Tag: Insects

My Team of the 2023 ODI World Cup

My world cup team of the tournament in more detail than the BBC website allows, plus a large collection of recent photographs, including a new bird sighting.

The BBC have an exercise running inviting visitors to their cricket section to pick a team of the tournament which I have just done. I am going into a bit more detail here than the website allows and will list an official 12th man, something again prohibited.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. +Quinton de Kock (South Africa, left handed opening batter, wicket keeper). A last hurrah in this format for one his country’s greatest ever limited overs players, and it has been one to remember, with a number of fantastic knocks.
  2. *Rohit Sharma (India, right handed opening batter, occasional off spinner, captain). He has led his side superbly and is very likely to be holding the trophy aloft in about 50 hours from now. His batting contributions even when not massive scores have made big impacts, getting India away to fast starts and taking pressure off those coming in later.
  3. Rachin Ravindra (New Zealand, left handed batter, part time left arm orthodox spinner). This has been a break out tournament for the Indian born New Zealand left hander, and he has had moments with the ball as well as with the bat.
  4. Virat Kohli (India, right handed batter, occasional right arm medium pacer). Has had a great tournament, in the course of which he has become the first to reach the career landmark of 50 ODI centuries.
  5. Azmatullah Omarzai (Afghanistan, right handed batter, right arm medium fast bowler). The young all rounder has been consistently impressive for a side who punched way above their weight at this tournament, making a very serious run at qualifying for the semi-final (at the opposite end of the punching vs weight scale would be England who failed to land a blow on anyone of any significance until it was far too late to be of any use to them).
  6. KL Rahul (India, right handed batter, occasional wicket keeper). Has been a steady hand when India have needed one – in their very first match of the tournament he came in at 2-3, when it seemed like all the good work of the bowlers could be going to waste and saw his side to victory, and there have been many other notable performances from him since then.
  7. Ravindra Jadeja (India, left handed batter, left arm orthodox spinner). Has made some useful contributions as India’s last recognized batter and has always been tidy with the ball. He is also probably the finest fielder of his generation, and has had a major impact in that department as well.
  8. Mohammad Shami (India, right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). The 8-11 in this team may need some rejigging in terms of where they actually bat – I was concerned to get the right bowlers, and not overly worried about their actual positions. He was not initially in the Indian starting line up, but has been superb since getting the chance. In the semi-final against New Zealand he became the first Indian ever to take a seven-for in an ODI, and he is for me a shoo-in for Player of the Tournament even if he doesn’t have a great day on Sunday.
  9. Gerald Coetzee (South Africa, right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). Has bowled with fire and enthusiasm – he has the best wicket celebration of any bowler at this tournament, a celebration he has been able to demonstrate quite frequently.
  10. Jasprit Bumrah (India, right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). One of the best bowlers of the current generation, and though his figures are not on a par with Shami’s, he has looked every inch the great bowler he is at this tournament.
  11. Adam Zampa (Australia, leg spinner, right handed batter). Has had an excellent tournament and is no small part of why his side have made the final. I have no witnessed enough of Zampa the white ball bowler to make a massive call and say that he is the best white ball leg spinner his country has ever had (yes in limited overs cricket he rates ahead of SKW for me).
  12. Glenn Maxwell (Australia, right handed batter, off spinner). He played on of the greatest ODI innings ever seen to win his side the match against Afghanistan, but unlike Omarzai who I selected he has not been consistently impressive. I have thus named him as 12th man.

This side his great batting power, a quality keeper, a reserve keeper available in the form of Rahul if needed and a stellar bowling unit. Omarzai as sixth bowler gives genuine flexibility in the unlikely event of one of the front five having a poor day.

ALTERNATIVES

Obviously, even with the tournament limited to ten teams, there has been an absolute galaxy of talent on display, and sensible cases could made for lots of the players concerned. Please feel free either to use the BBC cricket site’s tool to select your XI or use the comments section here to explain your thinking. This is my team of the tournament and I will stick to it. It is no coincidence that three of the the five front line bowlers have come from the team who I fully expect to see lift the trophy – it is the teams with the best bowling units who usually win out in the long term.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Time for my usual sign off…

This unusual sighting is if my bird book is to be trusted a goldeneye duck – it is smaller than a mallard, and much more of a diver.
Not bad to get this view of Ely Cathedral through a train window.

All Time XIs – ODI Special

In the absence of live cricket to write about I have created a clash between a team of players from before ODI cricket was a thing and a team of ODI players to do battle with one another. Also a photo gallery.

There is no live cricket today, so with the ODI World Cup 2023 approaching its final phase I have decided to produce a contest between two XIs – one of players whose careers took place before ODI cricket existed (with one very minor exception explained when we come to him) and one of ODI players. The following playing conditions would apply to what would be a five match ODI series: only one new ball per innings – using two as happens currently deprives us of old ball skills such as reverse swing because a ball that is only in use for 25 overs doesn’t get old, two minute time limit between a wicket falling and the new batter being ready to face (I am not expecting any ‘Timed Out’ dismissals but I am making sure that situation is covered anyway) and my own playing condition regarding overs not bowled within the time limit: The batting side to be awarded 10 runs or twice the current scoring rate, whichever is the greater, for each unbowled over, counting incomplete overs as ‘unbowled’ for this purpose.

