A look at the situation in England’s Super Eights group at the T20 World Cup and a photo gallery.
This post looks at the situation in England’s Super Eights group at the T20 World Cup. The other group is in action today, with the current match being between Bangladesh and India.
THE SITUATION SO FAR
This group kicked off with South Africa beating the United States of America. England then won a hugely impressive victory over West Indies, a match dominated by Phil Salt who made a respectable West Indian score look very ordinary by scoring 87 off 47 balls to lead England’s victory charge. Yesterday afternoon and early evening UK time saw England face South Africa, and although England had opportunities at various stages South Africa held their nerve at the death to record a narrow win. In the small hours of this morning UK time the two co-hosts did battle, and the West Indies romped to a colossal victory, needing barely more than half their 20 overs to chase down the USA’s total.
THE REMAINING MATCHES
England have the USA left to play and South Africa have to play the West Indies. If England beat the USA then the South Africa-West Indies match effectively becomes a KO – if West Indies win that will push SA’s net RR below England’s, and if SA win they will top the group, and England with two wins out of three will be second as of right. If England somehow lose to the USA then they will need South Africa to beat the West Indies, which would give SA three wins out of three, and the other three teams each one win and two defeats, and it would come down to net run rate. Wins for both USA and the West Indies in this round of matches would mean that SA and West Indies each have two wins out of three and England and the USA are eliminated.
A brief look ahead to the Super Eights stage of the world T20 Cup and a large photo gallery.
This post looks at the next stage of the T20 World Cup. Although some group games remain to be played the eight qualifiers for the next stage are already known and they have been put into two groups of four.
GROUP ONE
This group contains Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh and India – all three remaining Asian sides (Pakistan and Sri Lanka having failed to qualify) plus the only side from Oceania to have reached this stage of the competition. The expectation would be that the two titans, Australia and India, would progress to the semi-finals, at which stage the tournament becomes pure knock out. However Afghanistan have a 100% record to date, and will play their final group game against West Indies in the small hours of tomorrow, and I reckon they are certainly capable of springing a surprise. Afghanistan have batted as well as anyone on pitches that have generally been tricky, and they have a varied array of a fine bowlers. Bangladesh I suspect will be bringing up the rear in this group – they were less than convincing in their last group game against Nepal.
GROUP TWO
This group comprises England, South Africa, The USA and West Indies. The USA have been the surprise package of this tournament. I would not be surprised were they to add to their scalp bag, and maybe even making the semis – as will be seen there is reason to doubt two of the four sides in this group. The West Indies have been impressive this tournament, and as hosts they know the conditions better than anyone else. South Africa dominated their group, but they have never yet reached a semi-final of a men’s world cup in either ODIs or T20Is. I will believe in their ability to lay this particular ghost when I see it and not before. That leaves England who were definitely somewhat fortunate to make it through – they destroyed Oman and were impressive against Namibia, but Australia beat them with ease, and in the rain ruined match against Scotland the latter were 90-0 after 10 overs when it was abandoned, and this has been a low scoring tournament. Further, Scotland were a lot more impressive against Australia than their southern neighbours – Australia’s winning hit against them came from the penultimate ball of the match.
A look a two of test cricket’s daftest dismissals, the second of which happened yesterday. Also a huge photo gallery, making the most of the arrival of spring.
In the recent test match between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka two Sri Lankan batters scored centuries in both innings, and a Bangladeshi batter suffered the dismissal that prompted this little squib. I offer two contenders only, starting with…
LITTON DAS’ BRAINFADE
You are facing your first ball, with your side already reeling at 37-4. What do you do? If you are Litton Das you have an almighty heave and hole out in the deep, turning 37-4 into 37-5. Sadly, although this particular dismissal stands out for its sheer awfulness Bangladesh have had far too many moments of lack of application/ lack of mental toughness in their 24 years as a test playing nation, and such progress as they have made in that time is barely measurable.
WHY DID HE DO THAT!!!
