I’m posting this cheery little poem in honour of England’s batting performance in the first innings against Pakistan this morning..
This is turning out to be a sad month for cricket fans, for today saw the death of legendary all-rounder Basil D’Oliveira. “Dolly”, as he was affectionately known, was born in South Africa but was unable to play first-class cricket there because of the apartheid regime’s policy of racial segregation; as a “Cape Coloured” he wasn’t allowed to play what was basically a whites-only game. He emigrated to England in 1960 and was subsequently picked to play for England and quickly established himself as an excellent player at Test level. Selected basically as a batting all-rounder, and usually coming in between 5 and 7 in the order, his average was over 40, and he scored 5 centuries in 44 Test matches in a career that lasted from 1966 to 1972. These are impressive figures, especially considering that his Test career didn’t even start until he was in his mid-thirties.
His selection (as a late replacement) for the England side that was to tour South Africa in 1968 precipitated the D’Oliveira Affair, which led to South Africa being ostracised from international cricket until the end of apartheid in the 1990s. Although this episode must have been personally distressing for him, D’Oliveira behaved with great courage and dignity throughout and won many admirers on and off the field, and the warmth of the tributes being paid in today’s media demonstrate the high regard in which he was held by cricketers, fans of the sport, and by campaigners against racism.
Rest in peace, Basil D’Oliveira (1931-2011), one of the true gentlemen of cricket.
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Two things have come up recently that I’d like to mention here. They’re both, in their different ways, about heroes, but the remembrance that’s called for is different to that normally observed on this day.
First, I couldn’t resist passing on a link to a short but intensely moving piece by Alan Garner in yesterday’s Guardian about Alan Turing, in the My Hero series.
I suppose most readers of this blog will know of Turing’s pioneering work on computer science and his crucial contribution to the war effort in cracking the German Enigma codes. I also suppose most know about the circumstances of his death; he took is own life in 1954 after being forced to endure a form of chemical castration after being found guilty of homosexuality, in case you didn’t already know. Many of you will also have read some (or in my case many) of the various books about his life and work. (If not I recommend Andrew Hodges’ excellent The Enigma of Intelligence, which I read when I was an undergraduate, over 25 years ago.)
But what those of us who never met Alan Turing will never know is what he was really like as a man, and that is why pieces like the one by Alan Garner are so moving. Turing comes across as eccentric (I think we all know what was the case), but also as a very amusing character who was excellent company and a bit of a chatterbox, despite suffering from a stammer. The circumstances of his arrest and subsequent conviction for the “crime” of being gay also confirm the impression that he had an almost childlike innocence about the world outside academe. In other words, he was a very easy target. We like to think we live in more enlightened times nowadays – and I suppose in many ways we do – but I think Alan Turing would be as much, or even more of, a misfit in today’s world than he was in the 1950s. Although he was undoubtedly a genius, he rarely bothered to publish academic papers so I dread to think how he would fare in the present university system!
Anyway, I’d just like to say thank you to Alan Garner (who knew Turing well as a friend) for sharing his thoughts and experiences. I may have never met Alan Turing, but he’s my hero too…
And that brings me to another sad story. I only learned this morning that former cricketer Peter Roebuck died yesterday, at the age of 55, having taken his own life in a hotel room in Cape Town. Peter Roebuck always seemed to me an unlikely figure for a sportsman, with his spectacles, cerebral air, and rather stooped gait he looked more like an academic than an athlete, but he was a fine cricketer. I remember him very well from the time I was a schoolboy mad keen about cricket, and I liked him particularly because he wasn’t – or didn’t seem to be – someone blessed with prodigious natural skill. He made it in the professional game because he worked hard. People like that are always heroes to those, like me, who love sport but don’t have any innate talent for it.
After retiring from cricket Roebuck went to live in Australia and took up a career as writer and commentator on the sport, a role at which he excelled, as much for his lucid prose as for his deep technical knowledge. Although he mainly covered Australian cricket, I often read his articles and admired his writing enormously. I have no idea what caused him to commit suicide, and I wouldn’t wish to speculate about that, let alone presume to judge. All I can say is that it’s the saddest thing when someone takes their own life, whatever the circumstances.
UPDTATE: 14/11/2011 There’s a lot of traffic coming to this post via Google searches of “Was Peter Roebuck gay” or suchlike. I have no idea whether he was or wasn’t and I’m not going to indulge in gossip, so I’m afraid that if that’s the reason you’re here you’re going to be disappointed.
Rest in peace, Peter Roebuck.
