Spring is in full swing here in Norfolk. The photographs presented below were all taken between Monday afternoon and yesterday morning.
Springtime in Norfolk
A photo gallery from Monday afternoon, Tuesday and Wednesday morning.
Tag: Butterflies
RCB Win WPL
An account of yesterday’s WPL final between Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore and a bumper photo gallery.
The final of the second edition of the Women’s Premier League took place yesterday afternoon UK time. The two teams to make it there were Delhi Capitals who had qualified by the direct route of topping the league stage, and Royal Challengers Bangalore who had had to go the long way round.
THE DELHI CAPITALS INNINGS
Aussie legend Meg Lanning and Indian star Shafali Verma opened the batting for Delhi, and they got away to a flier, scoring 61 from the six overs of Power Play without being separated. The seventh over stemmed the flow, and then the match took a dramatic turn in the eighth over – 64-0 becoming 64-3 in the space of four balls as Verma’s explosive innings ended caught in the deep, and then Jemimah Rodrigues and Alice Capsey both scored ducks. Ten runs later came a crucial moment as Shreyanka Patil pinned Lanning LBW, a decision that was sent upstairs in sheer desperation but confirmed as being out. The floodgates were well and truly open now for the RCB bowlers, and the scorecard soon read 87-7, at which point Radha Yadav and Arundhati Reddy offered a little resistance, ended by the run out of Yadav who had become only the third player of the innings to reach double figures. Patil completed the rout with the scalps in very quick succession of Reddy (the fourth and last double figure score of the innings) and wicket keeper Taniya Bhatia, to give her four wickets for the innings and put her at the top of the wicket takers list for the tournament. At high water mark Delhi Capitals had been 64-0, and they ended up all out for 113 – all ten wickets going for 49 runs. Other than the run out every wicket went to spin bowling – Molineux’s three that started the rout, Patil’s four and two for leg spinner Asha Sobhana.
THE RCB CHASE
RCB have had an IPL franchise since that competition started in 2008 and have never won the competition, and RCB women had not won only previous edition of this tournament. It was only the fact of RCB’s status as serial non-winners that could cause anyone to view of a chase of 114 as other than a formality, and in the end it was exactly that. Yes, victory was only achieved in the final over, but of greater significance than the exact time at which the winning run was scored was that RCB lost only two wickets, and were never really struggling with the run rate – the nearest they came to being so was when they need 29 from the last four overs, but the two batters together at that stage, Ellyse Perry, an Aussie legend to rival even Lanning, who only a few days earlier had shone with the other side of her game, becoming the first ever to take a six-wicket haul in a WPL game, and Richa Ghosh (India’s current first choice keeper, though she is rather more accomplished with the bat than with the gloves) stayed calm and took their side to a well merited victory. Sophie Molineux, whose triple wicket burst interrupted Delhi Capital’s momentum and changed the course of the match was named Player of the Match. Uttar Pradesh Warriorz and India off spinning all rounder Deepti Sharma was named Player of the Tournament. The Player of the Match award was unquestionably correct – statistically Molineux was outdone by Shreyanka Patil, but it was Molineux’s burst that derailed the Delhi Capitals when they appeared set for an enormous score. A full scorecard can be viewed here.
PHOTOGRAPHS
I have a splendid photo gallery – the first bees of the year are out and about, and not only did I have another sighting of the Brimstone Butterfly, I also got another butterfly, a Comma…
The Final Day of the Six Nations 2024
A look back at the final day of Six Nations 2024 action, and a bumper photo gallery, presented in three parts.
The 2024 Six Nations rugby tournament concluded late yesterday evening, with France playing England in Lyon in a match that would decide second and third spots in the final table. This match was the third match a final day and that it had no bearing on who won the tournament shows that the schedulers miscalculated somewhat.
THE EARLIER GAMES
The first match of the day saw Wales and Italy facing one another in a game that Wales had to win to avoid the wooden spoon. A win for Italy would make it their best ever Six Nations showing. It was also confirmed as a final international appearance for George North of Wales, and I suspect there may be other members of this Welsh squad who will not be seen at international level again. The Italians were 11-0 up at half time, and a converted try right at the start of the second half extended the lead to 18. At that point Wales finally showed a hint of fighting spirit, and in the end the final score was remarkably close, but Italy’s early dominance had ensured that justice was done, and that they did indeed record the win that gave them their best ever Six Nations showing.