You are Shannon Gabriel, specialist fast bowler with zero pretensions as a batter, and your side, the West Indies are nine wickets down with seven possible deliveries left in the match. At the other end, waiting to bat out the last over and leave the pitch with the draw secured, is Roston Chase with 110 not out to his name. What do you do? Mr Gabriel had a wild yahoo and succeeded in losing his wicket, handing the match, and with it the series, to Pakistan. The West Indian commentator’s agonized shout of “WHY DID HE DO THAT???!!!” is only too understandable in the circumstances.
MY VERDICT
On the one hand Litton Das is a proper batter and Shannon Gabriel one of the more genuine of genuine tail enders, which would seem to militate against the Bangladeshi. On the other hand Bangladesh were miles from any hope of escape in the match, whereas Gabriel knew that if he simply kept out one ball it would Roston Chase’s task to survive the remaining over, and he knew that Chase had a ton to his name and would be seeing it like a watermelon. Thus on the ground that the end goal was in plain sight for Gabriel and not remotely visible for Das, while acknowledging that Das had an absolute shocker, and that no one should have got out like that in that situation I give the verdict to Gabriel.
PHOTOGRAPHS
I have a massive photo gallery to share…
A large bee zeroes in on a nectar-rich flower head.A bee searching for flowers.
An acknowledgement of a major omission in yesterday’s post, a look back at yesterday’s west Indies v England ODI, an all time XI of players with given names beginning with K and a photo gallery.
This is a two-in-one post – yesterday saw the start of England’s new era in ODI cricket after the disaster of the world cup, and I look back at that match. I also parade an all time XI of players whose given names begin with K. Before getting into either of the main features I have on other thing to do…
ACKNOWLEDGE AN OMISSION
I noted yesterday when I covered cricketers whose given names began with J that I was dealing with an embarrassment riches. So much was the case that I entirely missed someone with a claim to place in the XI and to whom I should certainly have given at the least an honourable mention: Joel ‘Big Bird’ Garner the extra tall West Indies quick bowler of the 1970s and 80s. Note that I make no effort to perform the blogging equivalent of burying this rectification in 6 point type in the middle of page 27.
AN UNDERWHELMING RELAUNCH FOR ENGLAND
Yesterday saw the first match of a three match ODI series between the West Indies and England. The former had failed to even qualify for the recent ODI world cup, while the latter had an unmitigated disaster of a tournament.
THE PRELIMINARIES
After their world cup nightmare the England team showed a number of changes. Unfortunately Jos Buttler was allowed to retain the captaincy, a mistake which was to prove costly. Another poor call was the selection of left arm medium pacer Sam Curran who had proven valueless at the world cup. On the credit side a new look opening pair of Phil Salt and Will Jacks looked like a step in the right direction, as did the selection of young leg spinner Rehan Ahmed. Liam Livingstone was also in the XI, being treated as a bowling all rounder, scheduled to come in at seven and expected to bowl a full allocation of 10 overs. The West Indies had selected two frontline spinners as well, Gudakesh Motie (left arm orthodox) and Yannic Cariah (leg spin). Buttler won the toss and decided that England would bat, a correct call in my opinion.
THE ENGLAND INNINGS
Salt and Jacks made a blazing start, and were going at ten an over at one point, but both got out with the job half done, which was representative of the England innings as a whole. In the end, with the assistance of a late flurry from Sam Curran and Brydon Carse, England tallied 325 from their 50 overs. Gudakesh Motie had 2-49 from his ten overs, and Yannic Cariah 2-62 from his.
THE WEST INDIES RESPONSE
This was a tale of good spin bowling, good pace bowling from Gus Atkinson, dire pace/ seam bowling from Carse and Curran and terrible captaincy by Buttler, with Shai Hope playing a great innings, Romario Shepherd a spectacular one, and Sherfane Rutherford a brief but supremely eventful one.
Bizarrely, on a pitch that was helping spin, and with two of England’s designated pace options taking a hammering, Buttler chose not to deploy sixth bowler, off spinner Will Jacks. This piece of captaincy, curious at best, downright dreadful at worst, would cost England the match.