THE PRE-ODI XI

  1. *WG Grace (right handed batter, right arm bowler of various types through his career, good close catcher, captain). His commitment to attacking cricket is without question, his captaincy record is superb, and he was the dominant cricketer of his era.
  2. Frank Woolley (left handed batter, left arm orthodox spin bowler, excellent close catcher). A fast scorer, a fine bowler and an excellent close fielder. Only one cricketer ever achieved the first class career treble of 10,000 runs, 1,000 wickets and 1,000 catches – Woolley.
  3. Don Bradman (right handed batter, occasional leg spinner, excellent outfielder). The most prolific batter the game has ever known and capable of scoring seriously fast as well.
  4. Garry Sobers (left handed batter, left arm bowler of every type known to cricket, excellent fielder). Before the pedants fly in, yes he did play a solitary ODI near the end of his career, in which he scored a duck. That is not enough to class him as an ODI player in my book, and I refuse to not pick the most complete player the game has ever known, so I include him in this XI.
  5. Keith Miller (right handed batter, right arm fast bowler). One of the greatest all rounders ever to play the game, and both his attacking approach to batting and his willingness to experiment with the ball would be well suited to ODI cricket.
  6. +Les Ames (right handed batter, wicket keeper). Twice winner of the Lawrence trophy for scoring the fastest first class hundred of the season, and maker of over 1,000 wicket keeping dismissals in his career.
  7. Gilbert Jessop (right handed batter, right arm fast bowler, gun fielder). The most consistently fast scoring batter the game has ever known, a more than useful bowler and a brilliant fielder. I have listed him at seven in this order but I would expect Grace to display some flexibility in this matter – if wicket number 1,2,3 or 4 falls with say 10 overs to go I expect Jessop to come in.
  8. Alan Davidson (left arm fast medium bowler, left handed batter, brilliant fielder). Among bowlers to play exclusively post WWII, to have ended their careers and to take 150 or more test wickets the one with the most economical bowling average is Davidson, with 186 test scalps at 20.53 each. He also had moments with the bat even at the highest level, averaging 24 in test cricket with an HS of 80 and his fielding earned him the nickname ‘the claw’.
  9. Alfred Shaw (right arm medium/ slow bowler, right handed batter). The man who bowled more FC overs than he conceded runs at that level, and took just over 2,000 FC wickets at 12 a piece just has to be in this XI.
  10. Sydney Francis Barnes (Right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). He would grumble about only being allowed 10 overs, but I would fully expect him to make superb use of those overs – he was probably the most skilful bowler ever to pick up a cricket ball.
  11. Hugh Tayfield (off spinner, right handed batter). The leading test wicket taker for South Africa in their first period as a test nation, and by some way at that. He was also notoriously miserly with the ball, once sending down 137 successive dot balls including 16 successive eight ball maidens.

This side has seven top line batters and a capable number eight in Davidson. However the true jewel in this side’s crown is the bowling, with that front four of Davidson, Barnes, Shaw and Tayfield backed by all rounders Miller, Jessop, Sobers, Grace and Woolley. The only recognized bowling type not covered is leg spin, and Syd Barnes’ signature weapon largely fills that gap. Also there are few if any ‘passengers’ in the field in this XI, and a number of genuinely outstanding fielders. This is a side that would take a lot of beating.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

New Zealander Bert Sutcliffe would be well suited to the left handed opener’s gig, but he does not have Woolley’s advantage of also offering a bowling option. Mulvantrai Himmatlal ‘Vinoo’ Mankad was another possibility, but I rated his batting not explosive enough. Mushtaq Mohammad could have been selected in place of Keith Miller had I been really desperate for leg spin representation. Among the bowlers I regretted not being able to include were Bill O’Reilly, Clarrie Grimmett, Hedley Verity, Johnny Wardle and Wilfred Rhodes (his approach to batting rules him out of an upper order slot in this format IMO). Billy Bates instead of Hugh Tayfield would strengthen the batting, but I think the South African was the finer bowler.

THE SOUTH AFRICAN ISSUE

Various white South Africans around the time ODIs were first getting going had limited opportunities to showcase their talents, and while several could make cases for inclusion I have opted not to pick any – I could not count them as ODI players since they never got to play those, and it would have been against the spirit of the exercise to pick them in the above line up. I will repeat something I have previously stated about this issue: these individuals deserve some sympathy, but not as much as the non-white South Africans who were entirely deprived of the chance to showcase their talents, going all the way back to Krom Hendricks in the 1890s.