Ireland needed only a single point from their match against Scotland to ensure that they would retain the championship that they won last year. Scotland came out fighting, making it clear from the word go that they were not just there to assist in Ireland’s coronation. Ireland proved good enough in the end, and retained their championship, underlining their status as the current dominant force in European rugby.
FRANCE V ENGLAND
This match would have no bearing on who won the tournament, but no game between these old rivals is ever meaningless, and there was plenty of pride at stake, as well as which of these sides would end up in second place. The match was an absolute belter of a game. The lead changed many times. With only a few minutes to go England got a penalty, and in the situation George Ford opted to kick for the corner hoping to set up a try rather than settle for three points. A superb kick gave England a line out just ten metres from the try line, and some slick work from that line out got them the try, and Ford, as unerring with the boot as he had been all game, duly scored the conversion to put England ahead. Then, with 38 seconds left on the clock France were awarded a penalty. For them, with three points being sufficient to re-establish their lead in the dying seconds it was a ‘must kick’ opportunity, though at 49 metres it was a major challenge to do so. Ramos, the French kicker, managed to put it over and the home crowd celebrated. There was time for the match to restart, but there was never any doubt that the French would retain possession for long enough thereafter to hang on for the win and with it second place in the table.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Yesterday was a very spring like day, and I deliberately extended my walks to and from King’s Lynn library where there was a ‘just a cuppa’ morning for autistic adults to take full advantage of it. Thus comes a gallery three parts…
Friday afternoon’s walk and the walk to the library…
Lego architecture at the coffee morning…
The walk back from the library…
Home Internet Restored
A brief post celebrating the fact that after a week and a half without it I once again have broadband access at home. Ends with a bumper photo gallery, including the first butterfly of 2024.
The engineer came round near the beginning of the official slot of 8AM – 1PM today and connected up my new EE Home Hub, so after a gap of a week and a half I have Broadband at home once again.
A FRIGHTENINGLY WARM FEBRUARY
As I type this it is 12 degrees Celsius outside (53.6 Fahrenheit for USian readers), and that is far from out of keeping with the last week or so, when double figure positives have been the rule rather than the exception. February in high northern latitudes such as England is generally one of the two coldest months of the year alongside January, and the outside temperature hitting double figure positives on a regular basis is way out of kilter. Yesterday while out and about I saw my first butterfly of 2024, a small Tortoiseshell, while the spring flowers are in full bloom.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Saturday and yesterday were both good days for photography, in spite of being cloudy, and I therefore finish this post a king size gallery…
All Time XIs – Given Name Begins With A
An all time XI of players whose given names begin with A, with a lot of honourable mentions. Also a photo gallery.
Last year I took an alphabetical trip through cricketing surnames. This post may be the starting point for a trip through cricketing given names. For the moment it is an All Time XI of players whose given names all begin with A.
THE XI IN BATTING ORDER
- Andrew Strauss (left handed opening batter). One of the openers in the England test side that rose to number one in the world rankings in 2011.
- Andrew Stoddart (right handed opening batter). Captained England to an away Ashes series win in 1894-5, the first such series to contain five matches. In the second match of that series he scored a then England record 173 in their second innings. England, all out for 75 at the first time of asking managed precisely 400 more second time round and went on to win the match to go two up in the series. He also captained England at rugby union.
- Andrew Jones (right handed batter, occasional off spinner). No one’s idea of a stylish player, the Kiwi was a gutsy, gritty number three good enough average 44 in test cricket as part of what was not the world’s strongest batting line up.
- Aravinda de Silva (right handed batter, occasional off spinner). The Sri Lankan at one time held the test record score for his country with an innings of 267. He also produced Player of the Match performances in the semi-final and final of the 1996 ODI World Cup.
- *Allan Border (left handed batter, occasional left arm orthodox spinner, captain). The first ever to reach the career milestone of 11,000 test runs, and for about the first decade of his long career he was continually attempting to rescue lost causes.
- Alfred Mynn (right handed batter, right arm fast bowler). The greatest all rounder of his era, known as the Lion of Kent.
- +Adam Gilchrist (Wicket keeper, left handed batter). One of the greatest ever.
- Alan Davidson (left arm fast medium bowler, left handed batter). An all time great of the game, and his left arm angle adds variation to the attack.
