@powmillnaemore Thanks, mate. I kind of thought the queston was you when I wrote. Your answer is greatly appreciated. And explains why I haven't heard about Test Matches with Scotland.
Up the Boro!
Jarrko
Nevertheless Scotland did defeat England in a one day international as recently as June 2018 by 6 runs. Scotland scored 371 for 5 wickets, whilst England were dismissed for 365.
Have England any chance of avoiding defeat in the current Test Match? Have England even a chance of actually winning the match? Well let’s not forget that in Capetown in January 2016 that Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow put on a 6th wicket partnership of 399 as England scored 629 for 6 declared, Stokes scoring a magnificent 258 whilst Bairstow made 150 not out. This was the second highest partnership scored by England in a test match since the Edgbaston test in June 1957. The final scorecard on that occasion finished England 186 and 583 for 4 declared, West Indies 474 and 72 for 7 wickets in a drawn match. England had been mesmerised by Sonny Ramadhin and Alf Valentine’s spin prior to that match but Peter May and Colin Cowdrey soon figured how to play spin bowling as they put on a partnership of 411.
Now Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow are both adept at facing spin bowling, which Australia will probably rely on tomorrow. Now Nathan Lyon is no way the equal of Sonny Ramadhin and can be hit out of his comfort zone. As I write England chasing 388 to win have just lost their second wicket at the drinks interval. Zak Crawley looks comfortable on 67 not out as England have progressed to 81 for 2 wickets as Joe Root has just joined him. So why play for a draw, let’s attack Lyon and who knows England might even win this match, even though Stokes and Bairstow need to contend with injuries.
I’ll try to keep cricket fans updated during the night and early morning.
It’s now approaching 4.25 am and it looks as if England are settling for a draw since Zak Crawley was out for 77 and especially as Joe Root has just been dismissed for a meagre and slow 24 runs. It brings together Ben Stokes 40 and Jonny Bairstow 4 with the score 162 for 4 and another 226 required to win after 62 overs.
They've made it through to tea with an hour and then a minimum of 15 overs left. Looking out the window, it seems to have brightened up a bit so no rain delays unless things change quickly .... which is always possible.
I’ve never
I’ve never subscribed to Pyrrhic victories. I would much prefer to have lost this test match by 20 runs or so going for a victory than playing for a draw, although I doubt that many would agree with me. I was up to consider sleep deprivation to see England make an attempt to win this match and gloriously fail than to make no attempt to win it. England have yet to score 300 runs in 8 innings so far and have finished over a 100 runs short in this match, so how can that be classed as a draw? I don’t like draws in any sport be it cricket, football or rugby. The Americans don’t like them either so play ‘overtime’ in American football, baseball and ice hockey. In my opinion the sooner draws are eradicated from football and points are awarded for goals instead of draws the better, although I doubt anyone will agree with me. Australia in terms of runs won this match, and all this ‘backs to the wall’ syndrome doesn’t sit well with me, and it’s about time sport was brought into the 21st century. There are winners and losers not stalemates. To my mind the term of ‘honourable draw’ should be eradicated from the English language, but then I’m considered eccentric.
Ken, I think Joe Root had been hit in that very same tender place earlier in the day, in the nets, when he wasn't wearing that piece of equipment which on BTSport they referred to as an "abdominal protector". He had missed fielding for some part of Australia's 2nd innings as a result. He wasn't running freely when he did bat, and that was before he was hit on the 2nd occasion.
For some reason whenever a bastman is hit in that place, everyone sniggers (and I have to say that although as a reflex action I inevitably put my hand in front of my face when it happens, it is also to hide a smile). Should there be any females who read the blog, I'd add that, even if wearing a "box", when you are hit there you KNOW what is going to happen.