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I promised yesterday to post a quick account of the Fifth (and final) One Day International between England and India at the SWALEC stadium in Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, so here goes…
As I feared, the weather in Cardiff yesterday wasn’t brilliant and, although it was quite warm during the morning, it was overcast and there were stacks of very dark clouds around by lunchtime. We got to the ground in time for the scheduled start, which was 2pm, but just as play was about to get under way the heavens opened and down came the rain.
This was the scene about five to two, just as the covers were being taken off; they dark clouds to the left were moving from left to right and covered the ground a few minutes later whereupon it stotted down.
Fortunately, although it came down in stair-rods for a while, the rain didn’t last long so play actually got under way about 2.40 and the authorities decided that the game would remain 50 overs a side (with a late finish).
England won the toss and decided to field. Openers Parthiv Patel and Ajinkya Rahane got the Indian innings off to a good start with a partnership of 52 runs, then Rahane was removed by Jade Dernbach when the batsman, after scoring just 26 runs off 47 deliveries, was caught by Steven Finn at third man, right down in front of us. In the 16th over, Patel also fell, for 9 runs off 39 deliveries, when he was caught by Tim Bresnan at mid-on off the bowling of spinner Graeme Swann. Rahul Dravid (playing his last ODI) and Virat Kohli then played a wonderful partnership which was not broken until the last delivery of the 42nd over. England finally managed to grab the wicket of Dravid who left the field to a standing ovation after scoring 69 runs. The Dravid/ Kohli partnership had brought 170 runs; by the time Dravid’s wicket fell, India were on 227-3. Meanwhile, Kholi had managed to score his sixth one-day hundred but he was out for 107 in the 44th over when he was given out hit-wicket while trying to play a delivery by Swann; his back foot had apparently slipped and struck the stumps, dislodging a bail. Unlucky.
The Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni then smashed 50 runs off 26 deliveries to help his side post a score of 304-6, leaving England a daunting target of 305 runs to win. India certainly batted well, but were helped a bit by poor bowling by some of the England players. Indeed the only bowler I thought was really impressive was Finn, who was consistetly over 90 mph in his opening spell and was clearly troubling the Indian batsmen. Jade Dernbach, by contrast, committed the unpardonable sin of bowling wides in the last over. Incidentally, I managed to catch the umpire signalling an England wide, but I can’t remember who was bowling at the time:
Just after they players went off for a (shortened) interval, the rain came back again and this time it was decided that there wouldn’t be time for another full 50 overs. The Duckworth–Lewis (D/L) method was wheeled out, with the initial outcome that England would have to score 270 to win off 40 overs. That seemed very tough – the ten overs lost only reducing England’s target by 35. Another rain delay then revised the target further to 241 runs from 34 overs, a very stiff challenge indeed.
The many Indian supporters in the ground were buoyed by their team’s strong batting performance and seemed confidedent of a first victory against England this tour. I thought India would win at this point too, as a matter of fact. Anyway, the rain finally cleared and as the sun came out a rather nice rainbow appeared over Sophia Gardens as the floodlights were switched on for the “night” part of this “day-night” game.
England came out to bat and, rightly, sought to take the attack to India right from the ouset. Openers Alastair Cook and Craig Kieswetter scored quickly against some frankly rather poor Indian bowling.
England suffered their first loss in the fifth over with the score on 27 when Kieswetter was given leg-before wicket off the bowling of Vinay Kumar. Cook was then joined by Jonathan Trott, often a rather slow scorer, but both batsmen scored quite freely building a partnership of 79 runs until Cook was dismissed in the 18th, bowled by Kohli. The England total was 106 at this point, with three wickets down but plenty of batting still to comeyet only 16 overs to score the remaining 135 needed to win.
Ian Bell departed after scoring 26 runs and then Trott fell to a catch, off an uncharacteristically poor shot, for 63 runs off 60 deliveries. With four wickets now down, India (and their fans) must have been feeling pretty confident that they could stop England’s run chase. The result was firmly in the balance.
Cue the 21-year-old debutant Jonathan Bairstow who looked a little nervous for his first two or three deliveries, but then proceeded to smash the Indian bowling all round the park (and out of it). I think at least two of his big straight hits may well have landed in the River Taff after clearing the stands at the Riverside end quite comfortably. The flurry of boundaries boosted England’s scoring rate so quickly that in no time the target started to look not just possible but comfortable. In the end Bairstow remained unbeaten on 41 runs while his partner Ravi Bopara was not out 37 as England won by 6 wickets with more than an over to spare.
