Tag: Cormorants

England’s Undeserved Point

A look back at the England Women’s cricket team’s luckiest ever day, escaping with a point from a match in which they were utterly outplayed, and a lot of photographs.

Today’s match in the women’s cricket world cup saw England facing Pakistan in Colombo (this tournament is officially being held in India, but the Indian government refuse to allow Pakistanis, even Pakistani international cricketers, into their country, so Pakistan are based in Colombo). Such action as there was took place in three stanzas. The photos in this post will come in three parts, in natural breaks in the format of the post.

INSWING FLOORS ENGLAND

Pakistan won the toss and put England in to bat. England had two changes, both caused by illness. Em Arlott replaced Lauren Bell while leg spinner Sarah Glenn was in for the world’s number one ranked ODI bowler Sophie Ecclestone.

Pakistan bowled beautifully, albeit with quite a few bad balls thrown in. England scored rapidly, but lost wickets even more rapidly. Both openers went cheaply, and so too did Heather Knight and Natalie Sciver-Brunt. At 39-4 England were in deep trouble, and it would get deeper. Emma Lamb, an opener in domestic cricket, has barely been able to buy a run since England crowbarred her into their middle order, and she failed again today. Sophia Dunkley tried to play left arm spinner Sadia Iqbal off the back foot and was LBW for 11 to make it 57-6. Charlie Dean dug in with typical determination, but with the score having inched up to 78 Alice Capsey was LBW – she reviewed it in desperation, but it was pretty much plumb. One more run came before with the completion of the 25th over rain forced the players from the field. England at this juncture were 79-7, and unlike Australia who had had a similar score line against Pakistan but had escaped there was no frontline batter left to play the Mooney role in any turnaround.

A MINI-REVIVAL AND DLS

When play was finally able to resume the match had been reduced to a 31 over per side match, meaning that England had six overs left to bat. Those six overs were England’s best period of play by far. They scored 54-2 from those six overs, giving them a final total of 133-9 from 31 overs. Quite rightly in view of the calamitous early part of their innings and the fact that only having six overs to bat had definitely worked in their favour this target was adjusted downwards. Pakistan would resume after a 10 minute innings break needing 113 to win. Charlie Dean with 33 from number eight in the order was the only English batter to even get as far as 20. Sarah Glenn with 18 from number nine was joint second top scorer alongside Knight.

These fungi (and I could have taken many more pictures of them than I actually did) are growing in St Peters Garden outside the church of St Peter and St Paul in Fakenham

PAKISTAN START WELL

Pakistan’s openers, Muneeba Ali and Omaima Sohail, started well. Not only were England not taking wickets as they needed to, they were not really threatening to do so. However with Pakistan 34-0 from 6.4 overs and in cruise control the rain returned and this time it did not let up, and the match was abandoned. That meant one of the most undeserved points you will ever see for England, official confirmation of Pakistan’s elimination, and a bad taste in the mouth of any genuine cricket fan who was following proceedings. I am English, but my sense of justice prevails here. The only emotions the England players should be feeling about today are shame and embarrassment – there have been few teams in any sport I would suggest who have been this humiliated and still emerged with a share of the spoils.

I spotted this enormous patch of fungi near a tree in The Walks, not too far from the Red Mount Chapel.
With their slender stalks and the shape of the caps these fungi put me in mind of little umbrellas.

OTHER LUCKY ESCAPES

England do not stand quite alone in escaping with a share of the spoils after being thoroughly humiliated – few events in the history of a sport as old as cricket are truly unique. In the 1992 men’s world cup Pakistan were bowled out for 74 in a group match against England, and then it rained and the points were shared. Pakistan pulled their socks up after that shocking performance against England and went on to win the tournament.

In 1907 Northamptonshire probably suffered the worst humiliation of any side to escape with a share of the spoils in professional cricket. They were playing Gloucestershire in Gloucestershire in a heavily rain affected match. Gloucestershire totalled 60 and 88, with Gilbert Jessop managing 22 and 24, a performance at least as valuable as twin tons on a good batting pitch, while Northamptonshire were all out for 12 in their first innings (George Dennett 8-9, that man Jessop 2-3) and 40-7 in their second innings (Dennett 7-12 including a hat trick) when the rain made its final intervention.

England Win in Colombo

A brief look back at happenings at the Women’s cricket world cup on Thursday and yesterday, and account of today’s match in Colombo and two photo galleries.

