Tag: Shoaib Bashir

Good in Parts for England

A look at action on day one of the test match so far (there is not likely to be any more due to the light) and a photo gallery.

The first test match of the series between the England and Sri Lanka men’s teams got underway today in Manchester. The first innings of the match has now concluded, and this post looks at what we have seen so far.

THE MORNING SESSION

Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first, as was virtually mandatory given that no side have won a test match at Manchester after putting the opposition in. Ollie Pope, stand in skipper for England in place of the injured Ben Stokes said that he would have chosen to bowl had he won. England began extremely well, reducing Sri Lanka to 6-3, with two wickets for Woakes and one for Atkinson, albeit both of Woakes’ wickets, taken in the space of four balls had the assistance of the batters – Madushka played a loose shot to be caught by Root and the veteran Angelo Mathews horribly misjudged a leave when the ball was very close to the stumps and fell LBW. Wood produced a brute of a ball that Chandimal could only fend into the hands of Brook o make it 40-4. Bashir, brought on late in the morning session, produced one that kept wickedly low to pin Dinesh Chandimal LBW (he reviewed it, probably out of disbelief that a ball in the first session of a test match in England had actually behaved in that fashion) and that was 72-5. Kamindu Mendis kept skipper Dhananjaya de Silva company until lunch, by when Sri Lanka were 80-5.

THE AFTERNOON SESSION

With the score at 92 Woakes found the edge of Kamindu Mendis’ bat, Smith took the catch and SL were six down. Prabath Jayasuriya got to to 10, before Atkinson’s pace proved too much for him – he was caught off what was called a no-ball as the third bouncer of the over but was unable to make use of the reprieve, edging through to Smith two balls later and that was 113-7. Milan Rathnayake was making his test debut, but proceeded to bat with a competence that should have shamed most of those above him in the order. Tea was approaching when the previously impeccable de Silva played a poor shot at Bashir, turning the ball straight into the hands of Dan Lawrence to be out for 74. That was 176-8, and tea was taken with the score 178-8.

THE EVENING SESSION

Rathnayake and Vishwa Fernando were now in occupation, and both batted well in contrasting ways – Rathnayake assumed control of the scoring, will Vishwa Fernando blocked. During their partnership the light became an issue, and England were able to continue only be deploying Root in partnership with Bashir. Rathnayake had set a new record for a number nine on test debut (72), and the highest score for nine years for anyone debuting at nine or lower in the order (Ashton Agar scored 98, also against England, from number 11 on his test debut in 2015) when he finally fell, holing to Chris Woakes off Bashir, whose third scalp of the day brought his test bowling average below 30 per wicket (29 at 29.86. That was 226-9, and the last pair Vishwa Fernando and Asitha Fernando added a further 10 runs before Vishwa was run out to end the innings. 236 all out was far more than Sri Lanka could have hoped for from 6-3 or indeed 113-7, but the Bashir delivery to Chandimal notwithstanding this not actually an especially tough pitch for batting, and England will probably be pleased with their day’s work, especially if they make it to the close without loss (SL have opted to open with Prabath Jayasuriya and Dhananjaya de Silva, deciding they want to bowl this evening and accepting that to do so they must use spin only). As I prepare this for publication Sri Lanka have turned to pace and the umpires have immediately suspended play with England 22-0 after four overs, Duckett 13* and stand-in opener Lawrence 9*.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

The Second Test Match Between England and West Indies

A look back at the test match at Trent Bridge between England and West indies. and a fine photo gallery.

I did not actually get to follow a great deal of the match that unfolded at Trent Bridge between Thursday and Sunday (scheduled for five days, but four proved enough). Thursday was a work day, so I got only the closing stages of England’s 416, and as documented in my previous two tests I was busy over the weekend.