It was an impressive performance by the England batsman and a crushing disappointment for India, who now return home without winning a single match in England this season.
Despite the showery weather it was a thoroughly enjoyable occasion. The ground was packed, the sizeable Indian contingent contributed a lot to the atmosphere, and the usual groups of daft blokes in bizarre fancy dress also added a measure of eccentricity to the event. It did look at one point that there might be an ugly scene between two groups of fans in our stand, but thankfully it didn’t turn out to be very serious. We don’t want any of that sort of thing at cricket matches, thank you very much.
So that’s that. A fine end to the summer of international cricket, though perhaps not for the Indian players and supporters….
Follow @telescoperHere we are then, at the end of what passes for summer in these parts. Not that I had much of a holiday at any point, but now the traditional signposts of summer’s end have passed, including the Last Night of the Proms last weekend and yesterday’s end of the cricket County Championship. It’s strange how one’s life is measured by such rituals. There’s still a fortnight until teaching resumes, but it’s definitely back to the grind next week for me because I’ll be locked in a dark dungeon in Swindon on panel business for the most of the week.
The cricket season finished in exciting style as Lancashire chased down a score of 211 to win by 8 wickets down in Taunton, while Warwickshire, who had started the day as favourites to win, could only draw against Hampshire whose batsman saved them from what looked like a losing position. So congratulations to Lancashire, outright winners of the County Championship for the first time in 77 years!
I have to say that because I have a devout Lancastrian staying with me for a couple of days; he drove up to Cardiff from Taunton after the close of play and Lancashire’s victory provided a good excuse for some bubbly and a nice nosh-up at a local restaurant. I’m a bit hung over this morning, in fact, but I have got the day off.
It’s not quite the end of the cricket season, however, as today Cardiff hosts a One-day International between England and India, the last in a series of 5. England won two of the previous games, with one tied and one abandoned with no result because of rain. It’s therefore what you might call a dead rubber, but it’s the last cricket in Cardiff until next year and the last excuse for a day off before next week’s ordeals in Swindon, so I’ll be there. The weather isn’t marvellous and it may well rain at some point, but I’m pretty sure we’ll get at least some cricket. It’s a sell-out at the Swalec Stadium so there should at least be a good atmosphere.
I’ll update the blog with an account of the match in due course, but that’s all for now…
Follow @telescoperUgh. I seem to have come down with a nasty bug, which started as the sorest of sore throats but has since broadened its ambitions. Not very nice, particularly since I’ve got a lot on my plate this week.
I have a feeling this may be a consequence of sitting in the rain for several hours on Saturday. The trip I mentioned in yesterday’s post was, in fact, to London SE11 in order to catch the Third Day’s play in the Fourth (and final) Test between England and India at The Oval. It’s been a long time since I was last there – about twenty years, in fact – and I’d almost forgotten the contrast between Kennington and St John’s Wood. Cricket at Lord’s is an altogether posher affair than at The Oval, you see. It’s also rather harder to get to from Paddington.
Anyway, I left Cardiff early and managed to meet up with an old pal (who still lives in South London and who got the tickets) in good time to get into the ground for the 11am start. It was quite sunny when proceedings opened with England resuming their first innings on 457-3 and looking to push on quickly. Within half an hour they lost the nightwatchman, James Anderson, quickly followed by Eoin Morgan. Bell and Bopara then put together a fine partnership until Ian Bell’s magnificent innings of 235 came to a close with England on 548-6. Matt Prior chipped in with 18 to take the score to 591-6 at lunch.
I reckoned England would probably want to score around 650 before declaring, but unfortunately the weather intervened and made this calculation irrelevant. It starting raining during the interval and didn’t really clear until about half past four. Play eventually resumed at 16.50, with time added on to make up for the disruption. Meanwhile, England declared – a wise decision, taken to ensure England would have enought time to bowl India out twice – so it was the tourists who came out to bat when play resumed.
In the first over, Sehwag hit two fours off Anderson and was then out lbw, with India 8-1, which soon became 13-2 as Laxman departed, caught behind the wicket. Tendulkar then arrived to the customary standing ovation and together with Dravid kept England’s fast bowlers at bay for a time.
But then, with the shadows lengthening, there followed one of the most fascinating hours of Test cricket I’ve ever seen. Graham Swann was introduced into the attack and immediately generated exceptional bounce and turn. He troubled both batsman until, with the score on 68, Tendulkar played a rash sweep shot which caught the top edge and dollied up a simple catch to James Anderson. In came the hapless Raina who looked all at sea. In fact he faced 29 balls without scoring a single run; he fell stumped, both literally and metaphorically. At 93-4 and with about 15 minutes to play, India sent in Sharma to play the role of nightwatchman.
