West Indies v England, 1st Test, Day 1: Anderson and Stokes Provoke a Calypso Collapso

 

West Indies v England

1st Test, Day 1: Anderson and Stokes Provoke a Calypso Collapso

January 23^rd 2019

 With the pitch suggesting to Joe Root that a second spinner might be more useful than an extra seamer, Sam Curran put another nail in the incipient coffin of Stuart Broad’s Test career by keeping him out of the side again and Adil Rashid won the battle for the #10 spot in the batting order from Jack Leach, with the selectors reasoning that his ability to produce an explosive, wicket-taking delivery was more important than Leach’s economy and ability to close-down an end. While the Curran-for-Broad selection worked in Sri Lanka, where seamers were bit-players, how effective it will be in the Caribbean is open to doubt. Broad, at his best, is by far the better bowler, although Curran offers variety, giving a left-arm/right-arm opening attack, something that England have missed for many years. However, it did not take long for doubts to surface, with his first ball disappearing to the boundary and the 21 runs from his first five overs providing sharp contrast to the just 4 runs from Jimmy Anderson’s first five. The decision to play Adil Rashid brought the normal storm of protest on social media, ignoring the fact that the eight matches since his unexpected recall have brought him 22 wickets at 29.4, well below his career average and a reputation for making critical breakthroughs when most needed and least expected. While the Moeen-Leach OB/SLA combination is probably the best match and the most reliable, life is never boring when Adil Rashid is bowling. And to think that Dominic Bess, who made such a favourable impression last summer, is no better than fourth choice and maybe even fifth. Spin may be dead, but England have probably six spinners right now who are as good as any who played in the barren years before Monty Panesar’s brief career.

Within an hour in the morning the fans more inclined to knee-jerk reactions were summing-up the match and the series. As Jimmy Anderson reeled-off maiden after maiden at one end, Sam Curran’s first ball sailed away to the boundary. Things did not get much better for him after that inauspicious start. Suffice it to say that he does not look like a new ball bowler at this level.The pitch looked friendly. The bowling looked impotent. And the selection of Curran and Adil Rashid ahead of Broad and Leach looked like a pretty crass error. It was a situation that threatened 300-3 at the Close and a hard day chasing leather. The openers put on 53 and then 73 were added for the second wicket. At 126-1, with only Jimmy Anderson exercising any control, Stuart Broad was beginning to look like a bowler of legendary powers (it is curious, when he is in the side the fans moan that he has done nothing to justify his place and, when he not picked, they moan that he is the best bowler that we have). There was though a little warning of the frailties of Caribbean cricket as Ben Stokes picked up Brathwaite and Bravo in quick succession and 126-1 became a slightly less solid 128-3. Still, five of the top six reached 40 and with the new ball taken and the Close looming, 240-4 looked like the foundation for 400+. The West Indians just needed someone to hang around and turn a solid start into a big score and make England suffer. This is not a great England side, but one of its virtues is that it finds ways to turn games that look to be heading the way of the opposition.

Sixteen deliveries with the new ball and even though the odd ball beat the bat, more were beating the boundary fielders. Then Royston Chase played a loose shot and, suddenly, the batting disintegrated in the Calypso Collapso fashion that has encouraged tired bowlers for years. Three quick wickets for Jimmy Anderson and then one for Ben Stokes with what proved to be the last ball of the day. The West Indians can consider themselves fortunate that, despite a decent over-rate from England, the umpires considered that there was not enough time left to finish the over, otherwise you would not have bet against a ninth wicket falling.

264-8 represented a decent day’s work yet, with the new ball suddenly starting to spit and misbehave, you wonder if the pitch really is as benign as it appeared to be in the morning. It could have been even better. At 178-4, Hetmayer drove Jimmy Anderson to Jos Buttler at cover. Buttler shelled what should have been a fairly straightforward catch and Hetmayer went on to 56* at the Close. Maybe England will pay for two sessions of anaemic cricket and 280 will prove to be a match-winning score: that you never know until both sides have batted and, sometimes, not even then. England though have a got themselves into a position that offers them a real chance if they can finish the tail quickly in the morning. With Jimmy Anderson resting on figures of 24-12-33-4 and Ben Stokes, 19.2-2-47-3, with a still new ball in the morning, the England batsmen may get their chance quite quickly.

Sri Lanka v England, 1st Test Day 1: The Ingenious England Reverse Batting Order Strategy Catches Out Another Unwary Opponent

 

Sri Lanka v England

1^st Test Day 1: The Ingenious England Reverse Batting Order Strategy Catches Out Another Unwary Opponent

November 6^th 2018

First things first: England picked 3 front-line spinners; Ben Foakes took the gloves to avoid lengthening the tail; Moeen Ali did bat at #3, albeit briefly; Sam Curran has replaced Stuart Broad. And, wonder of wonders, at the ground where winning the Toss is the key to winning the match, Joe Root called correctly.

