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Melbourne Stars Great Escape

An account of the final group fixture of the 14th edition of the Big Bash League, Melbourne Stars v Hobart Hurricanes. Also a large photo gallery.

When Melbourne Stars began the 14th edition of the Big Bash League with five straight losses no one would have imagined that it would be them who went into the final match of the group stage with something to play for, while their opposition, Hobart Hurricanes had already secured first place in the group irrespective of the result. However that was the situation. Having won four successive games to get back in the hunt the Stars came into today’s match knowing that a win would qualify them for the knockouts. This post looks back at the match.

THE STARS INNINGS

Hobart Hurricanes won the bat flip, and as seems to be an inflexible rule for BBL sides, they chose to bowl first. The fact that the game was a ‘dead rubber’ for them was reflected in their playing XI, which was decidedly on the weak side. The team occupying fourth going into this match, Perth Scorchers, may well have looked askance at the Hurricanes chosen XI. The four over opening Power Play offered little sign of either side dominating – Stars were 30-1 after four overs. The Stars went slower after the Power Play, and after 8.4 overs the score was 58-2. Two successive fours ended that ninth over, and a further nine runs came off the tenth, bringing Stars to the halfway stage of their innings at 75-2. Marcus Stoinis departed to the fourth ball of the 11th over, making it 81-3. Stoinis had scored 32 off 19 balls. It was here that the game started to change. Just seven balls after Stoinis was out a six from Glenn Maxwell brought up the Stars 100. At the end of the 13th over Stars were 118-3, and they activated the Power Surge. It was not actually a very impressive two overs, yielding 18-0 in total. With five overs to go in their innings Stars were 136-3. Beau Webster, who at one point had been 8* (13) hit two fours and a six to start the 16th over, reaching a 30 ball half century with that six. He was out immediately after completing the half century. Glenn Maxwell now took centre change, helped by Hilton Cartwright. The 17th over saw 23 runs added to the total. The 18th over, bowled by veteran Chris Jordan, was better, and also featured the run out of Cartwright. The 19th over was bowled by Cameron Gannon, a 35 year old former USA international. He had fared pretty well until this over, and with four balls left of his spell he had 0-26. By the time he had bowled the last of those four balls his figures were 0-48! Maxwell, now absolutely running riot, had hit him for 4,6,6,6 to end the 19th over. That meant that with an over to go Stars were 205-5. It fell to Jordan to bowl the final over. In the circumstances conceding a further 14 wasn’t too bad , and his figures of 3-0-30-0 in a score of 219-5 also look respectable. However, he was clearly not fully fit, and he effectively functioned as a spinner bowling off a long run up – all 18 of his deliveries were ‘pace off’.

THE HURRICANES REPLY

Mitchell Owen started like a runaway train, but none of his team mates were similarly inspired. The third ball of the second over saw Caleb Jewell caught by Stoinis off Steketee to make it 22-1, and two balls later new batter Charlie Wakim was caught by Cartwright for a two ball duck and it was 22-2. Peter Siddle bowled the third over of the innings, and yielded 21 runs. However Steketee, bowling the fourth over, pinned McDermott LBW to make it 45-3. The second ball of the sixth over saw Owen caught by Maxwell for 38 (17) to make it 54-4. Nikhil Chaudhary and Matthew Wade batted well together, but one ball before the end of the tenth over, and thus one ball before the earliest point at which the Power Surge could be activated Wade fell to a catch by Cartwright to make it 92-5, Stoinis the beneficiary. The Hurricanes did not take the Power Surge at the first opportunity. Chaudhary started the 11th over, bowled by Pakistani leg spinner Usama Mir by hitting the first two balls for fours to bring up the 100 for his side, but he was then out caught and bowled off the next ball and it was 100-6. The score at the end of the 11th was 101-6, and although Tim David, Hurricanes’ sole remaining hope, was at the wrong end, they took the Power Surge as they virtually had to. Siddle conceded just eight from the 12th over, and T Curran matched him in the 13th. Joel Paris, left arm medium fast, bowled Jordan with the third ball of the 14th and that was 123-7. The fourth ball of the 15th over just about terminated Hurricanes hopes – David was caught by Maxwell off Mir to make it 133-8. At the end of that over Hurricanes were 134-8, needing 86 off the last five overs. Stars had hit 83 off the last five overs of their innings, but a)they were setting a target, not under the gun and b)they had front line batters at the crease, while Hurricanes were down to the tail enders. The remainder of the match saw Nathan Ellis, who had only been fit enough to bowl one over, amass a new T20 career best of 40, before off the third ball of the final over he got out, caught by Maxwell off Steketee. Maxwell was the only candidate for Player of the Match – it was his 76* (32) that put Stars out of reach, and this was his third catch, so it was appropriate that he should end the match. Steketee also deserves a hat tip – in a match in which 398 runs were score from 39.3 overs his bowling figures were 3.3-0-24-4. Hurricanes will be in action the day after tomorrow, hosting Sydney Sixers in the Qualifier, while Melbourne Stars travel to Sydney to face Sydney Thunder in the Knockout a day later, and in a real rarity for the BBL, Perth Scorchers’ season is over. Full scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