Although today’s match dominates this post I make mention of a couple of others as well.

THURSDAY AND YESTERDAY

Tuesday and Wednesday both saw threats of upsets, but in each case the big side came good in the end. On Thursday we finally saw an upset. For most of the chase it looked like India were in charge, but then Nadine de Klerk, batting at number eight, came to the party. An astounding display from the spin bowling all rounder saw four sixes in the space of 2.5 overs (the first two balls of the 47th over, the third and fifth of the 49th). That last six, de Klerk’s fifth in all, took South Africa to victory with seven balls to spare. In total de Klerk scored 84 not out from 54 balls. Remarkably the innings that seemed to have given India enough to defend, Richa Ghosh’s 94, was also scored from number eight, though I cannot comment on that innings other than the bare detail since I was at work while it was being played.

Yesterday I missed the New Zealand innings (see my previous post) but got to hear most of the Bangladesh reply. This match was a familiar tale for Bangladesh and Pakistan at this tournament – a respectable bowling performance but the batters were simply not up to the task. Chasing 225 Bangladesh were at one point 33-6, and although they fought back somewhat from that nadir the final margin was over 100 runs in the Kiwis favour.

GALLERY ONE

SRI LANKA v ENGLAND

The start was slightly delayed by a wet outfield, but both sides stuck to their spin heavy selection plans. Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bowl, which did not worry Natalie Sciver-Brunt and England in the slightest since they would have batted first in any case.

Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones began brightly before a combination of an over-optimistic call by Beaumont and a hesitation on the part of Jones cost the latter her wicket. Sri Lanka fared well once they had broken this partnership, but they made a crucial error when a catch offered by Sciver-Brunt, then on 3, went to ground. While no one else made a major contribution the England skipper batted through, cautiously at first, and finally blazingly aggressively in the closing stages of the innings. Her 117 off 117 balls with nine fours and two sixes was the highest individual score of the tournament so far and got England to 253-9, which looked enough.

With 18 runs on the board Sri Lanka lost Chamari Athapaththu to a calf issue – she left the field on a stretcher, but after treatment it was confirmed that she would be able to resume her innings. Vishmi Gunaratne was bowled by Charlie Dean for 10 (9) to make it 37-1, but then for a time Sri Lanka prospered. It was Sophie Ecclestone who changed all that. A high water mark of 95-1 degenerated to 103-4 in the space of 2.2 overs, with the tall left armer dismissing Hasini Perera with the aid of a catch by Alice Capsey, Harshitha Samarawickrama to a fine running catch by Lauren Bell and Kavisha Dilhari clean bowled. There was the merest hint of a revival after that, but 13 runs later Ecclestone effectively terminated Sri Lanka’s interest in proceedings by clean bowling the restored Athapaththu with a beauty for her fourth wicket of the innings (at this stage she had 4-5). In the process of spinning this web from which Sri Lanka could not extricate themselves Ecclestone reached 30 wickets in ODI world cup matches, in just her 12th such game, five matches fewer than the previous quickest to that mark. Sri Lanka resisted with sufficient determination that their last wicket fell with only 4.2 overs of their allocation left, but the margin of 89 runs tells a truer story of this one-sided match. Sciver-Brunt picked up a couple of wickets in this phase to go with her century, and was the last player to touch the ball in the match, holding the catch off Linsey Smith that dismissed Udeshika Prabodhani.

GALLERY TWO

My usual sign off…

England Off to Winning Start at Women’s ODI World Cup

An account of England’s start at the Women’s ODI World Cup, against South Africa in Guwahati. Also a large photo gallery.

The latest edition of the women’s ODI world cup got underway this week. India beat Sri Lanka in the tournament opener, Australia beat New Zealand in the second match, which was harder fought than the eventual 89 run margin suggests – Australia were at point struggling at 127-5, and it was only their immense depth that enabled them to escape from there. Yesterday Bangladesh beat Pakistan by seven wickets. Bangladesh in that game opted for only one front line seam option, with five recognized spinners in their line up. That sole seamer, Marufa Akter, was named Player of the Match, having struck twice in her first over, a start from which Pakistan never recovered. Today saw England in action against South Africa, meaning that all sides have now played one match. The rest of this post looks back at that match.