A HISTORIC MATCH

England amassed 416 on the opening day, but had, as opening batter Ben Duckett admitted, “left a few runs out there”. The West Indies response was led by two batters from the tiny island of Dominica (also birthplace of pace bowlers Norbert Philip of the West indies and Phillip DeFreitas of England) Alick Athenaze (82) and Kavem Hodge (120, the first test century by a Dominican), and at the end of day two they were 351-5 in response to that 416 by England. In the end, assisted by England trying to be too clever against the tailenders, West Indies led by 41. During the bit of listening I got in on the Saturday in between concerts Brook and Root batted beautifully after Pope had completed a 50 and then got out. Both players would get hundreds, but for the second time in the match England didn’t maximise their opportunity, suffering a collapse late on. They did however pass 400 for the second time in the match, the first England team to do so (though it has been done against them at least once – Headingley 1948, England 496 and 365-8 declared, Australia 458 and 404-3 to win by seven wickets). Part of the reason that occurrences are rare (there have been 12 in all of test history) is that sides putting up big totals used to expect only to bat once – declining to enforce the follow-on was much rarer than it has recently become. Also scoring rates were less rapid in test cricket in days gone by, which mean that topping 400 twice would almost certainly not have led to victory (the extraordinary Headingley 1948 match aside). West Indies thus need 385 to win – fewer than had been scored in any of the first three innings of the match. By the time I got to catch up on the action on Sunday after Norton Hill the West Indies second innings was already underway, and it did not initially look promising for England. However, with 61 on the board Woakes had Mikyle Louis caught behind and a dramatic collapse set in, including off spinner Shoaib Bashir entering the record books by taking wickets in each of his first three overs – before this only one spinner had taken wickets in each of their first two overs in a test innings at Trent Bridge – Shane Warne, when he almost bowled Australia to victory in 2005 with England needing only 129 to win. When Wood dismissed Sinclair courtesy of a catch by Crawley West Indies had tumbled to 93-6. They were still six down when I left for my evening engagement, but England, with the aid of the extra half hour got the job done that evening. West Indies were all out for 143 in the end, Bashir 5-41, including the final wicket, Shamar Joseph clean bowled for 8. Pope was named Player of the Match for his scores of 121 and 51. England had underachieved with the bat in the first innings on their own admission, had arguably done the same in the second, and had still emerged victorious by the huge margin of 241 runs.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

A Red Admiral looking rather the worse for wear.
In contrast this Comma looked in perfect health.

A Match of Many Twists and Turns

An account of the second half of a thoroughly absorbing test match between India and England at Ranchi, and a photo gallery.

This post deals with the second half of an extraordinary test match between India and England, the fourth of the series currently taking place between the two teams. I covered the first two days here, so the body of this post picks up the action on day three (yesterday).

DAY THREE – ENGLAND STUMBLE

Play resumed with India 219-7, 134 adrift. England’s first task was to take the last three Indian wickets as quickly as possible. Unfortunately they were baulked in contrasting styles by wicket keeper Dhruv Jurel who played a superb innings and left arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav who resisted stoutly, comfortably completing a ‘Den-tury’ – 100 balls survived in an innings (look up the career of Joe Denly for the origin of this term). When Yadav was finally dislodged for a 131 ball 28 debutant Akash Deep continued the resistance, surviving a further 29 balls. Mohammed Siraj really is a genuine number 11, and it was in the Jurel who was last out, bowled by Tom Hartley for a splendid and spirited 90 off 149 balls. India has thus reached 307, a deficit of a mere 46. Shoaib Bashir recorded figures of 5-119 from 44 overs, becoming the fourth England bowler to take their maiden first class five-for in a test match. Christopher Heseltine (Hampshire, right arm fast) did so in 1896 in South Africa, in a series whose claim to test match status is decidedly dubious – visiting South African teams were not given test matches in England until 1907, while the other two members of this club are both part of the current England set up, and both principally batters – Joe Root who took 5-8 at Ahmedabad last time England were in India and Will Jacks who took a six-for in Pakistan.

Things still look good for England with an advantage of 46 and India having to bat last, but their second innings soon started going pear shaped. Crawley and Bairstow threatened a revival, and at 110-3 England looked comfortable. However Crawley fell for a fine 60, and then Stokes suffered his second failure of the match, and for the second time in the match England went into an interval, tea in this case, having just lost their skipper, and five down for not a huge amount. Soon after the interval a loose stroke spelt the end of Bairstow and it was 120-6. Hartley failed again with the bat, and Robinson was unable to repeat his first innings efforts. Foakes resisted gamely and did his best to shepherd the tail, but eventually he attempted to play one from Ashwin through midwicket and got a leading edge straight back to the bowler. Anderson lasted three balls, the last of which he nicked to the keeper, and England were all out for 145, leaving India 192 to get.