You hope that England made their choices for the right reasons: Moeen Ali bats at #3 for Worcestershire on the few occasions when he plays a game for them, but he has always seemed to do better for England as a brilliant, counter-attacking #7 or #8 than in the top 3. However, maybe he was picked as he was genuinely the best person to bat there, rather than as a sacrifice to avoid others having to bat there. Incidentally, there are those who think that, long-term, Keaton Jennings will do better at #3 than opening. Similarly, is Sam Curran playing because the selectors think that he will take wickets, not because he will score more runs than Stuart Broad?

That said, there was something inevitable about the way that England fell to 10-2 after just 16 balls with Rory Burns and Moeen Ali falling to consecutive balls. It was also inevitable that, after a fifty partnership between Root and Jennings, scored at such a rapid pace that had it continued past Lunch Sri Lanka would have been in real bother, both would fall when well set and that it would leave England in dire straits. 103-5, half an hour before Lunch, with four of the top five bowled, would have any traffic policeman licking his lips at the number of convictions that he could get for dangerous driving. The score was rattling along at well over 4-an-over, but a wicket was falling every six overs. You could hear Sir Geoffrey coming out with “there’s more brains in a pork pie” and “you daft …” as he watched the wickets fall.

At this point, Sri Lanka were odds-on to win and it looked as if the match might be over as a contest by Tea on the first day. Until recently, those who know and love England would point out that Sri Lanka were being lulled into a true sense of security. Let’s face it, England’s recent record in Asia is not as grim as it was in the ‘90s, but that is not actually something to boast about. However, recently, sides facing England have received a nasty surprise. No longer “six out, all out”, the cry has been “six out, now you are in deep trouble!” When Sri Lanka broke the sensible Buttler-Foakes partnership, they must have anticipated a quick end to the innings. Instead, the score has been almost doubled, the last 10 overs of the day produced 54 runs as England tore apart an increasingly ragged attack and, the final insult, was Jack Leach coming in at the fag-end of the day, swinging merrily and taking ten runs from the final over. If Leach locates the edge of the bat as readily when bowling as he has done it when batting, I will be well content. There is nothing as frustrating for a bowler as watching a tail-ender edge and snick his way to a score as the runs stack up.

While Sam Curran, Adil Rashid and Jack Leach had fun at one end (Curran and Adil Rashid launched five huge sixes between them), at the other, Ben Foakes was a solid as Hadrian’s Wall. With one end sealed-up, the batsmen could have some fun with fewer risks at the other. It is a potent combination. If Foakes can get through to his century tomorrow, England should be close to 350 and in a healthy position. A last-minute call-up due to the failure of Joe Denly to convince the selectors that he could do the job of batting at #3 and acting as third spinner, Foakes has made an extraordinary impression in his debut innings. Not too many people will begrudge him those last 13 runs (Dinesh Chandimal may, understandably, be an exception here). Without Foakes, England would have been in the manure. They may be still if the last two wickets fall quickly in the morning and the bowlers forget their lines.

It all adds up to an interesting poser for the selectors after just one day of the series: with Jonny Bairstow and Stuart Broad likely to play in the 2^nd Test, who makes way for them? That though is an example of the pundits getting ahead of themselves: things may look very different after three days of play once both sets of batsmen and both sets of bowlers have been in action. The pitch should deteriorate quickly. Some balls were already turning a lot on Day 1. There is already plenty of rough for the spinners to aim at. However, even if England score 350, if the bowlers cannot take wickets and Sri Lanka reply with 500, the game could still be over on the 3^rd Day and not exactly with an England win.

England v Pakistan: 2nd, Day 1 - As You Were!

 

England v Pakistan: 2^nd, Day 1

As You Were!

June 1^st 2018

If Joe Root’s fairy godmother had appeared and offered him three wishes, you can guarantee that “a decent opening partnership” and “bowlers with accurate length and line” would have been the first two out of his mouth. “Knocking over the opposition cheaply” would have followed them. It was his lucky day. The fairy godmother came up trumps. England looked like the side that, over recently years, has been hard to beat at home.

The final England XI was as difficult to call as any for a long time. In the end, to the already known sacrifice of Stoneman was added Mark Wood – not a good day to be called “Mark” – and Ben Stokes was unable even to bat. This meant that Woakes came in for Stokes and Curran for Wood, to add some variety to the attack.

There were calls for Stuart Broad to be dropped after a largely anaemic winter – if you pass over his fine performances in New Zealand – and a poor 1^st Test. He though, after rumours that he might be dropped, was well-nigh unplayable for a good fraction of the day, inducing a play and a miss from an incredible 30% of deliveries. He removed both openers with 17 on the board and took Usman Salahuddin to leave Pakistan 78-6. When Jimmy Anderson added Faheem Ashraf to his earlier dismissal of Sarfraz Ahmed, Pakistan were 79-7 and looking set for a total under 100. Shadhab Khan scored a fine 50, well-supported by the tail, to avoid that indignity, before becoming Sam Curran’s first Test wicket.

