Test cricket on the box, sadly not free to air. Ireland have a rare match (their 13th in 9 years), and it’s all a bit one sided. It is a beautiful ground.
The truly dispiriting thing is the bowling. There are a couple of off-spinners, although I don’t think they will spin the ball much, otherwise it’s a diet of right-arm medium to medium-fast. One or two genuine swing bowlers add some relief and actually challenge the batsmen, but that’s all we have.
I hope Ireland do better in their second innings, having followed on 300+ behind ☹️
And that is it. Ireland is not a bad side, but they need to play much more red ball cricket to get competitive. While New Zealand now have three tests against England, Ireland are tossed aside and I am not a happy bunny. I have no complaints with New Zealand cricket but the big three, India, England and Australia need to get their finger out.
Ahead of the first men's test between England and New Zealand, the hosts have announced their 12 man squad. Given the weather and forecast, I was surprised to see any specialist spinner in the squad. Bashir has been surplus to requirement most times, but if he makes it to the starting 11, then England will be effectively a man down from the outset.
Was not keen on seeing Jamie Smith keep his place. I don't think he's a bad player, but he had a bad Ashes and getting bounced out by Labuschagne was humiliating. I would have preferred to give the gloves to an actual wicketkeeper and see James Rew added to the team, as I feel he's earned a chance.
England have plenty of bowlers in the squad: four pace bowlers, one spinner and three all-rounders if you include Bethell’s slow left arm, which could be a handy option.
Stokes will do some bowling, probably too much for his own good if New Zealand dig in, but the state of the pitch will determine whether England leave Bashir out.
A propos of nothing? I was very sad when the Lost Ball law was excised from the books.
This stated that, in the event of the ball being irretrievably lost *within the field of play*, on "Lost ball!" being called, five runs would be added to the batting side's total.
It's the bit about *within the field of play* that was so charming, a hangover from the days of rabbit-riddled cow pastures still hanging on as a (vanishingly remote) possibility in international cricket.
That had me thinking about those grounds that have a tree in the playing area, but they are treated as the boundary: if the ball hits the tree, four runs are scored while six are scored if the tree is cleared. The fielder cannot catch the ball off the tree!
I had wondered about the ball getting stuck in the tree and fielders climbing the tree to retrieve it, or even catch it, if the ball had not bounced!
I'm fairly sure that's been asked more than once on the Ask The Umpire section on TMS. As soon as the ball hits the tree, the boundary is signalled and the ball is dead, so cannot be out.
The one question I never got a straight answer to (even from my father, who was an umpire) was whether the umpire has to be sure about the method of dismissal. E.g. the ball passes extremely close to the bat, flicks off the pad and is caught at first slip. The umpire can be sure that if the ball nicked the bat, it's caught and if not, then it's LBW, but (s)he harbours doubts over whether or not contact was actually made between bat and ball.
I'm fairly sure that's been asked more than once on the Ask The Umpire section on TMS. As soon as the ball hits the tree, the boundary is signalled and the ball is dead, so cannot be out.
There is, I think, provision laid down in the laws for local variations, so if a ground decided that the ball would be live if it hit the tree ..
So far it looks like each side has one capable batsman, both playing in the same aggressive manner. Bowlers are being rewarded for line and length, on a typical Lord’s wicket. England just ahead, but not by much.
Interesting thought in the comments on the BBC article - the pitch was almost certainly being watered a lot last week in the heat, suddenly the weather changes dramatically for thecweek of the Test, how as a groundsman do you handle that?
This has a horrible echo of the 1st Test of the Ashes this winter just gone. I fear England may get a small lead and then blow it, leaving New Zealand a straightforward chase, winning by 7 or 8 wickets.
This has a horrible echo of the 1st Test of the Ashes this winter just gone. I fear England may get a small lead and then blow it, leaving New Zealand a straightforward chase, winning by 7 or 8 wickets.
Well, if England don’t drive home their advantage AND make a better fist of it second time around, New Zealand might only need a couple of hundred.
The Kiwis could however take a gamble, have a merry thrash for an hour, and get England in sooner rather than later, on what will still be a bowler friendly wicket. All over by Saturday lunchtime.
That’s the first innings over and I can’t help thinking England have conceded a few too many runs. Jamieson did indeed have a thrash but he was aided and abetted by some pretty poor bowling. Still, a lead is a lead and the batsmen really have to earn their crust now.
Well, we've set them 254 to win. Good to see Emilio get a half century on debut on a clearly substandard pitch. Bethell will be rightly miffed at the daisycutter he got.
Some decent bowling and it won't be easy, but I don't expect Williamson and Ravindra to fall asleep cheaply as they did in the 1st innings.
Aside from the Test, did you catch of of the brouhaha in the Nepal v Bhutan match? After a golden duck for the opener, the number 3 wasn't quite ready and Nepal appealed for Timed Out, which was given. Bhutan were not happy!
Had to look up Daisy cutter. The term makes complete sense. As a Canadian, who only watches cricket occasionally, I enjoy the educative aspects of this thread.
The Australians use a term for that which has a variety of spellings.All derived from 'Goes Under' but they might refer to a gazunda, gurzunder, gezundah, etc. It's usually spoken more than it's written, hence the variations in the spellings.
Comments
The truly dispiriting thing is the bowling. There are a couple of off-spinners, although I don’t think they will spin the ball much, otherwise it’s a diet of right-arm medium to medium-fast. One or two genuine swing bowlers add some relief and actually challenge the batsmen, but that’s all we have.
I hope Ireland do better in their second innings, having followed on 300+ behind ☹️
Was not keen on seeing Jamie Smith keep his place. I don't think he's a bad player, but he had a bad Ashes and getting bounced out by Labuschagne was humiliating. I would have preferred to give the gloves to an actual wicketkeeper and see James Rew added to the team, as I feel he's earned a chance.
Stokes will do some bowling, probably too much for his own good if New Zealand dig in, but the state of the pitch will determine whether England leave Bashir out.
This stated that, in the event of the ball being irretrievably lost *within the field of play*, on "Lost ball!" being called, five runs would be added to the batting side's total.
It's the bit about *within the field of play* that was so charming, a hangover from the days of rabbit-riddled cow pastures still hanging on as a (vanishingly remote) possibility in international cricket.
I had wondered about the ball getting stuck in the tree and fielders climbing the tree to retrieve it, or even catch it, if the ball had not bounced!
The one question I never got a straight answer to (even from my father, who was an umpire) was whether the umpire has to be sure about the method of dismissal. E.g. the ball passes extremely close to the bat, flicks off the pad and is caught at first slip. The umpire can be sure that if the ball nicked the bat, it's caught and if not, then it's LBW, but (s)he harbours doubts over whether or not contact was actually made between bat and ball.
There is, I think, provision laid down in the laws for local variations, so if a ground decided that the ball would be live if it hit the tree ..
Though tomorrow we'll be able to say Emilio Gay should have stayed at home yesterday.
So far it looks like each side has one capable batsman, both playing in the same aggressive manner. Bowlers are being rewarded for line and length, on a typical Lord’s wicket. England just ahead, but not by much.
The Kiwis could however take a gamble, have a merry thrash for an hour, and get England in sooner rather than later, on what will still be a bowler friendly wicket. All over by Saturday lunchtime.
Some decent bowling and it won't be easy, but I don't expect Williamson and Ravindra to fall asleep cheaply as they did in the 1st innings.
Aside from the Test, did you catch of of the brouhaha in the Nepal v Bhutan match? After a golden duck for the opener, the number 3 wasn't quite ready and Nepal appealed for Timed Out, which was given. Bhutan were not happy!