08:35
“We ought not to worry too much about ‘batters’ sounding like a Yorkshire pudding or frying wrap,” says John Starbuck. “After all, a wicket-keeper could be someone who maintains church gates, a fielder could be someone with a scythe and a bowler could be one of Francis Drake’s pals (or a hard hat).”
So what’s a silly point?
08:34
Play will resume at 2.10pm, though I fully expect the apocalypse to begin at 2:09:59.
Updated
08:33
Lunch
61st over: Pakistan 155-5 (Babar 45, Rizwan 12) Curran moves around the wicket for the last over before lunch. Babar moves across his stumps to work a pair of twos; I think only six of 45 runs have been scored on the off side. Pakistan won’t mind that if he continues to bat with such serenity and authority. He has been superb, Mohammad Rizwan excellent, and Pakistan have had the better of the morning session.
“Good morning Rob,” says Adam Roberts. “This 6.30 start (for me) is much more user-friendly! I see there is a Covid spike in Orkney – hope you’re keeping safe. Don’t you think that my hero Randall – as well as Rhodes – tends to have his batting underestimated because of his brilliance in the field and his eccentricities?”
Randall was just before my time so I didn’t like to say, though I’m sure you’re right. I realise now that I know almost nothing about his batting apart from the 174, yet I can immediately picture a load of catches and especially run-outs. (And yes, all fine in this corner of Orkney, thanks!)
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08:28
60th over: Pakistan 149-5 (Babar 40, Rizwan 11) There should be time for two more overs before lunch. Broad bowls the first, and bends his back to ram in a short that Babar avoids. He’s a class act, this chap: in his last 20 Test innings he averages 71.
“On the subject of fielding at short leg,” begins Ian Copestake. “Isn’t ‘spending time under the helmet’ a public-school thing?”
08:24
59th over: Pakistan 148-5 (Babar 40, Rizwan 10) Curran is swinging the ball both ways, and I suspect batting is nowhere near as comfortable as Babar and Rizwan are making it look. Their judgement, in attack and especially defence, has been excellent. Babar plays a defensive stroke off Curran that bounces up in the vague direction of the stumps, prompting him to shuffle back and guard his furniture. In the end it was nowhere near.
“I’m also struggling with the batsmen/batters thing,” says Bob O’Hara. “Partly because ‘batters’ sounds a bit too Australian, but also because it makes them sound like a piece of haddock.”
Okay, how about willow-wielders?
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08:21
58th over: Pakistan 147-5 (Babar 40, Rizwan 9) We still talk about the Fab Four of world cricket, even though Joe Root was asked to leave the group a couple of years ago. The ICC rankings have Babar at No6, though I think he’s closest to the Triffic Three of Smith, Kohli and Williamson. Marnus Labuschagne hasn’t done it for long enough yet.
08:18
57th over: Pakistan 147-5 (Babar 40, Rizwan 9) Rizwan misses an attempted hook at a leg-side bouncer from Curran. Not much is happening, which is good for Pakistan given the friendliness of the bowling conditions. If it stays like this, 200 wouldn’t be a terrible first-innings score.
“Whilst following the lack of play today over a leisurely breakfast, my boyfriend and I got into a heated conversation,” writes Alice from London. “I poured hot water over my tea bag and approximately three seconds later added milk. He told me I was ‘a waking nightmare’. I did wait a minute before removing the teabag. He waited a full two minutes before removing the teabag and then adding milk. We are now driving to Hastings to visit some antique shops. He won’t speak to me. He insists it isn’t about the tea. I hope it’s the lack of play.”
I’m not a tea person so can’t really comment, but I was under the impression that even the fastest food outlets gave the teabag at least five seconds alone with the hot water.
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08:12
56th over: Pakistan 146-5 (Babar 39, Rizwan 9) Broad replaces Woakes and starts with a quiet over, just a single from it. Pakistan have batted with calm authority this morning, Babar in particular.
08:08
55th over: Pakistan 145-5 (Babar 38, Rizwan 9) Sam Curran replaces Jimmy Anderson. His first over includes some encouraging inswing to the right-handers; when that is happening, Curran becomes infinitely more dangerous.
