Rain Delay At Old Trafford

An update on developments from Manchester, a mathematical teaser, and some pictures plus and update regarding my employment status.

INTRODUCTION

The predicted rain has arrived at Manchester in spades, but England are still in a very strong position thanks to their efforts yesterday.

THE MATCH AS IT STANDS

Having secured a first innings advantage of 172 England batted well second time around. Sibley made a half century, Joe Root scored at a very rapid rate throughout his unbeaten half century and Burns managed 90, his dismissal triggering a declaration which left the West Indies 399 to make to win the match and England six overs to bowl yesterday evening. Broad who had terminated the first West Indies innings with extreme prejudice earlier in the day produced another magnificent spell of bowling, bagging the wickets of John Campbell (84 runs in the series for the opener, a performance reminiscent of that of another left handed attacking opener, David Warner in last year’s Ashes) and nightwatchman Kemar Roach to take his tally of test wickets to 499. The West Indies ended that mini-session at 10-2 off six overs, needing a further 389 to win. There has been no play thus far today due to the rain, but it is no longer raining in Manchester (it is rodding it down here in King’s Lynn) and the umpires have thrown down a challenge to Jupiter Pluvius by declaring that they will inspect at 3PM if there is no further rain. Of course England declared yesterday evening precisely because we were expecting little if any play today, and the forecast for tomorrow is good (and Old Trafford is, as it needs to be, a quick draining ground). Unless one of the remaining West Indies batters can somehow channel the Lord’s 1984 version of Gordon Greenidge the only question is whether we will see enough cricket today and tomorrow for England to get those final eight wickets.

SOLUTION TO YESTERDAY’S TEASER

I offered the following choices:

a)1.00-1.25
b)1.25-1.50
c)1.50-1.75
d)1.75-1.99

Brilliant had offered as it’s three possible answers less than 1, between 1 and 2, and 2. Anyone who has read about fractal geometry knows that the fractal dimension of a line is always between 1 and 2, so this selection of answers constituted a give away, reducing a three-dagger problem to a one-dagger joke.

In this case the calculations give an answer of approximately 1.33, so the correct choice from the selections I offered is b) 1.25-1.50.

Here is a published solution by Mateo Doucet De Leon:

PICTURES AND AN UPDATE

Today’s pictures are of coins. A return to employment with James and Sons Auctioneers is on the horizon, although current circumstances make it impossible to predict when this will happen, but I have agreed to do some imaging from home in the meantime, and the first consignment of stock to be imaged arrived yesterday. The auction can be viewed here. Below are some of the lots I have already imaged…

1-p — I tried a photograph as well as the scan, but the scan is undeniably better.

Seriously Strange Selections

A look at the selections and the early stages of the third test match between England and the West Indies at Old Trafford.

INTRODUCTION

The third test match is under way at Old Trafford. If England win they regain the Wisden Trophy, any other result and the West Indies retain it. Future series between these sides will be contested for the Botham-Richards Trophy, named after two legends of the game and close friends, although Beefy’s record against the West Indies does not really justify his name being on this trophy.

ENGLAND

Ben Stokes is fit enough to play but will not be able to bowl, which led to England opting for five front line bowlers. Less defensibly given those circumstances they also opted to persevere with the inadequate Jos Buttler, who will bat at six and keep wicket. Zak Crawley misses out, meaning that England have gone in with Sibley, Burns, *Root, Stokes, Pope, Buttler, Woakes, Bess, Archer, Broad, Anderson. I think that to go with five bowlers they should have given the gloves to Pope, keeping Crawley in at no3 and dropping Buttler. I would also have preferred Curran over Woakes for the extra variation offered by his left arm.

THE WEST INDIES

Rahkeem Cornwall plays, certainly the heaviest top level cricketer since Warwick Armstrong, and possibly the heaviest since the mighty Alfred Mynn who was in his pomp in the 1840s. Surprisingly Alzarri Joseph rather than the obviously exhausted Shannon Gabriel was the player to miss out. It is no great surprise that West Indies have opted for extra batting strength in the circumstances.

THE PLAY SO FAR

The West Indies won the toss, an in spite of having picked the extra spinner in Cornwall and a weather forecast that suggests that only today of the first four days will be uninterrupted, both of which argue strongly for batting they have decided to bowl first, the selfsame decision that backfired badly on them on the second match of this series.

Dom Sibley was out early, for a duck. Burns and Root batted reasonably well together until Burns unaccountably given the circumstances took a sharp single and a direct hit ran Root out to make it 47-2. That brought Stokes to the crease far too early for comfort, although the West Indies had already had a warning that their choice of which fast bowler to leave out for Cornwall had been wrong when Gabriel limped from the field. With the score at 92 Stokes was bowled by Kemar Roach, the latter’s 199th test wicket (the last West Indian fast bowler to reach 200 was the legendary Curtly Ambrose), bringing Pope to the wicket. So far Pope is looking very impressive, and England need a big score from him. With Burns and Pope together, the biggest all Surrey partnership at test level stands to the credit of Ken Barrington and John Edrich who once shared a second wicket stand of 369 against New Zealand. Burns has just completed his 50, which he should regard as establishing base camp – the main ascent for him begins here.