The reaction tends to be delayed. There is impact, followed in my case by a retreat a few yards square of the wicket whilst waiting. Initially there is a gentle dull ache (about 1 on the Richter scale), followed by an increasing uprising of stomach-churning unhappiness (moving quickly up to 10 on the Richter scale after about 10 seconds, so you might think you are about to vomit). At this stage I would normally be on my knees, the move to the side having achieved at least the aim of NOT collapsing onto the stumps when the full wave strikes. It would also NOT be a good idea to leave the remnants of lunch on the wicket, so the move to the side is at least a sensible preventative measure.
Even if it is a slow bowler, the same procedure applies. With an international FAST bowler.... the mind boggles. I cannot imagine why anyone would go out there (in the nets or otherwise) without a Box. Bruising may appear over the next couple of days and it might look as if Joe has been the subject of torture.
I winced when I saw it happen and it was obviously a BAD one because of the way he crumpled up. If that had been some of the footballers struck in an equivalent way, the players would still be rolling on the ground as I type this (6 hours after the event?).
A case of “new balls please” or is that purely a tennis remark?
As we talk occationally about other sports (like cricket 🙄), I have been cross coutry skiing with my wife yesterday and today. Both days we skied for about 1,5 h.
Since COVID-19 started and training indoors was restricted, this "old" sport has found many new trainers in here. Last winter the sport shops run out of skies as so many peple invested in new equipment.
It is certainly more fun than jogging me thinks. I think there were at least over 100 people on the skies the same time as us today. We were not alone out there on the fields and forests!
Why I am writing this? I have seen a picture in the Gazette a few years ago. It was taken in the 1950's or 60's and there were a couple doing cross country skiing in the Cleveland/Teesside area (cannot remember where exactly, perhaps on the moors?).
So I would like to ask Ken, for example, if he remembers people doing cross coutry skeeing in the old times in Teesside hills, moors etc. I think you, too had more snow in the past winters than now. And especially on the high moor areas. I remember seeing snow in April on the moors when visiting the area to see Boro play - especially on the train from Boro to Whitby.
Up the Boro!
I have just noticed these latest (after the New Year) cricket posts. Good reply by Powmill to Jarkko.
Lots to say but I'll keep it short. Ireland has Test status but it is really a minnow in world cricket terms, although hopefully it has ambitions to climb up the ladder. Because it didn't have Test status until recently, and no county or regional cricket of a high enough standard, good Irish players would play in England, play club and/or county cricket here and qualify for England, including the England T20 Captain, Eoin Morgan - I suppose the clue is in his name! There was more cricket, and money in cricket, in England and, of course, Ireland and the UK has for a century been a free-travel area. Maybe in 10 years or less, their better players will want to play Test cricket for Ireland, and they WILL climb up the ladder. At present in limited overs cricket Ireland is capable of challenging any team in a one-off game but obviously if they played a series of 5 T20s it might be difficult. But, there again, if Cambridge United played Newcastle 5 times rather than a one-off match, the outcome at the end of the series is not going to be the same as in the FA Cup tie last weekend.
Scotland can play a decent T20 but are miles away from Test cricket standard. I suppose there must be millions in England and Wales who have a Scottish or Irish parent or grandparent, so it might be that millions may qualify to play for those countries' cricket teams if they were good at cricket. It might be something like Italy in rugby - if you are a decent player but who isn't going to be good enough to play for Australia or New Zealand, but your parents or grandparents emigrated Down Under, you MIGHT still have an Italian name but in any event you'd find it a lot easier to play for Italy.
So far as concerns the Ashes tour, it has been a debacle so far. I agree with Ken that the county structure in England has a lot to do with the reduction in the quality of First Class (and therefore Test Match) cricket. Limited overs cricket has been given the priority both in terms of the parts of the calendar granted in which Championship games may be played, and in the way the selection policy has prioritised the limited overs teams. There has been inconsistent and ridiculous selection of teams and squads. Bairstow has clearly been the No. 1 English wicketkeeper/batsman for the neck-end of the last decade yet has been mucked about, moved up the order, down the order, had the gloves taken from him, dropped again etc etc. Hardly conducive to consistently good performance. The thing is that Bairstow would play for England, batting No 11 if that is all they offered him. Nobody has more passion for Yorkshire and England. I don't know whether he will play in the final Test later this week, in view of his thumb injury, but I'm sure he's desperate to play. He should be a fixture in the Team.
