries he conceded a four off the last ball of it to make it 67-1. Ellis bowled the tenth over, conceding seven runs, but also trapping Heat’s number three, McSweeney, LBW. Heat were 74-2 at the halfway stage of their innings. Heat messed up the second half of their innings. They were overcautious about the Power Surge, and lost Munro for a well made half century before they got round to taking it. They then panicked and took it with two new batters together at the crease and made an utter hash of it, scoring 8-1 from those two overs. That left them at 112-5 from 17 overs. The last three overs were bowled by Jordan, Ellis, and then Jordan, and although Paul Walter made a brave effort to increase the total the two experienced bowlers restricted the damage from this last three overs to 20 runs, while two wickets fell. Ellis had 2-23 from his four overs, Jordan 3-19 from his four, and the most economical of all had been Meredith, conceding just 15 from his four.

THE HOBART HURRICANES INNINGS

With such a poor total to defend Heat needed early wickets to have any chance of success, and they got them, Michael Neser claiming one in the first over, and then Xavier Bartlett striking three times in quick succession to account for Wright, Sam Hain and Anderson. Hurricanes ended their four overs of Power Play reeling at 25-4. After 4.4 overs, two balls short of constituting a match, rain came down and the players left the field. The interruption was not a massive one, but enough to reduce the length of the Hurricanes innings to 16 overs, their target to 118 and their Power Surge from two overs to one. Hurricanes fought hard, with Chaudhary and David batting well. They like Heat were guilty of overcaution about the Power Surge, but fortune favoured them, and Chaudhary and David were still together when they finally took it. They may have mistimed taking it, but once they did take it they made decent use of their Power Surge, taking 12 runs off it. This left them needing 20 off the last two overs. In the next over David was dismissed, but Chaudhary did manage to get on strike for the start of the final over, with 13 needed to win. Paul Walter, the tall left arm medium pacer from Essex, bowled this over. Chaudhary hit the first ball for six to bring up a fine fifty, and when he added two more off the second ball the target was down to five off four balls. However, just when it seemed like he was set to be the matchwinner for his side Chaudhary then edged the next delivery through to Billings, and it was five needed off three balls with only tailenders left. Singles came off the next two deliveries, and Hurricanes needed three off one ball to win. They managed only one, with Dooley being run out going for a second. This meant that Heat had hung on to win by one run on the DLS method. Xavier Bartlett, whose three early wickets had given Heat the chance to defend a very modest total, was named Player of the Match, quite correctly in my view. Full scorecard here.

BRIEF FURTHER THOUGHTS

Neither side distinguished themselves when it came to the use of the Power Surge – Heat had two got opportunities to take it with Munro at the crease and going well and neglected both, allowing the perfect to be the enemy of the good, and ending up having to use those overs without Munro to exploit them, while Hurricanes left it at least one, possibly two overs longer than they should to claim theirs, and were rather fortunate after delaying like that to still have both Chaudhary and David at the crease to use it. Hurricanes dropped two easy chances in the field, and Chaudhary panicked just when it seemed that he was winning them the match. Heat finding a way to defend such a low total illustrated why they are ensconced at the top of the table.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Stars v Sixers

An account of today’s BBL match between Melbourne Stars and Sydney Sixers. Also a photo gallery.

This morning UK time Melbourne Stars hosted Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League. This post looks back at the match.

THE STARS INNINGS

Glenn Maxwell scored 31 off 14 balls, but no one else in the Stars line up came close to firing on all cylinders. Off spinner Todd Murphy bowled superbly and was rewarded with 2-15 from his four overs. Sean Abbott, the leading wicket taker in BBL history, would have been extremely disappointed to record 4-0-36-0 in a moderate opposition total. Stars finished with 156-4, the kind of total no team should ever record in a T20 innings – to bat through the whole 20 overs losing only four wickets and finish with a run rate of under eight an over is unacceptable, and I fully expected this total not to pose any great threat. Cricinfo’s ‘Win Predictor’ tool was slightly less scathing in its assessment than me, giving Sixers an initial 61% chance of a successful chase to Stars 39% chance of a successful defence.