This is a very clear shot of a redshank, where the Nar joins the Great Ouse. It is quite similar to a sandpiper, but the legs (hence the name) and the speckled underside make the identification clear.

Two Very Different BBL Matches

A look back at yesterday and today’s BBL games and a large photo gallery.

Yesterday Brisbane Heat took on Adelaide Strikers in the BBL, and today saw Melbourne Renegades face Perth Scorchers. This post looks back at both matches.

A LAST BALL THRILLER

The fortunes of war swayed hither and thither in this game, and there were periods when each side appeared to be heading for an easy win. It ended up being a day of triumph for Nathan McSweeney of the Brisbane Heat, recently dropped from the Australian test side after three matches in which he achieved basically nothing. Bashing the ball around in a T20, even one of high standard, is a rather different exercise to fronting up to Jasprit Bumrah with the new ball in his hand in a test match, and McSweeney made the most of being in a less intimidating setting. He scored 78 not out off 49 balls, backed by another former test player, Matt Renshaw, who scored 54 off 27 balls. Nevertheless, in spite of the heroics of these two, it took Brisbane Heat until the final possible ball to secure the win, and they were seven down. Strikers efforts had a touch of Rome and Avignon 700 years ago about them – Ollie Pope scored 34 and held a catch, while his namesake Lloyd took 2-17, – but even with two Popes on side simultaneously they were unable to win in the end. Scorecard here.

A GAME OF FOUR QUARTERS

After 10 overs Perth Scorchers, having lost the bat flip and been put in, were 48–4 and seemingly already beaten. They rallied to post 143-8, a total that still looked inadequate but at least wasn’t downright risible. Cooper Connolly scored 66 for the Scorchers, and Canadian international Matthew Spoors managed 29. Other than those two only extras with exactly 10 reached double figures. Tom Rogers was the pick of the bowlers, with 3-22 from his four overs.

Melbourne Renegades made a racing start to the chase, though they lost wickets along the way. Jacob Bethell and Laurie Evans seemed to have settled things with a 50 partnership, but Bethell fell to the fourth ball of the tenth over to make it 96-4, at which point drinks were taken. With a mere 48 needed from 10.2 overs Renegades should not have been in the slightest hint of trouble, but they played some brainless cricket in the second half of their innings. They were eight down and had only one over remaining when they finally sealed. Will Sutherland, a member of the ‘not even the best in the family’ club (outranked in his case by sister Annabel, whose many achievements include a test match double century against South Africa), saw the Renegades home to a not entirely well deserved win with 15 not out in the closing stages. Scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

England Women Triumph

A look at how England Women completed an emphatic victory over South Africa Women in the test match at Bloemfontein, meaning they had won every element of the tour, and a photo gallery.

England’s Women completed their tour of South Africa by winning a thumping victory in the test match, meaning that they have won every leg of the tour, having already won the T20I and ODI series. This post looks back at what happened in the closing stages of the test match.

KNIGHT HOLDS ENGLAND 2ND INNINGS TOGETHER

England had a 114 run lead on first innings, and they extended that to precisely 350 on a pitch starting to misbehave . There were two noteworthy performances, one on each side. Heather Knight was chiefly responsible for England getting as many as they did, fighting her way to 90. Nonkululeko Mlaba was the bowling star for the proteas, taking 6-79 to give her 10 wickets in the match.

