Insects – Page 15

Strikers Struck Down

An account of today’s WBBL fixture, between Adelaide Strikers and Melbourne Renegades. Also a large photo gallery.

Today the WBBL saw Adelaide Strikers take on Melbourne Renegades at the Karen Rolton Oval. Strikers, winners of both the previous two editions of the WBBL had won only one of their five games, so they knew that defeat would effectively end their qualification hopes. The Renegades, wooden spooners last year, were looking to put themselves right in the mix near the top of table. This post looks back at the match.

THE STRIKERS INNINGS

Major scores from Tahlia McGrath, 49 off 24 balls, and Smriti Mandhana, 40 off 25 balls were supported by Laura Wolvaardt, 27 off 26 balls and Katie Mack 19 off 19 balls. At times it seemed likely that Strikers would top the 200 mark, which even at a ground as batting friendly as the Rolton Oval would have been a formidable total. However they lost wickets in the later stages of their innings, and in the end it took a wonderful cameo of 24 off 12 balls from the young Irishwoman Orla Prendergast to get Strikers to their final total of 185-8. Prendergast was run out off the last ball of the innings, correctly going for the extra run. .

Hayley Matthews, of whom there will be a lot more later, had 2-28 from four overs, and Sarah Coyte 1-19 from three overs.

THE RENEGADES CHASE

Hayley Matthews and Courtney Webb scored well, though at a little less than the required rate. Webb retired hurt for 37, with the Renegades score on 90. The first actual wicket was that of Capsey, who replaced Webb at the crease, and scored 4 before being caught by Prendergast off Darcie Brown to make it 101-1. That brought Deandra Dottin in to join fellow West Indian Matthews. This pair took complete control of proceedings. At one stage it looked like a century was a possibility for Matthews, but then a blitz by Dottin killed that possibility but brough the possibility of a 50 for her into the equation. Matthews ended the chase off the first ball of the 18th over, the boundary she hit taking to 85* off 54 balls, while Dottin had 46* off just 18 balls. Megan Schutt bowled three overs for 21 amidst the carnage. Madeline Penna, brought on as a white flag gesture with the game well and truly lost, has I suspect set a new record for the worst ER in a WBBL innings – her first delivery was a wide which did not go to the boundary, but off which Matthews and Dottin ran two extra runs, to make the damage three, and her second was the match winning boundary, meaning that her official figures read 0.1-0-7-0 for an ER of 42.00. Matthews was unsurprisingly named Player of the Match for her magnificent performance.

This hammering leaves Strikers adrift at the foot of the table on two points from six matches. Even if they win every remaining match they will have an exactly even win/loss record, and given how bad their net RR is, even with four teams qualifying for the KOs they are unlikely to make it. Anything less than four straight wins from here will definitely confirm their elimination. I consider having four teams out of eight qualify for KOs a trifle generous, but it is not as ludicrous as the men’s equivalent tournament, where five teams out of eight qualify, which means that you genuinely can make it through with an overall losing record. Renegades meanwhile are up into second place for the present, and are highly likely to qualify for the knockouts. Scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Today has been a sunny day, and as a result the insects have been out in force…

WBBL10 Double Header

A look back at today’s WBBL10 double header and a large photo gallery.

There were two back to back Women’s Big Bash League games starting early this morning UK time. This post looks back at both.

THE MELBOURNE DERBY

Melbourne Renegades won this match by 15 runs – 146-6 for them, 131-9 for the Stars. The big story of the game was the performance of WBBL debutant Charis Bekker. The 20 year old leg spinner was only playing because of an injury to Sophie Molineux, but I suspect that her place is now secure. She recorded figures of 4-0-9-1, quite astonishingly economical in this tournament – and that wicket was the key one of Meg Lanning. Bekker was correctly named Player of the Match for this performance. Alice Capsey for the Renegades played the innings of the contest, a blistering 33 (15) that gave her side a much needed injection of pace. Naomi Stalenberg (26 not out off 17) and Nicole Faltum (29 off 23) helped to ensure that the momentum provided by Capsey wasn’t entirely dissipated. For the Stars the only batters who came close to doing the needful were Deepti Sharma (23 off 20) and Marizanne Kapp (16 off eight). Kapp was also the best of the Stars bowlers with 2-22 from her four overs. Scorecard here.

