Tag: Butterflies

Dog in the Manger Day

An account of today’s match in the Women’s Hundred and a large photo gallery.

Todays women’s match in the Hundred featured last place Welsh Fire and second to last place Birmingham Phoenix, at the latter’s home ground, Fire’s elimination was already sealed, but big wins in their last three games plus a few results elsewhere going their way could still see Phoenix qualify.

THE WELSH FIRE INNINGS

Welsh Fire won the toss and chose to bat, virtually a mandatory decision since Edgbaston is a difficult chasing ground and Phoenix have not won a game when chasing in this year’s tournament. Beaumont swapped positions with Matthews in their order, moving up to open while Matthews came in at three. Dunkley started fast, but Beaumont’s promotion of herself did not work out as she hoped, the Fire captain scoring just 2 before she was out to make it 28-1. Matthews batted well, though scoring somewhat slowly, at number three, while Dunkley scored only the second 50+ score for Fire this season (their other such innings was also from her). Hannah Baker bowled her for 53 to make it 99-2 after 72 balls. Jess Jonassen came in at number four, and it was her contribution that would prove crucial to the result. It was Baker who was the main sufferer of Jonassen’s blitz. The young leg spinner had 1-15 from 16 balls, having accepted responsibility for bowling balls 91-95. She finished her allocation with 1-39, Jonassen having hit four successive sixes (the first two might both have been catches another day, so there was a measure of luck involved, but from 140 being in considerable doubt 160 was now on the horizon, with 150 a near certainty). The Aussie all rounder was out to the 98th ball of the innings, caught by Marie Kelly off Megan Schutt to make it 149-3. Jonassen had scored 44 from 17 balls. One further run accrued after her dismissal, so Phoenix had precisely 150 to defend, which given Phoenix’s chasing record meant the win was definitely on.

THE PHOENIX REPLY

Georgia Voll took a four and single off the first two balls of the reply, bowled by Shabnim Ismail. Then Ismail bowled Emma Lamb with the fourth ball of the reply, giving the opener a second ball duck. That, and the dot ball to Marie Kelly that followed earned Ismail a second straight set of five, and with her sixth ball she struck Kelly’s pads and the umpire’s finger went up. Voll at the non-striker’s end did not suggest a review and Kelly walked off, only for the replay to show that the ball would have gone down the leg side. Voll herself reviewed an upheld appeal by Jess Jonassen which looked to be fairly plumb, but to well nigh universal surprise the replay showed that this one would also have missed leg (most were reckoning that it would have missed both leg and off stumps, by the same margin). Voll and Perry shared a good partnership, though they were always dropping behind the rate. With the score at 61, 29 of them to Voll, Jonassen got revenge for the overturned LBW by clean bowling Voll, a mode of dismissal that cannot be sent upstairs. That was the 45th ball of the innings, and Hayley Matthews’ off spin rounded out the first half of the chase. With the 46th ball of the innings she inflicted a first ball duck on Amy Jones, also bowled. Jones’ choice of shot was foolish but it was also a good ball from Matthews. Sterre Kalis now came in and played a reasonable supporting role for Perry, who was playing a fine innings. The trouble was that Kalis was struggling to score. She seemed to have got going when she struck a six and a four in successive balls, but off the next delivery she holed out to Ismail to give Jonassen a second wicket. Ailsa Lister also struggled for runs, and after scoring four off six balls she aimed a big shot at her seventh ball. bowled by Jonassen, and succeeded only in picking out Ismail. Ismail then accepted responsibility for bowling balls 91-95 (the asking rate by then was basically a boundary per ball, so she was looking to kill the match before the last five balls had to be bowled). The 92nd ball of the chase effectively ended Phoenix hopes of rising from the ashes, both in this match and in terms of the tournament as a whole. Ellyse Perry, Phoenix’ sole remaining hope of a miracle fell to a catch by Jonassen off Ismail to make it 108-7, 43 needed off eight balls at 5.375 per ball. By the time Ismail finished her allocation, with 3-16, the target was 40 off five balls, and almost whoever was chosen to bowl the final five balls was highly unlikely to suffer a sufficiently epic attack of the yips to make that a genuine possibility. In the event the vastly experienced Matthews was entrusted with the task. In those five balls she accounted for both Schutt and Mary Taylor (Mary Taylor is one of twins, with her twin sister Millie also being in the Phoenix squad – Mary bowls medium pace, Millie left arm wrist spin) and gave away only three runs, two of them off the final ball. Phoenix thus finished on 114-9, beaten by 36 runs. That sent them to the bottom of the table, with Fire now above them. Fire had done the ‘dog in the manger’ thing – unable to qualify themselves they had at least played a part in preventing another team from doing so as well. Scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

