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Imposing victory over Oman means routine win against Namibia should suffice for qualification

Andrew Miller14-Jun-20241:22

Wood: ‘Happy with how I’ve bowled apart from one stinking over’

Match details

England vs Namibia
June 15, Antigua, 1pm local time

Big picture: England breathe easier after statement win

Have the real England stood up at last? The jury, if truth be told, is probably still considering its verdict. For if one and a quarter matches was an insufficient sample size to assess their early-tournament woes against Scotland and Australia, then a 19-ball run-chase against an outclassed Oman can hardly count as proof that all is right once again with the defending world champions.But at least the speed and certainty of that Oman performance – conducted against the clock as much as their opponents – has placed England’s progress back in their own hands… sort of. By vaulting their net run rate up over that of the Scots’ (3.08 to 2.16), they can now breathe easier in the knowledge that another comfortable victory against Namibia should be enough to keep them on course for the Super Eight.Of course, there is – and will remain – a seed of uncertainty so long as Scotland still have a chance of landing the shock of the tournament by beating Australia in Group B’s final match on Sunday, but with Pat Cummins having officially declared that the Spirit of Cricket is at stake in that contest after a week of speculation about go-slows, it’s safe to assume that the Aussies will give their all, as they invariably do on the world stage.England put in a commanding performance against Oman to revive their qualification hopes•ICC via Getty Images

They certainly did just that in bowling Namibia out for 72 in Antigua on Tuesday. It was a performance of near-identical dominance to England’s crushing of Oman – it was all wrapped up in a 34-ball run-chase, to England’s 19, by nine wickets to England’s eight, and with their star legspinner Adam Zampa claiming 4 for 12 to Adil Rashid’s 4 for 11. The only real difference was in the resistance offered by Namibia’s captain, Gerhard Erasmus, in his doughty 36 from 43 balls.England have no room for complacency given their uncertainties of the past week, but if this team truly is forged in the image of its captain Buttler, then confidence surely begets confidence. They have restored a degree of agency to their tournament narrative. It would be one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history if they let that qualification chance slip now, before Scotland have had their shot at ruining the party on Sunday.

Form guide

England: WLWWL
Namibia: LLTWW

In the spotlight – Adil Rashid and David Wiese

He took a couple of matches in this tournament to get fully back up to speed – which isn’t entirely surprising seeing as his displays against Pakistan last month were his first competitive outings since February – but against Oman, Adil Rashid‘s game was in perfect working order. His analysis included a remarkable 20 dot-balls, as his command of flight and variation demanded guesswork from an inexperienced Oman middle-order, and if he can produce a similar four-over display against Namibia, that ought to be ample to expose the gulf between the teams. Looking ahead to the Super Eight (as England, tentatively, can now allow themselves to do), the sight of a settled Rashid, growing into his work, augurs extremely well for the defending champions’ prospects.Never say never, but at the age of 39, and with at least two years until Namibia’s next shot at an ICC world tournament, this could be a last hurrah on the big stage for the mighty David Wiese – a mainstay of Namibia’s fortunes since he transferred his allegiance back in 2021, having previously played 26 matches for South Africa, including a role at the 2016 World T20. He was integral to their only victory so far in this campaign, with three wickets against Oman allied to a stellar Super Over display, but he was less effective against Scotland and Australia. A reversion to his best could yet cause England a few jitters on Saturday.

Team news

England’s attack nailed its brief in the Oman rout, with Reece Topley’s inclusion for his first match of the tournament providing an awkward left-arm point of difference to complement the 90mph-plus pace of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood. It was all too hot to handle for Oman’s line-up, although there may well be a temptation to rest either or both of the latter given the two-day turnaround between matches, especially now that any old victory will keep England on track for qualification. Sam Curran, the star of England’s title win two years ago, is waiting in the wings for a first outing of the campaign, while Chris Jordan could slot back in too.England (possible): 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 3 Will Jacks, 4 Jonny Bairstow, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Jofra Archer/Sam Curran, 9 Mark Wood/Chris Jordan, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Reece TopleyNamibia mixed things up in their last outing against Australia, with Ben Shikongo and Jack Brassell making their first appearances of the campaign – and potentially last as well, after being launched for a combined tally of 33 runs in ten balls in a one-sided run-chase. Of Namibia’s 15-man squad, only the 20-year-old batter Dylan Leicher has yet to be given an outing. With their qualification hopes over, there may be a temptation to reconfigure once again.Namibia (possible): 1 JP Kotze, 2 Nikolaas Davin, 3 Jan Frylinck, 4 Gerhard Erasmus (capt), 5 Malan Kruger, 6 Zane Green (wk), 7 David Wiese, 8 Ruben Trumpelmann, 9 JJ Smit, 10 Bernard Scholtz, 11 Tangeni Lungameni

Pitch and conditions

England found themselves pleasantly surprised by both the carry in the surface for the Oman game, as well as the degree of spin that Rashid extracted. After damp conditions in Barbados, the Antigua leg has been conducted under clearer skies, so another full contest is in prospect.