“Has short leg always been the job given to the newest/youngest member of the team?” says Gary Bartley. “A role to endure until some other young buck comes along? If so, who are the England team’s most famous short leg graduates? I seem to remember Ian Bell short legging for a while before rising up the pecking order. And Pope will surely graduate too in time. But how many others have successfully passed through?”
That’s generally been the case, though sometimes it goes to the old ex-captain (Graham Gooch in 1993, for example, or Sir Alastair Cook in 2018). Ian Bell took some great catches at short leg during the 2005 Ashes, and many future captains – Strauss, Cook, Root – spent time under the helmet earlier in their careers. Some, like David Boon and Gus Logie, are so good that they keep the role for most of their career. I suspect James Taylor would have been the same had he stayed in the team.
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08:01
53rd over: Pakistan 142-5 (Babar 38, Rizwan 7) A maiden from Anderson to Babar, who looks relatively comfortable out there. It feels like the kind of the pitch (or rather overhead conditions) on which you are never in, yet Babar has looked in control.
“I do find the inconsistency around Chris Woakes fascinating,” says Glyn. “If Root doesn’t bowl him, then it’s because he doesn’t rate him highly enough, so people say. Then when he does bowl him (like now), there’s criticism because Broad isn’t bowling. It does feel that Woakes and Root are a bit in a no-win situation here.”
I should stress that I wasn’t criticising the decision, I just felt it was surprising given the seniority of Broad and Anderson and especially the influence they have had on selection this summer. On the subject of Woakes, I’d love to know what happened during last year’s Ashes, when Root seemed to lose faith in him pretty quickly. Had Woakes bowled in that series as he has this summer and in 2018, England would probably have won it. Maybe Woakes was just struggling with his knee.
07:55
52nd over: Pakistan 142-5 (Babar 38, Rizwan 7) Woakes goes wider on the crease to beat Rizwan with a snorting outswinger. Masterful stuff.
“Chris Drew’s email prompted me to look up stats for first class wickets,” says Tom Wein. “The numbers are ridiculous – as is the gap between older and modern cricketers. Wilfred Rhodes took 4,204 first class wickets. That’s three times as many as Warne (1319). The top five first class wicket takers all played their cricket before the second war. They’re also all English – presumably because no one else’s cricket was considered worth labelling as first class until 1947.”
Yeah, it’s the same with most runs, or a hundred hundreds. Ramps was the last to reach that milestone in 2008; there is precisely 0.06 per cent chance it will ever happen again.
07:51
51st over: Pakistan 142-5 (Babar 38, Rizwan 7) Anderson is a touch too straight to Babar, who flicks him through midwicket for four like it’s the easiest thing in the world. When he gets his line just right later in the over, the ball zips past Babar’s attempted back-foot drive.
“Many years ago I played a game for the Duke of Cambridge pub against the adjacent Royal Military School of Music at Kneller Hall near Twickenham rugby ground,” says Matt O’Driscoll, who can also provide the date, weather conditions and what was No1 in the pop charts if required. “The pub landlord, an Irishman named Pat Madden, came out to bat in his first ever game of cricket. He held the bat as I believe a hurley is always held by a right hander, with the left hand below the right. His first ball was a full toss and it disappeared for six over cow corner, after which I think he may have retired to finish his drink and/or prepare for opening time.”
07:48
50th over: Pakistan 138-5 (Babar 34, Rizwan 7) Rizwan cuts Woakes towards third man for three. The ball is still doing a bit, and Woakes smiles when his last delivery swerves past Rizwan’s lunging drive.
“Regarding the batsmen-batters discussion: I’m fairly sure that ‘batters’ was the common term in the 18th century,” says D. A. Ibbotson. “Perhaps cricket is returning to its roots, time is a flat circle etc. etc.”
07:44
49th over: Pakistan 134-5 (Babar 33, Rizwan 4) A maiden from Anderson to Babar, who is beaten by the last two deliveries. The first was a loose cut stroke, the second a defensive push at a gorgeous outswinger.
“Hallo Rob,” says Peter Haining. “Before anyone asks…”
07:40
48th over: Pakistan 134-5 (Babar 33, Rizwan 4) Chris Woakes continues, which is a slight surprise given the existence of Stuart Broad. Babar takes him off middle stump for four, flicking wristily through square leg. Beautiful shot. Another clip off the pads later in the over brings three more.