THE OFF SPINNING RIVALRY

A curio of this match is that the West Indies have a player named Cornwall as their principal off spinner, and his opposite number for England, Dom Bess, was born in Devon. Which side of the Tamar will prevail?

LINKS AND PHOTOGRAPHS

We start with the solution to yesterday’s teaser:

Powers of two have last digit 2,4,8,6 and then back to 2 and so on ad infinitum. 1,000 being a multiple of four 2^1000 thus has a final digit of 6, which in turn means that 2^1001 ends with a 2.

A video from Richard Murphy of Tax Research UK answering the ‘how are you going to pay for it?’ question:

Please watch the video in full – it is five and a half minutes.

Now for my usual sign off…

England V Rain In Manchester

Bringing my coverage of the test match up to date, plus some photographs.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to my latest update on developments at Old Trafford.

DAY 2 – ENGLAND ESTABLISH CONTROL

In yesterday’s post I covered the play up to England through Stokes and Sibley taking the score to 280-3. Sibley was out with the score of 341 and Pope did not last very long, but Stokes was still there and going well. At 395, with his own score on 176 Stokes attempted reverse sweep Roach and was bowled, Roach’s first wicket of the series after 71 overs. Chris Woakes was then out first ball, which prompted the revelation that Roach’s previous test wicket before these two had been a second in successive balls. Buttler reached 40 before he was eight out at 426, a decent innings, but not enough given that he was facing tired bowlers and really should have been able to punish them more severely. One run later Curran was out, bringing Broad in join Bess. These two displayed some sensible aggression, and boosted the score to 469 before England declared giving themselves a bowl in the last hour of the day.

Broad and Woakes took the new ball, before Curran and Bess came on right near the end of the day. Curran broke through, with an LBW against John Campbell. Alzarri Joseph came in as nightwatchman, and he too would have been out had Curran reviewed an LBW against him right at the end of the day. The West Indies were 32-1 at the close.

DAY THREE – RAIN

So far there has been no play on day three due to rain. The information from Manchester is that there may be time for a couple of hours play once the weather clears. The weather is due to be better tomorrow and Monday. Those two days will be extended to 98 overs, meaning that even if there is no cricket at all today there will be 196 overs left in the day. The biggest news of the day so far concerns Jofra Archer who has been hit with a fine and given a written warning for breaching bio-secure protocols but will be eligible for selection for the third match of this series.

LOOKING AHEAD

It is very unlikely that the West Indies will win this game, although thirty-odd years of following cricket have taught me never to rule anything out completely. England need 19 more wickets, and in view of today’s disruptions they will have to enforce the follow-on if the opportunity arises. Also, which probably offers WI their biggest hope, the fact that England need to win to have a chance of regaining the Wisden Trophy means that they need to go after any opportunity of winning even if it is very high risk – if as is not entirely impossible England find themselves needing 100 in the final innings off 10 overs they have to go all out to get them. Whether England manage to press home their advantage or not they have responded superbly to what happened at the Ageas Bowl, although it would be nice if they could produce their finest without needing a preliminary metaphorical kick up the backside.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Bowl First Backfiring on West Indies

An update on the test match, as England assume control through Sibley and Stokes.

INTRODUCTION

Unlike yesterday, today is bright and sunny, and it looks like being a full day’s play in Manchester. This post looks at events so far.

THE MATCH

When skipper Root was dismissed the score was 81-3, and the West Indies only needed a couple more wickets to be on top. Stokes then joined Sibley and they knuckled down to the job in hand. Sibley received a let off with 68 to his name, but he and Stokes held the fort through to the close of a truncated day with England 207-3 from 82 overs. Bizarrely, having declined to take the new ball when it fell due yesterday the West Indies then failed to take it first thing this morning, instead bowling 11 overs at England with the old ball, which allowed Stokes and Sibley to play themselves in. Sibley reached his hundred just before lunch, from the 312th ball he had received, while Stokes reached the interval on 99. Stokes completed his ton straight after the interval, his 10th test century, and the slowest to date, but exactly the innings England had needed. As I write this the West Indies have just burned off a review of an LBW, reducing them to one left. England are 278-3 and looking in control of the match. England will be looking to increase the scoring rate as the prospect of trouble recedes. Pope is in at the fall of the next wicket, and then Buttler, who really needs to take full advantage of the situation and the tired bowlers.