Stokes now opted to give the new ball to Root and Hartley. There was merit in the idea of giving a spinner the new ball, especially given that Robinson had been decidedly underwhelming with the ball, but James Anderson should have bowled at one end for the mini-session India faced at the end of this third day – this would have given England a measure of control, whereas in the event India were 40-0 off eight overs by the close, needing 152 more for victory.

THE DENOUEMENT

India advanced their score to 84 before a splendid catch by Anderson off Root accounted for Yashavsi Jaiswal, leaving the new India opener needing to tally 120 or more in the fifth match of the series to break a record that has stood to Sunil Gavaskar’s credit since 1970 for the most runs in a series by an Indian opener.

15 runs later Foakes achieved a double dismissal of Rohit Sharma – it was initially recorded as stumped, but replays showed that there had been an edge, and it now appears as caught Foakes bowled Hartley 55. One run later Rajat Patidar was on his way back for a five ball duck, courtesy of a good catch by Pope off Bashir, and I suspect that unless he intends to watch the match Patidar will not be in Dharamsala for the final match of the series. Ravindra Jadeja never looked comfortable, and with 120 on the board, and himself on 4 off 32 balls he hit a full toss from Bashir straight to Bairstow to end a tortured stay at the crease. The very next ball Sarfaraz Khan was snapped up Pope to make it 120-5, and Bashir had three wickets and was on a hat trick. At that point Jurel joined Gill, and these two players steered India home. Gill completed a 50, while Jurel was unbeaten on 39, and appropriately enough the winning runs came from his bat – he was deservedly named as Player of the Match, having kept very well in tricky conditions and scored 129 in the match for once out. India have an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series, but England have had moments in all four matches when things looked like going their way, and given the loss of Leach, the inexperience of the remaining spinners and the fact that no visiting side have laid a glove on India in the last decade this is very far from a humiliation. Bashir and Hartley, especially the former, look very promising for the future. Robinson, who finished the match off the field nursing a back problem, must be in jeopardy – when the force is with him he is a very good bowler indeed, but in this match he was consistently 10kph below his best pace, and given his previous injuries and fitness issues I think England have to say that enough is enough. Matthew Potts of Durham, Josh Tongue of Worcestershire and Gus Atkinson of Surrey are all fine bowlers, Tom Lawes of Surrey may be on the radar, and there are probably other younger seamers who could do a job for England as well. James Anderson’s bowling and fielding leads one to wonder whether he has a portrait hidden away somewhere that is ageing in his place!

This match was a thoroughly absorbing contest which commanded attention right to the end. Though it does scant justice to the events of the last four days a full scorecard can be viewed here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

I end with my usual sign off…

I thought that the arrangement of leaves on this plant made it look a bit like a very large green butterfly.

England Going Well In Ranchi

A look back at the first two days of the fourth test match of the India v England series and a substantial photo gallery.

The fourth match of the five match test series between India and England got underway in Ranchi at 4AM Friday morning UK time. This post looks at the action from the first two days of play.

THE PRELIMINARIES

India had gone one up in the series following a thumping victory in the third match of the series (I was unable due to my internet situation to follow that match). England were forced to make one change to their line up, Rehan Ahmed having flown home for personal reasons. This meant a recall for Shoaib Bashir. Mark Wood was rested, with Ollie Robinson taking his place in the XI, and the England selectors failed to take the opportunity to drop Bairstow who has a had a horrible series, meaning that Dan Lawrence is still yet to feature. India made only one change, resting Jasprit Bumrah in the name of workload management, and handing a debut cap to Akash Deep in his place. I would have thought it would be better to keep him in the side for this match, aiming to settle the series early and then rest him. England won the toss, and chose to bat (choosing to bowl first on that surface and with Ranchi’s history would have made Nasser Hussain’s Brisbane 2002 howler of a decision look positively Solomonic).