A HORRENDOUS COLLAPSE

South Africa had an awkward mini-session to negotiate before the tea interval. A target of 351 already looked fairly mountainous to begin with, and when Laura Wolvaardt was trapped LBW for 4 to make it 8-1 it took on Everest proportions. Right on the stroke of tea Lauren Filer trapped the other opener Anneke Bosch LBW for 4 and it was 15-2 after 5.2 overs. At 22 Bell had Annerie Dercksen caught by Beaumont (a slightly controversial dismissal, as the umpires conferred before giving it, and the only doubt they could have had was whether Dercksen had actually made contact – Beaumont had certainly made the catch). Then came the period that ensured that the third day would be the last (I was at work when this happened, but listened to the commentary on catch up when I was back home). At 31 Sune Luus was bowled by a beauty from Bell, and then Nadine de Klerk suffered a horror run out immediately after (would have been a horror in any situation and any format, but in a test match with the innings in the process of going into freefall it was particularly atrocious). Two runs later Sophie Ecclestone, who had relieved Lauren Filer, pinned Chloe Tryon plumb in front. When Sinalo Jafta was trapped in front by a superb ball from Bell it was 44-7, and moments later Beaumont took a catch off Ecclestone to account for Kapp whose 21 represented the sum total of protea resistance in the fourth innings to that point. It was then 44-8, and it was known that Ayanda Hlubi was not going to bat due to being injured. Tumi Sekhukhune and Nonkululeko Mlaba added 20 to this dismal total, before Mlaba was run out, failing to get her bat grounded quick enough to beat Bell’s throw. It was appropriate that Bell finished the match – she had taken four cheap wickets in each innings (4-49 and 4-27) in addition to effecting that run out, and was named Player of the Match. The England bowling unit was excellent (Dean didn’t bowl well in the only innings in which she got to bowl, but that was the only blemish). Lauren Filer’s pace, Lauren Bell’s swing (and cut, a new development for her) with the added awkwardness created by her height, the craft and guile of Ecclestone and Dean and the reliable medium pace options provided by Nat Sciver-Brunt and Ryana McDonald-Gay meant that the injured Kate Cross was barely missed in the event. If you are wondering how England were able to accommodate six genuine front line bowling options in a test match line up the answer is simple: Sciver-Brunt is one of the best batters in the side, and Dean, Ecclestone and McDonald-Gay can all be considered all rounders (although she batted at number nine in this match I suspect that McDonald-Gay will be moving up the order before too long – she is probably better with the bat than either Dean or Ecclestone). A full scorecard is available here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

And Then There Were Three

A look at goings on in the WBBL as that tournament approaches its climax. There are now only three teams left in the tournament. Also a huge photo gallery.

This morning saw the first of the knockout matches in the WBBL, between Sydney Thunder and Hobart Hurricanes, at the former’s home ground, the Drummoyne Oval, six kilometres or thereabouts west of Sydney city centre. This post looks at what happened today and how the KOs work in this tournament.

HOW THE KNOCKOUTS WORK IN THE WBBL

Four teams out of eight qualify for the knockout stages of the WBBL, and the system then works thus: third place take on fourth in what is termed the Knockout match, with third place having home advantage. The winners of this match then play away against the team who finished second, in what is called the Eliminator match, and finally the winners of that face up to the winners of the league stage at the latter’s home ground. In this edition of the tournament Melbourne Renegades and Brisbane Heat had 14 points each from their 10 group games, with the Renegades ahead on net run rate, while Sydney Thunder had 13, the single point coming from a washed out local derby against the Sydney Sixers, and Hobart Hurricanes had 10 points – five wins and five losses. They qualified with this modest tally through a combination of the top three all having such excellent records and the fact that having four teams in an eight team league qualify for knockout stages is over-generous (though less bad than the men’s equivalent where FIVE of the eight sides qualify, which means that there is a genuine chance of a team with an overall losing record making the KOs, which is plumb crazy).

TODAY’S MATCH

Hobart Hurricanes won the toss and chose to bat first. They did not perform well. When Heather Graham was out to the last ball of the 10th over they were languishing at 47-4 halfway through their innings. They did pick things up in the second half of their innings, with Elyse Villani ending unbeaten on 49 from 42 balls, Suzie Bates managing 17 off 17 balls, and Kathryn Bryce with 10 off 6 and Lauren Smith with 6 not out off three balls giving things a late boost. A total of 126 still looked inadequate.