All seemed to be going pretty well for a time, and at one point the West Indies required run rate was close to 11 an over. However, once Rehan Ahmed (an exemplary display of leg spin bowling earning him 2-40 from his 10 overs) was finished, no one else was quite as good, though both Livingstone and Atkinson conceded runs at a respectable rate. The problem was the bowling of Curran and Carse, and the stubborn refusal of Buttler to deploy Jacks. Shepherd and Hope combined to take 23 off one Curran over, which made the ask manageable for the West Indies. After 48 of their 50 overs, with all of Ahmed, Livingstone and Atkinson bowled through and it having long since become too late to introduce Jacks the West Indies needed 19. Buttler opted to entrust the 49th over to Sam Curran, who had leaked 79 from eight overs up to that point. Five balls later, three of which had been dispatched into the stands Curran’s figures stood at 9.5-0-98-0 and West Indies had won the game with seven balls to spare. Shai Hope after a cautious start necessitated by circumstances had finished in glorious style, taking his score to 109* off 83 balls, his 16th ODI century, an innings in the course of which he passed 5,000 career ODI runs. Shepherd had hit 48 off 28 balls, Rutherford 6 off three, each ball being a genuine event – he hit his first ball in ODI cricket for six, was given out to his second but had the decision overturned, and then holed out off his third. Also worthy of mention was opener Alick Athenaze, whose 66 prevented his side from being sunk without trace. Hope was deservedly Player of the Match. Had England managed to win, Rehan Ahmed would have been an equally deserving recipient of the award for his bowling, but the incompetence of Curran and Carse and the poor captaincy of Buttler meant that Ahmed’s great effort was ultimately in vain and England’s brave new era of ODI cricket had started with a defeat. England need a new ODI skipper as a matter of urgency. Personally, with no absolute stand out candidate I would gamble on Jacks – slow bowling all rounders often make good skippers, and albeit on a small sample size, England historically fare well when captained by someone with first two initials WG – eight wins out of 14 matches under such a captain to date.
THE K XI IN BATTING ORDER
Kraigg Brathwaite (West Indies, right handed opening batter). Opening batters with given names beginning with K were hard to find, but the West Indian is noted for being able to bat time and has a respectable record in what has been a problematic area for his side ever since the Greenidge/ Haynes pairing broke up.
Krishnamachari Srikkanth (India, right handed opening batter). With a blocker in the number one slot I wanted my other opener to be more aggressively inclined. His career highlights include being the top individual scorer in a world cup final that his side won.
Ken Barrington (England, right handed batter, occasional leg spinner). One of the least appreciated of test cricket’s super stackers, his average of almost 59 an innings over the course of a long career puts him right up among the all time greats.
Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka, left handed batter, wicket keeper). Few would seriously dispute his claim to be regarded as his country’s best ever test match batter.
Kane Williamson (New Zealand, right handed batter). Another modern great, the third element of an extremely powerful engine room for this XI.
*Keith Miller (Australia, right handed batter, right arm fast bowler, captain). One of the greatest all rounders ever to play the game, and reckoned by everyone who played under him to have been a superb captain as well.
+Kyle Verreynne (South Africa, wicket keeper, right handed batter). Yet to fully establish himself at international level, but his domestic record is excellent.
Kapil Dev (India, right arm fast medium bowler, right handed batter). An extraordinary record for his country, even more so given that he was often the only member of the attacks of which he was part who was actually capable of bowling a ball at above medium pace.
Kagiso Rabada (South Africa, right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). An indisputably great fast bowler.
Katie Levick (England, leg spinner, right handed batter). The only non-international I have picked, she has a splendid record in domestic cricket, and a little like George Dennett (see this post) she has been unlucky that her career has happened at a time when England women have been exceptionally well served by spinners. With Miller capable of turning his hand to off spin it seemed sensible to select a specialist spinner of a different type.
Ken Farnes (England, right arm fast bowler, right handed batter). A promising career was nipped in the bud by the outbreak of WWII, but by then he had done enough to earn his place in this XI.