ENGLAND v SOUTH AFRICA

This match took place in Guwahati in the far north-eastern corner of India. England won the toss and opted to bowl first. They pretty much followed the Bangladesh pattern of selection, going spin dominant, with Lauren Bell the only specialist seamer in the XI, though they also had Natalie Sciver-Brunt’s medium pace available to them, though giving her a full allocation given her recent injury issues would probably have been ill advised in game one of a long tournament. There was little sign of things to come in the first over, bowled by Bell, from which nine runs accrued. That was the last time anything really went South Africa’s way. Linsey Smith took the new ball at the other end to Bell, and her second ball accounted for Laura Wolvaardt, who essayed a drive and succeeded only in sending the ball straight back to Smith who took the return catch. The other opener, Tazmin Brits, was bowled by the first ball of the fourth over, Smith’s second, with the left arm spinner still yet to concede a run, and it was 12-2. South Africa could not come to terms with losing both openers so cheaply. In the fifth over Bell clean bowled Sune Luus to make it 17-3. Three balls later Linsey Smith clean bowled Marizanne Kapp for 4 and it was 19-4. Anneke Bosch and Sinalo Jafta managed a 12 run stand before Sciver-Brunt’s first ball as England skipper (she had been unable to bowl all summer) pinned Bosch so plumb in front that even with the dismissal making the score 31-5 the South African did not bother to go upstairs. Exactly two overs later Chloe Tryon was caught by Capsey off Sciver-Brunt for 2 and it was 38-6, and record books were being consulted for all time low scores in the format. The seventh wicket added 10 careful runs before the first ball of the 14th over saw Nadine de Klerk drive loosely at Sophie Ecclestone and succeed only in edging to slip where Heather Knight held a sharp catch to make it 48-7. Masabata Klaas managed to bat a little time (13 balls in total), but only accrued three runs before Charlie Dean bowled her and it was 60-8 in the 18th over. Sinalo Jafta, the only Protea to reach double figures, had got to 22, and batted pretty well, when she essayed a wild hoick against Ecclestone, missed and was bowled to make it 60-9. When those who are supposed to be able to bat have failed this epically one cannot expect a great deal from numbers 10 and 11, with no batting pedigree whatsoever, and in the circumstances Ayabonga Khaka (6 not out, a slight overachievement compared to her career batting average) and Nonkululeko Mlaba (3) did as well as anyone could have expected. It was Dean who took the final wicket, bowling Mlaba to make it 69 all out from 20.4 overs. Every England bowled who got on claimed at least one wicket, Linsey Smith finishing with 3-7 from four overs, while Sciver-Brunt, Dean and Ecclestone each took two wickets and Bell one. With only 70 to get the question was exactly how comprehensively would England end up winning. Tammy Beaumont never really got going but was not going to miss out on an opportunity to boost her batting average with a ‘not out’ – such opportunities are rarely granted to openers and she has been around a long time. Amy Jones did get going, and her unbeaten 40 from 50 balls put the South African collapse into perspective. Beaumont was 21 not out from 35 balls and South Africa gave away 12 extras (as compared to 8 by England). England won by 10 wickets with 35.5 overs to spare, and will go into their second match with a net run rate of +3.773.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

The Vitality Blast Quarter Finals

A look back at the Vitality Blast quarter finals and a photo gallery.

The Vitality Blast is England’s original domestic T20 competition, and although it has to an extent been usurped in the pecking order by The Hundred it remains a high quality tournament. The last few days have seen the four quarter-finals. This post looks back at those matches.

HOW THE QUARTER-FINALISTS ARE DECIDED

The Vitality Blast is a county competition involving the 18 first class counties. They are split into two groups of nine, a North Group and a South Group (these designations are a little woolly – Northamptonshire, just about into the midlands, is designated north, while Gloucestershire and Glamorgan, both probably further north than Northamptonshire, are designated south). These groups play what is not quite a full league format – 14 group games, which is two fewer than would be a full league. The quarter-finalists are the top four teams in each group and they face off as follows: first in group one at home to fourth in group two, second in group one at home to third in group two, second in group two at home to third in group one and first in group two at home to fourth in group one.

THE MATCHES

The first match between Surrey and Northamptonshire was reduced by rain to 14 overs a side. A combination of this and an amazing innings from 40 year old Ravi Bopara for Northamptonshire did for Surrey. Bopara hit a century at almost two per ball, which was the chief reason Surrey were set a target of 11 per over to win. Surrey were never really in the hunt in the chase, and after two successive years of the south providing all four semi-finalists a northern side had booked a slot on Finals Day (Edgbaston on Saturday).