THE ODI XI

  1. Sanath Jayasuriya (left handed batter, left arm orthodox spinner). He gets this gig for his stellar role in Sri Lanka’s only World Cup win back in 1996.
  2. Sachin Tendulkar (right handed batter). His record tally of ODI centuries has just been equalled, but his claim to this slot is in my view unarguable.
  3. Virat Kohli (right handed batter, occasional right arm medium pacer). Currently the co-holder of the record for ODI centuries.
  4. Viv Richards (right handed batter, occasional off spinner). The first truly great ODI batter.
  5. +AB de Villiers (right handed batter, wicket keeper, occasional medium pacer). The man known to fans as ‘Mr 360’ because he could score literally anywhere in the whole 360 degree arc.
  6. *Imran Khan (right handed batter, right arm fast bowler, captain). One of the greatest all rounders ever to play the game, and his leadership in the ‘cornered tigers’ world cup of 1992 removes any doubt about who has that role in this side.
  7. Ravindra Jadeja (left handed batter, left arm orthodox spinner, gun fielder). One of the finest all rounders of the modern era.
  8. Wasim Akram (left arm fast bowler, left handed batter). A great bowler and a handy lower order batter.
  9. Joel Garner (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). His immense height meant that he posed problems in 3D geometry for opposition batters, and very few could surmount them.
  10. Muthiah Muralidaran (off spinner, right handed batter). One of the stars of that 1996 world cup win – the Sri Lankan seamers Vaas and Wickremasinghe often bowled only their opening spells, the remainder of the overs being bowled by spinners, and this man invariably bowled his full ten overs, generally with fine figures.
  11. Jasprit Bumrah (right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). One of the reasons India have won all nine of their group games at the current tournament has been the excellence of their bowling, and this man is the spearhead of that attack.

This side is well equipped batting wise, and has a stellar bowling line up, with Jayasuriya likely to be seventh bowler. There is no leg spin – to accommodate either of the two best ODI leg spinners I have seen in action I would have to drop Jadeja and promote Akram to number seven.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Some would have ignored Jayasuriya’s bowling and selected Adam Gilchrist to open the batting and keep wicket. Some Indian fans would want Dhoni to be both keeper and captain, but I disagree, and they already have four players in my chosen XI. A live alternative for the number seven slot, though it would remove a spin option would be one of two South African bowling all rounders: right arm seamer Shaun Pollock or left arm seamer Marco Jansen. Some would pick McGrath ahead of Garner as the tall mean right arm pacer and in test cricket I would agree, but in ODIs I rate the West Indian just ahead of the Australian. Feel free to volunteer further suggestions in the comments, but remember to consider how your choices would affect the balance of the sides.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Group Stage of ODI Cricket World Cup Done

A brief account of the last group match at the 2023 Cricket World Cup, a look at the final group standings, and what the rest of the tournament may hold. Also a link to an important petition. Finally, a photo gallery.

The last group match of the 2023 ODI Cricket world cup took place today between India and the Netherlands. The former had already won the group and were looking to make it a perfect nine wins out of nine at the group stage, while the latter knew that a win would qualify them for the 2025 Champions Trophy. Both teams were unchanged, and India won the toss and elected to bat.

THE INDIA INNINGS

India had an innings in three parts. They made a blazing start, making 500 look a distinct possibility, then they slowed down in the middle, but in the closing stages of their innings Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul were imperious, and although the record breaking innings tally did not materialize, India managed 410-4, with all of their top five topping the half century mark. Iyer and Rahul reached centuries, off 82 and 64 balls respectively, while Logan van Beek had a century of a different and less welcome kind – 10-0-107-0.

THE NETHERLANDS RESPONSE

The Netherlands showed fight, as they had all tournament, but never looked like threatening the Indian total. As it became obvious that India were in no danger whatsoever, some part time bowlers put in appearances for them – Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma all taking turns. Kohli picked up a wicket, and Sharma, bringing himself on as ninth bowler for the 48th over of the innings took the final wicket, that of Nidamanuru for 54. Since Sharma conceded only seven runs, six of them to the shot that completed Nidamanuru’s 50 and took the Netherlands to 250 he now has the best bowling average at this world cup – 7.00 per wicket. Among the more serious bowlers Jasprit Bumrah had 9-1-33-2, and Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav and Jadeja also picked up two wickets a piece.

THE FINAL TABLE

The final table reads as follows:

Thus India will play New Zealand in semi-final one on Wednesday and South Africa will play Australia in semi-final two on Thursday. Pakistan, Afghanistan, England and Bangladesh are all qualified for the 2025 Champions Trophy and Sri Lanka and the Netherlands leave with nothing. Afghanistan did superbly well to threaten to qualify for the semi-finals, while without a doubt the team with the most cause to be embarrassed about/ ashamed of their performance at this tournament is England, winners four years ago, falling at the first hurdle this time round. My initial expectation was that teams with a won six, lost three or better ratio would qualify automatically and that teams with a won five, lost four ratio would be split be net run rate. In the end, a combination of dominance by the top three and the fallibilities near the end of the tournament of both Afghanistan and Pakistan meant that only one side had 5:4 record and it was enough for them to qualify without relying on net RR. India look heavy favourites right now, but in 1996 (two groups of six, rather than one of 10) South Africa won every group game and looked a superb unit going into the quarter finals, where they were knocked out. That is by way of a reminder that there are four teams still in this competition, and that whichever of them wins two successive knock out matches will take the trophy. While I will congratulate India with all sincerity should they go on to win, and might even genuinely mean a few words of praise if Australia do the same, my own hope as someone whose inclination is to support the underdog is that one or other of the two ‘Cinderella’ sides, New Zealand or South Africa end up winning the title.