This XI has an opening pair who should combine well, a very powerful 3,4,5 combination, an ATG all rounder, a quality keeper-batter, a great bowling all rounder and three high quality specialist bowlers. Farnes, Rabada, Miller, Kapil Dev and Levick is by an reckoning a powerful bowling unit.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Kevin Pietersen is probably the standout name among those I could not find space for in the XI. The only way to get him in would be to use him as an opener, presumably in place of Srikkanth, and that was never a role he relished. Two Indian princes, the uncle and nephew KS Ranjitsinhji and KS Duleepsinhji were also unlucky to miss out on middle order slots. Kim Hughes had talent to burn but ended with a record that was not weighty enough to merit inclusion. Ken Rutherford recovered from a dreadful start at test level to become a highly respected middle order batter, but someway short of qualifying for inclusion in this XIs middle order. Karen Rolton, who has a cricket ground named after her in her native Australia, was s superb batter who deserves at least this mention. Kusal Mendis of Sri Lanka is a fine player, but not quite fine enough in my view. Ken ‘Slasher’ Mackay, a left handed blocker and right arm medium pacer, was also on the fringes. KL Rahul would have been in as keeper had I been picking with ODIs in mind. Karun Nair did once score a test match triple century, but that innings accounted for four fifths of his career tally at that level. Ken Wadsworth and Kiran More were both challengers for the keepers slot, while Keith Andrew was a top quality keeper, but a bunny with the bat. Keith Piper, keeper-batter in Warwickshire’s mighty unit of the mid 1990s also deserves a mention. Keith Barker, a left arm pacer and a useful lower order batter, was a candidate for the number eight slot, but I felt that Kapil Dev’s international pedigree had to tell in that instance. Kyle Abbott was a candidate for a seam bowling slot, but with Kapil Dev already inked in I preferred the fire and brimstone of Farnes. Kuldeep Yadav was the other candidate for the specialist spinner’s slot. Krom Hendricks, the first non-white South African cricketer to have been a documented victim of discrimination based on the colour of his skin, does not have a detailed enough career record to be selected, but warrants an honourable mention.
A post noting a new West Indies men’s test record opening partnership and looking at what this might mean for West Indies going forward. Also walk details and of a course a photo gallery.
In today’s post I look a story developing in Zimbabwe, and what it might mean for West Indies Men’s test team.
A NATIONAL RECORD OPENING STAND
Zimbabwe are not the most threatening of opponents, but as against that West Indies had to contend with regular interruptions due to the weather and the fact that overhead conditions when play was possible during the first two days certainly favoured the bowlers. Remarkably, the opening pairing of Kraigg Brathwaite and Tagenarine Chanderpaul were still together for the start of the third day’s play. With the score on 296 Brathwaite was dropped, and he then hit the next ball for four to bring up WI’s first ever 300 run opening stand in test cricket (also beating the previous national record of 298 by Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes in the process). The stand had reached 336 by the time Brathwaite was dismissed. England’s all time record opening stand was also achieved in southern Africa – Len Hutton and Cyril Washbrook putting up 359 at Ellis Park, Johannesburg during the 1948-9 tour of South Africa. Tagenarine Chanderpaul was still there on 207* when West Indies declared at 447-6, while Brathwaite had scored 182. Zimbabwe ended the day 114-3 in reply. They can only hope to save the match, while West Indies need 17 wickets in the last two days to win it (and also for Zimbabwe’s first innings to end up at 247 or less – with so little time left WI cannot hope to win if they have to bat a second time unless it is in pursuit of a very small total, with Zimbabwe having just avoided an innings defeat).
WEST INDIES OPENING WOES
In their entire history West Indies have had two authentically great opening partnerships, Greenidge and Haynes already referred to, and the earlier combination of Allan Rae and Jeffrey Stollmeyer. Conrad Hunte, an excellent test match opener in the late 1950s and early 1960s, never had a truly reliable opening partner, and neither did Chris Gayle in the 2000s. A side who can get away to a strong start when batting have a much better chance than one that regularly loses early wickets, and while finding a reliable opening pair has been far from the only problem West Indies have had since the end of their golden era in the early 1990s it will be big news not just for them, but for cricket as a whole, if this pair prove to be the real deal (Brathwaite already has a substantial test record, but Tagenarine Chanderpaul has only played a few matches, though he has made a stellar start to his test career).