The second match saw Hampshire face Durham. Durham won the toss and opted to chase. The wheels instantly came off for them, Chris Lynn playing a brutal innings. By the end of the six over Power Play 86 were on the board and Dirham’s fate was pretty much sealed. Durham hauled things back somewhat from there, but Hampshire still amassed 221 from their 20 overs, and Durham were always well behind the rate, ending up beaten by 26 runs.

Lancashire v Kent was an absolute thriller. Kent only managed 153, but they took wickets regularly enough that at no stage could Lancashire be said to be cruising. The one wicket they could not get was that of Livingstone, and he scored the winning run with nine balls and three wickets left.

Somerset against Bears (Warwickshire, in anticipation of a move to a franchise type system, which in the event became a whole new tournament, The Hundred, adopted a new name for the T20 squad, and though the tournament remains a county T20 event they still use the new designation) did not look being a thriller until the final over. Sean Dickson kept Somerset officially in the hunt for their target of 191, but with 19 needed off the final over it did not look likely. However Dickson proceeded to score 2,6,6,4,1 to take Somerset home with a ball to spare. Dickson’s final score was 71 not out off 26 balls, meaning that his team mates managed 120 from 93 balls, equivalent to a full innings score of 155, or defeat by 35 runs had Dickson done no more than match his colleagues.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

The Heritage Open Day brochure.
The map showing (most of) the sites
The text about the site where I shall be stewarding.
An interesting little fungus, seen beside the section of the Gaywood that flows past the Red Mount Chapel.
A Little Egret with its catch.

England Men’s ODI Side Struggling

A look at the problems England men are having in their ODI series against South Africa men and a very large photo gallery.

There is an ODI series in progress between the England and South Africa men’s sides. This post looks briefly at what has happened so far.

MATCH ONE: SO BAD I MISSED ALL THE ACTION

The first match of the series happened on Tuesday, a working day. It was a day/night fixture so I was expecting to catch the second innings after I got home from work. Unfortunately England were so atrocious that I missed all the action. First they crashed to 131 all out, then it took South Africa only just over 20 overs to knock this derisory target off. Sonny Baker, making his first appearance in England colours after some great successes in domestic cricket, including The Hundred, leaked 76 runs from seven overs.

MATCH TWO: BETTER BUT NOT GOOD ENOUGH

The second match, at Lord’s, was also a day-nighter. This one did go the distance, and in theory was a close one. However, save for when Bethell (58 off 40 balls) was firing on all cylinders England were always behind the rate, and there was never any great feeling that a successful chase was a likely outcome. The closeness of the final result (five runs in it) was largely down to a bat fling by Jofra Archer with all pressure eased because the game was to all intents and purposes already done. The Barbados born fast bowler scored an unbeaten 27 from 14 balls to reduce but not close the gap between the sides. All rounder Corbin Bosch, whose bowling stock in trade is right arm fast medium, was allowed to bowl his ten overs with figures of 1-38, which with a victory target of 331 was indefensible from England. The other thing to note here is that Lord’s is well known for being a hard ground on which to chase, and if England had any confidence in their ability to set a respectable target they would surely have opted to do so. The disaster in the first match meant that Brook apparently did not even consider batting first when the coin fell his way.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

A cormorant pretending to be a black duck, overlooking the sculpted part of the Gaywood in The Walks (two pics).
Common sandpiper, spotted near the mouth of the Nar while on my way to a WNAG committee meeting this morning.
Some King’s Lynn townscapes from various vantage points, starting with the centre of the bridge linking West Lynn to South Lynn (further north there is only a ferry crossing available).
Two planes flying together.
The focus here is on the pontoon jetty.
This one comes from earlier this evening – the particular buddleia plant overlooking Bawsey Drain.

A Supercharged Performance

A look back at today’s final of The Hundred (women’s), a showcase of the cockling boat, the Baden-Powell and an image gallery.

Today is Finals Day in the Hundred. The men’s match between Oval Invincibles and Trent Rockets will be underway shortly. I was out yesterday attending a christening, so only found out after the fact about what had happened in the Eliminator matches. This post is mostly focussed on today’s final.