- Andy Roberts (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). The original leader of the four-pronged pace attack that made West Indies such a ferocious force in the late 1970s and on through the 1980s, and a handy lower order batter as well.
- Anil Kumble (leg spinner, right handed batter). The fourth leading test wicket taker of all time, behind Muralidaran, Warne and Anderson, and one of only three bowlers ever to take all ten wickets in a test innings (and only two of those, Jim Laker and Kumble, did so in winning cause).
- Allan Donald (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). The first unquestionably great bowler of South Africa’s second incarnation as a test nation.
This side contains a powerful batting line up, with genuine match winners in that capacity occupying the top seven slots, numbers 8,9 and 10 all capable of useful efforts in that role and Donald the only genuine tail ender. The presence of only one genuine spinner is offset by the presence of Border and de Silva as back up options in that department, while the pace attack of Davidson, Donald, Roberts and Mynn is superb.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Angelo Mathews, who recently made history as the first player ever to be ‘Timed Out’ in an international match, has had a fine career without doing quite enough to dislodge any of my chosen players. Andrew Flintoff would be the choice of many for the all-rounders slot but the truth is he took a long time to deliver at the top level, and his time at the top was very brief before injuries spoiled the latter stages of his career. Two regular openers named Arthur, Messrs. Morris and Shrewsbury, a left hander and a right hander respectively, were both unlucky to miss out. Arthur Frederick Augustus ‘Dick’ Lilley was a potential candidate for the gauntlets, but the fact that he was always known by his nickname and the presence of Gilchrist persuaded me to give the latter the nod. Alyssa Healy was also a candidate for the gauntlets. Alec Stewart was a candidate for the openers role, but would have sneaked in under false pretences had I given him the gauntlets. Two Archies, MacLaren of Lancashire and England and Jackson of Australia deserve mentions. Two Alfreds, the impeccably accurate Shaw and the leg spinner Freeman merit mentions – the latter misses out because while his FC numbers were almost beyond belief his test returns were no better than respectable. Alec Bedser was a superb bowler, but I rank him behind my three chosen pacers. Angus Fraser had a fine career, but not quite good enough to merit serious consideration. Angus Alexander Patrick Atkinson, generally referred to as Gus Atkinson, is a highly promising young pace bowler and a competent lower order batter, but he is not as yet a serious challenger to any of my chosen pacers. Azhar Mahmood was a fine all rounder. Two current Aussie tweakers, Alana King and Amanda-Jade Wellington deserve mentions. Abdul Qadir who virtually kept the art of leg spin alive in the 1980s deserves the acknowledgement of an honourable mention. Ajaz Patel, in spite of having a test match all-ten, has to miss out – his side were soundly thrashed in the match in question, and his all-ten was more down to the absolute impotence of the rest of the bowling attack than to any particular brilliance of his. On a pitch that absolutely demanded two genuinely front line spinners I would drop Mynn, promote Gilchrist one place up the order and bring in Axar Patel at number seven. Albert Trott is a case of ‘what might have been’ and therefore it is only an honourable mention for him. Azmatullah Omarzai of Afghanistan may yet force his way in to this XI, but he is at the moment one for the future.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
Pakistan and Australia Locked in Battle
A look at developments in today’s cricket world cup match between Australia and Pakistan, a heads up about auctions taking place next week and a photo gallery.
Today’s world cup match features Australia and Pakistan and is taking place in Bengaluru. The first part of this post looks at developments in this match.
THE AUSTRALIA INNINGS
Pakistan won the toss and opted to bowl first. Australia got away to a flying start, helped by Usama Mir dropping an easy chance to be rid of Warner early on. The opening stand yielded 259, and they came quickly, with a total of 400+ looking more likely than not at that stage. However, as wickets began to tumble the scoring rate declined, and in the end Australia had recorded 367-9 from their 50 overs. Warner had scored 163 and his opening partner Mitchell Marsh 121, while the standout bowler was Shaheen Shah Afridi with 5-51 from his 10 overs. Haris Rauf took three wickets, but that was only after taking a blasting early on – his first five overs went for 70.
THE PAKISTAN REPLY
Pakistan needed a fast start with the bat to stay in the hunt and they got one. Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq each topped 50 but got out before going really big. This was the first occasion in world cup history that all four opening batters had scored 50+. Babar Azam fell to an excellent catch by Pat Cummins for 18, but Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel are going well and have got Pakistan to 203-3 in the 31st over, keeping them in the contest. Scoring has been brisk because the pitch is very flat, the outfield is lightning fast and the ground is significantly above sea level.