For a long time however, it looked as though Hurricanes might be defending it successfully. With three overs to go Thunder needed 26 to win, and although Litchfield was batting well Anika Learoyd was, as many had on both sides, progressing very slowly. The 18th over, bowled by Heather Graham, which was also the second of the Thunder’s Power Surge, turned the course of the match – 16 runs came from it, including three boundaries, one from Litchfield, and two, off the last two balls of it, from Learoyd. Litchfield then hit the first ball of the 19th over for six. The second and fourth balls yielded singles. The off the fifth ball Litchfield was bowled, which brought Georgia Adams to the crease with two runs needed for the win. Adams cut the only ball she faced for four runs to seal victory for the Thunder with an over to spare and send them on to Allan Border Field on Friday to do battle with Brisbane Heat for the right to face Melbourne Renegades. Litchfield’s 46 off 36 in a match in which few had struck at above 100 and three catches secured her Player of the Match. Molly Strano, one of the most successful bowlers in the WBBL’s history, had figures of 4-0-8-1 for the Hurricanes, unavailing in the end, but the joint most economical figures ever in the knockout stages of a WBBL tournament. A full scorecard of this match canb be seen here.

In many ways justice was done today, although Thunder were not convincing winners by any means. They were much better than the Hurricanes in the group stages, and it is right that the winner of this tournament should come from one of the top three – for Hurricanes to have emerged victorious after qualifying for the knockouts on 10 points would have left a bad taste in the mouth – and yes this is a pom criticizing an Aussie tournament for having overly soft qualification rules, and I stick by every comment I have made along these lines.

PHOTOGRAPHS

I have a very large gallery, due to not having posted on Monday. Monday and yesterday were both sunny although cold, while today has not been sunny and is still cold…

I am

WBBL Logjam

A look at the WBBL table, and a bit about the latest ,match which took place earlier today between Hobart Hurricanes and Sydney Sixers. Also a photo gallery.

After today’s WBBL match between Hobart Hurricanes and Sydney Sixers the WBBL10 table is more congested than London during rush hour. This post looks both at today’s match and at the competition as a whole.

THE TABLE

Women’s Big Bash League

TeamMWLPTNRR
ST-W32141.158
MS-W32140.775
PS-W32140.352
BH-W42240.133
MR-W4224-0.156
HH-W5234-0.227
SS-W4224-0.407
AS-W4132-0.900

The above table is courtesy of cricinfo, and a more detailed version can be viewed here.

With the exception of the Strikers, with one win and three losses, every team has four points, and only the Hurricanes, having played a game more than all their rivals are noticeably worse off, while the Scorchers, with a game in hand on everyone and two in hand on the Hurricanes are probably best placed of the sides to progress. Each side plays ten group matches, and at the moment it looks like most, if not all, will have some sort of qualification chance as the competition reaches its business end.

TODAY’S MATCH

Today’s game was largely dominated by one single performance. In a match in no other batter got past 30 (two Englishwomen, Hollie Armitage for the Sixers and Danni Wyatt-Hodge for the Hurricanes scored exactly this number) Ellyse Perry, already the tournament’s leading run scorer heading into this match, scored 86 off 62 balls. Sixers 155-7 proved enough to win by six runs. Perry cemented an already fairly undeniable claim to the POTM award by adding two catches to her 86 runs. Most notable among the Sixers bowlers were Ecclestone, approaching her best form for the first time in this tournament, with 4-0-22-2, and the youngster Caoimhe Bray with 3-0-13-2. Bray has more in common with her idol, Perry, than merely being a pace bowling all rounder: Perry scored a world cup goal for the Matildas, and although Bray has not yet featured in a full squad for the football side, she has played age group internationals in that sport. As is often the case when she is at or near peak form no opposition batter ever looked remotely comfortable facing Ecclestone. The Hurricanes best bowler on the day was leg spinner Amy Smith, with 1-20 from three overs.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Deeply irresponsible by whoever set a fire here, so close to trees…
…and they did it again a day later/
A muntjac paddling in Bawsey Drain.

Livingstone, I Presume

An account of the second ODI between West Indies and England, which took place yesterday. Also a large photo gallery.