HEAT v STRIKERS

This was a real rarity – a WBBL game at The Gabba (Brisbane Heat are normally confined to Allan Border Field for home matches). Adelaide Strikers won the toss and put Brisbane Heat in to bat. Indian star Jemimah Rodrigues hit 61 off 40 balls, backed up by Grace Harris (33 off 22 balls), Jess Jonassen (32 off 21 balls) and Nadine de Klerk (23 not out off 10 balls at the death). With these key contributions Brisbane Heat tallied 175-6 from their 20 overs.

Strikers made a disastrous start to the chase, being 15-3 with all of their top three (Katie Mack, Smriti Mandhana and Laura Wolvaardt) out for single figure scores. Shikha Pandey, Charli Knott and Nicola Hancock had a wicket a piece. Tahlia McGrath and Bridget Patterson stopped the collapse, but scoring remained slow. McGrath suffered a credulity testing dismissal – medium pacer Nadine de Klerk bowled a wide, and Georgia Redmayne pulled off a spectacular stumping. That was 54-4 after 9.4 overs, so 122 needed off 10.2 overs – and cricinfo’s Win Predictor had Heat on 95%.

Madeline Penna joined Patterson, and the pair fared well, though not quite as well as they needed to. With five overs to go Strikers were up to 105-4, 71 short of victory, meaning that the fifth wicket stand was worth 51 in 5.2 overs. The pendulum swung one way and then another through overs 16, 17 and 18. By the end of the 18th Penna and Patterson were still together, and they needed 35 off the last two overs.

The 19th over, often crucial in chases of an magnitude, yielded 16 of those runs. The meant that Strikers needed 19 off the final over. As well as having plenty to defend Heat had one further advantage – the experienced Indian Shikha Pandey was available to bowl that over. With two balls to go Strikers needed 11 to pull off a spectacular heist. Pandey kept her nerve and bowled two excellent deliveries, from each of which a single accrued meaning that Heat were home by eight runs. For the record Patterson ended up with 61 not out off 47 balls, and Penna who was chiefly responsible for keeping the match alive until deep in the final over had 59 not out off just 30 balls. Rodrigues, whose 61 off 40 had helped Heat to what proved to be a winning total benefitted from her team’s success and was named Player of the Match.

This result leaves Strikers cut adrift at the foot of the table, with just two points from five games. Heat have played a game more and are one of five teams to have amassed six points, while Melbourne Stars and Hobart Hurricanes each have four points from five games. With there being only ten games in the group stage Strikers are in definite jeopardy. Scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

WBBL Logjam

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

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

THE TABLE

Women’s Big Bash League

Team	M	W	L	PT	NRR
ST-W	3	2	1	4	1.158
MS-W	3	2	1	4	0.775
PS-W	3	2	1	4	0.352
BH-W	4	2	2	4	0.133
MR-W	4	2	2	4	-0.156
HH-W	5	2	3	4	-0.227
SS-W	4	2	2	4	-0.407
AS-W	4	1	3	2	-0.900

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

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

TODAY’S MATCH

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

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Deeply irresponsible by whoever set a fire here, so close to trees…

Livingstone, I Presume

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

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

A CORRECTION TO MY PREVIOUS POST

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

AN ODD BALANCE

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

LOTS OF OPTIONS, NO PLAN

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

A CAPTAIN’S INNINGS

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

LOOKING AHEAD

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

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

England Make Dreadful Start to ODI Series in West Indies

A look at the early stages of England’s ODI tour of the West Indies and a photo gallery.

An England men’s white ball squad is currently in the West Indies for a three match One Day International series. This series has been arranged because England owe West Indies a favour dating back to 2020, when it was West Indies who travelled to play in England under stringent covid restrictions, and have not been able to repay it until now. This post looks at what has happened so far.