Stats and trivia

• Namibia have faced England just once before in a full international contest – at Port Elizabeth during the 2003 World Cup, when Rudi van Vuuren and Jan-Berrie Burger starred in a spirited 55-run defeat.
• Moeen Ali needs one wicket to reach 50 in T20Is.
• Erasmus has the potential for twin milestones: he needs three wickets to reach 50 in T20Is, and 60 runs to reach 1500.

Quotes

“There were obviously a few negatives flying around and questions being asked, and I’m really pleased for the bowling unit that we came out and managed to put on a performance.”

‘The coach says I can’t be bowling that fast and not play in his Test team’

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jun-2020Oshane Thomas, who has been named among the reserve players for West Indies’ upcoming tour of England, is eyeing a Test debut with international cricket set to resume after a hiatus forced by the Covid-19 pandemic. Thomas, 23, has played 20 ODIs and 12 T20Is since his debut in late 2018, and picked up five-wicket hauls in both limited-overs formats. He’s set on cracking the longest format now, an ambition that Thomas said coach Phil Simmons supports.”I definitely want to play Test cricket; I want to do well in all three formats,” Thomas told the . “Test cricket is really the ultimate that everyone wants to play to be great. You don’t want to just be an average cricketer; you want to be among the greats.”Coach Phil [and I], we always have a talk. He says I can’t be bowling that fast – probably bowling the fastest in the Caribbean – and not play in his Test team.”Thomas had done well in his last outing for West Indies before cricket – and life – came to a standstill due to the coronavirus. He took 5 for 28 and 1 for 24 as West Indies swept Sri Lanka 2-0 in a T20I series in the first week of March. His performance was especially significant since it came after Thomas escaped with minor scrapes from a car crash in February.With no cricket since that Sri Lanka tour, Thomas said he has been concentrating on getting match fit, with a training camp at the Sabina Park in Jamaica.”Coming back from the Sri Lanka tour – a good series [and taking] a five-wicket haul – and then the pandemic just came into play and no cricket,” Thomas said. “Last week is my first week back bowling on a pitch. I had been doing some little bowling here and there. I’m very happy to be back bowling and I’m looking forward to playing Test cricket. It’s just up to me as a person; I just need to be fit and ready, and I should be in the Test team.”The accident and subsequent lack of cricket, interrupted by the two T20Is in Sri Lanka, has left Thomas not yet at full fitness.”I’m not going to say I’m at 100 [per cent], but I think I’m aware of where I want to be,” he said. “Only thing I’d probably be short of now is match fitness because I haven’t played for about three months now. Coming back from a car accident [in which] fortunately I just got some scrapes, but the car flipped a few times so I got jerked up here and there. Now I’m just feeling some stiffness because I just started bowling back at full speed but otherwise I’m all right.”I just want to relax, bowl, put the ball in the right areas and let the ball do the work. Even if I’m not playing I’ll be training and keeping my fitness up. If I’m not playing I want to learn as much as a can.”

The league clashes with the English summer but players on white-ball-only county deals might be given permission to play

Matt Roller21-Mar-2023Alex Hales remains hopeful of featuring in the inaugural season of Major League Cricket (MLC) despite concerns that English cricketers might not be given No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) to play in the new US league.ESPNcricinfo understands that Hales has been in talks with MLC franchises about his availability for the tournament, but several teams are worried that the ECB could block NOCs since the new league takes place during the English summer.While centrally contracted England players appear unlikely to be granted NOCs, players on white-ball-only deals with their respective counties – like Hales – are expected to be given permission to play in the US if they sign contracts.Related

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MLC is due to be played from July 13 to 30 and mainly clashes with the County Championship. The Vitality Blast’s Finals Day – which involves only four counties – takes place on July 15, and players involved would miss the start of the competition.For players without central contracts, NOCs are granted by counties in the first instance, with ECB providing formal sign-off. These have previously been granted to white-ball specialists looking to play overseas leagues during the English season, for both the IPL and the CPL.The Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) believes MLC should be treated in the same manner as other leagues that take place during the English summer, “via the principle established in county and ECB central contracts,” a spokesperson said. “Ultimately, it is up to the employers’ discretion in-season, unless the player is on a specific white-ball version of the standard contract.”Hales’ contract with his county, Nottinghamshire, runs until the end of their season in this year’s T20 Blast. His only other existing contract within the English game is with Trent Rockets in the Hundred, which starts on August 1 – two days after the MLC final – and if signed, he would return to the UK the day before the Rockets’ opening fixture.Other English white-ball specialists without central contracts who could make themselves available for MLC include Richard Gleeson, Tymal Mills and Will Smeed. At this stage, it appears unlikely that players on all-format deals would request to miss County Championship fixtures in order to play in the US.Some players are waiting to see whether their counties reach the knockout stages of the Blast, and will only make themselves available for MLC – potentially as replacement signings – if they are not involved in Finals Day.If the length of MLC seasons expands in future years, as anticipated, some players could make themselves unavailable for some or all of the Blast season in order to sign more lucrative contracts in the US than counties can offer.Overseas players are signed directly by MLC franchises, rather than through a draft system, and top salaries are believed to be in the region of $150,000 (USD). Quinton de Kock, Aaron Finch, Wanindu Hasaranga, Mitchell Marsh, Anrich Nortje and Marcus Stoinis have all been announced as direct signings.And MLC has already had a direct impact on the Hundred. ESPNcricinfo understands that Nortje has pulled out of Thursday’s draft since his contract in the US is worth more, pro rata, than the most lucrative £125,000 (GBP) deals on offer in the Hundred.