PHOTOGRAPHS
Most of the photographs in today’s gallery come from two walks, with a few in between them. Yesterday I was invited to an early supper at a flat on Purfleet Quay. By the direct route this a walk of 15-20 minutes, but I had decided to go a long way round on the way there and take the quick route home due to the fact that the latter walk would be entirely in the dark. Thus I headed by way of the two ponds near me, the stretch of the Gaywood near Kettlewell Lane, across Littleport Street, past Highgate Methodist Chapel, across another section of the Gaywood, along the only section of main road I followed during the walk down past the station to the entrance to The Walks. I headed onto St John’a Walk, then took the footpath past the Red Mount Chapel and turned onto Broad Walk, emerging onto London Road, which I crossed onto the top of Millfleet, then passing through Hillington Square and inter alia All Saints Church, the oldest in King’s Lynn. Then it was down to the river by various side roads, a quick check in at the location where the Nar joins the Great Ouse, then round the dike that overlooks old Boal Quay, and on to the Great Ouse which I followed as far as the point where the Purfleet joins it, and having crossed the bridge I then headed up Purfleet Quay to the flat.
The second walk was today, and I started by walking along Columbia Way until it meets Bawsey Drain, along which I headed towards town. I departed from Bawsey Drain via the last bridge across it before one reaches town, headed by a combination of minor roads and footpaths through to Loke Road near Loke Road Recreation Ground, from which I followed a path which leads to the Kettlewell Lane river section, and then I looped round by way of Morrison’s, before passing the Kettlewell Lane river section a second time, heading past the two ponds and thus back to my back door.
A look back at the West Indies v England test match in Antigua.
The first test match in three match series between the West Indies and England ended in a draw yesterday. This post looks back at the match.
THE PRELIMINARIES
England made a cautious selection, opting for both Woakes and Overton, leaving out Saqib Mahmood. The West Indies meanwhile went for Holder at number six and four specialist bowlers as well. Joe Root won the toss and chose to bat first.
ENGLAND FIRST INNINGS
England made a disastrous start, slumping to 48-4. A fightback spearheaded by Bairstow and featuring good contributions from Stokes, Foakes and Woakes saw England end the first day 268-6 and possible back on track. On the second morning England battled on to 311 and it looked very much game on.
WEST INDIES FIRST INNINGS
West Indies did not score at all quickly, but they batted a very long time on a surface which had little life. Wood, the only bowler England had who was capable of bowling genuinely fast, left the field injured fairly early in the innings. Leach bowled well but without luck, keeping things tight but not taking wickets. Stokes, supposedly having his workload managed, was made to bowl 28 overs in the innings. Eventually the West Indies were all out for 375, Nkrumah Bonner scoring a very slow century to anchor the innings.
ENGLAND SECOND INNINGS
Zak Crawley delivered with the bat for once, and Root moved into second place on the England century makers list and became the leading scorer of centuries as England captain (24 in his career, still nine short of Alastair Cook’s tally and 13 as skipper). With Wood injured a measure of caution was necessary when it came to the declaration, and Root declared leaving WI a target of 286 in 70 overs.
WEST INDIES SECOND INNINGS
It was soon obvious that West Indies were not going to attempt the target, but when they lost their fourth wicket with quite a bit of time remaining England had genuine hope. Root made a point about his team’s mindset by staying out there until West Indies had six wickets left with only five balls to go – only then did he accept the draw. There was some adverse comment about this, but he did the right thing, not giving up on the chance of victory until he absolutely had to.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Time for my usual sign off…
Having shown the good (lots of treeplanting) this is an example of the bad – there used to be lots of plants that supported wildlife here, and they have been destroyed.
A look at the end of the test match summer, and at the state of the Bob Willis Trophy.
INTRODUCTION
From Friday through Tuesday at those times the weather permitted England and Pakistan did battle at the Ageas bowl in the last test match of this strangest of all summers, and from Saturday through Tuesday the fourth round of the Bob Willis Trophy took place, again with considerable interference from the weather. I look back at the test match and forward to the final round of BWT fixtures.