At this stage England were smelling blood and had fielders around the bat like vultures waiting for the kill. I haven’t seen such attacking fields for an offspinner since watching old films of Jim Laker bowling at the Australians. Every ball looked dangerous. Sharma didn’t survive long under the pressure. When he departed, for 1, that brought in the Indian captain Dhoni to partner the imperturbable Raul Dravid to the close at 103-5. India looked demoralised, England jubilant.
And with that I legged it back to Paddington and thence back home to Cardiff. A long day, good at both ends but with a damp patch in the middle.
POSTSCRIPT. India recovered well to score 300 all out in their first innings, but that wasn’t enough to avoid the follow-on. They got a better start in the 2nd innings, but once again Tendulkar failed to get his 100th international century – just, this time; he was out for 91. Thereafter India collapsed hideously to 283 all out. England won by an innings and 8 runs, and completed a clean sweep. I wouldn’t have dared predict a 4-0 victory at the start of the series, but as it turned out England completely overwhelmed India.
And that’s the last Test cricket of this fascinating summer….
Follow @telescoperTime for a brief report on yesterday’s Big Day Out to London to watch the third day’s play of the First Test between England and India at Lord’s. The journey there passed off without a hitch, and I got into London a shade after 9am. It’s a fairly short walk from Paddington to Lord’s (if you know the way!) and the queue to get in moved pretty quickly, so I was inside the ground well before 10am, scoffing a splendid bacon sandwich in the Warner stand, adjacent to the pavilion.
The weather wasn’t quite as good as I’d hoped – overcast most of the day, and not particularly warm – but we got started on time at 11am and had a full day’s play. The ground was full, and there was a good atmosphere, with a sizeable contingent of Indian supporters adding to that special buzz you get on the Saturday of a Test Match at Lord’s.
Conditions, being conducive to swing, were fairly helpful to the bowlers, although it took them a while to find their line (especially in the case of Tremlett, who also kept bowling no-balls). Of the two Indian openers, Mukund looked far the more assured; his partner, Gambhir struggled in comparison. This pair took the total to 63 without too many alarms until Stuart Broad was brought into the attack and proved to be the pick of the England bowlers. He quickly disposed of Gambhir for a slow 15 of 46 balls, managing to squeeze a full delivery between bat and pad.
That brought in Raul Dravid, who batted most of the rest of the day for a very fine century (103 not out). Mukund, who had scored the lion’s share of the runs in the opening partnership, got to 49 and stuck there for quite some time, held up by the accuracy of England’s bowling and, one suspects, nerves at the prospect of a half-century at Lord’s. Eventually he reached for a wide ball from Broad to drive and, rather unluckily, played on.
That brought in one of the all-time greats Sachin Tendulkar (to a warmly-felt standing ovation from the Lord’s crowd). I had been looking forward for ages to see him play. One or two early alarms notwithstanding, Tendulkar and Dravid looked increasingly secure and began to score freely against the attacking field placings set by England captain Andrew Strauss. It was starting to look like a mammoth Indian score might be on the cards when, somewhat surprisingly to me, Tendulkar edged one from Broad and a sharp chance was snaffled by Swann at slip; he was gone for 34 and India were 158 for 3.
There then followed a fascinating period of play, in which Swann (who hadn’t bowled before lunch) twirled away from the Pavilion End while a combination of quick bowlers (first Broad, and then Tremlett) steamed in from the Nursery End. England dropped two catches in one over from Broad, and Swann was posing problems but not making a breakthrough. Laxman, who had come in to replace Tendulkar looked all at sea and eventually played a rash lofted pull shot, which was caught right in front of us at deep backward square leg. India 182 for 4 was soon 183-5 as Raina went lbw to Swann, who deserved a wicket, although he did tend to bowl a bit short on occasions.
Mindful of the possibility of a collapse, the Indian batsmen went into their shells and there followed an absorbing period of attritional cricket, as Dhoni and Dravid steadied the ship. Then Dhoni was caught at slip of Tremlett – who bowled much better later in the day – to be replaced by Harbhajan Singh who survived one no-ball before playing a dreadful shot which resulted in him being caught at the wicket by Prior.