Australia’s newest ODI and T20I squad member has impressed everyone who has seen him from junior cricket to Sheffield Shield level

Alex Malcolm29-Oct-2020The sky is the limit for Australian cricket’s rising star Cameron Green, according to former Australia Under-19 coach and current Victoria coach Chris Rogers.Green, 21, was named in Australia’s 18-man white-ball squad to face India on the back of a stunning 12 months in Sheffield Shield cricket, where he’s scored 929 runs at 84.45 in nine games including four centuries, although he hasn’t played many List A 50-over or T20 cricket and has only scored one half-century in 22 matches across both formats.Former Cricket Australia talent manager Greg Chappell told earlier this week that “he is the best young player I’ve seen since Ricky Ponting”. He had been bullish about Green when he was at the National Performance Centre in 2018 where Rogers was working as a batting coach and took very little convincing of his talent.”The thing with Cam is he picked things up so quickly, little instructions or tips that he would adapt into his game really, really quickly,” Rogers said. “So it hasn’t been surprising how well he’s been able to do things like that. What has been surprising is the fact that he can bat for such a long period of time.”That is quite extraordinary for a young man developing that skill to be able to face 450 balls is off the charts. That’s unbelievable really. If he can continue to do things like that then the sky is the limit.”Ponting played 26 Sheffield Shield matches before he made his ODI debut for Australia in February 1995 as a 20-year-old. He had scored 2,358 Shield runs at 54.84 with nine centuries 100s and nine half-centuries. He added two more centuries before his Test debut later that year. Ponting had a similarly mediocre List A record prior to his debut having scored just one half-century in 21 matches for Tasmania and Australia A yet he went on to become Australia’s all-time leading run-scorer in both Test and ODI cricket.Much has been made about Green’s bowling ability given he already has two five-wicket hauls in first-class cricket but he hasn’t bowled in a game since November last year due to ongoing back issues. He is hoping to bowl in this week’s Shield game against Tasmania.Rogers believes Green’s bowling could be his second string despite popular opinion.”I think his bowling could be on a par, but that’s just saying how good his batting is,” he said. “It’s interesting because when he does bowl, it looks effortless and it’s fast and it’s bouncy and he can swing the ball out, so he’s obviously got every attribute but it obviously puts a lot of pressure on his back. Hopefully, he can sort that because if he can, you’ll see quite an incredible cricketer.”There’s a lot of pressure on him, but it will be up to him how he continues to develop.”Western Australia team-mate Sam Whiteman wasn’t surprised by Chappell’s comments about Green, but he did not think the hype would affect him.”It’s probably spot on,” Whiteman said. “I think Greeny is a guy that can tune a lot of information out. Yeah, there’s a lot of pressure to that comment but he’s fortunate he’s got a big group around him here to guide him and stick him to what he’s doing now. Because clearly, it’s working.”Whiteman shared a 173-run stand with Green during his marathon innings of 197 against New South Wales last week.The Blues threw everything at Green during that innings and he remained unflustered and determined to bat for as long as he possibly could.”I think that’s the most impressive thing about Greeny is when he gets in, he bats for long periods of time,” Whiteman said. “You could see the other day when he got out just before 200 he was shattered.”When he first came in a lot of sides would go the short stuff and guys watching probably thought that was his one weakness but credit to him, he’s worked hard at. Like you saw the other day he rode it out for 20-30 overs, picking the right ball to pull. He definitely deserves that selection. Everyone is pumped for him. What a great opportunity.”