07:36
47th over: Pakistan 127-5 (Babar 26, Rizwan 4) Jimmy Anderson is often unplayable in these conditions. Babar Azam does the sensible thing, taking a quick single to get down the other end, and Rizwan survives the remainder of the over.
Updated
07:32
46th over: Pakistan 126-5 (Babar 25, Rizwan 4) Mohammad Rizwan plays out the last two balls of the over.
07:29
The players are out on the field, and live sport is upon us. Chris Woakes has two balls remaining in his eigth over.
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07:28
“Aah,” weeps Digvijay Yadav. “Steve Finn. Had everything going for him and after Edgbaston 2015 and that tour of South Africa mentioned, looked like he had all the issues (read run up) behind him. Then the next thing you know, he played his last Test for England aged 27.”
Before Jofra, I hadn’t seen an England bowler with as much potential – not even Steve Harmison. I suspect that ultimately Finn had too keen a mind for his own good. (This may also be Jos Buttler’s problem as a Test batsman.) There was a terrific chat with Finn during the lunch break of one of the South Africa Tests – he spoke about his career like he was his own biographer, with such insight and a complete lack of bitterness, frustration or self-pity.
If he is so inclined, he will write a genuinely great autobiography, partly for the same reasons that he didn’t become the great bowler we all hoped. (I realise 125 Test wickets at 30 and 102 ODI wickets at 29 is still darn good, and puts him 227 up on the rest of us. But a lot of us thought he would take at least 300 in each format.)
07:20
“You do know that there are still some purists out there, short-form deniers, who only acknowledge Test match cricket as worthy of their time and of having value?” says Ian Copestake. “Twenty-what? OD-who? It’s five-dayers or nothing for this bunch. A pretty tight crew.”
Copestake, I’ve warned you before not to talk about this thing in public.
07:16
The batsman-wicketkeeper plot thickens
“In other news,” writes Ali Martin at the Ageas Bowl, “Jofra currently has the keeping gloves on (second day running).”
07:05
“There is another, very important, Jimmy stat looming on the horizon,” says Chris Drew. “A thousand wickets in first-class cricket. He’s currently on 967. Not many players in modern times will achieve that total.”
Especially if they are a seamer. I’m not sure who the last was, maybe Andy Caddick in 2005. A few spinners have achieved it since then.
07:01
Play will start at 12.30pm
Lunch is at 1.30pm and I don’t know what else to tell you.
Updated
06:56
Batter v batsman “Also,” says Graeme Thorn, “‘batter’ introduces some symmetry – the other playing roles on the field are fielder, (wicket)-keeper and bowler, you don’t say ‘bowlsman’, ‘wicket-keepsman’ or ‘fieldsman’ very often, if at all.”
That’s a good email. Good enough, in fact, that I’ll forgive all those double quote marks I had to edit.
06:54
“Good morning RA Smyth,” says James Debens. “Some cricketers are revealed to be mortals. I’d just watched Alan Igglesden bowl very well v Yorkshire (taking the wickets of Michael Vaughan and David Byas), only to watch in horror as he executed a 33-point turn in the car park of the Mote Park ground. Richie Richardson, in comparison, made an effortlessly smooth exit. Things were never the same for me after that summer of 1994, but at least I had Winnie by my side.
“PS Winnie being my Winfield jotter.”
That’s a great story, I can picture it now, Iggy strugg- HANG ON, HE KNOWS MY MIDDLE INITIAL!
06:52
“As a kid, I used to the hold the bat by swapping my top and bottom hand,” says Damian Clarke. “No one in the colts or school picked up on it until until I joined Maidenhead and Bray at the age of about ten. In an early nets assessment session, a certain Michael Parkinson came over and asked just what the hell did I think I was playing at, and made me change my method. I thought he was very rude, but it did seem to work better, so begrudging respect was due, I suppose.”
I wish this was on YouTube.
06:50
“When did they all become batters?” says Anthony Farmer. “It’s not baseball.”
There’s this new thing in society called ‘women’, I don’t know whether you’ve heard of them. (For what it’s worth, I still use ‘batsmen’ most of the time in men’s games, but surely you can understand why many people say ‘batter’.)