PHOTOGRAPHS

First, a link to an important petition, against a planned road development that would literally undermine Stonehenge. Please click here to read, sign and share this petition.

Now it is time for my usual sign off…

The first of five shots of a muntjac on the bank of Bawsey Drain
A slightly irregular formation of flying birds, captured at long distance, but the basic shape is not far removed from the classic V formation.

England Exit but take Pakistan with them

A look back at today’s world cup matches, especially England v Pakistan, , analysis of the group standings with one group match to go, a mention of a couple of upcoming auctions being held by my employer and my usual sign off.

Today saw two group matches at the 2023 ODI World Cup, Australia v Bangladesh and England v Pakistan. Most of this post is dedicated to the second of these fixtures. In the early game Bangladesh posted just over 300, and Australia chased them down very comfortably, Mitchell Marsh setting a new record for an Australian number three in ODIs by scoring 177 not out.

THE PRELIMINARIES

England were already eliminated, while Pakistan had a very outside chance of staying in the tournament. The least vanishingly unlikely scenario to allow this to happen would have seen Pakistan bat first, score a huge total and bowl England out cheaply. Going this way round would still have left Pakistan needing to win by 287 runs to go ahead of New Zealand on net RR. As it happened Buttler won the toss and decided to bat. This meant that the first landmark for England to reach was 169, at which point Pakistan would be in the position of needing at least one no-ball from England even if they hit everything for six if they were to overhaul New Zealand on net RR.

THE ENGLAND INNINGS

In the event England batted the best they had all tournament, and it was soon very obvious that any scenario involving Pakistan overhauling New Zealand was not so much vanishingly as Daniel Dennett’s usage of Vanishingly unlikely (in the book “Darwin’s Dangerous Idea”). Various players contributed for England, and all Pakistan’s bowlers took a fair amount of stick. In the end England posted 337 from their 50 overs.

THE PAKISTAN REPLY

Pakistan never looked at the races, and there were times when it looked like their net RR was going to take such a battering that they dipped below Afghanistan into sixth place. The magic number to avoid that was 187, and they reached that figure with eight wickets already gone, losing a ninth shortly afterwards. The last pair of Mohammad Wasim and Haris Rauf then managed to connect with some meaty blows, but long before they were even close to worrying England one such shot went higher than it did long and Stokes managed to get himself underneath it. Pakistan were all out for 244, beaten by 93 runs. Two England bowlers reached career landmarks along the way – David Willey whose retirement is already confirmed reached 100 ODI wickets with the second of his three scalps, and Adil Rashid claimed his 200th ODI wicket. Willey was given the Player of the Match award, making the decision not to award him a new central contract look even sillier than it already did (while the timing of the central contract details being made public, right in the middle of a tournament, verged on the criminally insane). England are in seventh place, and unless the miracle of the tournament happens tomorrow and the Netherlands somehow beat India by a really big margin in the last group match seventh is where they will finish. However, two of their three wins came after their eliminations was already confirmed, and those two late consolation victories should not be allowed to overshadow just how dire a tournament this was for the team who “didn’t come here to defend anything”.

TWO UPCOMING AUCTIONS

James and Sons’ November auctions (on Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd) are now ready to view online.

Tuesday’s auction features stamps and postal history, and contains 500 lots. Lot 105 (below) is one of them:

There are two ways to view a catalogue listing and/or sign up to bid online:

Saleroom Easyliveauction

The second day’s sale features advertising and ephemera. The main feature image is the centrepiece of lot 702, a poster sized picture of the 1891 Boat Race crews in action:

Full catalogue listing online, starting from lot 501

Saleroom Easyliveauction

As a lead in to the final section I have a few more ephemera images, including the rest of the gallery for lot 702…

These last two lots are included because to my mind they illustrate the value of not ignoring anything – in each case the stuff on the reverse side is at least as interesting the supposed main feature of the item.
I abhor the publication that Mr Brown was spruiking here, but it is of interest that they saw him as valuable.

PHOTOGRAPHS

It is getting to the time of year when really good things to photograph become harder to come by, but I do have my usual sign off…

Afghanistan in the Hunt for Semi-final Slot

A look at today’s world cup match between Afghanistan and the Netherlands, and the affect that the result has on the battle for semi-final qualification. Also a very large photo gallery.