If you are wondering about the strange colour of the Purfleet, it is a combination of pollution from a fire in an industrial building and the chemicals being used to neutralize the pollutants and minimize the amount of water that needs to be sacrificed.
This is not a hornet, it is a giant hoverfly that has evolved to resemble a hornet.
I am not sure what this insect is – I saw it on a wooden fence near Bawsey Drain.
This one needs to be seen at full screen size – it is a swarm of bees that I walked past on Columbia Way earlier today.

Three Teams, Two Spots

A look back at the two matches in the Women’s Hundred today and at the effect they had on the table, plus a photo gallery.

Today has been a ‘double double header’ day in The Hundred, and following my usual practice on such days I have listened to both women’s matches and am now tuned into the evening men’s match. This post looks back at what happened today and at how the table now shapes up.

WELSH FIRE v SOUTHERN BRAVE

Welsh Fire came into this match having lost all four of their fixtures this year, while Southern Brave had won all five of theirs. This should then have been an easy game for the Brave, and it looked to be playing out that way when Fire could do no better than 111 from their 100 balls batting first. However, although Brave seemed to have things under control for most of the chase they lost their way quite dramatically late on, and came very close to losing their unbeaten record this season. Off the penultimate ball of the match Georgia Adams played an airborne shot, Katie George made a superb effort in the field but dropped a desperately difficult chance and Adams was able to run the two that Brave needed to clinch the win with three wickets to spare. Fire performed excellently with the ball and in the field, but simply did not have enough runs to defend. Brave with six wins from six games have 24 points, and cannot now fail to qualify for Finals Day (and it will almost certainly be at the head of the table, getting them straight into the final). Fire by contrast are firmly pinned to the foot of the table, and even if every result from here on in goes their way cannot finish higher than fifth. Australian left arm spinner Jess Jonassen took 4-10 from her 20 balls for the Fire.

LONDON SPIRIT v NORTHERN SUPERCHARGERS

London Spirit won the toss and opted to bat first. That was the last moment at which anything went right for them. At low water mark they were 54-6, and over two-thirds of the way through their 100 balls. A minor fightback in the closing stages of their innings got them to 90-8, but that was miles short of a defensible total. Both openers for the Superchargers, Perrin and Davidson-Richards were out cheaply, but thereafter Phoebe Litchfield bossed proceedings, ably supported by another Australian, Annabel Sutherland. When Litchfield hit the winning runs in the form of her tenth four she moved to 55 not out off 38 balls, while Sutherland had 29 not out from 21 balls, and Superchargers had 34 balls as well as eight wickets to spare.

HOW THEY STAND

Southern Brave with a full haul of 24 points from six games are clear at the top. Northern Superchargers, Manchester Originals and London Spirit all have 16 points, also from six games each. Oval Invincibles have eight points from five games, which means that they are not quite out of it yet, but they are in the last chance saloon, with last orders having been called and the tables being cleaned and cleared around them, while Trent Rockets and Birmingham Phoenix are each on four points from five games, and will not feature beyond the group stage, and Welsh Fire, no points from five games bring up the rear. Even after todays wobbles the Southern Brave look by far the likeliest winners.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

A Record Winning Margin

A look back at this afternoons mismatch between the Southern Brave and Oval Invincibles women’s teams, a mention fo the closing stages of Manchester Originals v Northern Superchargers yesterday and a photo gallery.

The first half of today’s Hundred double header saw the Southern Brave and Oval Invincibles women’s teams clash in Southampton. The men’s match is currently underway. This post looks back at the extraordinary events of this afternoon.

A GOOD BATTING PERFORMANCE

Southern Brave openers Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Maia Bouchier both fired today (Bouchier 34 off 23 balls, Wyatt-Hodge 26 from 24 balls), Laura Wolvaardt scored 36 from 19 balls, Freya Kemp 19 from 11 and Sophie Devine 19 off 14. All of this added up to a Southern Brave total of 161-6 from 100 balls, more than ample for the best bowling unit in the tournament to defend one thought.