At 241-7 India were in real danger of being forced to follow on (which can be enforced if the team batting second does not get within 200 runs of the first innings total; England scored 474-8, so India needed to reach 275 to avoid it). In strode Kumar who made it quite clear what his strategy was going to be by clubbing his first ball for 4. He played a variety of shots in his short innings – some authentic, some agricultural – not only adding entertainment value, but also taking India to 276 before skying a hook shot and getting caught. Neither the injured Khan (batting with a runner) nor Sharma troubled to scorers and India ended up all out for 286, with Dravid remaining unbeaten until the end.
It was getting fairly dark at this point, about 6.30pm, and England couldn’t have been relishing the 5 overs they had to face before the close but they survived without loss, and I headed off back to Paddington. A thoroughly enjoyable day’s cricket and, I might add, quite a few beers. I also took a bit of time off the cricket to take a stroll around the perimeter of the stadium, which is an interesting thing to do as there are many shops and catering outlets around. The main shop at Lord’s is a bit of a disappointment, however, full of ugly overpriced tat, but at least no hideous paperweights.
Anyway, many thanks to my genial host for the day – we were in the part of the ground reserved for members and their guests – old friend and regular contributor this blog, Anton.
Unfortunately the journey home wasn’t so enjoyable. I got the train on time, but we stopped just past Swindon where it appeared that all power had been lost on the signals between Swindon and Bristol Parkway. We sat motionless and then trundled back to Swindon, eventually setting off again via Gloucester, of all places. I’m glad I took a good long book with me, as the crossword didn’t take very long. I was supposed to be at Cardiff Central at 21.47, but didn’t actually arrive until 11.27, 1 hour and 40 minutes late. Columbo was most annoyed.
Follow @telescoperHere I am, up at the crack of dawn for a day trip to the Home of Cricket. The plan is to see the Third Day of the 1st Test between England and India at Lord’s, which just happens to be the 2000th Test Match and the 100th between these two countries. England seem to have the upper hand after Day 2, in which Kevin Pietersen scored a double century and England declared on 474 for 8. India survived without losing a wicket to end on 17-0 at stumps. With some time lost to rain, and India a very strong batting side, it looks like a draw is the most likely outcome but I’m really looking forward to Day 3, during which I hope to have the privilege of seeing the great Sachin Tendulkar bat. This is the 100th Test Match between England and India, and Tendulkar might score his 100th Test International century in it. If he does I will be the first to congratulate him, but I won’t mind if he’s out for a duck either! Anyway, the weather forecast is pretty good and however the match goes I’m looking forward to my day out. Not sure it will be the best I’ve ever had, but then..
It was tipping down with rain this morning so I wrote off the prospect of there being any result in the First Test between England and Sri Lanka at Cardiff which I’ve blogged about once already. However, the weather steadily improved and play eventually got started at about 3pm. England, resuming on 491 for 5, batted on for a couple of overs to allow Ian Bell to get his century then – perhaps surprisingly – declared on 496-5, with a lead of 96 on the first innings. An unusually adventurous decision by Strauss to declare so early, in fact. Nevertheless, a draw looked a virtual certainty to me (and most sports writers) so I wasn’t paying much attention to the cricket at first, deciding instead to get on with some other stuff at home.
When I checked the score around 4 o’clock I discovered Sri Lanka had lost a couple of early wickets and had gone in for tea at 33-2. It being free to get in for the last session and the weather now being very sunny, I finally decided to go and watch the final stages. A draw still seemed the likeliest outcome – Sri Lanka only had to bat out time for 35 overs or so. However, we don’t get much Test cricket in Cardiff and the last match here had an exciting finish, so I walked to the ground just after tea. There couldn’t have been more than a few hundred spectators in the ground, but what we saw turned out to be a demonstration of what Test cricket is all about.
I had hardly got to my seat when Tremlett produced a beauty that found the edge of M. Jayawardene’s bat and was caught at slip. Sri Lanka 33-3. A few minutes later Samaraweera played an inexplicable slash at spinner Graham Swann and dragged the ball onto his stumps; 36-4. Swann then disposed of Sangakkara and Maharoof, and Tremlett took the wicket of P. Jayawardene, all with the score on 43. Sri Lanka’s batting, so solid in the first innings was now in pieces on the floor. In came Herath with the air of a man wishing to commit suicide. Eventually he succeeded, playing an agricultural swipe at a delivery from Swann; he missed and the ball hit him on the back leg, plumb in front of the wicket. At 52-8 Sri Lanka looked doomed. Perera decided to take the attack to England. He played some good shots, as well as some lucky ones, and was fortunate to be dropped when two fielders ran into each other. Nevertheless, he and Mendis steadied the Sri Lankan ship for a while. I on the other hand was literally shaking with excitement and anticipation, hoping that I was about to witness a spectacular finale.