Today’s world cup match saw Afghanistan facing the Netherlands. This post looks back at that match and at the fight for a semi-final slot. I did not catch a single ball of yesterday’s game in which India obliterated Sri Lanka (another “we’ll have a bowl” disaster at this world cup – India put in to bat tallied 357 from their 50 overs and Sri Lanka sank to 55 all out in response).

THE PRELIMINARIES

Afghanistan opted to go with four front line spinners, relying on Fazalhaq Farooqi and Azmatullah Omarzai to bowl such seam as was required. The Netherlands won the toss and chose to bat first, clearly the correct decision on a turner. However, winning the toss and making the right decision are the first two steps of a three-step process, with the third step, playing good cricket, by far the most important…

A DUTCH COLLAPSE

The Netherlands started very well, but the dismissal of O’Dowd, run out for a rapid 42, put the skids under them. That dismissal made it 73-2, and Colin Ackermann and Sybrand Engelbrecht put on 19 together before Ackermann became the second run out victim of the innings. Scott Edwards was then given Run Out first ball to make it 92-4. This was unlucky for Afghanistan keeper Ikram Alikhil, who pulled off a superb piece of work behind the stumps and deserved by credited with a stumping, but apparently Edwards had made contact with the ball, which meant that officially it had to be called a run out. Five runs later Bas de Leede played a wild shot at Mohammad Nabi and succeeded only in edging to Ikram Alikhil to make it 97-5. Saqib Zulfiqar offered Engelbrecht some support, but after scoring a very slow 3 he edged one from Noor Ahmad into the safe gloves of Alikhil and it was 113-6. Logan van Beek stayed while a further 21 runs accrued, of which his share was 2, before he was stumped by Alikhil. Roelof van der Merwe helped the Netherlands past the 150 mark, but shortly thereafter caused the run out of the determined Engelbrecht for 58 (86), and it was 152-8. Roelof van der Merwe and Aryan Dutt devoted themselves almost solely to seeing out overs at this point. The first really aggressive shot by either, from van der Merwe resulted in a lobbed catch to Ibrahim Zadran off Noor Ahmad to make it 169-9. Dutt and Paul van Meekeren cobbled together another 10 for the last wicket before Mohammad Nabi trapped van Meekeren LBW. The Dutch number 11 reviewed it, but it was plumb and the Netherlands were all out for 179 in 46.3 overs. 38.3 of those overs had been bowled by spinners, an all time record for a men’s world cup match. Ikram Alikhil had had a hand in six of the wickets, the three officially credited to him, and three of the four run outs (one was a direct hit throw from Azmatullah Omarzai), and with the four run outs and one official stumping this was the first ever men’s world cup innings in which as many as five batters had been out through being out of their crease at the wrong time. The Netherlands had lost their last nine wickets for 106 runs, and their last eight for 87.

THE AFGHANISTAN CHASE

Can be summed up with one word: clinical. Although both openers were out cheaply Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi had a fine partnership for the third wicket, and then Azmatullah Omarzai joined Shahidi in the stand that saw Afghanistan over the winning line with 18.3 overs to spare. Rahmat Shah scored 52 (54), Omarzai 31* (28) and Shahidi 56* (64), a thoroughly professional display from the numbers three, four and five for Afghanistan. This puts Afghanistan firmly in the mix for a semi-final slot. If they can beat either Australia or South Africa, their last two opponents, that will probably be enough for them. New Zealand look the most vulnerable of those currently in qualifying slots – they have lost three in a row, while India and South Africa are both guaranteed to qualify, and Australia could only be dragged into the dogfight for the fourth slot if they somehow lose against bottom of the table England tomorrow.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Just before I terminate this post, two posts ago I included in my gallery two street names which each connected to two cricketers. The connections are as follows: Wyatt Street – current England T20I women’s opener Danni Wyatt and former England men’s captain Bob Wyatt, and Archdale Street – England women’s first ever captain, Betty Archdale, and former long serving Somerset wicket keeper the reverend Archdale Palmer Wickham.

Now for my usual sign off…

A pair of goldfinches
The moon in a clear morning sky (taken not long after 7:30 this morning)

Fourth Semi-Final Slot up for Grabs

A look back at the match between New Zealand and South Africa in the 2023 ODI Cricket World Cup, and a brief look at the ramifications of the result for the tournament as a whole. Also a very large photo gallery.

Today’s match at the 2023 ODI Cricket World Cup saw New Zealand face South Africa. This post looks back at the match and at the ramifications of today’s result.

THE PRELIMINARIES

New Zealand skipper Tom Latham won the toss, which was probably the last thing that went right for his side on the day. South Africa had batted first four times this tournament and never scored below 300 on any of those occasions, New Zealand are not a stellar chasing side. Yet, for some reason unknown to anyone other than himself Latham decided to put South Africa in to bat.