This post will tell the story of the second ODI between West Indies and England which took place yesterday afternoon and evening UK time (morning and afternoon Antigua time) at North Sound. Before I get to the main body of the post I have small chore to perform:

A CORRECTION TO MY PREVIOUS POST

In my previous post I named Jacob Bethell among England’s debutants in that match. This was not so – he had played five previous matches. The actual debutant I should have named among the four but did not was Jordan Cox, a top order batter and occasional keeper who started his career with Kent and now plays for Essex. In keeping with my policy on such matters I have ensured that this correction cannot be missed.

AN ODD BALANCE

John Turner came in for his international debut, having been in a number of England squads, without quite getting a cap. This meant that England had in effect seven multi-dimensional cricketers (although Cox played purely as a batter he is an occasional keeper) and four bowlers. As any reader of my all time XIs will be aware I am an ardent advocate of sides having a wide range of bowling options if such is possible. However, nine bowling options of varying degrees of seriousness does seem to be overdoing it a touch, especially given that it left the side with a fragile batting order.

LOTS OF OPTIONS, NO PLAN

In the course of the 50 overs of the West Indies innings England skipper Livingstone used all nine of his genuine bowling options. There was no obvious sign of a plan in his usage of his bowlers, and he certainly overused his own mixed spin – 7-0-56-1 is testament to that. West Indies tallied 328 from their 50 overs, a record score for North Sound.

A CAPTAIN’S INNINGS

Phil Salt started well for England. Unfortunately Will Jacks and Jordan Cox both went cheaply. Bethell and Salt had a good partnership, before Salt was dismissed for 59 to make it 107-3. Livingstone now joined Bethell. Bethell joined Salt in reaching 50, but shortly thereafter was fourth out at 160. That brought Sam Curran to the crease, being treated by England as a genuine all rounder, but under suspicion in some quarters of actually not being up to the job in either department. With only Mousley of significance as batter among those still to come the onus was on Livingstone and Curran to do most of the heavy lifting. Livingstone and Curran batted sensibly together, and were still in residence at the end of the 40th over. The target at that point was precisely 100, a rate normally considered achievable in modern limited overs cricket. It was now that Livingstone changed gears. The first bowlers to feel the effects of this were spinners Chase and Motie, but the most dramatic sufferers were two of the quicks, Shamar Joseph and Jayden Seales, who each visibly wilted under the Livingstone onslaught. Both bowled wides as well as full tosses (each were trying and failing to nail a yorker), and Livingstone sent two balls clean out of the ground and another into a concrete fixture in one of the stands. Curran, playing a valuable supporting role, brought up a 50 that though in the shadow of Livingstone’s pyrotechnics still came at a run a ball. He was fifth out at exactly 300, ending a match turning stand of 140 with Livingstone. There were 4.3 overs remaining as Mousley joined Livingstone, with the latter on the verge of an extraordinary century. Livingstone reached the landmark, his maiden ODI century, off just 77 balls, and continued on his merry way. He was now in absolutely rampant mood, and precisely two overs after the dismissal of Curran, so with England still having 2.3 overs to spare, he scored the winning run, taking his own score to 124 not out off 85 balls. In total he hit nine sixes and five fours in this spectacular take down of the West Indies.

LOOKING AHEAD

This result means that the sides will head to Barbados with the series locked at 1-1. The West Indies players would of course have preferred to settle the series in this match, but I suspect their board will not be entirely unhappy that the series is level heading to Bridgetown. Livingstone’s amazing innings and the various supporting roles played by Salt, Bethell and Curran should not be allowed to paper over some rather obvious cracks. The England squad is fundamentally unbalanced, and for most of yesterday’s match they looked second best, as they did for the entirety of the first match. I congratulate England on the win, but they do need to look at the balance of future squads, and deepen that batting order. If Livingstone had got out at any stage of overs 41-44 inclusive, as anyone batting like that easily could, it would have been pretty much settled in West Indies favour – it was a much closer thing than the ultimate 2.3 overs to spare suggests.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Thrills, Spills and Net Run Rate Calculations

A look back at the final match in Group A at the Women’s T20 World Cup, a 20 second video of a hedgehog and a large photo gallery.

Today saw the final match in group A at the Women’s T20 World Cup. New Zealand faced Pakistan. New Zealand had an easily described task: win and the would be in the semi-finals. Pakistan faced a much more complex situation – they would need to win and win big – a narrow win for them would see India second on Net Run Rate. This post looks at back at the match.