THE ENGLAND SQUAD

England travelled with a necessarily experimental squad, the multi-format players being required for the upcoming tour of New Zealand the start of which overlaps with this one.

ENGLAND’S CHOSEN XI

England named four debutants in the XI – Jacob Bethell, a batter who bowls a bit of left arm spin, Dan Mousley, enough of an off spinner to be described as a batting all rounder, Jamie Overton, making an ODI debut at the age of 30 and down to bat at number eight an known to not be fit enough to bowl, and John Turner, a fast bowler and number 11 batter. The side as a whole was inexperienced, with Adil Rashid, a leg spinner officially listed to bat at number ten, having more career ODI runs than any of his team mates. However, no degree of inexperience could excuse the horror show of a batting performance that was about to unfold.

FAILURE TO ADAPT

West Indies won the toss and put England in to bat. For all that is named in honour of an all time batting great and one of the first players to truly master the art of limited overs batting, the Sir Viv Richards Stadium rarely provides pitches on which batting is straightforward. On that basis one might argue that a total of 204 in 45.2 of a possible 50 overs was not a terrible achievement. However, it was the manner in which the innings developed that was so very disappointing. Virtually every dismissal was self inflicted, and the mistakes leading to those dismissals were all of the same type – essaying cross batted shots on a pitch on which hitting the ball straight was a necessity. One or two such dismissals could possibly be allowed for, but the collective failure/ refusal to adapt to the nature of the pitch was inexcusable. Liam Livingstone and Sam Curran batted best in a poor display, but neither could get as far as 40.

The West Indies was delayed by rain, and then interrupted again by more rain, but there was not enough rain to save England. Evin Lewis played a superb innings which put the ‘efforts’ of the England batters into sharp perspective.

A large part of the problem (and something that the ECB are to blame for) is that the best English white ball players only now play 50 over cricket in an international setting – the English domestic One Day Cup because of when it takes place is basically a tournament for second team and youth cricketers. Thus they approach the game with a T20 type mindset and rapidly become impatient if they are not scoring at high speed. The second match of this series takes place today, starting at 1:30PM UK time.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

The England Tour Party to New Zealand and Other Stuff

A look at the England Men’s touring party for New Zealand, an auction lots related photo gallery, an account of Heat v Renegades in the WBBL and a regular photo gallery.

In addition to the selection of the tour party to New Zealand I will be mentioning today’s WBBL match between Brisbane Heat and Melbourne Renegades. There will be two photo galleries, a small one separating the two cricket segments and the main one at the end.

THE ENGLAND TOUR PARTY TO NEW ZEALAND

The England men’s squad for their tour of New Zealand was announced yesterday:

Jamie Smith was known to be missing this tour as he is taking paternity leave. Jordan Cox is an odd choice as keeper, as he hardly ever does this job in domestic cricket. Oliver George Robinson, a superb keeper who has just had a season in which he scored 900 FC runs at an average of 48 is entitled to feel aggrieved. I have talked about Woakes overseas before, and I still consider him a waste of a spot. Jacob Bethell is a talented young player, but surely if England were looking to usher a youngster on to the international stage James Rew of Somerset would have been a better choice. I also feel, especially given that current number three Ollie Pope is coming off a shocking series in Pakistan (55 runs in five innings), that Josh Bohannon could have been considered. Finally, no one who has seen the selections of my all time XIs could suggest that I of all people do not appreciate spin bowling, but I find it hard to imagine a New Zealand strip on which the selection of even two out of Jack Leach, Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir is justified. At best I would say that the selectors deserve 5/10 for this effort, and that is probably erring on the side of generosity.

AUCTION PURCHASES

I mentioned lot 731 in my post about the coin/ banknote/ cheque element of James and Sons’ most recent sale (see here) but that was one of three lots (all very cheap) that I secured over the two days. Lots 369 and 374, railway postcards, went under the hammer while I was at work, but I had put in bids in advance. This gallery shows those lots, and my subsequent treatment of them.