PRELIMINARIES

Southern Brave came into the final having won all of their group matches, while Northern Superchargers were coming off the back of an amazing Eliminator match. Davina Perrin, 18 year old opening batter for the Superchargers, scored a century off a mere 42 balls, as Superchargers set a new competition record score of 214-5, winning by 42 runs over London Spirit. Both sides were unchanged, which meant that Southern Brave had gone through the competition using only 11 players – no changes to the team at any stage. Northern Superchargers won the toss and chose to bowl first.

THE BRAVE INNINGS

Grace Ballinger (left arm medium) opened the bowling and bowled ten balls straight through for only six runs, but no wickets. Kate Cross conceded six from the next five balls. Balls 16-20 were bowled by Annabel Sutherland, and an economical first four were spoilt when the fifth was dispatched for six, the first of the match. The 23rd and 24th balls began to swing things Superchargers way. Of the first of them Bouchier mishit an attempted drive and was caught by Armitage at extra cover, and then the second was an absolute beauty and clean bowled number three Laura Wolvaardt for a first ball duck. The hat trick ball was a wide, and a single came off the 25th legal delivery of the innings. The Power Play ended with Brave 30-2 from 25 balls, Cross 2-15 from 15 of those deliveries. The diminutive Aussie medium pacer Nicola Carey came on immediately the Power Play was done and her first ball went for four. Just as Wyatt-Hodge seemed to assuming control of proceedings Sutherland got one through her defences to make 43-3 from 40 balls, Wyatt-Hodge out for 25 (20). Sophie Devine, one day short of her 36th birthday, and Freya Kemp carried Brave to the halfway stage of their innings with the score 55-3. Devine was fairly sedate given the format, but Kemp started to look threatening, hitting several boundaries as the three-quarter way mark approached. One ball before that landmark Devine was dismissed for 23 to make it 90-4, which was still the score at the three-quarter way point. Progress had been remarkably even – 30 from the 25 ball Power Play, 60 from the middle 50 balls, with two wickets lost in each section of the innings. Freya Kemp had reached 26 when she was caught by Carey off Sutherland to make it 92-5. Two runs later Brave skipper Georgia Adams pushed a ball straight down the pitch, set off and was hopelessly run out to make it 94-6 after 86 balls. Four balls later Kate Cross had finished her day job, with 2-23 to show for her 20 balls, and with ten balls to go the score was 95-6, meaning that in 16 balls a mere five runs had accrued and three wickets had fallen. Mady Villiers, in at number eight for Brave provided some late impetus, striking three boundaries in the closing stages, as Brave scored 25 from the final ten balls of their innings. A score of 115-6 looked modest even on a pitch that was not all that easy to bat on, but if anyone could defend such a score Brave could.

THE SUPERCHARGERS CHASE

Davina Perrin could not repeat her heroics of the previous day at The Oval, but she did score 17 off 11 balls before Bouchier took a catch off Devine to dismiss here. That was 28-1 from 24 balls, and it brought Phoebe Litchfield, Superchargers number three, and my chosen number three when I picked my team of the tournament to the crease. She started superbly, making the struggles of others look like the match was happening on two different surfaces. 40 balls into the innings rain forced the umpires to take the players off briefly. At that point Litchfield was going at better than two per ball. The interruption was not long enough for any balls to be lost from the match, but it was enough to disrupt Litchfield, who never got going on the resumption, going caught by Bell having top edged an attempted sweep against Tryon for 26 (13), making the score 59-3 from 44 balls. Carey joined Sutherland, and got busy from ball one. By the three-quarter way stage Superchargers were 97-3, needing 19 off 25 balls to win. They suffered no stutters, though Sutherland had one moment of great good fortune when Lauren Bell’s last ball of the tournament brushed one of the bails but did not remove it, the bail lighting up briefly to indicate that it had been hit but settling back into its groove atop the stumps. That freakish non-wicket meant that Bell went wicketless for the only time of the tournament – 0-19 from 20 balls. Off the 88th ball of the chase, bowled by Brave skipper Adams, Sutherland hit a six down the ground and Superchargers had won by seven wickets with 12 balls to spare. Sutherland had scored 28 not out from 25 balls, and her compatriot Carey finished 35 not out from the same number of balls. Carey was named player of the match, and Litchfield’s 292 runs for the tournament saw her named Player of the Tournament. An official attendance (calculated at the midpoint of the match to deal with the “they were only there for the men’s match” chauvinists) was 22,542, a record for any fixture in the history of The Hundred (Women’s), and brought the attendance for the tournament to 349,000. Full scorecard here.