THE SOUTH AFRICA INNINGS

When Temba Bavuma was out fairly early, with just 38 runs on the board things weren’t looking all that bad for New Zealand. However, the second wicket stand between Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen illustrated precisely why putting the Proteas in is a poor idea. They got themselves in, and gradually increased the tempo as the danger of a sudden crash of wickets faded. After 35 overs the score was 194-1, and while some were criticising the SA second wicket pair for not having upped the rate enough by then, I tweeted at that point that they were well placed, and that a total of significantly above 300 looked more likely than not and that 350 couldn’t be ruled out. Quinton de Kock completed his fourth century of this world cup, joint second most for a single edition ever behind the five Rohit Sharma scored in 2019, and in the process became the first South African to score 500 runs in a single edition of the tournament, putting the all comers record, Sachin Tendulkar’s 673, in severe danger of being broken. Rassie van der Dussen opened out after a sedate start and moved his own rate to better than a run a ball, as he too completed a century. It was de Kock who was second out, ending a stand of exactly 200. David Miller came in at number four, and when van der Dussen was third out with only 17 balls left in the innings Heinrich Klaasen joined the fray. Miller was out to the second last ball of the innings for 53 (30) to make it 351-4, and Aiden Markram came out to face one ball, which he despatched for six giving South Africa a final score of 357-4. 163 of those came in the last 15 overs and 119 in the last ten as South Africa once again demonstrated their ability to butcher opposition attacks in the closing stages of an innings. They were helped by a hamstring injury to Matt Henry, but the heaviest blow to Kiwi hopes had happened at the toss with that awful decision by Latham.

My tweet at the 35 over mark (a reply to Lawrence Bailey):

https://x.com/aspitweets/status/1719672685507105159?s=20

THE NEW ZEALAND REPLY

New Zealand faced a daunting task, and it only got more daunting as the innings progressed. Wickets fell with remorseless regularity, run scoring was difficult at all times, and there was little prospect at any stage of a successful chase. New Zealand lost their ninth wicket at 133, still 224 runs adrift, and the injured Matt Henry came in to bat in a desperate effort to mitigate the hammering their net RR was taking. Some good blows from Glenn Phillips reduced the margin to below 200, but with the score at 170 he took one chance too many and offered up a straightforward catch, which ended the match with a margin of 184 runs. Keshav Maharaj claimed four wickets with his left arm spin, Marco Jansen three with his left arm pace, Gerald Coetzee two and Kagiso Rabada one, leaving Lungi Ngidi wicketless. Rassie van der Dussen was named Player of the Match for his 133. A full scorecard can be viewed here.

RAMIFICATIONS OF THIS RESULT

This is New Zealand’s third straight defeat, and opens the way for Afghanistan or Pakistan to displace them from the semi-finals. Afghanistan have played a game fewer than either New Zealand or Pakistan, and their next match is against the Netherlands, which they would regard as a major opportunity. Their other two group games are against South Africa and Australia, with the former requiring that they bat first and then bowl well in defence of whatever they manage to post, and the latter almost certainly against a side who will have guaranteed qualification by then and therefore probably easier than if they met them earlier in the tournament. Pakistan still have New Zealand to play, a huge game in the context of developments in the tournament so far, and their other remaining game is a more or less guaranteed two points against the demoralized, disorganized rabble masquerading as “England”.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Afghanistan Zindabad!

An account of today’s match between Afghanistan and Sri Lanka at the 2023 ODI Cricket World Cup, and a large photo gallery.

Today’s match at the 2023 ODI Cricket World Cup was between Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. The winners would keep alive their hopes of claiming a slot in the semi-finals. This post looks back at the match.

THE PRELIMINARIES

Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bowl. Their skipper, Hashmatullah Shahidi, expressed very positive reasons for doing so – no “don’t really know why we are bowling first” from him! They made one change from their previous outing, left arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi replacing left arm wrist spinner Noor Ahmad in the line up. Sri Lanka brought Dimuth Karunaratne into their XI in place of Kusal Perera.

THE SRI LANKAN INNINGS

Afghanistan bowled well, especially Fazalhaq Farooqi, who recorded the outstanding figures of 4-34 from his 10 overs. Seam bowling all rounder Azmatullah Omarzai had 1-37 from seven overs of right arm medium-fast, Rashid Khan claimed a scalp in his 1o0th ODI appearance, a career landmark reached at the age of 25. From a Sri Lankan perspective it was a tale of jobs being half done – six batters scored at least 22, but no one managed more than 46. The result was a final total of 241 from 49.3 overs, modest, but not necessarily indefensible – both yesterday and the day before totals of 229 had proved well beyond the chasing sides.