ONE PART GREAT BOWLING, ONE PART BAD BATTING

Oval Invincibles never got going at any stage, and wickets fell with ever increasing regularity. Only Tilly Corteen-Coleman, whose 1-25 from her 20 balls was still way less than Invincibles could afford, went for more than a run a ball. It was only a boundary from her penultimate ball that even pushed Bell’s ER for the day above half a run per ball. Only Joanne Gardner, with 10 off nine ball scored at better than a run a ball. Top scorer was leg spinner Amanda-Jade Wellington, not someone usually expected to figure seriously with the bat, with 18 from 18 balls. Probably the worst knock out of a terrible bunch was Marizanne Kapp’s 17 ball 10, somewhat worse than a total reversal of the required scoring rate. At low water mark Invincibles were 47-8, but Sophia Smale (another of the phalanx of left arm spinners featuring in this tournament) and debutant Daisy Gibb helped Wellington to raise the score by 25. Thus the final margin was 89 runs, the biggest in the history of the Women’s Hundred. Brave look to be winning the group outright, while Invincibles qualification hopes hang by the slenderest of threads – they need three wins from their remaining three games and a bit of luck elsewhere, and after the monstering they suffered today net run rate is not going to be their friend. Manchester Originals, successful by five runs over Northern Superchargers yesterday, courtesy of an exemplary display of death bowling from Ecclestone (who did enough with balls 91-95 to leave NSC needing nine to win off the last five) and Filer, who pretty much settled things with balls 96-98, conceding only one run, and causing Kate Cross, forced to go big, to hole down the ground to leave eight needed off two and a brand new batter on strike, look the likeliest challengers to Southern Brave – they also have a splendid bowling unit.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

This coin remains in my possession – I am reluctant to spend it, though I have not added it to my collection of railwayana.

Welsh Fire Woes

A look back at the matches between Oval Invincibles and Welsh Fire yesterday, which pretty much ended the qualification hopes of both Welsh Fire men’s and women’s teams. Also a photo gallery.

The Hundred is beginning to reach the stage at which teams have an idea of their likelihood of progression. One team who are all but certain not to progress in the Women’s and very unlikely to progress in the Men’s are Welsh Fire. This post looks back at yesterday afternoon and evening when they were at The Oval facing Oval Invincibles.

THE WOMEN’S MATCH

Oval Invincibles batted first, and largely thanks to Alice Capsey (55 off 34 balls) and Marizanne Kapp (47 not out off 32) they tallied 150-5 from their 100 balls, a fine score in this format in most circumstances. Sophia Dunkley batted excellently for Fire, but support was conspicuous by its absence. Second top scorer in the end was Katie George with 16, and the match ended with two dismissals that could have been mistaken for action replays of each other, Shabnim Ismail and Katie Levick, numbers 10 and 11, each going caught by Meg Lanning off Sophia Smale. The Welsh left arm spinner with the aid of these gift wickets at the end took 3-13 from 17 balls (the wickets fell to the 96th and 97th balls of the innings). The margin was 39 runs, and Welsh Fire, half way through their group fixtures (there are eight rounds of group fixtures as each side plays each other side once, with the exception of ‘derby’ fixtures which are played twice, the quotes round ‘derby’ because some of them are blatantly no such thing – Welsh Fire’s ‘derby’ is against Southern Brave, based in Southampton, which as far as I am aware has never had any rivalries with Cardiff based teams before) are yet to accrue a point. With only the top three qualifying for finals day (second play third for the right to face the group winners in the final) an even record of four wins and four losses, the best Fire can now achieve, gives almost a 0% chance of qualifying, and Fire’s net RR, the one thing that might give them hope, is an abysmal -1.444.