YOUTH AND EXPERIENCE TO THE FORE
England amassed 583-8 declared in their first innings, a performance underpinned by Zak Crawley who scored 267, his first test century. The only higher scores for a maiden test ton have been Brian Lara’s 277 at Sydney, Tip Foster (287 in his first ever test innings at Sydney), Bobby Simpson’s 311 at Old Trafford and Garry Sobers’ 365 not out at Sabina Park. Among England batters only Compton (278 v Pakistan), Foster (287 v Australia), Cook (294 v India), John Edrich (310 not out v New Zealand), Andy Sandham (325 v West Indies), Graham Gooch (333 v India), Walter Hammond (336 not out v New Zealand) and Len Hutton (364 v Australia) have ever scored more in a single innings. Only Hutton has ever scored more at a younger age than Crawley, who is just 22 years old. Thereafter, in the cricket that the weather permitted the spotlight was focussed on 38 year old James Anderson, as he first took a five-for (and had three catches missed) in Pakistan’s first innings, to which skipper Azhar Ali contributed a splendid 141 not out. This put Anderson on 598 test wickets, and England enforced the follow on as they had to. By the end of day 4, as the weather played havoc with the match Pakistan were 100-2 in their second innings, with one of the wickets to Anderson moving him on to 599, and yet another catch having gone begging off his bowling. There was heavy overnight rain, and it continued to rain for most of the morning, finally stopping just after 11AM. The sodden ground then had to dry out before play could commence, but eventually, at 4:15PM, with a possible 42 overs (27 mandatory and a further 15 if a result seemed possible) to be bowled. Anderson did not break through in his first spell, and as England hurried through overs to get to the second new ball Joe Root took a wicket with his part time off spin and Dom Sibley bowled one of the filthiest overs ever seen in a test match with his even more part time leg spin. The new ball was taken, and in his third over with it James Anderson induced a nick from Azhar Ali and the ball was pouched by a waiting slip fielder, bringing him to 600 test wickets. No one who bowled above medium pace had previously reached this landmark, and of the three spinners who had got there only one, Muttiah Muralitharan had done so in fewer balls bowled. Shortly after this a well struck four brought up a remarkable statistical landmark highlighted by Andy Zaltzman on Test Match Special: 1,000,000 runs in test matches involving England. A little later the last 15 overs were called, and after one ball thereof the teams decided to accept a draw as the pitch was doing precious little, and they were all eager to get away from the biosecure bubble and back to loved ones.
At the moment there is no way of knowing when England will next be in test match action, but James Anderson has every intention of still being in action when they do, and since he is still regularly clocking 85mph even at the age of 38 (while it is not unusual for veteran bowlers to be very successful due to the smarts they have acquired from years of experience it is unusual for a bowler of that age not to have slowed down – Walsh was barely exceeding 80mph when he toured England in 2000, likewise Shaun Pollock and Glenn McGrath in their veteran years) and is statistically bowling better than he ever has I for one am not counting him out.
I would like to thank both the West Indies who visited for three test matches immediately before Pakistan came over and Pakistan for braving the uncertainties created by this pandemic and coming to play, ensuring we had some cricket. I also tender a second huge thank you to the West Indies because their women are coming over to play against our women after India and South Africa cried off. I hope that England will reciprocate as soon as possible.
ADVANTAGE SOMERSET IN THE BWT
The format of the Bob Willis Trophy, tailored to fit special circumstances, is that the 18 first class counties have been grouped into three regional conferences, meaning that five rounds of matches will be played, and then the two best group winners will fight out a five day final at Lord’s. After four rounds of matches Somerset lead the central group with 76 points, Derbyshire the north group with 71 points and Essex the south group with 70 points. Although bonus points (of which as readers of this blog will be aware I am not a huge fan) complicate the issue somewhat, basically any win in their final match will qualify Somerset, since it is next door to impossible to win a match without taking full bowling bonus points, which on its own would put Somerset on 95, meaning that Derbyshire could equal them with a maximum point win and Essex could finish on 94 with a maximum win. Somerset crushed Gloucestershire and the most recent round, dismissing them for 76 and 70. Surrey’s nightmare season went from bad to worse as they were beaten by Kent in spite of the restored Ben Foakes contributing a century and a fifty. A major role for Kent was played by Darren Stevens, an all rounder who bowls medium pace, and who remains a force to be reckoned with at county level even at the age of 44. Limited overs cricket will be the order of the day for most of the rest of this season, which will extend into October because of the hugely delayed start. The T20 blast competition gets underway tomorrow afternoon, with commentaries on all matches accessible via www.bbc.co.uk/cricket.