Finally - in case there is any doubt as to how much cricket is ingrained into my life - my wife has had a number of cats over the years. She chooses the cats but I choose the names. We are on a "pause period" at present. In any event my neice has been staying with us for a few months whilst she is doing a University course, and her 2 cats are currently resident in our cattery oustide the kitchen window - don't worry, it is insulated, has electricity and therefore a radiator and lighting in the shed and it has a decent covered cat-run attached! Her cats are Ginger and Biscuit. But our cats, over the years, have been Boycott on his own, Holmes & Rhodes as a pair, and Binks & Bairstow (after David because Jonny hadn't started playing when we got B & B) also as a pair. You've got to be good enough for Yorkshire and England to merit selection. Without being modest, I think that Binks is a great cat's name. He was a better keeper than either of the Bairstows but Jonny B is obviously much the better batsman. Binks was a Norwegian Forest cat and Bairstow a Maine Coon - both BIG cats you could walk on a lead and both bred for the cold outdoors life, with their thick long coats. Anyway, enough of that....
There hasn't been a Hickton, a McMordie, Juninho etc. I suppose if you had a dog you could call it Norman Hunter if you were a Leeds fan and knew that it bit people's legs. Of you could have a doggy Deano or a Souness. (I will get my coat).
Ken - I will happily take the draw. A great century by Bairstow and fighting to the very last wicket where the last pair had to defy Australia for the last 48 (or so) balls. Very tense. I certainly didn't want a whitewash.
Jarkko - my mates, with whom I go camping at weekends in much the same way that Martin used to in his recently-sold Absinthe The Combi, ski a lot but mostly overseas. They also do a lot of trekking abroad including a few visits to the Himalayas, Karakorams, the Andes, the Alps and Mount Elbrus in the Caucasus. They are retired. They will be going to Norway (again) later this year if travel is possible. They don't really do the "downhill" stuff but prefer what they call Nordic Skiing - cross-country skiiing. There is some skiing in the UK but of the downhill variety as the snow, when it falls, lasts only a short time on the lowlands but is more long-lasting at what we would call altitude (but those from Norway, Sweden, France, Italy etc would laugh about it...) at places like Aviemore in the Grampians and Glenshee. But since the highest point in the UK is only just over 4,400 feet (1,345 metres), it's not really that high at all.
@forever-dormo Or north enough! We are skiing (Nordic or xross coutry) at 15 meters above sea level 🤣🤣🤣.
So you are soft Southeners in Teesside 🙄.
Jarrko
We did have a dry ski slope down Eston Hills about 20/30 years ago but it was unprofitable.
Back to cricket now. Joe Root has been named ICC male cricketer of the the year having scored 1,708 runs in 2021, the 3rd highest ever recorded. Unfortunately his form dipped somewhat in the Ashes series.
After my years as a newspaper delivery boy I used to work in the scoreboard box at Redcar Cricket Club not as a scorer, but rolling the heavy drums for the batsmen’s scores. Great days as Redcar won the NYSD League in 1952. A NYSD Xl often chose the Coatham Cricket ground as a venue against Yorkshire CCC pre-season and Middlesbrough FC post-season as a testimonial match for the Redcar groundsman. I once recall seeing Fred Trueman who was playing snooker in the Lobster Inn overlooking the ground opening the window to watch a fast bowler starting his run-up from the sight screen wondering who this young upstart was. It was Frank ‘Typhoon’ Tyson in his early days. Also Len Hutton scored 103 not out for the Tykes.