“If the shoe was on the other foot, I would have a deep think about the whole spirit of the game”

Osman Samiuddin02-Jul-20231:50

Cummins and Stokes respond to controversial Bairstow dismissal

Ben Stokes says he would have withdrawn the appeal if his side had dismissed a player in the manner that Alex Carey stumped Jonny Bairstow on the final day of a thrilling Test at Lord’s. Australia won a see-sawing Test by 43 runs, surviving a Stokes scare along the way, but a pivotal moment came when Bairstow was dismissed shortly before lunch.England were settled, having only lost Ben Duckett in the morning session when Bairstow ducked a Cameron Green bouncer, the last ball of the 52nd over. He walked out of the crease, without having checked with either umpire whether the over had been called, as Carey collected the ball and without pause, under-armed a throw to the stumps. He hit and though Chris Gaffaney at square leg called for a TV review, Bairstow was well out of his crease at impact.Related

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The dismissal riled up the Lord’s crowd – leading to a brief fracas between Australian players and members in the Long Room – and turned up the heat on the field, with the incoming batter Stuart Broad immediately getting involved in ongoing chatter with a number of Australian players.After the game, Stokes pointed to the grey area between the time the ball went to Carey and both the umpires motioning as if to end the over, though not calling it.”When is it justified that the umpires have called over?” he said on BBC’s TMS. “Is the on-field umpires making movement, is that signifying over? I’m not sure. Jonny was in his crease then out of his crease. I am not disputing the fact it is out because it is out.”If the shoe was on the other foot I would have put more pressure on the umpires and asked whether they had called over and had a deep think about the whole spirit of the game and would I want to do something like that. For Australia it was the match-winning moment. Would I want to win a game in that manner? The answer for me is no.”Asked whether he would have withdrawn the appeal, Stokes said, “Yeah.”Pat Cummins – “I thought it was totally fair play. That’s how the rule is. Some people might disagree. That’s how I saw it”•Associated Press

Pat Cummins, the Australian captain, said the attempt was pre-meditated, as Carey had noticed Bairstow walk out of his crease and up the pitch several times during the over.”I think Carey saw it happen a few balls previously, three or four balls previously, and there’s no pause, catch it, straightaway and throw at the stumps,” Cummins told Sky TV during the post-match presentation, comments that prompted more boos from the remaining crowd. “I thought it was totally fair play. That’s how the rule is. Some people might disagree. That’s how I saw it.”Cummins also suggested in his post-match press conference that Bairstow had attempted the same move when keeping himself.”You see Jonny do it all the time,” Cummins said. “He did it on day one to Davey Warner. He did it in 2019 to Steve [Smith]. It’s a really common thing for keepers to do if they see about a batter keep leaving their crease. So Kez [Carey], full credit to him. He saw the opportunity. I think Jonny did it a few balls beforehand. Rolled it at the stumps. Jonny left his crease. You leave the rest to the umpires.”Brendon McCullum, England’s coach, was not happy with the dismissal either, arguing that it goes against the spirit of the game. McCullum is no stranger to such dismissals, straddling the line between the laws of the game and its spirit. He was, famously, the wicketkeeper who whipped off the bails as Muttiah Muralidaran completed a run and wandered off to celebrate Kumar Sangakkara’s hundred in a Test in Christchurch in December 2006.A year before that he had done something similar in a Test against Zimbabwe, when running out Chris Mpofu to end a comfortable victory in Bulawayo. McCullum publicly apologised to Sangakkara and Muralidaran while addressing the MCC’s Spirit of Cricket lecture in 2016, saying that while he recognised the dismissal was within the laws of the game, it was against the spirt and he regretted effecting it.Reacting to Bairstow’s dismissal, he again called for players to protect the spirit of the game. “I think firstly, it was probably more of a thing in terms of spirit of the game that developed as you become a little bit mature and you’ve been around the game for a long period of time, and you realise that the game itself is something you need to protect, and the spirit is such an important part of that,” he said on BBC’s Test Match Special.”You’ve got to make decisions in the moment. They’re not easy to make and sometimes they can have pretty big effects on not just games but also on people’s characters as well.”It’s a tough one. To the letter of the law it was out. From our point of view, Jonny felt he was certainly not trying to take a run and he felt that as far as the umpires were concerned, they had effectively called over so therefore they thought the ball was dead.”It’s one of those really difficult ones to swallow. And when you look at a small margin at the end of the day, and you think of a player like Jonny Bairstow so many times in chases, has stood up. It’s incredibly disappointing, but in the end, lots of people will have their opinion on it. They’ll sit on both sides of the fence and then probably the most disappointing aspect is probably going to be the most talked about part of what was a great Test match, and that’s pretty disappointing to have two teams who have played in front of full houses and millions around the world and it would have been great if it was for the cricket.”Asked if the incident could impact relations between the two teams, McCullum said: “I can’t imagine we’ll be having a beer anytime soon, if that’s what you’re asking. From our point of view, we’ve got three Test matches to try and land some blows and try and win the Ashes and that’s where our focus will be.”