DAY ONE

England reached 47 without undue difficulty, at which point Zak Crawley got himself out. Shortly after this it was 57-3, with Pope gone for a duck and Duckett also back in the pavilion. Bairstow scored rapidly but never suggested permanence, and sure enough, just before lunch he essayed one outrageous stroke too many and was on his way back to the pavilion. The interval came early when Stokes got a horrible ball from Jadeja, which shot through virtually at ground level, and hit the bottom of his pad so obviously plumb in front that the England skipper was setting off for the pavilion before the umpire’s finger was fully raised. Thus England were looking decidedly shaky with score 112-5.

However, Joe Root and Ben Foakes batted through the afternoon session together, and England took tea feeling somewhat happier at 198-5.

Post tea England continued to prosper. Foakes after initially being very slow hammered two sixes and a four in quick succession to move to 47, but then he holed out to end a partnership that had over doubled England’s score. When Hartley fell it was 245-7, and things were still very much in the balance, but Ollie Robinson batted sensibly, while Root continued on imperturbably to reach a superb century, his 31st in all test cricket, a record 10th against India and also a record third against India in India. England reached 300 just before the close, and by the end of the day were far the happier side, finishing on 302-7.

DAY TWO

England continued their revival, with Ollie Robinson completing an invaluable maiden test fifty, and Root finally ending on 122 not out, with England all out for 353. James Anderson soon had test wicket number 697, that of Rohit Sharma to a catch by Foakes. Jaiswal batted beautifully, but Gill became Shoaib Bashir’s first victim for 38, and Patidar and Jadeja were both out cheaply. At 161 Jaiswal’s innings came to an end for 73, bowled by the impressive Bashir. Jaiswal had become only the second ever Indian opener to score over 600 runs in a series, though he has a bit to do to overhaul Gavaskar’s 774 against the West Indies in 1970. Sarfaraz Khan, hugely talented (he averages 70 in first class cricket) but also inexperienced, struggled, and at 171 a fine catch by Root off Hartley ended his innings with his score on 14. Ashwin, who had done little to distinguish himself in this match either with the ball or in the field, mustered a single before Hartley trapped him LBW. Kuldeep Yadav provided one of India’s few bright spots of the day by batting through to the close in the company of Dhruv Jurel who ended the day 30* in a score of 219-7. India need this pair to continue their good work tomorrow – if England end with a big first innings lead the match will be as good as settled. Shoaib Bashir produced an exemplary spell of bowling, 32-4-84-4, keeping it tight and taking wickets. Anderson was Anderson, Hartley had his moments but also bowled quite a few loose balls, and Ollie Robinson was accurate, but lacking in pace (he was not even hitting 80mph). Ben Stokes did some bowling warm ups in the innings break, but did not put himself on, while with Bashir bowling so well Root was not called on save for one over near the end of the day. At the moment a 2-2 scoreline going to Dharamsala for the final match seems likely. England deserve great credit for the character they have shown to come back from the humiliation of the previous match and their decidedly unimpressive start to this match. I would say that after the first session on day one was indisputably India’s session England have had the better of all other five we have had so far, notwithstanding the late defiance of Jurel and Yadav.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

All Time XIs – Golden Oldies

In view of today’s happenings in Vizag I offer an XI of players whose skills and appetite for the game remained undimmed into their 40s. I also have my usual photo gallery for you.

The second test match of the five match series between India and England began at 4:00 this morning UK time. The pitch at Vizag is a batters paradise, which is why I reckon it is honours even at the end of day one. India are 336-6, with Yashavsi Jaiswal having batted all through the day for 179*. England actually bowled three overs more than the statutory minimum of 90, which is almost as rare as seeing a woodpecker in the environs of King’s Lynn, which also happened today:

Close up of a Green Woodpecker seen while walking along the Gaywood River path this morning.