THE MEN’S MATCH

Invincibles also batted first in this one. Tawanda Muyeye, born in Zimbabwe, but now England qualified, and likely to play for them, and Will Jacks opened up with a stand of 76 from 39 balls, 38 for Jacks, 33 for Muyeye. This turned out to be a mere prelude to a thunderous assault by Jordan Cox, only playing for Invincibles because of an injury to Ollie Pope. Cox scored 86 not out from 29 balls, hitting 10 sixes and three fours along the way. Invincibles ended with 226-4 from their 100 balls, comfortably a new record for the competition. For comparison purposes this score equates to 271 in a T20. The most bizarre feature of a generally sick looking Fire bowling card concerned left arm spin bowling all rounder Saif Zaib. He bowled five balls, taking 1-6, and that was it, while the 95 balls bowled by bowlers other than him were spanked for 220 runs between them. No one actually went as many as 50, but Ajeet Singh Dale had 1-46 from 15 balls, which suggests that his and Zaib’s share of the bowling duties were the wrong way round. Unsurprisingly Fire never looked like getting anywhere close to chasing this monumental total down. They, like the women’s side earlier, ended up not batting the full 100 balls, being out for 143 from the 93rd ball of their innings. They have one win from four matches, and a dreadful net run rate. If they win all their remaining games they might qualify, but the odds are not on their side.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

An Unexpectedly Close Finish

A look back at this morning’s Hundred match between the Trent Rockets and Southern Brave women/s teams and a photo gallery.

The early match in The Hundred today featured Trent Rockets women playing host to Southern Brave women. This post looks back at the match.

LEFT ARM SPINNERS DOMINANT

The reason that this match becoming a close one was so unexpected was that Brave totally dominated the early exchanges. Tilly Corteen-Coleman, helped by some brilliant wicket keeping from Rhianna Southby (two stumpings, both beyond the capacities of a batter/keeper as opposed to a true keeper) took 4-13 from her 20 balls, all bowled in the first half of the innings. As well as bowling superbly the left arm-spinner also held two catches. At low water mark Rockets were 55-8. At this point another left arm spinner entered the picture, Kirstie Gordon. She and Alana King put on 51 together for the ninth wicket. That meant that Brave were 106 all out, the tenth wicket going to the 100th ball of their innings. Gordon top scored with 32 off 24 balls, Rockets skipper Ash Gardner had contributed 25 earlier in the innings, and King managed 24, with no else in double figures.

A CREDITABLE BOWLING EFFORT

It says much for the Trent Rockets bowlers that there were significant periods of the chase during which it felt like they might possibly defend this small score. It was the 95th ball of the innings, hit for four by Sophie Devine to reduce the ask to three off five balls that finally killed off the last hopes of a turnaround by the Rockets. Cassidy McCarthy accepted responsibility for bowling the last five balls of the match. Devine took a single off the first, the second was a dot, and Chloe Tryon hit the third for four to finally get Brave over the line. Maia Bouchier with 42 was top scorer, while Devine ended up on 41 not out. The margin was six wickets. Brave have now won four matches out of four, and the secret of their success is not hard to locate: their England seamer Lauren Bell is the leading wicket taker of the tournament so far, with Corteen-Coleman second on the list, and it is generally bowling resources that separate winners from also-rans. I could cite many examples from cricket’s long history to back this up, but will settle for reminding people of the history of RCB men in the IPL – for years they had devastating batting but comparatively second string bowling, and for all those years they never won the tournament, but in the most recent IPL they had for the first time assembled a properly balanced squad, and what you know, they won the thing. Scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

A Nailbiter in Manchester

A look back at this afternoon’s match between the Manchester Originals and London Spirt women’s teams, and a photo gallery.

Today’s round of The Hundred featured Manchester Originals playing host to London Spirit. Allegedly for next year the Manchester franchise will be the Manchester Super Giants, with the owners of IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants having bought the name change. The women’s match happened first as is standard in this tournament, and this post looks back at it.

THE ORIGINALS INNINGS

The Originals started slowly, and lost two early wickets as well. Kathryn Bryce was caught behind off Tara Norris, and then Amelia Kerr fell victim to some terrible judgement from Beth Mooney. The previous delivery had been a no ball, so this one was a ‘free hit’ ball, off which the only way one can be out is run out. Mooney went for a second with Kerr running to the danger end. The call was bad enough that although Eva Gray’s return was not world beating Kerr was barely even in the frame when the bails were taken off. Mooney now batted well, with Seren Smale playing the support role. However, just as Originals were thinking in terms of recovery Mooney was out, caught by Norris off Charlie Dean to make it 45-3. Scoring now virtually ceased, and although only one had been added to the score eight balls had elapsed since the Mooney dismissal when Smale was bowled by Sarah Glenn for 5 off 12 balls. Deandra Dottin top scored with 36, while Fi Morris and Alice Monaghan supported her. A final total of 122-6 looked inadequate.