Retirement of legendary pairing in consecutive home Tests will leave huge gulf in bowling ranks

ESPNcricinfo staff13-May-2024Stuart Broad has warned that England’s onus on blooding a new generation of fast bowlers in the wake of James Anderson’s retirement could leave Ben Stokes with a “quite scary” lack of experience for the forthcoming Test series against West Indies and Sri Lanka.Anderson is set to play against West Indies at Lord’s on July 10 before calling time on his legendary 188-match, 21-year Test career, and with Broad himself having stood down from England duty against Australia at The Oval last summer, it means that the Test team will have lost more than 1,300 wickets and 354 matches-worth of experience in consecutive home games.And while Broad, speaking on Sky Sports’ Cricket Podcast, acknowledged there was a pressing need for a new generation of bowlers to bed into their roles in good time for the next Ashes tour in 2025-26, the team risks being “exposed” in the short term, not least by a West Indies team that recently beat Australia at the Gabba and who, in the words of their attack leader Kemar Roach, are itching to “ruin” Anderson’s farewell.Related

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“You could easily go into a Test match this summer with a very, very inexperienced bowling group couldn’t you?” Broad told Sky Sports. “There’s going to certainly be a huge hole left by Jimmy Anderson that someone is going to have to step into. And not just by swinging the new ball. But by communicating, by keeping calm if the boundaries are leaking, by tactically being aware of what field works at certain grounds, and on certain pitches and certain times of Test matches.”Ultimately, you don’t learn that unless you’re thrown in. But it’s not just about throwing caps away and saying ‘have a go’, you need to pick a bowling unit that can win on that particular pitch.”The logic of Anderson’s enforced retirement could equally be applied to Chris Woakes, another outstanding performer in English conditions, and the current holder of the Compton-Miller Medal after his series-turning performances in last summer’s Ashes. However, at the age of 35, he is another player with no realistic chance of featuring in Australia, especially given his recognised shortcomings in overseas conditions – in which his average (51.88 in 20 Tests) is exactly 30 points higher than on home soil (21.88 in 28).Ben Stokes faces a ‘scary’ lack of experience in his bowling ranks•BCCI

“Woakes’ last Test match, he finished Man of the Series,” Broad said. “But was very aware that he wouldn’t be going [on the Test tour to] India, even while playing that series. There’s not many better bowlers than him in English conditions, but if the mindset is, ‘we’re focusing on who can bowl with the Kookaburra in two winters’ time’, does Woakesy fall into that category as well?””If you don’t play Woakes and Mark Wood is having a rest… you could have three seamers and a spinner potentially out there with 20 caps between them. And that’s quite scary, as a Test captain, I’d have thought.”That could leave you a bit exposed. But there’s only one way to find out with bowlers, and that’s to give them a go, encourage them to communicate out there, encourage them to solve their problems live in a Test match. I think exposure for some bowlers now is really important because there’s talent out there.”The candidates for selection this summer include the Durham seamer, Matthew Potts, who impressed in the 2022 summer before slipping down the pecking order, as well as the Surrey pairing of Gus Atkinson and Jamie Overton, whose recent injury is preventing him from staking a claim for the T20 World Cup squad. Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue have also had intermittent opportunities in recent seasons, while Essex’s Sam Cook continues to make a strong case with his prolific form in the County Championship.None of them, however, can come close to filling the experience void left by Anderson’s retirement.”With the style of play that they’ve been operating with, and the quality of player that England have got, there’s no doubt that England’s goal will be to win all six Test matches this summer,” Broad added. “And if you set that goal, then you need to pick a bowling attack that you think can take 20 wickets as well.”First things first, however, England’s focus will be to win that Lord’s Test, and give Anderson the send-off that his service deserves.”Jimmy won’t see it like that. He’ll just want to take wickets and win the game at Lord’s,” Broad said. “But us cricket fans and friends of his will be able to see it as a bit of a celebration and have a great time. It’s very difficult when you do hang up the boots, it’s a very difficult decision to make, but he can’t achieve anymore. There’s nothing in the game that he’s not done.”He’s been the ultimate bowler and the best we’ve ever produced. So he won’t leave the game with any anguish of probably wanting to play anymore. I think deep down, he knows that he agrees with the decision.”

They underwent a second test inside three days on Monday, following a first negative test last week

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jun-2020Pakistan’s touring party in the UK is set to get bigger after six more players who returned two successive negative Covid-19 tests became eligible to join the initial squad of 20 in Worcester.Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan and Wahab Riaz all underwent a second test inside three days on Monday, following a first negative test last week. All the players are currently in isolation at a five-star hotel in Lahore and are likely to fly out later this week to England.Currently, the 18 players who returned two negatives as well as two reserve players – Musa Khan and wicketkeeper Rohail Nazir – are part of the group of 20 who flew to Manchester on a chartered plane organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). The tour group also consists of 11 support-staff members. While head coach Misbah-ul-Haq flew with the squad from Lahore, bowling coach Waqar Younis and physiotherapist Cliff Deacon arrived in England from Australia and South Africa respectively.Among the players that will now join the squad, Hafeez and Riaz had earlier tested themselves at a private laboratory in the wake of their returning positive results after the first round of testing by the PCB. Although the re-test came back negative, the board didn’t consider the result valid as the tests were conducted outside the testing protocols.Meanwhile, Kashif Bhatti, Haris Rauf, Haider Ali and Imran Khan have tested positive, but are believed to be asymptomatic and are in isolation. They will be tested again in a few days, with players needing to return two negative tests to become eligible for selection.Team masseur Malang Ali has also tested positive twice while his back-up Mohammad Imran has tested positive once. Both will remain in Pakistan to finish another round of testing. The group that reached England late last week also underwent a fresh round of testing on Monday, and are awaiting their test results.The tour comprises three Test matches and three T20Is in August and September. All six games will be played behind closed doors.