Later Middlesbrough FC had Harry Bell and George Hardwick in their team, Wilf Mannion was there but can’t recall him actually playing. The halcyon days though for Redcar were from 1989 to 1993 when they won the First Division twice and were runners-up three times due to the big hitting West Indian opening batsman Clayton Lambert as their professional. Sadly Redcar are now in the 4th tier of the NYSD.
Historically the Coatham Road ground was also the home ground for the now defunct Redcar FC who sensationally reached the quarterfinals of the FA Cup in 1886 only to lose to Small Heath Alliance (now Birmingham City). Redcar not only beat Middlesbrough FC 2-1 on that Cup run but also Sunderland two years in succession.
Just to give my tribute to Tim Bresnan who yesterday announced his retirement at the comparatively early age of 36. Bres, a Pontefact lad and a passionate Castleford Tigers Rugby League supporter, has had a stellar career as a fine all rounder for England, Yorkshire and Warwickshire being a member of Andrew Strauss’s Ashes winning side down under in 2011, a major member of Yorkshire’s County Championship winning sides of 2014 and 2015, and almost made it again in the following year as he single-handedly scored a century in defying the Middlesex attack in the final match of the following season at Lords. His reasons for moving to Warwickshire were to give Yorkshire’s young bowling attack the chance to enhance their careers but wasn’t finished yet as he was a member of the Bears side that won the County Championship last year.
He always played with a smile on his face and who can forget his stunning performance for Yorkshire in taking 6 wickets for 19 runs and a runout against Lancashire in a T20 blast at Headingley in 2017. He also scored 7,138 first class runs including 7 centuries and took 575 wickets in a stellar career. But for me he was a stalwart of a great Yorkshire cricket side, and I wish him a happy early retirement.
@forever-dormo Or north enough! We are skiing (Nordic or xross coutry) at 15 meters above sea level 🤣🤣🤣.
So you are soft Southeners in Teesside 🙄.
HARSH, Jarkko. Very harsh....
Ken - Well said. Bres was a sporting hero.
I was present at Chester le Street on Saturday 28th June 2015. Durham were top of Division One in the County Championship but lost that place to Yorkshire at the end of this game, and Yorkshire went on to retain the Championship they won the previous year.
Yorkshire were 124-3 when Bairstow, batting at No 5, came to the wicket, and although they subsided to 191-6 Jonny Bairstow had shown he menat business against a good Durham team. However the next few hours were carnage. Bairstow and Bres set about the bowling (in the final 16 overs Yorkshire put on 92 runs) and, at the close of Day One, Yorkshire were 329-6 with Bairstow 102no (he scored his 2nd 50 off 53 deliveries) and Bres 66no. The next day the 2 batsmen carried on the fun and they ended up putting on 366 unbeaten for the 7th wicket before Andrew Gale declared at 557-6 - and that represented the record 7th wicket stand ever made in England. Bairstow went on to make 219no and Bres 169no - their Championship best scores. Yorkshire then bowled Durham out twice to win by an innnings and 47 runs. The turkey was well and truly stuffed!
The thing about Bres was that he frequently came out to bat after some of the early order batsmen had failed, and was able to score some runs or support the last remaining batsman to allow the team to put together a reasonable score. (In 2015 if he'd scored 4 more runs, he'd have averaged 50 batting for the season, having scored 2 centuries in his 849 runs at an average of 49.94 - as well as taking 45 wickets at 30.88, including a 5-fer). He was a stalwart of Yorkshire cricket and was a good player in his "twilight years" at Warwickshire.
A Happy Retirement, indeed, to Bres. (A friend always refers to him as Sir Tim. We waited a long time for Sir Geoffrey so maybe if we wait again....).
Forever Dormo
As you say Tim Bresnan was often at his best as a batsman when Yorkshire were up against it. In that regard so was Ray Illingworth. His batting average was simply to Bresnan’s but cometh the hour, cometh the man, and most of his top scores for Yorkshire came when his team had their backs to the wall. Of course he was a fine captain for Yorkshire, Leicestershire, but particularly England who he captained for 5 years including an Ashes win in 1970/71 having taken over from Colin Cowdrey.