THE AFGHANISTAN INNINGS

Rahmanullah Gurbaz was out for a duck, but Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat Shah put on 73 for the second wicket, and then Ibrahim Zadran and Hashmatullah Shahidi added a further 58 for the third. At 131-3, with Zadran just out for 62, Sri Lanka still had hopes, but Azmatullah Omarzai soon extinguished those. The fourth wicket pair were still together, entirely unruffled, when the scores drew level. Azmatullah Omarzai was almost caught in the deep at that point, but the chance went down, and the batters took the winning single with 4.4 overs to spare. Azmatullah Omarzai had scored 73* (63) and Hashmatullah Shahidi 58* (74), and their unbroken stand was worth 111. Somewhat unfortunately for Omarzai, who had an outstanding match, the Player of the Match award went to Fazalhaq Farooqi for a great display of left arm pace bowling. This was Afghanistan’s third win of the tournament, and the third time they had beaten a former winner of the competition (Pakistan 1992, England 2019, Sri Lanka 1996). It keeps their hopes of a semi-final slot alive, and if they get that far it becomes a straight shoot out, with them needing two victories for the title. A win for them were it to happen (and I am not counting them out) would be a far more extraordinary story than Sri Lanka’s in 1996 was, and that result itself shocked a lot of pundits at the time. Every team has now played six matches, and the league table looks like this:

I published the table as it stood at the end of yesterday to shame England, who approached this tournament with arrogance and disrespect and are being punished for their hubris. I publish today’s version to give credit to Afghanistan who have contributed magnificently to the event.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off (remember to view any image at a larger size click on it)…

The Mallard in its new home on my living room mantelpiece.
The Caledonian Railway tank engine in its new hom atop the Cabinet of Curiosities.
The first of two street names which related to cricketers. Each street could be associated with at least two professional cricketers. Can you identify all four (answers in next blog post).
The other street sign.
Flowering Ivy is massively important in the autumn. Four pics.
Possibly the last bee of the year (two pics)

England Execrable

A look back at today’s world cup match between England and India, a day of shame for the England cricket team, that saw them become the first team officially eliminated from the ODI world cup of 2023. Also a photo gallery.

Today at the cricket world cup saw hosts India take on England. When the schedule was devised this would have been envisaged as one of the marquee games of the tournament, pitting hosts against defending champions. Unfortunately by the time the day rolled around it looked more like a routine minnow bashing, with the hosts unbeaten and England in a complete and utter mess. This post looks at how the match panned out.

THE PRELIMINARIES

At 8:00AM today UK time (UK clocks went back one hour last night in preparation for winter – from BST to GMT) the toss took place. Jos Buttler won it and put India in to bat, when batting first looked obviously preferable. For all India’s tremendous successes chasing (unlike Buttler’s England they really are a great chasing side) Rohit Sharma confirmed that he would have chosen to bat had he won the toss. England were unchanged, more out of a desire to look like they weren’t in a state of blind panic (though we could all see that they were) than out of any confidence in the XI. India, much more justifiably, were also unchanged – I don’t see any further changes for them until Hardik Pandya is fit again. The issue with their current XI, missing Pandya’s all round skills as it is is that if you can get through the phalanx of six top line batters plus Jadeja’s all round skills they do have a very long tail.

THE INDIAN INNINGS

England bowled pretty well for once, and for much of the Indian innings it looked like two matches were happening at the same time – at one end Rohit Sharma handled all the England bowlers with complete authority, never really looking in any trouble, while at the other everyone looked vulnerable. The most surprising failure was Virat Kohli, who succumbed to frustration after eight scoreless deliveries, holing out going for big hit off his ninth ball – it was Kohli’s first ever duck in a world cup, be it ODI or T20I. First was Shubman Gill, playing a loose drive. Shreyas Iyer’s dismissal showed that he remains vulnerable against the short ball. KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma shared a decent stand for the fourth wicket, though Rahul’s dismissal will probably give him recurring nightmares – it was an awful piece of batting. Suryakumar Yadav was Rohit Sharma’s next partner, and at one stage it looked like they might get India to a genuinely threatening total. Sharma finally succumbed for a masterly 87, and when Jadeja failed with the bat it was down to Yadav to shepherd the tail. He eventually managed 49, and a few good blows from Bumrah at the end got India to 229, a modest looking total, but exactly the same as that defended by the Netherlands yesterday, and on a pitch which had a bit of mischief in it.

THE ENGLAND INNINGS

England started well, and reached 30 without undue difficulty. Then Malan got himself out with a really poor shot, Root was out first ball, Stokes made a ten ball duck, playing not a single one of those ten deliveries remotely well and Bairstow dragged one into his own stumps, and suddenly it was 39-4. When Kuldeep Yadav produced a beauty to bowl Buttler (a rare wicket on the day that was purely down to good bowling) it was 52-5. Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone offered some resistance, but once their stand was broken the writing was firmly on the wall. England eventually clawed their way up to a beggarly 129 all out, meaning that the final margin was exactly 100 runs. India, with six wins out of six so far, are definitely in the semi-finals, and England, in last place with two points out of a possible 12 and an appalling net run rate, are eliminated. England’s preparation for this tournament varied between the non-existent and the slip-shod, and they have paid the price. There will need to be wholesale changes – a whole raft of players are now past their sell by dates, Buttler is a truly abysmal captain, and just like in 2015, again following an atrocious world cup campaign, a full rebuild is the only way for England.

PHOTOGRAPHS

As autumn deepens opportunities for photographs are becoming a little harder to find…

A poster sized version of this should be displayed prominently at ECB HQ to remind them of just what has become of a once great side in four short years.