TWO-DAY AUCTION
Next week James and Sons have a two-day auction. Day 1 (Tuesday) features mainly militaria, while day two features over 600 collectable railway models. The full catalogue can be viewed here or here. The models start with lot 501, which is on page six of the-saleroom’s listing (first link) and page nine of easyliveauction’s listing. Here are a few sample images:
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
While I have been preparing this for publication Pakistan have lost one wicket but have also moved on to 263 in the 38th over. 105 off 12.3 overs is not particularly daunting by modern standards.
2023 ODI World Cup Latest
A look at recent developments in the 2023 ODI Cricket World Cup, including two spectacular upsets – Afghanistan beating England and The Netherlands downing South Africa. Also two photo galleries.
There have been many developments in the tournament since my last blog post. This post looks at these developments.
AFGHANISTAN BEAT ENGLAND
In Sunday’s post I was anticipating a historic win for Afghanistan over England. That win duly materialised, with the final margin being 69 runs in Afghanistan’s favour – 284 vs 215. Afghanistan thoroughly deserved their win, and I was delighted that the Player of the Match award went to Mujeeb Ur Rahman for a very rapid 28 which gave the Afghanistan total a late boost and three good wickets, rather than Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s 80 securing him the award which is what I had feared. This was obviously a great occasion for Afghanistan, but it was also a great occasion for the tournament as a whole – going into this match there had not been an upset of any sort, and this was a seismic one.
PHOTO GALLERY ONE
Having paid tribute to Afghanistan I break the post up a bit with this…
SRI LANKA V AUSTRALIA
Both of these teams had started with back to back losses, which meant that one of them would end the game firmly ensconced in the last chance saloon, almost certainly needing to win all six of their remaining games to qualify, while the other would still be in considerable jeopardy but would have some leeway. In the event Sri Lanka were never in the hunt, and Australia recorded a very comfortable win.
A SECOND UPSET
I was at work yesterday, so missed most of the match between The Netherlands and South Africa. The match was reduced by rain to 43 overs a side, and by the time I got back the Netherlands had amassed 245 from their allocation and had South Africa in considerable trouble at 133-6, needing 113 from 13 overs. The one hope for South Africa was that David ‘Killer’ Miller was still there. When he was out with the score at 147 the only remaining question was what the margin would be when the Dutch completed a victory that would be an even more king sized upset than Afghanistan’s over England. In the event, while never making anything approaching a serious assault on the target the South African tail provided stern resistance, with Keshav Maharaj leading a charmed life to score the luckiest 40 anyone could ever witness, and the final margin was 38 runs, which decidedly flattered the proteas. There was an added piquancy for a number of members of the Dutch XI – they had been born in South Africa and moved to their ancestral homeland after not making the grade in the land of their birth. They would have been even more overjoyed than their team mates to have bloodied South Africa’s nose in this manner.
AFGHANISTAN v NEW ZEALAND SO FAR
Afghanistan are back in action today, against New Zealand. In spite of the fact that their great win over England had come by means of batting first, posting a total and defending it they made a very questionable decision to field first when they won the toss today, possibly allowing worries over evening dew to influence the decision. They didn’t bowl all that badly, but their fielding would have shamed the Rain Men – five catches went down, none of them hugely difficult and at least two downright easy. New Zealand ended their 50 overs with 288-6 from their 50 overs, which was a lot more than they should have got. Afghanistan lost both openers cheaply, and nothing else that has happened in the opening ten overs of their innings, which have just ended (with three straight maidens) with their score 28-2, needing 261 off the last 40 at 6.525 per over. Rahmat Shah has just scored his first runs, a two and a one, from his ninth and tenth balls, while Hashmatullah Shahidi is on 1 off 17 balls.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
A World Cup Upset In The Making?
A look at developments in a match that is now likely to end in the first upset of this world cup, and it will be a colossal upset at that – defending champions England are under the cosh against Afghanistan who have only won one previous world cup match. Also features a photo gallery.
The 2023 ODI Cricket World Cup hasn’t yet seen an upset – a minor nation taking down a major one. Today’s match features defending champions England and Afghanistan, who come into it with one win from 17 previous world cup matches. This post looks at developments in that game so far.