THE BADEN-POWELL IN ACTION

This is by of an aperitif to the image gallery that ends this post. The Baden-Powell is an old cockling boat, and this morning while I was out walking it went out on the Great Ouse. I have two videos and six still images to share.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Delayed Gratification for England Women

A look back at yesterday’s rain reduced second ODI between the England and India women’s teams and a large photo gallery.

Yesterday the second ODI of a three match series between the England and India women’s team took place at Lord’s. This post looks back at the match.

RAIN STRIKES

The match was supposed to start at 11AM and be 50 overs per side, but it rained and for a long time did not let up. Play was eventually able to start at 3PM, with the match reduced to 29 overs per side (there is some flexibility built into the playing hours for poor weather). England won the toss, and with overs reduced and further reductions possible they opted to bowl first. India struggled, especially against Sophie Ecclestone, who seems to back to something close to her best after a brief layoff earlier in the season. The tall left arm spinner had 3-27 from her six overs, and her wickets were those of Harleen Deol (number three), Harmanpreet Kaur (number four) and Richa Ghosh (number six). Harmanpreet Kaur has a had a miserable time with the bat on this tour, and with an ODI world cup in India next up and her being already 36 years old she may well opt to bow out of international cricket in front of a home audience. India’s woes were compounded by some poor game management from Deepti Sharma in the closing stages of their innings – she did not manage to face anything like enough of the bowling herself, exposing tail enders to far too much. There was one particularly bizarre seven ball sequence in which she first refused a single so as to be on strike at the start of an over (sensible), then took a single off the first ball of the over anyway, and then at the end of the over did allow her much less skilled batting partner the strike by going through for a single on the last ball of the over. India ended their 29 overs with a score of 143-8. Beaumont and Jones made a rapid start to the chase, and after Beaumont was out Nat Sciver-Brunt, fit enough to bat but not to bowl, maintained the momentum. More rain came with England 102-1 from 18.4 overs. England, well ahead on DLS, needed there to be eight more balls for it to constitute a match. Eventually the weather cleared in time for a resumption at 7PM, with England’s innings now reduced to 24 overs and their target adjusted down from 144 to 115. India were deliberately slow to take their places in the field, and one of their further efforts to delay things in the hope of the rain returning before the 20 over mark arrived and sealed their doom saw them send an appeal for caught behind off a delivery signalled wide upstairs, even though keeper Ghosh had said (heard by everyone courtesy of the stump mic) that there had been no edge. The review was of course confirmed as a burn, and the 20 over mark came and went with no sign of further rain. Amy Jones did reach the highest score of the game, 46 not out, but then got herself stuck at the wrong end, and Sophia Dunkley, who had come in after the second ball on the resumption had got rid of Sciver-Brunt, drilled the last ball of the 21st over straight down the ground for four to take England to the adjusted target with eight wickets and three whole overs to spare. Ecclestone’s three crucial wickets earned her the Player of the Match award, and the teams will reassemble on Tuesday for what is now a decider. Scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off (still a generous gallery, though yesterday in particular was not the best day for photography)…

The Closing Stages of the County Championship Round Two

A look at what is happening as the second round of County Championship 2025 fixtures draws towards a close.

Those matches that have not already been decided are into the final session of play for this round of county championship matches.

HEADING FOR A DRAW

Surrey and Hampshire are still in action at The Oval. Yesterday evening saw a splendid spell of fast bowling from Sonny Baker. A combination of the fact that Surrey wanted quick runs for a declaration and the youngster nailing some searing yorkers saw him claim 5-26 in a five over spell. That gave him innings figures of 5-80, his maiden first class five-for. Surrey declared at 342-9, an overall advantage of 377. A bizarre mini-session then ensued, with Surrey chopping and changing bowlers according to the extent to which the umpires were worrying about the light. Rory Burns, with two wickets in a 203 match first class career, even gave himself an over (the alternatives at that stage with pacers ruled out were the even more comical offerings of Sibley and Pope). Hampshire, imagining that an early close due to the light was inevitable, sent Brad Wheal in to bat as a night watcher with 13 overs still scheduled. Then when he was out Hampshire then sent Baker, the bowling hero, in as a second night watcher. He too failed to make it to the close, and at that stage Surrey looked favourites. However, only one wicket has fallen today, Fletcha Middleton late in the morning session. Since then Nick Gubbins and Toby Albert have staged a very impressive rearguard action, which looks likely to save Hampshire, though the new ball has generated a little excitement.