Probably his greatest ach
Forever Dormo
As you say Tim Bresnan was often at his best as a batsman when Yorkshire were up against it. In that regard so was Ray Illingworth. His batting average was similar to Bresnan’s but cometh the hour, cometh the man, and most of his top scores for Yorkshire came when his team had their backs to the wall. Of course he was a fine captain for Yorkshire, Leicestershire, but particularly England who he captained for 5 years including an Ashes win in 1970/71 having taken over from Colin Cowdrey.
Probably his earliest achievement as temporary captain though was against the strong West Indies team in 1969 when England were 61 for 5 in the Second Test at Lord’s when he came in to bat and he scored a magnificent 113 to pave the way for a 2-0 series win. It had been expected that when Cowdrey had recovered from his injury that he would resume the England captaincy, but that innings sealed Illy’s position from temporary to permanent captain.
Often described as stubborn, tough, and combative he managed to control difficult players such as Geoff Boycott and Jon Snow and earn their respect as well. But getting that Ashes win was his greatest achievement.
Ken: Of recent England captains I'd say (1) Brearley (2) Illingworth (3) Vaughan and then a bit of a gap until (4) Strauss and (5) Hussain. The Ashes tour in 1971 when Geoff Boycott had a great tour until his arm was broken, and John Snow bowled with real hostility, was Illy's highest point, I agree. In fact I have a vinyl LP "HQ" by Roy Harper (who loved his cricket) with a song on it called "When an old cricketer leaves the crease" and, in it, he refers to Sir (as he now is) Geoffrey Boycott and John Snow. It captures the whistful feeling at the end of a pleasant afternoon/evening, as the sun follows the ale down after a day of cricket. I think I'd have capitalised Grace in line 14. The song had the backing of a brass band (Obvs as the youngsters would say!).
And all remains in the groundsman's pains for the rest of the time and a day
There'll be one mad dog and his master, pushing for four with the spin
On a dusty pitch with two pounds six of willow wood in the sun.
Forever Dormo
Thanks, I’ve not heard that before - pure prose.
Rodney Marsh and Shane Warne have both left us. Two of the greats of Australian cricket and SW was the greatest bowler I’ve ever seen.
That first ball to Gatting was unbelievable.
I’ve just woken up to hear the devastating news of the death of Shane Warne, the greatest leg spinner, no arguably the greatest bowler in my lifetime. As Martin says, that ball that bowled Mike Gatting almost defies physics.
To die so young will not only be a day of mourning in Australia, but throughout the cricketing world.
RIP Warney.
What a performance from England to get to the World Cup Final, after struggling in the early rounds. Too many dropped chances by SA didn’t help their cause, but superb bowling by Sophie Ecclestone and Anya Shrubsole and a brilliant century from Danni Wyatt gave England a fantastic win.
Australia will take some beating, but if we field first I think we have a good chance of a win.
Sometimes I despair at the England cricket selectors. It was bad enough to tour the West Indies without either Jimmy Anderson or Stuart Broad, but to drop both was calamitous. What involvement Joe Root had in that decision is unclear, but the fact that England have now won only one of its last 17 Test matches says that there had to be some change in the selection process, so exit Chris Silverwood and welcome Robert Key and former Kiwi captain Brendon McCullom which seems a smart move. The England batters have been underperforming recently so bringing in a former opening batsman from Kent seemed logical. So well done for selecting Yorkshire’s Harry Brook into the 13 for the First Test against world champions New Zealand seems on paper a sensible move.
But hang on, is Brook likely to play or just become the 12th man. Key has already played his hand by stating that Surrey’s Ollie Pope will bat at number 3, Joe Root at 4, Johnny Bairstow at 5, and new captain Ben Stokes at 6, so where on earth does Harry Brook fit in? Probably drinks waiter! Pope with a test average of 28 in 40 Test matches with only one century and a proven failure in my opinion, has never before played at number 3, whilst so far this season Brook has accumulated scores for Yorkshire of 101, 56 not out, 84, 77 not out, 194, 123, 41 and 82 not out. That’s a total of 758 at an average of 151.6. Why isn’t Bairstow batting at number 7 and the wicket keeper instead of Ben Foakes?