Warwickshire lose last five wickets for 29 to concede hefty first-innings deficit

ECB Reporters Network21-Jul-2023Lancashire 327 and 182 for 6 (Jennings 64*) lead Warwickshire 212 (Rhodes 82) by 297 runsLancashire were hoping for kind weather on the last day of their LV=Insurance County Championship match with Warwickshire after they took charge on the third day at Edgbaston.An incisive burst of spin-bowling followed by patient batting has engineered a strong position for the Red Rose. After bowling the home side out for 212, for a first-innings lead of 115, Lancashire closed a rain-shortened third day on 182 for 6 – 297 ahead as Keaton Jennings constructed an unbeaten 64 from 174 balls.On a slow pitch which has never been easy for batting, the visitors were poised to put Warwickshire under pressure on the final day but need the grim weather forecast to be wrong. The dark clouds ever present at Edgbaston this week remain likely to have the final say.That would be frustrating for Jennings’ side who finally forced the match forward in its seventh session after the preceding six had advanced at various degrees of slow. After Warwickshire resumed on the third day on 179 for 5, the Red Rose deployed their spinners, partly because the light was so poor, and it proved a highly productive move as the last five wickets fell for 29 runs in 88 balls.The catalyst for the collapse was an indiscrete reverse-sweep by Dan Mousley (47 off 97 balls) straight to slip off Jack Morley. The left-arm spinner followed that by having Michael Burgess adjudged caught at leg slip before Luke Wells removed Danny Briggs, caught off the face of the bat at short leg.Warwickshire squandered their last two wickets as Olly Hannon-Dalby was run out pursuing a single that didn’t exist and Chris Rushworth, batting with a runner due to a hamstring injury, charged at Wells and was stumped by yards. Suddenly, after two finely balanced days, Lancashire had seized a meaty lead 115.Batting remained tricky when they went in again and Wells’ hitherto happy morning took a dive when he fell lbw to Hannon-Dalby’s third ball. Josh Bohannon came closest to fluency in a 40-ball 25 which ended when he chipped Hannon-Dalby to substitute fielder Marques Ackerman at midwicket but Jennings dropped anchor deep, going into lunch with just a single from 42 balls.The skipper remained entrenched throughout the afternoon while partners came and went. Phil Salt nicked a pull at Ed Barnard. Daryl Mitchell skied Mir Hamza to give Ackerman his second catch. When George Bell nicked Briggs behind it was 83 for 5 and Warwickshire, despite the absence of Rushworth, were fighting back hard.Still the Jennings anchor remained and first-innings century-maker George Balderson settled alongside him to reassert the Red Rose. Jennings posted a 163-ball half-century in a partnership of 92 in 26 overs which looked ready to grow much further until Balderson self-destructed. He set off for a single when his drive was parried by bowler Briggs and, rightly sent back by Jennings, was beaten by Sam Hain’s throw from extra cover.With the lead approaching 300, Lancashire had just started to seek acceleration when rain arrived to lop off the last 20 overs. That lost time, with probably more to follow, is likely to thwart the Red Rose victory bid.

Lord’s will play host to the start of the Stokes-McCullum era, not to mention a bizarrely out-of-form Williamson

Matt Roller01-Jun-2022

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The champions are back. One year ago to the day, New Zealand arrived at Lord’s for the first of three seismic Tests: the first two – a draw in London followed by a convincing win in Edgbaston – gave them only their third-ever series win in England and their first since 1999; the third was their crowning moment, beating India at the Ageas Bowl to become the inaugural World Test Champions.For England, that Lord’s Test represented a sliding-doors moment, the first step on the Joe Root-Chris Silverwood era’s gradual, then sudden descent towards self-destruction. With fans back in the stands for the first time since the pandemic, England declined the opportunity to chase 273 in 75 overs, instead grinding their way to 170 for 3; Root defended the move but lost the goodwill of his team’s supporters and never won it back.When selecting the squad for the series – which saw several multi-format players rested after their IPL excursions – Silverwood had created a rod which was used to beat him for the next seven months. “Playing the top two teams in the world […] is perfect preparation for us as we continue to improve and progress towards an Ashes series,” he said, fatefully; one win in six home Tests and a 4-0 drubbing in Australia sealed his fate.Related