THE LONDON SPIRIT INNINGS

For much of the chase Spirit looked to be falling short. They were given a chance when Deandra Dottin had a nightmare sequence, first a n0-ball hit four four, for a total of six runs, and then another six off the free hit ball. Suddenly Spirit were on terms. Grace Harris, who had struck those blows off Dottin reached a 32 ball half century off the 92nd ball of the innings. However, she had taken a single to get there and was thus at the wrong end. There were nine needed from eight balls at this point. Then Issy Wong was pinned LBW, and referred it upstairs, burning her side’s review when it was shown to be plumb. The 94th ball of the innings did for Dean in the same fashion. Sarah Glenn edged the hat trick ball past the keeper for four and that was five needed off five balls. The veteran Dottin was entrusted with the bowling at this crucial juncture. Two runs came off the 96th ball, and for the first time runs required were lower than balls left – three off four balls. The 97th ball was a yorker which Glenn could do no more than dig out for a dot ball. However the leg spinner then rose to the occasion on the 98th ball (the antepenultimate scheduled ball of the match), driving it through the off side for four to finally get London Spirit over the line. A quirk of the Originals deployment of their bowlers was that leg spinner Dani Gregory had 1-4 from five balls – she bowled one superb set and then was not used again. Scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

A Long Morning Walk

A detailed account of a long walk I took this morning, with plenty of photographs, Also a gallery of photos not related to that walk.

This morning it was bright, sunny and already showing promise of becoming the warm day it now is. I thus decided to make my morning walk a long one.

SETTING FORTH

I left by the back door, headed up the unnamed private road that runs behind my house, crossed Raby Avenue onto Smith Avenue, walked along that road to the point at which it swings 90 degrees and becomes Townshend Terrace, at which point I diverged by way of a short path that leads alongside a pond to Loke Road. Crossing Loke Road I then took Harefield Parade, alongside a second pond, this one with a curved edge. From the end of Harefield Parade I followed a footpath that leads into Kettlewell Lane Park. I left the path in Kettlewell Lane in order to walk alongside some bushes that often harbour insect life. There was one such sighting today. Then I walked along the bank of the Gaywood River until it was time to leave Kettlewell Lane Park and cross the main road at Eastgate Bridge. Having crossed the main road I took Highgate, past the Methodist Chapel, continuing until I reached the footpath that crosses the Gaywood and ultimately brings one out on Wyatt Street. I crossed Wyatt Street to another footpath section which runs alongside Eastgate Academy, joining Blackfriars Road about 100 yards from the train station. I made my way past the train station and into The Walks…

A bee in my back garden.
This I think is a supergiant hoverfly – it was on a nettle leaf in Kettlewell Lane Park
This was alongside the Gaywood River.

THE WALKS TO THE GREAT OUSE

Entering The Walks I headed on to St John’s Walk, which if you follow it all the way leads through past the Recreation Field to Tennyson Avenue, though on this occasion I followed it only as far as the sculpted sections of the Gaywood river the flow through this area of parkland. Shunning paths I walked right alongside the river, where there is a lot of plant life, and sometimes interesting insects. I left the river where my route intersected with the Broad Walk (which runs from directly opposite King’s Lynn library through to the home of King’s Lynn Town football club). I took the Broadwalk through the Guanock Gate and across the Gaywood, before then following a path that cuts through to a bigger path, which leads to the Seven Sisters Gate, by which I left the parkland. I followed the road until I reached a path that leads through to London Road, emerging near a light controlled crossing from which the South Gate is visible. I crossed London Road here and walked down past the South Gate, then swinging right, crossing the Nar, and leaving the road at a path that leads into Harding’s Pits. The path that I had chosen cuts another path that I might have chosen about halfway along its length, and I followed this path from the intersection to the Great Ouse…