England’s two young spinners, Rehan Ahmed and debutant Shoaib Bashir (born in Nottinghamshire and Surrey respectively for those who care about such things) each picked up two wickets, and each took a catch of the other’s bowling. Bashir became the 713th player capped by England Men, and one of his team mates in this match is the 613th player capped by England Men, one James Michael Anderson, who is the inspiration for today’s XI, comprising players who had great test match moments when past 40 years of age. Anderson had a fine day on a pitch offering him precious little, being parsimony personified, with 1-30 from 17 overs, meaning that he has now taken at least one test wicket in each of 22 successive calendar years.

THE XI IN BATTING ORDER

  1. Jack Hobbs (England, right handed opening batter). Almost half of his test runs were scored after he had turned 40, and at Melbourne in 1929, at the age of 46, he became test cricket’s oldest ever centurion with an innings of 142.
  2. Warren Bardsley (Australia, left handed opening batter). At Lord’s in 1926, almost 17 years after he had become the first to score twin centuries in a test match, Bardsley, then 43 years old, carried his bat through Australia’s first innings, scoring 193 not out.
  3. Patsy Hendren (England, right handed batter). Like Hobbs a tall scoring batter to the very end of his long career – over 1,000 of his test runs came after turning 40.
  4. Tom Graveney (England, right handed batter). Another in the select ‘1,000 test runs after the age of 40’ club.
  5. *Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan, right handed batter, captain). Someone whose prime test years were after he had turned 40.
  6. Basil D’Oliveira (England, right handed batter, right arm medium pacer). Based on his test record a batter who bowled rather than a genuine all rounder, though that might very well have been different had he been able to play for his native land starting in his mid 20s rather than for another country starting officially in his mid 30s.
  7. +Bob Taylor (England, wicket keeper, right handed batter). The only candidate for this slot.
  8. Clarrie Grimmett (Australia, leg spinner, right handed batter). His career did not begin in earnest until his mid 30s, and his test career only ended when at 46 years of age he was left out of the squad for the 1938 Ashes in England. By then he had taken 216 wickets in 37 tests.
  9. Sydney Barnes (England, right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). His last series, played at the age of 41, saw him claim 49 wickets in four matches before an argument of terms and conditions saw him miss the fifth and final match of the series. Those 49 wickets were just over a quarter of his career tally of 189, taken in just 27 matches.
  10. James Anderson (England, right arm fast medium bowler, left handed batter). Incredible longevity at the top for a 21st century cricketer, and his performance today suggests that the skills are very much still there. He has been known to bowl left arm spinners in the nets, though as far as I am aware has not yet deployed this method in a match. The oldest ever test cricketer, Wilfred Rhodes, who played his last match at the age of 52 years 165 days bowled left arm spin.
  11. Bert Ironmonger (Australia, left arm orthodox spinner, left handed batter). He made his debut at the age of 46, played 14 tests over the course of five years, and took 74 wickets at 17.97 in those matches. Thus in spite of being the ultimate in one-dimensional players – a clumsy fielder, and possessor of a test batting average of 2.62, he was nailed on for selection in this XI.

This side features a strong top six, a keeper whose batting was better than it is often given credit for being, and four great bowlers. Going by D’Oliveira’s actual record rather than dealing in ‘what might have been’ it is very much six batters, a keeper and four bowlers, rather than five batters, an all rounder, a keeper and four bowlers. However, the two most dominant men’s test cricket forces of my life time, the West Indies under Lloyd and Richards, and their successors at the top of the test tree, the Australians under Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh, both relied on six batters, a keeper and four bowlers, so it clearly can work provided that the personnel involved are good enough at their jobs, and I believe that this team ticks that box.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Among the batters to merit serious consideration were Bobby Simpson of Australia, Eric Rowan of South Africa and Herby Taylor of South Africa. The only other keeper to do well at the very highest level when past 4o was Bert Strudwick of England, and he was a genuine tailender with the bat, which would have made things very dicey indeed batting wise. Freddie Brown, who captained England in Australia at the age of 40 and had a respectable series would have had the number six slot had I been desperate to tick the all rounder box, but I felt in view the people at 8-11 that D’Oliveira, the batter who bowled, was a better fit for the XI.. Few genuine quicks have kept their pace into their 40s, and although his presence at number eight would have strengthened the batting I did not feel that Gubby Allen (England), one of that select company, was good enough to dislodge any of my chosen bowlers.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…