TO CHASE OR TO SET

New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat first, hoping that the need to score ultra quickly in response would lead to a Pakistan collapse. Pakistan claimed that they would have chosen to bowl anyway. I reckon that the easiest way to achieve a big NRR swing is to bat first, put a big total up, and then dismiss the opponents. New Zealand in this case would have to keep going no matter how ridiculous the target. With New Zealand batting first Pakistan had to restrict them as much as possible – their task would be a tough one almost whatever New Zealand did.

THE NEW ZEALAND INNINGS

Pakistan bowled excellently, but their fielding was not great. There were times when a New Zealand tally of below 100 looked likely, and if Pakistan had caught even reasonably well this would have happened. However by the time the 20th over came round four catches had been grassed. Remarkably another three chances went begging in the course of the 20th over. In the end New Zealand had scored 110-6. If Pakistan had merely had to win to progress things would have looked excellent for them…

THE PAKISTAN REPLY

The calculations revealed that barring levelling the scores and then hitting a boundary Pakistan needed to chase down the target of 111 in 10.4 overs or less. The three basic scenarios, ignoring boundary finishes were:

1: Pakistan chase down the target in 10.4 overs or less: Pakistan go into the semi-finals, India and New Zealand take the next flight home.

2: Pakistan chase down the target in 10.5 or more overs: India progress to the semi-finals and it is home time for New Zealand and Pakistan

3: Pakistan fail to reach the target, presumably because they get bowled out: New Zealand progress and both subcontinental sides are homeward bound.

Pakistan were thus obliged to take an extremely aggressive approach while any sort of hope of the quick win remained. Such an approach means an increased chance of opposition wickets, and that is what eventuated. New Zealand did better catching wise than their opponents had, but even they were not flawless in the field. However, Pakistan were 28-5 after 5.3 overs, as their aggressive approach did not work out. The sixth wicket pair now settled in for a stand that gave India hope, if they could somehow keep it going, but amounted to Pakistan’s acknowledgement that their own challenge had ended. The second last ball of the tenth over saw the partnership broken when Nida Dar was deceived by a beauty from Kerr and Gaze made no mistake with the stumping. That was 52-6. Omaima Sohail gave Carson a return catch in the 11th over to make it 55-7. Syeda Aroob Shah was run out off the first ball of the 12th over, a fine return from Green to Kerr doing the job. Fatima Sana back on strike, and now her sides last remaining hope, was caught by Bates off the next ball to make it 56-9. Sadia Iqbal, the number two ranked WT20I bowler in the world, behind another left arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone, survived one ball, before she too was caught by Bates off Kerr, for a duck in her case. Pakistan were all out for 56, their lowest ever WT20I total (previously 60), though the nature of the challenge facing them provided mitigating circumstances. Bates’ final catch was her 400th in professional cricket. Incidentally if Bates manages to keep going until 2028 she could join a very small club of people who have competed in The Olympics in two different sports – at Beijing in 2008 a young Bates was part New Zealand’s basketball team, and cricket will feature at Los Angeles 2028.

PHOTOGRAPHS

This section was my main reason for wanting to put up another post today – my thanks to the New Zealand and Pakistan Women’s cricket teams for providing the material for the body of the post. I start with a video, taken on the bank of Bawsey Drain, King’s Lynn during my afternoon walk:

Now for the photos…

Cornwall – A Stay in Plymouth

An account of a day in Plymouth, my last full day away from home on my recent excursion.

This will be the second last post about my recent visit to my parents in Cornwall (I arrived home at about 9:30PM yesterday), and deals with a period for most of which I was not in Cornwall.

CONFUSIONS OVER DATES

I had booked my train tickets, to and from Plymouth, based on the dates of my parents holiday in Crete being from the 3rd to the 17th of October. The actual dates were the 2nd to the 16th, which meant something had to be done for the final night of my time away. Originally I was going to be at the backpackers hostel on Union Street, but further changes occurred while I was at my parents place, and in the end I was booked to into Ocean Stays hotel on Citadel Road. This is not a full service hotel, and does not have a reception area, so check in has to be done online, and it also meant the necessity of speaking to someone about depositing the larger of my bags there to free me up a bit for the time before I could take possession of my room. Fortunately this was achieved fairly quickly, and by about 9:30 I was able to begin my exploration of Plymouth.