A TALE OF TWO BOWLING STYLES
Jos Buttler won the toss and put Afghanistan into bat. The first ominous sign was his revelation after the toss that he didn’t know why he had chosen to bowl first. Afghanistan got away to a rapid start as England’s seamers indicated that they had little idea of what they should be doing on that surface. By the end of the 10th over Afghanistan were 79-0. Afghanistan slowed thereafter, and lost three quick wickets when Ibrahim Zadran fell for 28 (out of an opening stand of 114, with Rahmanullah Gurbaz playing brilliantly and England contributing quite a few extras). Rahmat Shah was out cheaply, and then Hashmatullah Shahidi caused the downfall of Gurbaz for a splendid 80 when he took on a single that was never there and Gurbaz, even with a desperate dive at the end, was a good two yards short of his ground. Hashmatullah also scored very slowly in his own innings. Fortunately Ikram Alikhil played a fine innings, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman played an aggressive cameo late on. Afghanistan were all out to the second last scheduled ball of their innings for 284, a new highest ever world cup innings for them. The seamers bowled 25.5 overs and had combined figures of 3-189, while the spinners sent down 24 overs (Livingstone, who had never previously bowled a full allocation in an ODI innings, 10-0-33-1, Rashid 10-1-42-3 and Root, called on in desperation because the seamers, particularly Curran and Woakes, were so dire, 4-0-19-1) for a combined 5-94, while there were two run outs, one of them the tenth wicket. It was ominous that England’s spinners had done so well, since two of them, Livingstone and Root, are primarily batters, while Afghanistan had the talents of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and the veteran Mohammad Nabi available to them.
AFGHANISTAN IN CONTROL WITH THE BALL
Bairstow fell early to Fazalhaq Farooqi, and Root was also out cheaply, bowled by Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who shared the new ball. Dawid Malan’s dismissal for 32 was really odd – he played the ball straight into a fielder’s hand. Naveen ul Haq got through the defences of Buttler to make it 96-4, and 21 runs later came a farcical situation. Livingstone was hit on the pads by Rashid Khan, absolutely plumb in front, and duly given out. He sent it upstairs, knowing that unless it was overturned it was virtually game over for England. When he saw the replay on the big screen he started walking even before they got to using the ball tracking software, so blatantly stone dead was it. That made it 117-5. England have moved on to 128-5, but Sam Curran, the number seven, has barely been any less unimpressive with the bat than he was the ball (given his figures of 4-0-46-0 it would be hard to be more so).
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off, including what may be the last butterflies of 2023 (today, like yesterday, has been sunny but cooler than the early part of October):
While I have been preparing this post for publication Sam Curran’s miserable participation in this match (4-0-46-0 and 10 off 23 balls) has come to an end. England are 145-6 in the 31st over, needing 140 runs off 118 balls.
Europe’s Ryder Cup Triumph
At about 4:15PM UK time yesterday (the match was taking place in Italy, an hour ahead) Tommy Fleetwood won the 16th hole to go two up with two to play in his match against Rickie Fowler. That meant that a minimum a half a point was guaranteed for Europe in that match, which meant that Europe could no longer finish on less than 14.5 points, which meant that whatever happened from that moment on the Ryder Cup would be returning to Europe. This post looks back at the victory (I have covered up to the early stages of the Saturday afternoon fourballs here).
THE CLOSING STAGES OF DAY TWO
The Saturday afternoon fourballs went better for the USA than any previous session, though that isn’t saying a great deal. In the end the day finished with the scores Europe 10.5 USA 5.5, which meant that to retain the cup the USA would have to achieve a record turnaround on the final day. Singles is traditionally the USA’s strongest suit, possibly because the team element is more remote there than in either fourballs or especially foursomes – the day can be viewed as 12 straight head to head contests, whereas team play obtrudes on fourballs and is inescapable in foursomes, when the players play alternate shots – if your partner puts a ball in the water you then have to play the shot from the drop zone, if they dump one into a bunker it is your sand skills that get tested, but even so they were looking straight up a very steep mountainside.