• Ben Stokes wants 'blank canvas' not 'reset' as England begin new Test era

• Broad relishing latest reinvention after brush with Test mortality

• Southee: 'The Kiwi way is to muck in and get the best out of what we've got'

• Henry Nicholls, Trent Boult doubtful for first Test against England

• Potts to make debut at Lord's in first Test

And so 12 months on, England have a new look about them; a snarling, bearded, tattooed one with a distinctly Kiwi flavour, personified by the new captain-coach combination of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum. The pair have spoken at length about positivity, mindsets and brands of cricket since their respective appointments but this week will be the first chance for their side to walk the walk.Unsurprisingly, there have been changes in personnel. Only five members of the side that played the equivalent Test last year are retained in the playing XI which England named on Wednesday and even the survivors have a sense of freshness: Root has been released from the burden of captaincy, Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope have been shuffled into new positions and James Anderson and Stuart Broad are recalled after they were jettisoned in the Caribbean.One of their most pressing tasks is to win back their fan base, a challenge highlighted by the public’s reluctance to shell out extortionate sums for tickets at Lord’s. Of course, there is a fine line between attacking, attractive cricket and recklessness, but McCullum’s track record as a captain suggests he will strike the balance.New Zealand, meanwhile, are entering a new era of their own, with this series representing a benchmark for their succession planning. “We’re quite a different team to even a year ago at the World Test Championship,” Gary Stead, their understated coach, said on Monday while pointing to the retirements of Ross Taylor and BJ Watling. “Those changes are felt within the team but that’s an opportunity for someone else to come up and play the game.”The transition has not been seamless so far: New Zealand have played three two-match series since the WTC final and won none of them, losing 1-0 in India before back-to-back 1-1 draws at home to Bangladesh and South Africa. On the back of a warm-up defeat to a County Select XI at Chelmsford last week, there is just a hint of vulnerability.It is their batting line-up which will come under particular scrutiny. Will Young is yet to nail down his spot at the top of the order while the engine room of Kane Williamson, Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell have had limited preparation time after their involvement in the IPL. Even still, they will prove tough first opponents for England’s new regime, especially given their main strength – fast bowling – remains unaffected.

Form guide

England: LDDLD
New Zealand: LWWLLKane Williamson will return to Test cricket at Lord’s•PA Images/Getty

In the spotlight

Only seven weeks ago, Joe Root was still England’s Test captain and for a fleeting moment it seemed as though he was determined to cling onto that position despite a run of one win in 17. Instead, he handed the reins to Stokes and has kept a low profile since, warming up for this series with six appearances – three in the Championship, three in the T20 Blast – for Yorkshire. Most ex-captains return to the ranks in the twilight of their career and with a limited shelf-life but at 31 and in the form of his life, Root could press on for many years to come.Kane Williamson‘s persistent elbow injury means he has played a solitary Test since the WTC final and missed New Zealand’s entire home summer. When he has played, he has struggled for form: at the IPL, he finished the season with a glacial strike rate of 93.50 after Sunrisers Hyderabad opted to retain him on a INR 14 crore (USD 1.86 million approx) contract. Following a purple patch, the last 12 months have served a reminder of Williamson’s mortality.

Team news

England named their playing XI on Wednesday, with Matthew Potts due to make his Test debut after he was preferred to Craig Overton as the third seamer. The reshuffle in the batting line-up sees Pope promoted to No. 3, a position he has never batted in first-class cricket, while Root, Jonny Bairstow and Stokes form the middle-order engine room. Jack Leach plays his first home Test since 2019.England: 1 Alex Lees, 2 Zak Crawley, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Ben Foakes (wk), 8 Matthew Potts, 9 Jack Leach, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 James Anderson.Trent Boult, who arrived late from the IPL, was under consideration before New Zealand trained on Wednesday but appears to be a major doubt. Henry Nicholls, whose rehabiliation from a calf injury was delayed by a positive Covid test, has been ruled out and Williamson confirmed Daryl Mitchell will bat at No. 5 in his place. The main selection call is whether Ajaz Patel – who has not played a Test since taking 10 wickets in an innings against India in Mumbai – should be included, with Stead hinting that he might earlier this week. If he plays, one of Kyle Jamieson, Neil Wagner or Matt Henry will miss out.New Zealand (possible): 1 Tom Latham, 2 Will Young, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Devon Conway, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Tom Blundell (wk), 7 Colin de Grandhomme, 8 Kyle Jamieson, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Neil Wagner, 11 Matt Henry/Ajaz Patel.Stuart Broad and James Anderson pose in the Long Room•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Pitch and conditions

After an unseasonably dry spring, the rain has returned in London this week and may cause some delays over the weekend, though the first two days are expected to be clear. Pitches at Lord’s have been significantly better for batters this season with an average of 34.24 runs per wicket in the Championship, compared to 20.76 on the green seamers of 2021. There was still some live grass on the surface 24 hours before the toss, but cut much shorter than New Zealand are used to from their home pitches. Supporters have been encouraged to wear red, white and blue to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubillee but some empty seats are expected after slow ticket sales.