STARTING TO EXPLORE PLYMOUTH

Since The Hoe was more or less on the doorstep of my hotel I started my explorations from there. I also took in plenty of other stuff as you will see. For lunch I had a recommendation of a Turkish establishment at Derry Cross, which is at one end of Royal Parade, a wide thoroughfare which also serves as the start and end point for all Plymouth based bus routes, and which in conjunction with the even wider and entirely pedestrianized Armada Way forms a giant T that effectively defines Plymouth city centre. Armada Way is also the beginning of the route to Plymouth Railway Station, of which more in the final post in this series.

Dunya, for such is the name of the Turkish establishment in question, lived up to what I had been told. I ordered from their lunch menu – mixed olives with feta for a starter and lamb kofte for main, which with a ginger beer added in came to £16, and kept me going for the rest of that day.

For the afternoon I returned to the Hoe, and awaited details of the two codes I needed to be able to enter the hotel – a door code, and a code for the key safe in which the room key is kept between customers (these key safes are located just inside the hotel). By the time I got the two codes I was ready to turn in. My room proved to basic, but very acceptable. It had a shower, and a fridge, both fo which proved useful, but no chair, let alone a table, so I did my photo editing sat on the bed, with the computer actually living up to its official designation of lap top for once.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My photographs from Plymouth:

County Championship Race Going to the Wire

A look back at the top of the table County Championship clash between Somerset and Surrey at Taunton, and a huge photo gallery.

A round of county championship fixtures took place this week, starting on Monday and ending on Thursday. Days two and four were thus work days for me, limiting what I actually got to hear about at the time. The big tie of the round was between second place Somerset and leaders Surrey. In county championship fixtures there are 16 points for a win, eight points for a draw and no points for a loss, with each side able to earn up to eight bonus points. These points, awarded in the first 110 overs of each team’s first innings are slightly lopsidedly awarded, five for batting and three for bowling. The bowling points are awarded for taking three, six and then nine wickets, the batting points for reaching scores of 250, 300, 350, 400 and 450. This post now looks back at the Taunton summit meeting with these extra details in mind.

THE FIRST TWO INNINGS

When Surrey arrived in Taunton they were 24 points clear of Somerset, meaning that a win would effectively close the deal on their third successive title, a draw would still leave them firm favourites and a defeat would open the race right up, though unless Somerset took a maximum of 24 points (16+8 as described in the introduction) and Surrey 0 the visitors would still be at the top of the table. Somerset batted first, and their first innings was precisely contained within the first day, their last wicket falling on the stroke of time with their score at 317. Tom Banton made a superb 132 and there were useful supporting contributions from Tom Abell, Archie Vaughan (son of Michael, and there will be much more about him later in this piece) and James Rew. Shakib Al Hasan, at Surrey on the most temporary of temporary contracts, claimed four wickets and Daniel Worrall three. This, since the innings was done inside 110 overs, meant that Somerset took two batting points and Surrey a full haul of three bowling points.

When I was able to join the coverage on day two it looked like Somerset were headed for a big first innings advantage – Surrey were almost 100 adrift and had only three wickets standing. However at this point Tom Curran, playing his first first class match in almost two years (he is a white ball specialist, and has played plenty of high level limited overs cricket in that period) proceeded to swing things back towards Surrey, ending with a score of 86 off 75 balls, and getting Surrey to 321. Archie Vaughan had 6-102 with his off spin, and veteran left arm spinner Jack Leach had 4-105, having wheeled through 48.2 overs. Although Surrey had faced over 110 overs in total they had passed 300 before the end of the 110th, and Somerset had got them nine down by the end of the 110th, so with the game now a one innings shoot out each side had claimed a total of five bonus points. This meant that there were now three possible final points scenarios at the end of the match: Surrey lead by 40 if they win, Surrey lead by 24 in the event of a draw and Surrey lead by eight if Somerset win.