Also Lancashire leg spinner Matt Parkinson who has taken 23 wickets in 4 matches at an average of 23.47 is the only spin bowler likely to take wickets on the flat surfaces produced this season which has accounted for so many scores of 500 and 600 resulting in so many boring draws and poor attendances so far this season especially for the Roses match. But what do I know, perhaps England will surprise us all and win the First Test at Lord’s but I wouldn’t bet on it?
Something needs to be done about the Country Cricket Championship. It has become a series of high scoring but nevertheless boring draws with only a third of matches reaching a positive result. I remember when matches were played over 3 days, but nowadays even over 4 days positive results are rare. For a start I don’t see the reason for the use of a heavy roller between innings as pitches are as flat as a pancake to start with and several first innings scores throughout reach 500 or even 600 though scoring rates are often short of 3 runs an over.
Perhaps the dearth of spin spinners especially leg break bowlers is partly to blame, overnight covered pitches maybe. Should there be a restriction on the number of first innings overs? But after the initial 10 or 12 overs with a new ball the pitches become flatter and almost dead thereafter. Is the use of the duke ball to blame? I don’t know, but a total crowd of just over 5,500 for 4 days for the recent Roses match shows that 4 day cricket is almost dead already. The early start of the County Championship in cold conditions doesn’t help either, as does the introduction of too many one day cricket competitions, though that’s what the paying public prefer.
I must admit I love one day cricket, but three such competitions are at least one too many and no way benefit Test cricket. Perhaps even the points system for scoring draws has taken away the incentive to win matches, or is it that bowlers today are not as good as those of yore, or that pitches are underprepared to help them? I haven’t got the answers, but something needs to be done and quickly before the County Championship dies completely.
I completely agree with Chris Waters view writing in the Yorkshire Post that the County Cricket Championship has become a dreary run fest. The sooner we go back to a one division system, reduce the scoring system which rewards clubs far too many points for draws, play all matches in the Summer months instead of Springtime, get rid of the Hundred competition, revert to uncovered pitches, and make use of floodlights when necessary for the full duration of the match, and put a restriction on the number of overs allowed for first innings the better in my opinion.
Looks like Yorkshire’s recruitment for this season is on a par with Boro’s in recent seasons. The best overseas appointment must have been Darren Lehmann whose batting technique was quite unconventional taking guard outside the leg stump but before the ball was bowled moving quickly just outside off stump giving himself a clearer view of where to find gaps in the field. In his 7 years with the Tykes his batting average in red ball cricket was 68.76 and in one day cricket just over 50. What’s more his strike rate was arguably the best in the world, probably only second to Don Bradman. Yet it was Kevin Pieterson who developed the art of switching from right hand to left hand once the ball had been delivered. Why am I reminiscing about these batsmen? Because it’s the start of the season for Test cricket today and I’m looking forward to see how Ben Stokes’s attacking approach will bear fruit after a depressing period over the last year or so. I’ve put football on the back burner for now. Apart in World Cup years, football was hardly ever mentioned in my youth as cricket was king and rightly recognised as England’s main sport. We would never contemplate playing football in June when I was young, maybe tennis for a couple of weeks around the Wimbledon fortnight or golf, but never football.
As for Yorkshire when are we going to see a side all born within the broad acres? I’m not averse at black people, or white people for that matter playing cricket for Yorkshire as long as they were born within the 3 former ridings, but the recruitment of black cricketers has been very poor. Is this a result of apartheid being endemic thoughout the county? After recent events that seems to be the conclusion. Perhaps now the tide has changed and we’ll see more black players not only playing for Yorkshire but England too.