ALONG THE GREAT OUSE TO PURFLEET QUAY

I now turned north along the Great Ouse, following the footpath until it joined the road at the Nar Outfall, and then after crossing the Nar I took the unsurfaced footpath that follows the dike around old Boal Quay and then on level ground runs alongside the wall that is part of King’s Lynn’s flood defences, coming out close to the river. I followed the town centre section of the river front past the pontoon jetty, at which several boats were moored, past the courthouse, past the Bank House hotel and across the mouth of the Purfleet, from where one gets a splendid view of the Custom House. I went via the display honouring famous mariners associated in some way with the town and the statue of Captain George Vancouver, who surveyed and charted the Pacific Northwest coast all the way from San Diego, California to Anchorage, Alaska (it took him four years – 1791-5 – to complete this monumental task, and in Canada there is a city named Vancouver). From Purfleet on, though I made one diversion, I was at all times headed towards home…

A composite image showing both the statue of Captain Vancouver and the plaque affixed to the stone plinth on which the statue is mounted.

HOMEWARD BOUND

I walked along Purfleet Quay past the Custom House, crossed King Street and headed along New Conduit Street, past the junction with the High Street, past the statue of King John (unworthy of my camera) and past the construction on the old Argos site that will be King’s Lynn’s new library and community hub when it is complete, then up past the old post office and St James’ Leisure Centre, and in to The Walks, and up past the station, at which point I diverted by way of Morrison’s where I had a small amount of shopping to do. The shopping attended to I left the environs of Morrison’s by way of a short footpath that leads from the carpark through to Highgate. From the point at which I met the footpath by which I left Highgate on my out my route duplicated the outbound route in reverse as far as Loke Road, at which point I headed along Loke Road, across Raby Avenue and on to Columbia Way, ultimately returning to my home via the front door.

Coming along nicely.
A solid looking insect, with an overripe blackberry in the top left corner giving it scale.
A close up of the insect.
I think this is a gatekeeper butterfly.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Just to wrap things up here is gallery of photos not from this particular walk…

This grasshopper was resting in a flower no more than 60 metres from King’s Lynn train station.

England Fall Short at The Oval

An account of an extraordinary hour of cricket this morning to end an extraordinary series, plus a look ahead to England’s winter tour and a photo gallery.

Play resumed today at The Oval with England needing 35 runs to win and having four wickets left. This post describes a crazy hour of cricket this morning.

THE END OF A GREAT SERIES

The weather had closed in after two balls of a Prasidh Krishna over yesterday evening, so he started proceedings this morning. Jamie Overton hit the first two balls of the day for fours, the first a superb shot, a pull that sent the ball in front of square for four, and the second an edge. Then came a huge moment, when Jamie Smith, the last front line batter remaining for England, was out caught behind. Overton and Gus Atkinson advanced the score to 354, 20 to win, 19 for the tie that would be enough to give England the series. Then Overton was given LBW, a very slow decision by umpire Dharmasena (so slow that Overton was actually at the bowler’s end having run an intended leg bye by the time the finger was raised). Overton reviewed it, and it was umpire’s call on wickets, just brushing the outside edge of leg stump. Some might argue that if it taken Dharmasena as long as it did to assess the situation there had to be doubt in his mind and therefore he should not have given it. That brought Josh Tongue in join Atkinson. Three runs later Krishna bowled Tongue to make it 357-9, and Woakes, his left arm in a sling (he dislocated a shoulder in a fielding attempt on day one, and was on the field for the first time since that injury) made his way to the middle, following in the footsteps of the likes of Lionel Tennyson, Colin Cowdrey, Paul Terry and Malcolm Marshall in batting one-handed in a test match (Tennyson actually scored 63 and 36 one-handed in the face of Aussie speedsters Jack Gregory and Ted McDonald). Atkinson did his best to advance the score, and Gill twice refused to alter his deep set field on the last ball of overs, allowing Atkinson to take the strike when India could have given themselves an over at the injured Woakes. On the second of those occasions the score ticked to 367-9, one big hit away from levelling the scores and winning the series for England. Siraj, who had bowled his heart out and must by this point have been pretty much out on his feet, took the ball for yet another over. With the first ball of the new over he hit Atkinson’s stumps, and just before midday India had won the match by six runs. The turning point that enabled all this drama, and England’s eventual failure by so slender a margin was Harry Brook’s crazy dismissal yesterday with England 301-3 and India looking every inch a beaten side. For the record Siraj’s marathon bowling efforts secured him the Player of the Match, while Shubman Gill was India’s player of the series for his 754 runs across the five matches and Brook England’s, with 481 runs in the series. A scorecard of the match can be seen here.