WEST INDIES WOES

The West Indies chose to bowl yesterday, paying too much attention to the grey skies and not enough to the very flat looking pitch. They have failed to distinguish themselves with the ball. Shannon Gabriel has been fortunate not to be called for wides, but has bowled at least three in the ‘Harmy’ bracket. Alzarri Joseph has a wicket but has hardly been stellar. Roach has bowled well but carried no huge threat. Holder has posed little threat. Roston Chase has two of the wickets but is being used as a part timer – he was given the last over before lunch having not been called on all morning. Stokes has just hit the second six of the match (both to his credit), as he looks to up the pace. It is hard to see any way back for the West Indies, especially given that Bess should enjoy bowling on this surface. Each morning so far has seen a dreadful decision by the West Indies – putting England in yesterday on an obvious flat pitch and not taking the new ball instantly this morning, and they are being made to pay a heavy price for both infractions.

LOOKING AHEAD

This is the third test match of the 21st century in which an England batter has needed over 300 balls to reach a century, the other two being scored by Mike Atherton and Nasser Hussain, and England won both those games. Additionally this is Sibley’s second test hundred, and England won the other game in which he reached three figures, with Stokes making a substantial contribution there as well. In 1956 at this ground England made 459 in the first innings with centuries for Peter Richardson and David Sheppard, and won the game by an innings and 170 runs, with an off spinner, Jim Laker, doing most of the damage with the ball. The 300 has just come up for England, with Sibley and Stokes still in possession, and Stokes having just moved ahead of Sibley.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off:

Manchester Musings

Some thoughts on the early stages of the second test match between England and the West Indies.

INTRODUCTION

The second test match between England and the West Indies at Old Trafford, Manchester is underway, and already curious things are happening.

THE SELECTIONS

England had decided to rest Anderson and Wood for this game (both have had injury problems of late, and were unlikely to stand up to three matches in quick succession, so resting them for the middle match made sense. What did not make sense was Jofra Archer deciding to visit his home in Brighton (south east of Southampton) before heading to Manchester (north west of Southampton), thereby breaking the bio-secure protocols that everyone else involved manage to stick to (btw Anderson’s family home is only a few miles down the road from Old Trafford, and he did not succumb to temptation) and rendering himself ineligible for the match. With Oli Stone also not fully fit that meant that England had no out and out speedster available to them. They therefore opted for Curran’s left arm to give them some variation in the seam department and Woakes rather than a debut for Oliver Edward Robinson. They correctly gave Crawley the no3 slot, dropping Denly. They wrongly, indeed inexcusably, but unsurprisingly persisted with Buttler as keeper and no7, so the full 11 reads: Sibley, Burns, Crawley, *Root, Stokes, Pope, +Buttler, Woakes, Curran, Bess and Broad. Curran’s left arm provides some variation, and he may create some useful rough for Dom Bess to exploit. However, the only possibility of providing some genuine pace will be if Stokes is used in short spells in which he goes all out for speed – no one else in this side is capable of producing anything describable as genuinely fast. The West Indies are unchanged, which means that off spinner Rahkeem Cornwall, probably the heaviest international cricketer since Warwick Armstrong captained Australia in 1921 while weighing in at 22 stone, misses out.

THE EARLY EXCHANGES

Some traditional Manchester weather meant a delayed start, and the toss took place at noon, with a one hour session scheduled for 12:30-1:30, afternoon 2:10-4:25, evening 4:45 – 7:00, with half an hour overlap allowed, so a potential 7:30 finish. The West Indies one the toss and put England in. Burns and Sibley saw off the quicker bowlers, but then Burns fell to the off spin of Roston Chase on the stroke of lunch, and Crawley fell to Chase’s next delivery, immediately after the interval. Sibley and Root are now together, doing their best to stabilize things. England need to bat well, but on a pitch which is already looking like it could break up a first innings tally of 300 would put them in the box seat. Two wickets down this early is not good news for England, bit if they were going to lose two fairly early wickets losing them to Roston Chase is less bad than the alternatives, given that Bess is likely to enjoy this pitch even more, and that England are short of serious pace in this game (btw Robinson would not have helped in that regard – he specializes in moving the ball around a bit at just above medium pace, a method that has brought him 236 first class wickets at 22 a piece but which is not likely to have test batters quaking in their boots).

LOOKING AHEAD

England are probably second favourites for this match given the effect that the combination of their selection policy and Archer’s misdemeanour has had on them, but it does look like the West Indies misread the pitch and would have done better to bat first. If the West Indies do win this game they win the series, the first time they will have done that in England since 1988 (the 1991 and 1995 series were both drawn 2-2, England won the 2000 series and have been dominant in these contests since then), if England prevail it will be 1-1 and all will come down to the decider at this same ground. My own feeling is that for the West Indies to win the series and retain the Wisden trophy (they won the last series in the Caribbean) they need to win this match – a draw would also secure them the Wisden Trophy as the series could not then finish worse for them than 1-1, but if England win I think the West Indies will find it tough to pick themselves up for the final game. For the moment, Sibley and Root remain in possession, and although they are not scoring quickly they are looking quite secure.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

	Thomas on 49
	Shaun Bradford on 49
	Thomas on Reaching Back to WG Grace Twic…
	Elena Delle Selve on Reaching Back to WG Grace Twic…
	Thomas on Two Contrasting Routes to…