A Classic and an Upset

An account of an astonishing day at the 2023 ODI Cricket World Cup, one good both for the tournament and for the sport as a whole, though not good for England. Also a photo gallery.

Today saw two matches at the ODI Cricket World Cup, both of which in their own ways were excellent news for the tournament and for the sport as a whole. These are described in today’s post. Yesterday’s game between Pakistan and South Africa turned into an absolute nail biter, South Africa sneaking home by one wicket, and then came today’s events.

THE TRANS-TASMAN DERBY

Australia got away to an absolute flyer, with the scoring rate almost 12 an over for the first ten overs. However once David Warner and Travis Head were out in quick succession the innings lost momentum for a period. In the end it took a late flurry by Pat Cummins to boost the final total to 388-7. New Zealand also started fast with the bat, and were never wholly out of contention at any stage of the chase. In the end 19 were needed off the final over, and Mitchell Starc, who had a shocking match, had to bowl it. When Jimmy Neesham was run out coming back for a desperate second on the penultimate ball it meant that injured number 11 Lockie Ferguson had to attempt to score six off the one remaining delivery to pull off an epic chase. In the event the delivery was a dot ball and Australia had won by five runs. The aggregate of 771 was a new record for any World Cup match, beating the 754 between South Africa and Sri Lanka (428 plays 326) earlier in this tournament.

BANGLADESH v NETHERLANDS

The Netherlands batted first and managed to tally 229, being out to the last ball of their 50 overs. It was then that the fun started. In spite of the fact that conditions at Eden Gardens, Kolkata are rather closer to those experienced by Bangladesh on a regular basis than those best known to the Dutch it was the latter who made better use of them. Bangladesh were soon 63-4, then 69-5, then 74-6. A seventh wicket stand of 34 offered temporary reprieve. When the vastly experienced Mahmudullah was eighth out for 20, leaving numbers 9,10 and 11 in the order to score in excess of 100 at over six an over the writing was firmly on the wall, and although the tail enders showed rather more grit than most of their supposed betters with the bat the final margin was 87 runs, a second victory of the tournament for the Netherlands, and a result which condemned England, whose next outing is against hosts India tomorrow, to bottom place in the table, behind Bangladesh on net run rate. The single most damning aspect of a dismal performance by a team who have had test status for over 20 years and signally failed to make full use of being at cricket’s top table was the fact that even in the spin bowling department, always their greatest strength, Bangladesh were outdone by their opponents. Aryan Dutt for the Netherlands was allowed to record figures of 1-26 from his ten overs, while second spinner Colin Ackermann, primarily a batter, emerged with 7-1-25-1. The Dutch are to be congratulated, and I for one will be far from surprised should they add to their two wins in what is left of the group stage.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

These four pictures show a rather unusual choice of resting place for a cormorant. This tree overlooks a pond, but the bird is way above water level.

Pakistan v South Africa

A look at developments in today’s world cup match between Pakistan and South Africa, a brief mention of this week’s auctions, and a photo gallery.

This post looks at developments in today’s match at the ODI cricket world, between Pakistan and South Africa. I was at work yesterday, which gives me the perfect excuse to draw a veil over England’s “effort” against Sri Lanka – all my knowledge of what happened in that match is second hand.

THE PRELIMINARIES

Pakistan were coming off a defeat at the hands of Afghanistan, while South Africa have been hugely impressive so far. Both sides made changes to the line up. Pakistan won the toss, and managed to get the next part right – they decided to bat first.

THE PAKISTAN INNINGS

Pakistan did not fare well at first, and when Babar Azam was out for 50 (65), his third such innings of the tournament, they were 141-5. However a good partnership between Saud Shakeel and Shadab Khan helped them to reach a final total of 270. Tabraiz Shamsi claimed four wickets with his left arm wrist spin and Marco Jansen three with his left arm pace. Pakistan’s total, while not great by modern ODI standards, looked enough to be defensible if they bowled well.

SOUTH AFRICA’S RESPONSE

South Africa have made a rapid start to their reply, but have also lost two wickets. The score at the moment is 110-2 after 16 overs, a position from which South Africa should prevail easily enough. However, Pakistan are notoriously unpredictable – it would be very like them to suddenly find form from nowhere and win this one.

AUCTION NEWS

This week has been auction week for James and Sons. It has been a little bit chequered – the Militaria auction which should have been on Tuesday had to be postponed until today due to internet problems, while the Railwayana auction on Wednesday was very successful, though it did take a long time to get through. I managed to discipline myself to placing advance bids on two lots and opportunistically snapping up a third when it would have gone very cheap indeed otherwise. Here are the pictures I have taken of them since getting them home, save for one composite pic which serves as the feature image of this post.

The appositeness of this picture become apparent when you see…
…the first item I won, lot 640, a model of The Mallard, the locomotive the broke the speed record set by Flying Scotsman.
On display.
The one that I had not bid on in advance. I can imagine several Scottish lines over which this little engine could have run.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…