While 174ao in a session and a half was no way to start a Test, it was not the disaster for Pakistan that it could have been. It also showed how the situation has reversed since Lord’s: England were energetic, the bowling accurate and they caught (almost) everything.

Pakistan, in contrast, looked helpless with the bat and unthreatening with the ball. England got their first fifty opening partnership for seven Tests. Jennings and Cook were both solid and batted well together, so it was a surprise when Jennings edged behind. There was also a fifty partnership for the second wicket, with Cook falling shortly before the Close, just short of his own fifty. Dom Bess’s reward for his batting at Lord’s was to be promoted to nightwatchman and he duly took 9 of the 13 balls remaining in the day. If Root and Bess can bed-in in the morning, it will set up the position for Bairstow and Buttler to push on, hopefully to a score near 400. The bad news is that the weather forecast is poor, something that Pakistan, for once, will not be to unhappy about.

One ball from Hasan Ali in the final over pitched on a good length and kept alarmingly low: if that is happening on the first day, the fifth day may not be fun for the batsmen.

3-43 for Anderson. 3-38 for the superb Broad. 3-55 for Woakes, expensive, but threatening. And 1-33 for Curran, who shaped-up well, even if at the gentlest pace of the England quartet. What was interesting was that, with the exception of Mohammed Abbas, who was high-70s, all the seam bowlers on both sides were averaging low 80s, although the quickest balls of the day were bowled by Hassan Ali and Mohammad Amir.

England v Pakistan: 2nd Test Preview - And the Winners are… Keaton Jennings and Sam Curran!

 

England v Pakistan: 2^nd Test Preview

And the Winners are… Keaton Jennings and Sam Curran!

May 30^th 2018

With England needing a win to avoid yet another series defeat and controversy raging over selection and the team’s under-performances, a call from Trevor Bayliss is enough to send the heart racing… mainly with fear of being the latest fall guy.

The recipients of phone calls this week have been Keaton Jennings – widely predicted to replace Mark Stoneman – and, less expected, Sam Curran. Keaton Jennings had scored 536 runs at an average of 107 in his last six innings and, completely predictably, that run ended as soon as he had received the call to return him to the ranks. Sam Curran gets the call thanks to his good County Championship form with the ball, to an injury to Ben Stokes and to the fact that he is a left-armer and adds some variety to the attack.

There are many possibilities. Ben Stokes may yet play as a specialist bat: the fact that England can now call on the useful bowling of Jennings could tempt them to go down that route. There could be a straight swap of Stokes for Woakes. Jonny Bairstow could move up the order, allowing Joe Root to bat at his preferred position of #4. Dom Bess could make way on the grounds that a spinner rarely wins matches at Leeds, with Malan and Root offering a few overs of spin, if required. Michael Vaughan would even drop Stuart Broad.

What is clear is that few members of the squad can be sure of their place. The top 5 are not getting runs. England are too often 30-2 and 40-3 and if you do not put up 400 regularly, you are not going to win many Tests. That said, all too often over the winter and against Pakistan, the bowling lacked punch and, even more, lacked variety. As was said of David Gower’s attack in his first match as captain, when you have four right-arm, medium pace, seam and swing bowlers and a flat spinner, you can change the bowlers, you can change the ends, but you cannot change the bowling.

That Sam Curran is preferred to Jake Ball, to his brother Tom, or to Craig Overton is revealing: where there is a choice, youth gets the call. Even in Jennings v Stoneman, it is the younger man who has the benefit of the doubt.

Jake Ball’s record – just three wickets in four Tests – has counted against him, while Tom Curran is regarded as lacking the pace to be effective at this level. With Sam Curran in the squad, England can drop Mark Wood and still retain an attack with a bowler who is different. In fact, it is not impossible that both Woakes and Curran will play.

What to do with the batting is more of an issue. The batsmen are clearly lacking in confidence and making poor decisions. Despite his score at Lord’s, there are still questions about Alaistair Cook and that average opening partnership of 18 between Cook and Stoneman was certainly not all Stoneman’s fault. Can Keaton Jennings awaken the sleeping giant in his partner? That said, can Jennings cope with high-class seam bowling more successfully than he did against South Africa when, admittedly, desperately out of form?

Huge England totals have usually been made around big scores by Cook and Root, but neither is quite on song. That is heaping pressure on Stoneman/Jennings and Malan. Dawid Malan responded brilliantly in Australia, but cannot buy a run now and knows that this may be his last Test for a while unless he can make a score. However, Malan’s job would be much easier if he were to come in at 200-3 instead of 40-3. For that to be possible, Cook and Jennings need to put up opening partnerships of fifties and centuries. Similarly, Bairstow and Buttler, both attacking batsmen, will do better against tiring attacks than against fresh ones that are scenting blood after an early collapse.

While it is too much to hope for that the England XI will show radical changes – although the call-ups for Buttler, Curran and Jennings show that the mantra is no longer so clearly “more of the same” – we are already diverging substantially from the XI played in Brisbane and more changes can be expected on Friday. All in all, the playing XI is quite unpredictable.