England’s victory at Old Trafford, player ratings and photographs from my collection.
INTRODUCTION
The Wisden Trophy is now England’s in perpetuity – future series between England and the West Indies will be played for the Richards – Botham Trophy. This post describes the concluding stages of the match.
THE BROAD/ WOAKES SHOW
After yesterday was washed out the question was whether there would be enough play today for England to complete the job. There were a couple of interruptions, but England took wickets regularly. Broad began today’s events by bagging his 500th test wicket, the seventh bowler to reach that landmark. His victim was Kraigg Brathwaite, who three years earlier had been James Anderson’s 500th test victim. Then Woakes bowled a marvellous spell in which he bagged five wickets, while Roston Chase was run out courtesy of a direct hit on the stumps by Dom Bess. Broad came back at the the end, and at 2:58PM he had Jermaine Blackwood edging to Jos Buttler for his tenth wicket of the match to go with his score of 62. The West Indies were all out for 129 and the final margin was 269 runs. Dominic Bess did not get a bowl in either innings such was the dominance of England’s pace bowlers.
COMMISERATIONS TO THE WEST INDIES
All true cricket fans should be deeply grateful to the West Indies for undertaking this tour given the circumstances, and they played superbly in the first match at the Ageas Bowl. They were badly beaten in both the games played at Manchester to end up losing the series. Jason Holder was guilty of two poor decisions after winning the toss in both games. Bowling first might have been justifiable the first time round although doing so is always a gamble (nb I specifically did not criticize England’s decision to bat first in the opener for this precise reason), but the second time round it was utterly inexcusable – not only did he know that doing so at the same ground had backfired a few days previously, he had also selected an extra spinner in the person Rahkeem Cornwall, certainly the heaviest top level cricketer since Warwick Armstrong and possibly since the mighty ‘Lion of Kent’, Alfred Mynn, star of the 1840s, and for the selection of the extra spinner to work you need to bowl last. The West Indies batters had a tendency to get caught on the crease rather than getting fully forward which meant that they suffered a lot of LBWs.
ENGLAND PLAYER RATINGS
Rory Burns – 8.5 – 57 in the first innings, 90 in the second getting out playing aggressively, the dismissal the triggered the declaration.
Dom Sibley – 6.5 – a blob in the first innings, but a 50 in the second, and he did show some attacking intent with England having an eye on a declaration.
Joe Root – 7.5 – failed in the first innings, but a blistering 68 not out off 56 balls in the second propelled England to their declaration, and he handled the side well in the field.
Ben Stokes – 5 – a quiet match for the talisman, scoring 20 in his only innings and not bowling due to a niggle.
Ollie Pope – 8 – his first innings 91 was a magnificent innings, he took a splendid catch but was robbed of the credit for it because the bowler had overstepped.
Jos Buttler – 5.5 – 67 in the first dig, when England needed runs from him. Struggled somewhat behind the sticks. His first innings score, while valuable in the context of this match should not save him – he has had so many chances that he was bound to make a decent contribution somewhere along the way.
Chris Woakes – 7 – did little until the final day, but when he did get into the game did so in style with a five-for.
Dom Bess – 6 – the off spinner was not called on to bowl, but he made a crucial contribution with the bat and fielded superbly, including a direct hit run out in the final innings.
Jofra Archer – 6 – not the best match for the fast bowler, with only one wicket to show for his efforts, but he put in some hard yards.
Stuart Broad – 10 – A blistering innings when England were far from secure having slipped from 258-4 to 280-8 in the first innings, 6-31 in the first West Indies innings and 4-36 in the second, the first three to open them right up, and fittingly the final wicket to fall. He also pouched a couple of catches, and as I said about Stokes in the previous match even Craig Revel-Horwood would rate this performance a 10.