Lot 369 – an outside view of St Pancras station

BRISBANE HEAT v MELBOURNE RENEGADES

Renegades won the toss at Allan Border Field, Brisbane and put the home side in to bat. Grace Harris made a brief but dramatic contribution: her first ball was the fifth of the opening over and she smacked it out of the park. She top edged the next delivery and the bowler, Sophie Molineux exacted revenge for the previous ball by taking a return catch. That was 7-1 after one over. Georgia Redmayne was now joined by Lauren Winfield-Hill and they had a good partnership for the second wicket. Molineux was involved in Winfield-Hill’s dismissal for 26, catching the number three’s clip off the bowling of Georgia Wareham to make it 73-2. Charli Knott managed a single before Emma de Broughe took a catch off Hayley Matthews first ball of the match to make it 78-3 after 9.1 overs. At that point drinks were taken, rather than wait for the end of the 10th over. New batter Jess Jonassen and Redmayne took six off the remaining five balls of the tenth over and Heat were 84-3 at the halfway stage of their innings. Off the last ball of the 11th over Dottin had Redmayne caught by her opposite number, Nicole Faltum, for 44, which made it 86-4. Laura Harris now played a brilliant innings, making full use of the Power Surge. Her 31 off 16 balls, along with a few other contributions, notably 11 not out off seven balls from Grace Parsons at the end of the innings got Heat to 169-8 from their 20 overs.

Renegades made a blazing start to the chase, largely through Hayley Matthews. However Grace Parsons now took centre stage with the ball. First she had Matthews caught by Laura Harris for 35 which made it 51-1, then three balls later she had Alice Capsey stumped for a duck to make it 52-2. Then in the eighth over, her second, she had Deandra Dottin given LBW which made 59-3. Courtney Webb was run out after a fine return from Grace Harris and some quick work from bowler Shikha Pandey caught her out of her ground. Thereafter Renegades were never in the hunt. Some late hitting by Naomi Stalenberg (38 off 23 balls) lessened the damage that Renegades’ net run rate took but did not affect the final result. Renegades ended on 141-9, giving Heat the win by 28 runs. Parsons, who even with her final over costing 13 had 3-22 from her four overs as well as that 11 not out in the Heat innings was a shoo-in for Player of the Match. Scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Walking back from the bus stop once the clocks have gone back (it was still absolutely full daylight last week).

Thunder Blown Away by Hurricanes

An account of today’s WBBL match (Hobart Hurricanes v Sydney Thunder) and a photo gallery.

Today’s match in the WBBL was between Hobart Hurricanes and Sydney Thunder.

THE HURRICANES INNINGS

Sydney Thunder won the bat flip and put Hobart Hurricanes in to bat. Lizelle Lee was out cheaply, but Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Nicola Carey had a good partnership for the second wicket, and then Elyse Villani offered Carey further support. At the halfway stage of their innings the Hurricanes were 64-2 and looking set for a big score. They took the Power Surge (in this competition sides get four overs of standard Power Play at the start of the innings and a two over Power Surge which must be taken in the second half of the innings) immediately, and scored 28 runs from the two overs. At 92-2 after 12 overs 170 looked to be possible and 160 to be no mare than par. Then came a horrendous collapse which started with the dismissal of Carey for a fine 52 and saw four wickets tumble for just 12 runs. Tabatha Saville batted well at number seven, and found some useful late support from Molly Strano, who scored 9 not out off just five balls. The spinners had fared far better than the seamers. Shabnim Ismail’s pace was ineffective, leaving her with 0-30 from four overs, while Hannah Darlington, thad a disastrous 2-0-28-0, although veteran Sammy-Jo Johnson went for just 19 from her four overs and took a wicket. Pick of the Thunder bowlers was left arm spinner Samantha Bates who had 3-20. Hurricanes had amassed 141-7 by the end of their innings, 92-2 off the first 12 overs and 49-5 off the last eight overs.