LOOKING AHEAD

This winter England travel to Australia to renew test cricket’s oldest rivalry. Australia hold The Ashes, and the last time an England side regained the urn down under was in 1970-1 when Ray Illingworth skippered the side to victory in the series that ended Bill Lawry’s playing career (England sides retained the urn down under in 1978-9, 1986-7 and 2010-11 as well). Can this England do the almost impossible? Possibly, though it will be incredibly difficult even for such a confident England outfit as this one. If the likes of Wood, Archer and Atkinson are fit on a consistent basis rather than the odd match here or there that will be a big help. Woakes will almost certainly not be able to tour, but I would probably not pick him for an Australian tour anyway – even fit he would be unlikely to make much of an impact there. More worrying is that England’s pig headedness has left them with an opener averaging barely more than 30 in test cricket and a number three averaging a little over 35 in test cricket (an a series in Australia is not the time to be blooding newcomers to the test scene). Although a little under five runs an innings separates these players there is another difference – Crawley’s test average is a near duplicate of his first class average meaning that he is quite simply not good enough at the job. Pope however has a magnificent record in first class cricket and has failed to translate that to consistent success at test level. I would like to see Rehan Ahmed’s form for Leicestershire recognized with a place in the squad. If England want to attempt to equip themselves with something approaching a replacement for Stokes the player (Stokes the captain and Stokes the talisman are irreplaceable) then Jordan Clark has a lot going for him. In all probability, if England are to prevail Stokes will to be both the Brearley and the Botham of the squad.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

An Unexpected Final Day

How the fifth and final match of the 2025 series between the England and India men’s teams is poised and a large photo gallery.

I had expected to be posting about the conclusion of the final test of the 2025 series between England and India today, but the weather at The Oval turned nasty, bringing an early close with the match interestingly poised. Therefore the series will finish tomorrow.

HOW THINGS STAND

This match has seen astonishing twists and turns. First Atkinson, returning from injury at his home ground, took five cheap wickets to restrict India to 224 in the first innings. Then England made a blazing start in response only to lose wickets in a heap thereafter to a combination of good bowling and more than a few bad (or in some cases downright stupid) shots. In the end their advantage was 23. England bowled well again, but their fielding was the stuff of horror stories – six catches were dropped (I would probably class the sixth as more of a great stop than a drop had the rest of the fielding been up to snuff) and one clear cut run out opportunity fluffed. With this generous assistance India built lead of 373. England were 50-1 coming in to day, with Crawley having again demonstrated his inadequacy as a test opener. At 106-3 with Duckett and Pope gone in addition it looked good for India, but then a great stand between Root and Brook seemed to have settled things in England’s favour. Then Brook gifted India his wicket in a truly bizarre way – he actually completely lost his bat while playing an aggressive shot and ended up caught at mid off. This shortly after completing a century, his tenth in test cricket, off 91 balls. Jacob Bethell had his second failure of the match, and then not very long after completing his 39th test century Root was caught behind for 105. Jamie Smith and Jamie Overton were together at the crease, struggling to score as the ball suddenly started misbehaving when a black cloud reduced the light sufficiently for the umpires to take the players off with the score 339-6. That cloud then released its contents, and shortly after 6PM Oval groundsman Lee Fortis confirmed to the umpires that there was no way the surface would be playable by the cut off time of 6:42PM and that was the end of day four. England thus need 35 with four wickets standing to win the match, 34 for test cricket’s third ever tied match which would also win them the series, while India need four wickets for 33 or less or level the series. Chris Woakes dislocated his shoulder in the course of diving for a ball on day one, and would only bat in extremis, just to add to the variables. This has been an outstanding series, meriting comparison with the 2005 Ashes series, and in many ways that third ever tie in test history would be the most appropriate way for it to end.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

You may recall that I showed a female Karner Blue in yesterday’s gallery. This picture taken on Monday has now been confirmed as a male of the same species, which is considered to be endangered.
The female Karner Blue

Combined XI for the England v India Test Series 2025

The selection of a composite team for the 2025 test series between the England and India men’s teams, now approaching an end. Also a photo gallery.