James Anderson – 7 – only two wickets in the match, both in the first innings for the veteran, but he bowled very well and played his part in this triumph.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
PS – Stuart Broad has been named Player of the Series, and just too late to save the West Indies the Manchester rain has returned (a bit like Adelaide 2010, when shortly after Australia were bowled out to give England an innings win the heavens opened).
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…
This half guinea is lot 1.
I tried a photograph as well as the scan, but the scan is undeniably better.
A look at developments in the third test match between England and the West Indies, a mathematical teaser and plenty of photographs.
INTRODUCTION
The test match at Manchester is deep into its second day, and England are in a strong position.
DAY 1
England got out of jail in the last part of yesterday, Pope playing beautifully to reach the close on 91 not out and Buttler also topping 50. The light intervened with 4.2 overs still to bowl, and the close of play score was 258-4.
DAY 2
Pope and Buttler both fell early in the day, as did Woakes and Archer to make it 280-8, with four wickets, including his 200th in tests to Kemar Roach. Then Broad arrived at the crease and attacked from the start. The game got away from the West Indies as Broad and Bess put on 78 for the ninth wicket, with Broad hitting 62 off just 45 balls, the highest score ever by an England no10 at Old Trafford, beating the 60 not out of Hedley Verity in 1934. Bess and Anderson then added a further 11 for the tenth wicket and England totalled 369. Lunch was taken as soon as England were all out. Broad continued his excellent day by getting Kraigg Brathwaite with the new ball. The other opener John Campbell was reprieved when Stokes dropped a chance in the slips off Anderson, and as I write West Indies are 20-1 after nine overs.
THE WISDEN TROPHY
England need to win this match to win the series and take the Wisden Trophy, while a draw would see the West Indies retain the Wisden Trophy, and a win would see them win their first series in England since 1988. I think England’s two escapes, first when they got away in the final session of yesterday and then the Broad/Bess flourish of this morning have taken the West Indies win out of the equation, leaving th only question being whether England can force a victory.
HOLDER’S ILLOGIC
Jason Holder, the West Indies captain, has not distinguished himself in this match. Having decided to go with an extra spinner he then responded to winning the toss by putting England in. If the first decision was correct, the second was certainly wrong, since it is in the closing stages of matches that spinners come into their own. I am not sure whether the pitch will offer much spin (Cornwall, the extra spinner, went wicketless in the first innings) but I am already certain that the decision to bowl first was wrong – the fact that England made 369 with only Ollie Pope batting really well and Broad having his bit of fun late in the innings indicates a pitch not offering hugely much to the bowlers. It also shows a failure to learn from experience – Holder made the same decision at this same ground just a few days earlier and his team took a hammering in that game. Then, yesterday evening, with Pope and Buttler going well the West Indies inexplicably delayed taking the new ball, which contributed to England bossing the opening day.
TAKING BAD LIGHT OUT OF
TEST MATCH CRICKET
Bad light needs to be eliminated from test cricket, and there are two ways of doing so, given that all international venues have floodlights:
Have a stock of white balls at the venue, so that if the floodlights are the sole source of light the red ball can be replaced with a white one and the match continue after a short pause.
Play all test matches with pink balls, so that there is no need to switch colour when the nature of the light changes.
THE REST OF THE GAME
After today there are three more scheduled days, and only Monday has a really bad weather forecast. I think England are favourites to win the match and therefore the Wisden Trophy. The follow-on is unlikely to come in to play, but England should have a respectable first innings advantage. Given that Monday is likely to be disrupted they should then look to advance that lead at a rapid rate. Jofra Archer has just struck to make it 44-2.
MATHEMATICAL TEASER
A very easy but quite fun teaser from brilliant.org (ignore the official difficulty rating):
The problem is 4 x 4 Calcdoku – each row and column contains the numbers 1,2,3 and 4, and various regions are marked out as having a certain total obtained by applying one of four basic arithmetic operations.
Solution tomorrow.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
Tomato plants which I am currently attending to.
Close ups of some of the fruit in this pic and the next.
aspiblog 