THE THUNDER REPLY

There are few better options when spin is going to be key than Molly Strano, and the Hurricanes entrusted her with the first over of the innings. The very first ball of the Thunder innings pinned Sri Lankan ace Chamari Athatpaththu who had earlier claimed 2-26 from four overs of off spin plumb LBW. Athapaththu was somewhat slow to leave the crease, but it was one of the plumbest LBWs you could ever see. Phoebe Litchfield survived the remaining five balls of the over, but was not able to score off any of them, thus giving Strano the first maiden of this year’s tournament. Kathryn Bryce, the Scottish all rounder who bowls medium pace, was given the second over and conceded 14, which ended her participation as a bowler. The third over was Strano’s second, and six runs accrued from it. Lauren Smith, another off spinner, bowled the fourth over, and Georgia Voll was dismissed, holing out to Chloe Tryon in the deep to make it 24-2. Tahlia Wilson and Georgia Adams fell for 3 a piece, off four and six balls respectively and it was 38-4 in the seventh over. Anika Learoyd now offered Litchfield, who was playing beautifully after her slow start, the only serious support she would enjoy all innings. Litchfield reached a magnificent 50 off 36 balls, but then suffered a remarkable dismissal – Heather Graham, a medium pacer, fired one wide of the stumps and Lizelle Lee executed a smart stumping. The delivery was signalled wide, but one can be stumped off a wide, and Litchfield had to go, making the score 91-5. Sammy-Jo Johnson, a big hitter on her day, fell cheaply to make it 96-6. Two runs later Nicola Carey effectively ended the contest by bowling Learoyd for 29 to make it 98-7. 44 runs of 5.4 overs is not difficult if you have front line batters available to score them, but when you down to numbers 8,9,10 and 11 it is a major ask. Ella Briscoe and Hannah Darlington added 10 runs together for the eighth wicket before Heather Graham ended what had been a horror day for Darlington by bowling her for four. That was 108-8, which immediately became 108-9 when a mix-up between Ismail and Briscoe saw Ismail suffer that rarity, a zero ball duck (run out 0, having not faced a ball). By this stage were Thunder were a long way behind the required run rate as well. Samantha Bates who had earlier bowled so well got a single, and Briscoe also added a single to her score before the last ball of the 18th over, bowled by Tryon with her left arm spin, clean bowled Bates to make 110 all out and victory to the Hurricanes by 31 runs. Other than Bryce’s single expensive over the most expensive Hurricanes bowler was Tryon with 2-19 from three overs for an ER of 6.33. Heather Graham had 3-19 from her full four overs. Nicola Carey, one of the two half centurions in the match and also the possessor of figures of 3-0-18-1, was named Player of the Match.

After the first 12 overs of this match had yielded 92-2 the last 26 produced a combined 159-15. Bryce in that one over apart the Hurricanes seamers had realized that pace on the ball on this pitch just asked to be hit and deliberately slowed themselves down.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Rawalpindi Rout

A look at England’s capitulation in Rawalpindi and a photo gallery in two parts.

England went into day three of the third and final test of the Pakistan v England series with three second innings wickets gone and a deficit of 53 to overcome just to get on terms (see here for the first two days). This post looks at the events of today.

A COLLAPSE

Root and Brook began well for England, but England were still in deficit when Brook was fourth out, caught behind off Noman Ali for 26. The deficit had still not been cleared when Stokes had a brain fade and allowed a ball from Noman Ali to hit his pads when he was right in front of the stumps. Root at the non-strikers end, recognizing a hopeless case when he saw it, told Stokes not to waste a review. Jamie Smith essayed a big hit against Sajid Khan, missed and was bowled, which made England effectively minus 2-6. England were in credit, but only just, when Root edged Noman Ali to the keeper to be out for 33. Gus Atkinson and Rehan Ahmed added 12 runs to the score before Atkinson, who has probably never batted on a genuine turner before, was bowled by Sajid Khan for 10. Rehan Ahmed also got a good one from Sajid Khan, with the same result as in the Atkinson case. Leach had an LBW verdict overturned on review, but shortly afterwards had a huge heave, missed and was stumped. England were 112 all out, leaving Pakistan needing a mere 36 to win.