06:36
“In James Taylor’s all too brief England career he was brilliant at short leg,” says Graham Pierce. “He pulled off an absolutely belting catch there to dismiss Hashim Amla from a proper shot. It was such a shame he lost the chance to cement a position in the team and set the standard for close in fielding like that.”
He really was terrific. That South Africa tour of 2015-16 was sadly a false dawn for a few players: Taylor, Nick Compton, Steve Finn (who bowled magnificently) and even Trevor Bayliss as a Test coach.
06:28
“It is possible for a right-hander to bat with his left hand below his right,” says Steve Hudson. “In the 1980s I played against a mid-Wales side that included a No 4 who did exactly that. He had played for the County side too, they said. It took some time to get used to the quirkiness of this. Anything (and I mean anything) pitched outside off stump was smashed along the carpet for four. After a while we realised that anything on leg stump left him completely strokeless. We stuck it there and he duly holed out.”
I’m trying to practise it now, admittedly with a coat hanger, and it just feels weird. I think I’ve put my back out, too, and I was only trying to steer it to third man for one.
06:25
“I cannot believe Blur v Oasis was 25 years ago!” says Julie Wilson. “The year I went to Glastonbury where Oasis were playing and the year I got married!”
Time flies when you’r- wait, hang on.
06:23
It has stopped raining and the clean-up operation is under way. There will be an inspection at 11.50am. In the meantime, I’m off to grab a coffee.
Updated
06:23
“Not a slip or short leg, and not England, but Jonty Rhodes was clearly picked for his fielding – certainly in ODIs,” says Zadok Prescott. “His batting average was fairly… average, about 35 – but he would regularly add 15-20 runs saved with ridiculous stops – and batsmen certainly grew less likely to sneak a single anywhere near his backward point region. On top of the fielding runs he contributed – he would regularly pick up one or two wickets a match that were not really meant to be out with any other mere mortal fielding at backward point, either caught or run out. I’ve never seen a more pro-active fielder, he seemed to anticipate shots in his area and start moving before the batsmen completed the stroke, enabling him to make an extra few metres to make a runs save, catch or run-out.”
I’m not sure I agree that he was clearly picked for his fielding, even though he was outrageously good. I think he falls into the same category as Derek Randall – that if a selection was 50/50, maybe 45/55, he would get the nod. You could argue that because his fielding was so good he was slightly underappreciated as a batsman, certainly during his peak years in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
06:19
“Why do people think that one rare excellent innings by Buttler, after an embarrassingly bad time keeping wicket, makes it the right to cement his place as wicketkeeper?” says Richard Smith. “He leaks runs behind the stumps, when he is up to the wicket for a spinner the ball invariably bounces off of him and he has no idea of stumping! For me the wicketkeeper has the only truly specialist fielding position and should have the best available ‘keeper’ in place.”
Whether you like it or not – and I think I might just know the answer – the role nowadays is batsman/wicketkeeper, not the other way round. It’s not going to change, so we might as well accept it and all send hate mail to Adam Gilchrist for vandalising culture with his genius.
06:15
“It seems worth adding that England should never have the same wicketkeeper for all three formats,” says Tim Sanders. “This hasn’t been a problem so far because everyone got a rest in the spring, and then we had separate Test and ODI ‘bubbles’. But if the intention is to go back to how it was from 2014-2015, when Buttler kept wicket in Tests, ODIs and T20s, that would seem a mistake given the usual scheduling. I remember Buttler had to miss a few games with fatigue during that time. As a long-term admirer of Jonny, I feel a little sad to lean the opposite way to Vic Marks; and I am trying to be less curmudgeonly when Jos does well.”
I think this extended break is a good thing for Bairstow, who for his last 18 months in the Test match was repeatedly running head-first into a brick wall and telling everyone he was fine, he didn’t feel a thing. I wish he would help himself, though – his latest plan to bat No3 and keep wicket for Yorkshire is entirely ludicrous. For such a no-nonsense cricketer, he doesn’t half make some senseless decisions. But when he does get back in the Test team, as I suspect he will at some stage before the Ashes, I’d expect his batting form to be a lot closer to his 2016-17 best.