The score quickly moved onto 82 and it looked like Sri Lanka might at least have a chance of making England bat again. Then Broad replaced Tremlett, Perera tried to flick him away and Ian Bell took a superb reaction catch at short leg. 82-9. Last man Lakmal departed without troubling the scorers just three balls later, caught at 3rd slip by Alastair Cook. England had won by an innings and 14 runs. Amazing.
It had all been so exciting I hadn’t even had time to think about going for a beer. I think I’ll have one while I watch the highlights on TV.
There really is nothing like Test cricket, you know…
It’s raining this morning (again), delaying the start of the fourth day’s play in the First Test between England and Sri Lanka which is taking place at the SWALEC Stadium here in Cardiff, just a few hundred yards from my house.
One of the advantages of living so close to the ground is that I can stay home and dry when there is a delayed start and simply toddle down there when start of play is announced on the radio. That’s my plan for today, in fact. It was a similar state of affairs yesterday. There was heavy rain first thing, which had been forecast, but it was exacerbated by persistent heavy drizzle for hours afterwards, which hadn’t. The covers therefore stayed on all morning with the result that (a) play didn’t start until 2pm but (b) I had time to write a lengthy blog post about Friday’s concert and (c) have lunch at home before walking to the ground.
The match was interestingly poised, with Sri Lanka all out for exactly 400 and England on 47-1 having lost Andrew Strauss late on Friday evening. Jimmy Anderson, who had come in as nightwatchman, departed almost immediately on Saturday, bringing in Jonathan Trott to join Alastair Cook. The pair batted steadily on. And on. Seventy overs passed, in fact, and the two accumulated runs in remorseless fashion without offering any significant chances, adding 240 runs to bring England to 287-2 at stumps, both reaching fine centuries. It wasn’t thrilling strokeplay of the crash-bang-wallop style you get in Twenty20, but good old-fashioned Test cricket. I thought it was magnificent, although it’s probably precisely the kind of cricket that puts some people off Test matches.
Unfortunately, the state of the game and the weather both mean that anything other than a draw is extremely unlikely. There’s already been quite a lot of time lost to the rain and only Sri Lanka’s first innings is complete. The forecast for today is showery – it’s raining right now, in fact – so it’s unlikely we’ll get a full day’s play. The forecast for Day 5 is even worse – with heavy rain in store most of the day. It’s hard to see how two more innings can possibly be completed. Moreover, England’s best bowler, James Anderson, is injured and will not be bowling in the Sri Lanka second innings (if there is one). The Cardiff wicket is basically a good batting pitch, although it is a bit on the slow side, and I don’t see how England can bowl out Sri Lanka with only two seamers and a spinner. If England could have got to 600 plus then with a full bowling attack they might have had a chance at an inning’s victory – especially if the pitch starts to turn, which it shows signs of doing – but that seems very unlikely now.
At the risk of being too critical, I think this all illustrates the folly of England’s selection policy. They went into this game knowing that Sri Lanka was a good batting side, and Sri Lanka’s fine first innings display should not have come as a surprise. I wasn’t at the first two days’ but it seems that the England bowling attack looked quite ordinary even at full strength. I think a Test team really needs five bowlers. In the absence of a genuine all-rounder, England should not have picked a specialist batsman (Morgan) at number 6, but another bowler and the top-order batsmen told to stand up and be counted (which is precisely what they are doing). Wicket-keeper Prior should be at 6, with Broad and Swann counting as half an all-rounder each. The injury to Anderson reinforces this argument, as does Broad’s obvious lack of match fitness. They might get away with it for this game, but think they need to rethink this before taking on India who are a much stronger side than Sri Lanka.
I had been hoping to take a few snaps in the ground, but like the idiot I am I forgot to charge my phone up beforehand and when I got there the battery was almost flat. I decided to preserve what juice there was for emergency calls – though that was an unlikely contingency – by refraining even from Tweeting for the duration, regular intakes of beer staving off any sense of boredom. It was well after 7pm when the final over was bowled, and I only just got home to watch Barcelona’s comprehensive dismantling of Manchester United in the Champion’s League final.
UPDATE: Just for the record, England ended day 4 on 491-5 with Trott out for 203 and Bell unbeaten on 98. Great batting from everyone, except Pietersen. Not much chance of a result, though, especially if the weather forecast for tomorrow is accurate…
In the Dark 