PAKISTAN FINISH IN STYLE

Leach and Bashir opened the bowling, but this target was never going to pose a threat, and Pakistan treated the situation as it deserved, taking a mere 3.1 overs to knock the runs off. Skipper Shan Masood, coming in after the loss of Saim Ayub, hammered 23 not out of six balls, hitting four fours, a single, and then off the first ball of the fourth over the six that officially confirmed Pakistan as winners of both match and series. Saud Shakeel’s 134 earned him Player of the Match, while Sajid Khan’s wickets, lower order runs and general aggression netted him Player of the Series. Noman Ali had claimed 21 wickets in two matches with his left arm spin, as a 38 year old who was making just his 16th and 17th test appearances. Sajid Khan had 18 wickets in those two games, with the one that got away being Jamie Smith in England’s first innings of this match, leg spinner Zahid Mahmood’s sole strike.

AN ENGLAND REVIEW

Though the England second innings capitulation looks obvious as a cause of the disaster it was not the most significant element of the match. England underperformed in the first innings after winning a valuable looking toss – the only seriously misbehaving ball of that innings was the one that kept low on Ben Duckett, so 267 was definitely a poor score.

Worse still was the failure of both bowling and leadership when England had Pakistan 177-7 in reply. Saud Shakeel, a formidable batter, was allowed to accumulate without let or hindrance, while Sajid Khan and Noman Ali showed their batting skills, which are better than usual for numbers nine and 10 in an order at the other end.

The England spinners were not up to the task. Leach, by far the most experienced, performed worst of the trio, with the other two both having their moments. However, all were guilty of failing to vary their pace, whereas Noman Ali and Sajid Khan both did vary the pace of their deliveries over a fairly wide range.

England have only one batter who actually knows how to handle the turning ball, and Root did not find his best form in either of the matches that were played on turners. The rest of the order for the most part are deeply unimpressive against spin.

Incidentally, across the border in India, New Zealand, who England will be visiting shortly, took an unassailable 2-0 lead in their three match series. Before this India had last lost a home series in 2012, and New Zealand had never won a series in India.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Today’s photo gallery comes in two parts…

Part two…

An unlikely sighting for an English October!

England in Trouble in Rawalpindi

A look at the the action during the first two days of the third test of the Pakistan v England series in Rawalpindi and a large photo gallery.

The third and final test match of the series between Pakistan and England got underway in Rawalpindi yesterday morning. This post looks at the events of the first two days.

THE PRELIMINARIES

England had called up Rehan Ahmed and with Carse having problems with a foot injury Atkinson replaced him in the XI. This meant three front line spinners (Leach, Bashir and Ahmed) and only Atkinson as a specialist pacer, with skipper Stokes second option in that department. Pakistan were unchanged. The pitch had had giant fans blowing on it to dry it out more for the spinners. England won the toss and chose to bat.

THE FIRST DAY

Duckett batted well and reached a fine 50 before getting out. The rest of the top six did little worthy of mention, and at 118-6 England looked in deep trouble. However, Atkinson batted well in support of Smith who batted very impressively, and by the time I left to catch the bus to work the score had risen to 158-6. I was to find out later that the England recovery continued, and they got to 267 all out, before reducing Pakistan to 73-3 by the close of day one.