THE SIXERS REPLY

Sixers started fairly slowly, but safely. The loss of Philippe to the penultimate ball of the opening Power Play made it 29-1, at which point Daniel Hughes joined James Vince. By the halfway point this pair were still together, though the required run rate had climbed to 8.90 per over. The 11th and 12th overs started to swing things firmly in Sixers favour, and then, with Vince and Hughes still together they took their Power Surge, very well timed in my estimation. Of course taking those two overs of Power Surge at a sensible time is only half the equation – you then still have to make full use of them. Sixers did exactly that, scoring 29-0 from the two overs in question, to be 122-1 after 14 overs. This meant that the RRR was below six an over, with the CRR up at 8.71, and barring a spectacular crash of wickets the game was as good as done – Sixers might conceivably have lost it from there, but Stars could not win it without the assistance of their opponents. In the event Sixers were icy cool, and by the time Vince was out for a superb 79 the target was down to 18 off 3.4 overs with seven wickets left. There were still seven wickets standing when Jordan Silk calmly turned the first ball of the 19th over into the leg side for the winning runs. A single would have been enough as scores were level by then, but the ball actually ran away for four. The only stage at which Sixers looked like they were other than in total control of the situation was when Maxwell was going well early in the Stars innings – even when they were significantly behind the required rate at the halfway stage of their innings they had nine wickets standing. The timing and use of the Power Surge were exemplary, realizing that they were superbly placed to take it at the end of the 12th over and not delaying in the hope of being even better placed later. Wickets can be lost in the Power Surge, but I have also seen wickets fall when a team delays the Power Surge and I would always prefer a team to be overbold about taking it than overcautious. Sixers are now very well placed to qualify for the KO stages, while Stars are very unlikely to do so – they would need to win all their remaining games and have a few other results go their way into the bargain. One other small point: in spite of the fact that most of the problems in both innings were caused by slower bowlers Stars opted to give Jonathan Merlo (right arm medium fast) his first over in this season’s competition, which worked out horrendously, costing 13 runs. Since Merlo was officially scheduled to bat at number nine, the fact that he hardly bowls, which today’s effort made only too easy to understand, this raised the question of just what he was doing in the XI.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Pakistan Well Placed in Sydney

A brief look at the opening day between Australia and Pakistan and a briefer mention of the extraordinary events at Newlands between South Africa and India.

The second test match of the series between Australia and Pakistan got underway at Sydney overnight UK time. This post looks at the opening day’s play.

PAKISTAN START POORLY

Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat first. By lunch time it was looking poor for them at 75-4. At 95-5 it looked even worse, but then came a fightback. Mohammad Rizwan (88) and Agha Salman (53) began the rescue act, but at 227-9 it still looked like Australia’s day. Pat Cummins had achieved his third straight five-for by then. However Mir Hamza, the Pakistan number 11, offered solid resistance, while Aamer Jamal played a magnificent innings. Jamal was eventually caught by Starc off Lyon for 82, having raised the Pakistan score to 313. There was time for one over of Australia’s first innings, which they ended on 6-0. This match looks like being a good one.

WICKETS CRASH AT NEWLANDS

I was only able to follow this one by way of cricinfo and various people’s twitter comments, but I must make mention of an extraordinary opening day between South Africa and India in Cape Town. South Africa won the toss and batted first, crashing to 55 all out, Mohammad Siraj 6-15. India were 153-4 in response at one point but lost their last six wickets without addition! South Africa lost three second innings wickets before the close, including a unique double of Elgar being out twice on the first day of his last test match and Stubbs being out twice on day one of his test debut. Stubbs is not the first to have been out twice on day one of his debut – aeons ago Harry Butt of England suffered the same fate.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

95 Days To The Start of The County Championship

Noting that the county championship is only 95 days away, by featuring Tom Soar’s career best. Also the first photo gallery of the new year.

Welcome to a new year. I have decided to make the main body of my first post of 2024 fit with the start of a new county championship season being 95 days away. I then have a photo gallery to share – today has been largely bright and sunny and I have been out and about.

TOM SOAR’S CAREER BEST

Tom Soar is not an illustrious name in the history of cricket, and fast bowling was his main occupation (323 FC wickets at 23.82 with a best of 8-38). His highest score with the bat was 95, and it came in a truly remarkable match.

Somerset had batted first and posted a total of 315, Ernie Robson top scoring with 74. Hampshire began poorly in reply and it would have been even worse for them had Somerset keeper Wickham pulled off a stumping chance against Major Robert Poore. Poore survived, which would have felt ominous to Somerset, given that at Portsmouth earlier that season he had already smashed them for two centuries in the match. Hampshire were 62-4 when Soar joined Poore. The pair put on 196 together before Soar was out for 95. Poore was now joined by another army officer, Captain Teddy Wynyard, and just over four hours this pair proceeded to hammer 411 runs, before Wynyard fell for 225. Poore was out a few balls, for precisely 300 runs more than he had scored at the time Wickham missed that stumping. Hampshire declared at 672-7, an advantage of 357. A dispirited Somerset could only manage 206 at the second time of asking and lost by an innings and 151 runs.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

A gathering of gulls.
Moorhen
White duck
Swans
Blue tit.
I think this was a skein of geese, going by the shapes of the birds.
Blackbird
My first starling of 2024
Jackdaws
Sparrows