THE SECOND HALF OF THE MATCH

Tom Banton was injured and not expected to bat for Somerset in their second innings. Surrey worked their way through the Somerset second innings. At 153-9 it looked like they had a decent chance, but then to general surprise (and not a little criticism on social media) the injured Banton hobbled out to the middle to join Craig Overton. By the end of a truncated day this pair had extended the Somerset score to 194. I was to find out that they had added a further 30 on the final morning before Banton was out for 46, leaving Overton unbeaten on 49. Jack Leach and Archie Vaughan set to work on getting through Surrey for a second time. When I checked in on the score at Fakenham library it looked like time was Somerset’s enemy – Surrey were three wickets down at that point, with Sibley and Foakes batting together, and only two hours or thereabouts left. By the time I got home Surrey were nine down and desperately trying to bat out time for the draw. With the final ball of the 78th over, and almost certainly time only for one more over after it had the wicket not fallen, Leach got one on to Worrall’s pads and the umpire raised the finger to confirm that it was LBW. County Championship games are not generally televised, and this one wasn’t, so even if it might have saved him Worrall had no recourse to DRS and Somerset could start celebrating as soon as that finger went up. Surrey were all out for 109, giving Somerset victory by 111 runs. Jack Leach had 5-37 for that final innings, and young Archie Vaughan had the other five, for only one run more, giving him 11-140 in the match as well as that first innings 44. This was a classic match, and even as someone who grew up in south London, a short trip along the Northern line from The Oval, I say without hesitation that the final result was a good one not just for Somerset, but for the County Championship, which is now a genuine contest at the top, and indeed for the game of cricket. Full scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

England Poised For Victory

A look at developments in the test match between England and Sri Lanka at Lord’s, including a history making innings by Joe Root.

This post is mostly concerned with goings on at Lord’s where England and Sri Lanka are engaged in a test match. It follows on from the post I put up yesterday.

YESTERDAY

Sri Lanka lost their eighth wicket as I was preparing yesterday’s post for publication. The final two wickets offered a little more resistance, but Sri Lanka were all out for 196 in the end, giving England a lead of 231. Each of the four seamers had two wickets, Bashir one and there was a run out. England could have enforced the follow on, but even though they had not spent that long in the field and the chance of two shots at Sri Lanka, overnight and this morning, offered extra reasons for going for the quick kill they followed standard 21st century practice and declined to do so. Lawrence was out in the mini-session of batting they gave themselves. To his credit Pope did not shelter behind a nightwatcher, he came in himself. England were 25-1 at the close, 256 ahead overall.

TODAY

Duckett was first to go this morning, caught by Mathews off Rathnayake for 24 to make it 36-2. That brought Joe Root to the crease, and he carried on where he had left of in the first innings. Pope was third to go, to a really terrible dismissal, playing a ball from Asitha Fernando straight into the hands of Prabath Jayasuriya. Brook and Smith each played well briefly, making 37 and 26 respectively. Woakes made just 5. Atkinson made 14 before suffering what was easily the most bizarre dismissal of the match, reverse swishing (the only way the shot he played can be described) Asitha Fernando straight into the hands of Lahiru Kumara. Root was approaching the century that would move him into sole possession of the record for test hundreds for England, but he lost another partner, Matt Potts for just 2 before the landmark approached. Appropriately when the historic moment came it arrived with considerable style – no snatched single for Root to reach this ton – he stroked a four through the covers to move from 98 to 102. A declaration at that moment would have attracted little criticism, but England batted on rather purposelessly (if ever the cliche ‘after the Lord Mayor’s show’ is justified it is for this period of play) until they were all out for 251, setting Sri Lanka 483 to win with time not a factor, since there are still two full days to play. Only once has 400 been scored in the fourth innings of a Lord’s test and that was in a losing cause, though there have been two huge run chases at this ground in the past – Cambridge University chased down 507 v MCC in 1897 and four years later in the marquee fixture of the season (no tests that summer) The Players chased down 501 to beat The Gentlemen. Sri Lanka have just lost their first wicket, with Root taking a catch off Atkinson to get Madushka for 13 and make it 19-1.

FROM THE CHAMPIONSHIP

A round of county championship fixtures is in progress (except for Gloucestershire v Northamptonshire, abandoned by order of the umpires on ground of a dangerous pitch and Warwickshire v Kent, where the visitors, already pretty much nailed on for relegation, have surrendered by an innings margin), and I have been using cricinfo to keep tabs on Nottinghamshire v Surrey. Nottinghamshire are making a decent fight of it, largely thanks to 19 year old left hander Freddie McCann, who came in at number three after the loss of an early wicket, and in only his third first class innings scored 154.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…