PHOTO GALLERY ONE
Here to break things up a bit are some pictures from yesterday…
DAY THREE – MOMENTUM
Both teams were seeking a fast start in the singles – the USA because they needed to wrench the momentum back from Europe and Europe because the easiest way to prevent a good lead from being overturned is to settle the match quickly, snuffing out any chance of a revival. At Brookline in 1999 when the USA were 6-10 behind at this stage they came out and won the first seven singles matches, completely turning things upside down, and in the end, albeit in bitterly controversial circumstances the USA won (there was some disgraceful USian behaviour on the 17th in the crucial match, when their guy holed a long putt across that green, and premature celebrations involving both spectators and USian players, which distracted Jose Maria Olazabal of Europe, who had a slightly shorter putt on the same line (and was an excellent putter) to halve the hole – he unsurprisingly missed, and the USA were uncatchable). Here, John Rahm and Scottie Scheffler fought out a halved match in which both played some outstanding golf, while Europe in the persons of Hovland and McIlroy dominated matches two and four, with only Patrick Cantlay in match three winning an early point for the USA. Europe were on 13, the USA 7, and although the USA were doing well in a number of the remaining matches it was as good as settled.
THE CLOSING STAGES
Matt Fitzpatrick lost match five on the closing hole, by which time Tyrrell Hatton had banked Europe’s 14th point, winning match six 3&2. The 7th, 8th and 9th matches all went USA’s way, hauling it back to 14-11, but by that point Europe had moved ahead in all three remaining matches, and in quick succession Fleetwood and MacIntyre had made themselves sure of at least half a point a piece, while Shane Lowry and Jordan Spieth were in a contest that would go to the wire. Fleetwood and MacIntyre both made sure of full points, and with the destiny of the cup long settled and the 18th in the Lowry/ Spieth match a carnival scene those two players shook hands on a halved match, making the final score Europe 16.5, USA 11.5, which also meant a single scores of 6-6 meaning Europe had won days 1 and 2 and tied the third.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
The Closing Stages of the County Championship Season
We are about to go into the final session of play of the County Championship season of 2023. Surrey are already confirmed as champions – although they lost a hard fought match against Hampshire their only rivals Essex had already crumbled to an innings defeat at the hands of already relegated Northamptonshire. Durham and Worcestershire are the promoted sides, which leaves only the question of whether Kent or Middlesex are the other side to go down.
DERBYSHIRE V GLAMORGAN
This match, the one I am currently listening to is between two sides who have both had poor seasons. Derbyshire are winless, and due to their craven cowardice in delaying their declaration today until the target stood at 384 in 70 overs, nowhere near a tempting enough carrot to lure Glamorgan, whose position is already settled, into going for the target, and thus almost certainly guaranteeing the draw. Derbyshire will finish at worst second from bottom, but that is only because Yorkshire were hit with a punitive points deduction, which has been enough to guarantee them last place in the table.
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE V MIDDLESEX
Another match involving a declaration on the final day, but Middlesex, knowing that a draw was effectively valueless to them in their quest to stay up did dangle a carrot, and Nottinghamshire are making the chase look quite easy at present. Kent and Lancashire are pretty much certain to draw – Lancashire are still batting in their second innings and are 181 ahead of Kent, which means that unless Middlesex can scramble nine wickets from somewhere in less than a full session they will go down.
A NOTE ON OVERSEAS PLAYERS
Those who have studied my all time county XIs will have noted that on those occasions on which I named an overseas player (and I never picked more than one) I nearly always opted for a bowler. The use Surrey have made this season of Sean Abbott, Daniel Worrall and Kemar Roach underlines the value of high quality overseas bowlers. On the other side of the scale I would put Sussex, third in division two, in spite of losing only one match all season – they have had 10 draws in 14 matches. Their main overseas star has been Cheteshwar Pujara, a pure batter, and for a few matches, a side that was struggling to take 20 wickets was further skewed in favour of batting when they opted to allow Steve Smith to have some pre-Ashes batting practice. Pujara may have been justifiable, but signing a second overseas pure batter when struggling for wickets was on any reckoning misjudged.
A CLAIM FOR A PLACE ON THE INDIAN TOUR
England’s next test tour is to India, a place where spin bowling is important. The best specialist spinner in England is Jack Leach, and Rehan Ahmed is very promising young cricketer. In addition to these two I would draw attention to the man whose 800 runs and 40 wickets has helped Hampshire to third place in division one, Liam Dawson. If England go on a test tour of India without Dawson in the form he is currently enjoying their selectors will be guilty of dereliction of duty, as they will also be if anyone other than Foakes is named as keeper.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
aspiblog 