Stats and trivia

• Ben Foakes will play his first Test in England, after five in the Caribbean and three in both India and Sri Lanka. Potts and Alex Lees will also make their home debuts.
• Root needs 111 runs to reach 10,000 in Tests; he would be the 14th player and second Englishman to reach that landmark.
• Stokes is 18 sixes away from overtaking his coach, McCullum, as the leading six-hitter in Test history. Stokes is currently sixth on the all-time list; Tim Southee is 15th.
• New Zealand are unbeaten in their last four Tests in England. They have twice gone five Tests in a row without losing in England, from 1937-49 and from 1986-90.
• Southee needs seven wickets in the match to go clear of Glenn McGrath and Sir Richard Hadlee as the leading overseas wicket-taker in Tests at Lord’s.

Quotes

“There’s been talk around the word reset, which is something that I don’t particularly like. I just see this as a complete and utter blank canvas for this Test team going forward.”
“I’ve seen him a couple of times around the hotel and it is strange to see him in it, but good on him. He’s done exceptionally well in his transition from cricket and to get a job like this shows you the type of person he is, and the coach he is as well.”

Row erupts over tour biosecurity after England players use nets adjoining construction site

Firdose Moonda07-Dec-2020The use of a previously off-limits nets facility at Newlands has emerged as a possible source of the Covid-19 infection within the England camp, as the ECB hit back at claims from officials at Western Province that its players had breached the teams’ biosecure environment for a practice session on the eve of Friday’s scheduled first ODI.In an email sent on Thursday, December 3, and seen by ESPNcricinfo, WP informed CSA, ECB and the Claremont Police, who are in charge of maintaining the teams’ bio-bubble, that they could not be held liable for the safety or health of the England team, who opted to practice in a nets facility adjoining a construction site at the Kelvin Grove End of the ground.”Please be advised that the England cricket team has not adhered to the arrangements as agreed by all in the ESSPC [Event Security and Safety Planning Committee] meetings,” the email read. “The practice nets next to the construction site is not allowed to be used on practice days. Three cages of nets was set up on the square on the field. This serves to inform you that the England Cricket Team has accessed and used the nets today (3 December 2020) at their own risk. WPCA and the ESSPC will not be held liable or responsible for the safety and health of the England Cricket Team.”In response, an ECB spokesman told ESPNcricinfo that the session had arisen due to the “unacceptable” standard of the three practice pitches provided on the square at Newlands, and that CSA had accepted England’s request to put up a security cordon to facilitate the use of the nets as per similar arrangements during the T20I series on November 28.”On arrival at Newlands on 3 December, we advised the venue that the three nets provided on the main pitch were not of a standard for conducive practice, as per the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the respective boards,” an ECB statement said. “Batsmen were unable to face seam bowlers on the nets on the main pitch as the surfaces were rendered and unacceptable.ALSO READ: Explainer – Will the series still go ahead after Covid outbreak?“We requested with CSA that we would like to use the practice nets and that we would create a security cordon to ensure the players and coaches could enter the facility safely, as done previously on 28 November. This was confirmed by England’s Security Team, the Team Operations Manager and the Team Doctor. We were satisfied with this outcome and we were able to practice in the net facility safely.”The team also used the main outfield for fielding drills, a seam bowlers bowl through pitch and a number of nets were used for range-hitting against spin bowlers and coaches throws.”As far as the England touring party are concerned, the safety and health of our players and coaches was not compromised.”The nets at Newlands are currently out of bounds due to the construction of an office block at the Kelvin Grove End of the ground. The building site is attended to by several workers throughout the day. When South African players, including Andile Phehlukwayo and David Miller, who missed the T20 series, and some support staff attempted to have a net after Friday’s postponed first ODI, they were sent back and instructed to return to their hotel rooms.At the time, a third South African player had just tested positive for the coronavirus, causing the first ODI to be pushed back. On Saturday, two members of the Vineyard Hotel staff, who do not work in the same area and have not left the premises since November 16, also tested positive, prompting the entire England touring party to be retested. England returned two “unconfirmed” positive results, but have sought to get the tests analysed by doctors in London. The two England cases meant Sunday’s ODI in Paarl was abandoned.The fate of the rest of the series, which has now been reduced to two ODIs, hinges on the analysis of England’s results. Should positive cases be confirmed, those infected and their close contacts will have to quarantine in South Africa for 10 days before leaving for the UK, which could impact on Big Bash and Christmas plans. If the results of the tests are negative, the series could be completed with back-to-back ODIs on Tuesday and Wednesday.