06:13
“I am cheered that the world has come round to my way of thinking with your confirmation that 35 is the new 40,” says Ian Copestake. “I do however live in an even braver new world in which 51 is the new 35. Join us.”
06:08
“With regards to John Starbuck’s email, last year the Australians were swooning about Bancroft’s close catching to the point it made one think that’s the reason he played,” says Digvijay Yadav. “In fairness, he was brilliant there. And I see that you let Hameed’s mention slide without a comment. I am sure there is a player there and one that’ll make it.”
06:03
Here’s Iain Mott on the subject of batting stances. “I’m sure there was a Pakistan batsman, maybe in the 1970s, who played with his LEFT hand BELOW his right. Can anyone remember this?”
It was Wasim Raja. And all the other left-handers. But this is crap banter and you should ignore me, as you clearly meant a right-hander. I can’t think of anyone – surely that would be impossible? Even Paul Collingwood would deem such a grip to be a bit over the top (hand).
05:53
“We really ought to be hearing that the England coaching staff are prioritising close catching training, including analyses of position, stance and reactivity,” says John Starbuck. “Catches have always gone down at times and doubtless more will do so, but giving yourself an extra edge by having tip-top slips and other really close fielders should be imperative. On which note, I saw Haseeb Hameed take a couple of snorters at very short square in Notts’s last match. Has anyone ever been sacked/brought in for their close catching alone?”
Alan Oakman wasn’t picked for his ability at short square leg during the 1956 Ashes – but it helped. Derek Randall might have edged a 50/50 selection because of his fielding, though I don’t know of any examples on record. And though close catching isn’t the reason for his immortality, it would be remiss to post this entry without using the words Gary and Pratt.
05:48
Twenty-five years ago today, two of Britain’s most popular pop groups released singles. Thanks to Gavin Monks for this particular nostalgic rush.
05:44
Jos v Jonny v Ben v Jos v Jonny
“Morning Rob,” says John. “Am I alone in thinking that despite his innings to help win the match last time out – for which Buttler DOES deserve to have kept his place – he had another really poor day behind the stumps yesterday? He was moving back when Burns shelled the slip catch and should have been in place to take that, plus he failed to stop two or three down the leg side. Maybe I’m being unfair, but I guess I’ve just run out of patience, and I would bet money that he will never get his batting average up to 40. He’s just not good enough.”
I can see all three sides of this debate. I was strongly in favour of Buttler’s recall in 2018, and he batted really well for the first year. His innings the other day was extraordinary, too. He’s in a strange position in that, if all three contenders are in top form, Bairstow is the best batsman and Foakes the best keeper. But Buttler has unique ability and last Saturday could/should empower him so much.
The keeping doesn’t bother me as much as it probably should, especially when the ball is wobbling, though it will probably cost England in Asia. I thought Foakes was treated appallingly last year, but at this precise moment in time I think Buttler deserves to keep his place. The only certainty is that we will be having this conversation in one form or another in pretty much every Test for the next 3-4 years. And it’ll become even more complicated when Bairstow rams 327 off 307 balls for Yorkshire this week.
(Incidentally, I think an average of 40 is a red herring. Batting has become so difficult in Test cricket – the toughest I can remember since the mid-90s – that 35 is the new 40. If Buttler averages 35, pulls off the occasional miracle victory and keeps competently, I think England will be very happy. But my gut feeling is that, come the first Test in Brisbane in 15 months’ time, Bairstow will be keeping and batting No7.)
05:39
Start delayed
It’s grim down south, and I’d be surprised if we get any play before lunch.
04:31
Preamble
England don’t really draw Test matches any more: just five in the last 50 and two in the last 29, stats that deserves their own Cliff Richard song. But if they want to maintain a mood of result positivity over the next few days, they could face a race against time. Thunderstorms and bad light meant only 45.4 overs were possible on the first day at the Ageas Bowl, with Pakistan struggling to 126 for five against some challenging bowling. The forecast is equally moody for the rest of the match.
The good news is that, when the players are on the field, the game should rattle along at a decent pace. There was swing and seam for the England bowlers yesterday, so Mohammad Abbas in particular should enjoy himself when the time comes. Might be today, might be tomorrow; it’s beyond our control.
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