The five test series between the England and India men’s teams is nearing an end – we are on day three of the fifth and final match, and I am not entirely convinced that day five of this match will be needed. This post picks a composite XI for the series.

SELECTION CRITERIA

This is a team of this series, so it is based on performances that have happened within this series. However, I reserve the right to alter positions in the batting order if I deem it necessary (explanations will be provided). Please feel free to comment with suggested changes, but bear in mind the effect that these will have on the balance of the side.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. KL Rahul (India, right handed opening batter). Over 500 runs in the series, and even though Jaiswal (the unlucky candidate for an opening berth, Crawley being plain and simple not good enough) is going well in this innings a shoo-in for this slot.
  2. Ben Duckett (England, left handed opening batter). Just edges Jaiswal for this slot – both have contributed well at various stages.
  3. Shubman Gill (India, right handed batter, vice captain). At one time he seemed to have Bradman’s record aggregate for a series (974 in 1930) in his sights but has fallen off in the latter half of the series. Nevertheless, his deeds, including 430 across the two innings of the match India won, make him a shoo-in.
  4. Joe Root (England, right handed batter, occasional off spinner). Has had a fine series, highlighted by moving past Messrs Dravid, Kallis and Ponting to go from fifth to second in the list of all time test career run scorers.
  5. +Rishabh Pant (India, left handed batter, wicket keeper). Has been typical Pant with the bat, though hasn’t actually done a huge amount with the gloves this series due to injuries preventing him from doing so.
  6. Jamie Smith (England, right handed batter). England’s leading run scorer of the series, and because he plays as a pure batter in domestic red ball cricket I have given Pant the gloves ahead of him.
  7. *Ben Stokes (England, left handed batter, right arm fast medium bowler, captain). Has been talismanic this series, and England are really feeling his absence from the current match.
  8. Washington Sundar (India, left handed batter, off spinner). Made his maiden test century in the course of this series, and also did his part with the ball, including a cheap four-for in the second England innings at Lord’s.
  9. Gus Atkinson (England, right handed batter, right arm fast bowler). Has missed most of the series through injury, but he has taken eight wickets to date in the current match (and has been let down by his fielders this innings), which is enough for me to give him the nod.
  10. Akash Deep (right handed batter, right arm fast bowler). He claimed a ten wicket match haul in the only game India have won so far, and in the current match, where again India are looking in a strong position, he has contributed a maiden test 50, having been sent in as night watcher last evening and benefitted from some generosity from England’s fielders.
  11. Jasprit Bumrah (right handed batter, right arm fast bowler). The best fast bowler in the world at the moment, although India have fared better this series in the matches he has missed, his own personal performances have been splendid when he has been fit.

EXPLANATIONS/ HONOURABLE MENTIONS

I played Gill at number three rather than number four because both number fours have had great series, and none of the number threes have done especially well (if mandated to play someone who batted at three in the series I would select Pope and drop Root, but under strong protest – Pope has had an adequate series, whereas neither Sudarsan nor Nair have made a big score from number three for India). I opted to promote Gill because he is well used to batting up the order, whereas Root famously dislikes the number three slot.

Even though he fits less well with Root’s part time off spin than does Jadeja I opted for Sundar at number eight because he has done more with the ball than Jadeja this series, and I wanted to honour his maiden test century (for my money England’s petulant reaction to India’s refusal to accept the draw the very instant it became available was entirely indefensible).

The fast bowlers were problematic because only Siraj has played the entire series, and he has not been all that impressive except in being better at staying in one piece than the others. However all three of my picks have great individual performances to their credit, Deep’s 10-for being a clear cut match winner.

Gill has handled the captaincy reasonably well, but not well enough to get the job over Stokes, though I have endeavoured the show a measure of respect for his leadership by explicitly naming him as vice captain.

Duckett over Jaiswal was practically a coin flip of a choice, and I have no objection to those who resolve that decision either way. Anyone raising a voice on Crawley’s behalf merely demonstrates their lack of cricket knowledge.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

This comes from work – I am currently assembling (and imaging) day one of a stamp/ postal history sale, using the lots and handwritten descriptions thereof which I type up.
A graphic of my selections.
I spotted this near the end of my lunch time walk, more or less equidistant between the discovery centre and my home. It has been identified for me as a female Karner Blue butterfly.