ELSEWHERE

Yorkshire made a bit of history last night when they completed a victory over Worcestershire by the margin of 504 runs, the biggest runs margin ever in a first class county match (the overall FC record is 725 runs for a game in India, with the test record the 675 by which England beat Australia at the Exhibition Ground in Brisbane in 1928, the first test ever played in Queensland’s capital city). Somerset have been beaten by Sussex after a gallant but unavailing last wicket stand between Lewis Gregory and Jack Leach). Last week I criticized Sussex for overcaution. This week I am putting Leicestershire on blast for downright cowardice. Coming into today they were already over 400 runs ahead of Derbyshire, so an overnight declaration was surely indicated (even that looks cautious – surely they should have given themselves at least a short burst at Derbyshire last night), but no, Leicestershire batted on for almost 40 minutes, extending their advantage to 448 and more or less killing the game. Derbyshire are looking like emerging with the draw without really breaking sweat due to Leicestershire’s failure to make a serious effort to win the match when they had the opportunity to do so.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Random Jottings

A piece of bizarreness from the IPL and a win for the good guys in Wisconsin, plus a large photo gallery.

My main reason for posting is that I have a large photo gallery to share. However I have a couple of small things to share as well.

AN UNBEATABLE RECORD

I was at work yesterday and by the time I was in a position to tune in to the commentary on the IPL match (Lucknow Super Giants v Punjab Kings) there was no real point doing so as it was obvious which way the match was going and there could be no big finish. However, I did keep a cricinfo tab open. Thus I was able to see with my own eyes the calling of officially the most pointless ‘strategic time out’ ever, and while it might be equalled and I can be certain that will not be surpassed: LSG had scored 171-6 from their 20 overs, and at the end of the 16th over of the reply PBKS were 171-2 – scores level, the chasers with eight wickets standing and four whole overs available in which to get that run! It actually took until the second ball on the resumption for PBKS to complete the job.

WINNING IN WISCONSIN

Ordinarily I probably would not even have been aware of an election of a new judge in Wisconsin, but Elon Musk had been putting huge amounts of money behind one particular candidate in the hope of altering the political balance of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. As far as I am concerned a defeat for Elon the Execrable counts as a win, so I am pleased to be able to say that Musk’s candidate has been defeated.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Cardiff Caper

A look at yesterday’s Women’s Six nations clash between Wales and England and a photo gallery.

Yesterday in the women’s Six Nations rugby England travelled to Cardiff to take on Wales at the Principality Stadium. England has won comfortably in their opener against Italy, but the Italians had given a good account of themselves in the second half, albeit one not reflected by them scoring many points of their own. Thus they went to Cardiff looking for a complete performance, not just another win.

THE FIRST HALF

Wales started fast, with Jenni Scoble scoring the first try of the match, which was duly converted. England hit back hard with three tries in the next ten minutes, the first from Meg Jones, not merely possessed of a Welsh surname but an actual Welsh speaker. The second try was scored by Sarah Bern, by dint of sheer power. With 27 minutes on the clock Feaunati scored her second try of the match and England’s fourth to secure the bonus point. That was it for first half scoring, but it was clear that holding England at bay was the limit of Welsh capabilities.

THE SECOND HALF

If the first half had been impressive the second half was downright frightening from England, as they absolutely steamrollered the home side. First Ellie Kildunne showed why she is rated by many as the best female rugby player on the planet right now by scoring a hat trick of tries in the space of about ten minutes. Abby Dow was the next to make her presence felt, scoring England’s eighth try. Try number nine came from Abi Burton, who has been through health problems of sufficient magnitude that at one point she was in an induced coma. Dow scored her second, which took England to 60 points. Then in the dying embers of the match Burton, only on the field for seven minutes, scored the second try of an astonishing international debut, with the conversion ending the match. The final score was Wales 12 England 67, and England were not especially flattered by that score line. This tournament, at least for England, is really a warm-up for the upcoming world cup, of which England are hosts. On the evidence of this performance few would dare to bet against the home side lifting that trophy.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…