DAY TWO

England had a good morning, and at one stage Pakistan were 177-7. That score had increased by 10 when lunch came at 8:30 UK time (session times on Fridays in Pakistan are different from on other days – the morning session is extended, then the lunch break lasts an hour to incorporate time for Friday prayers, and the afternoon and evening sessions are a little shorter). The afternoon session was the first of two where the match appeared to swing decisively. England captured only wicket in that session, and Pakistan, withNoman Ali attacking, and Saud Shakeel accumulating sensibly and without fuss against field settings that were designed to prevent boundaries but as a consequence allowed him to score ones and twos more or less at will, scored 90 runs, levelling the scores. The evening session began with a period of absolute carnage, as Sajid Khan, the number 10, laid about him in spectacular fashion. The lead raced past 50 in the sixth over after the interval. The scoring reined in after that, but runs continued to accrue. Finally, with the lead standing at 70, Atkinson induced a miscue from Shakeel whose magnificent innings of 134 (223 balls, just five fours and thus a lot of running) came to an end with a tame catch to sub fielder Matt Potts. Seven further runs accrued before Sajid Khan exposed number 11 Zahid Mahmood to the wiles of Rehan Ahmed. One ball from leg spinner to leg spinner was sufficient to end the innings, Zahid failing to pick the googly and being bowled. Rehan Ahmed had 4-66 for the innings, Shoaib Bashir, chief victim of the post tea onslaught, had 3-129, but the real disappointment among the England spinners was Leach, more experienced than the other two combined, who on a surface that was offering assistance had 1-105 from 31 overs. Atkinson, on a surface on which he should have been a non-factor, had 2-22 from 12 overs.

England lost both openers to LBWs , one to Noman Ali and one to Sajid Khan. With the score 20, Pope who had amassed a single, gave a catch to Salman Agha off Noman Ali. Root and Brook joined forces, and had added four runs when the umpires decided that the floodlights were now dominating the natural light and took the players off, ending play for the day, with England 53 runs behind Pakistan and having seven second innings wickets standing. Failure to finish off opposition innings is becoming a recurrent problem for this England side, and the batting of the top three in the second innings was disastrous. They should have learned by this stage that playing back foot strokes against spinners on this surface is a recipe for disaster, but both openers perished essaying exactly such shots.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Massive Auction Success

Some highlights from a remarkable auction that took place today, and a photo gallery.

Today saw the second day of James and Sons’ October auction. Under the hammer were mainly coins, but also some banknotes and cheques. This post looks back at a sale that was the stuff of dreams.

A FAST START

Some bidders were actually present at James and Sons HQ in Fakenham, there was at least one telephone bidder, and the both the online platforms used for our auctions, the-saleroom.com and easyliveauction.com were well patronized (I was following the action by way of the latter). Lot 501, with an estimate of 1,500-2000 soared to 3,800.

A UK 1980 gold proof set showing the heads side.

LOT 502 – THE ULTIMATE TRIUMPH

Lot 502, a rare (so rare that my employer, who has been in the business almost 60 years and one of whose specialities is coins has never previously auctioned one) 1911 specimen coin set carried an estimate of 3,000 – 5,000. By the time the auctioneer’s verbal description of the item was complete the bidding was already close to the £10,000 mark, and by the time the bidding finally stopped the hammer price was £11,800! I have been involved with James and Sons for 11 and a half years and this is comfortably the highest price I have seen for a single lot of any type in all that time…

The set in its display box, heads side uup

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

After a start like that the rest of the auction was bound to be somewhat ‘after the Lord Mayor’s show’, but a few items succeeded spectaculalrly.

Lot 639, a Queen Victoria penny with an estimate of 50-60 was in relative times the success of the whole auction, going for an eye-popping £1,100

Lot 647, a gold coin from the reign of George III not in the best condition, went for £340.

Lot 670, a Canadian five cent coin from 1885 fared even better, fetching £380.

Lot 673, a Canadian gold coin of recent vintage expected to fetch 15-20 ended up going for £80.

Lot 705 was the last big success of the auction (the auction ended at lot 756), going for £160.

I bring this section to an end with an item that did not fare especially well. Lot 731 was knocked down to me.

PHOTOGRAPHS

A reminder that all pictures can be viewed at a larger size by clicking on them. Now for my regular photo gallery.

	Aoteroa Axed by Ahme… on South Africa Finnished as Alle…
	Thomas on World T20 Cup Underway
	Anna on World T20 Cup Underway
	London Underground t… on Project Piccadilly
	Thomas on All Time XIs – Detective…