Key events
Tea! And it’s England’s afternoon
40th over: England 194-3 (Pope 84, Brook 0) Pope continues on his merry way, clipping Asitha Fernando for three. Asitha bounces back by beating Brook outside off. And that’s tea.
The bowlers have had their moments, but in “the juiciest of conditions” as Mike Atherton called them a while ago, England have been startlingly aggressive, even by their standards, and it has largely worked. Ben Duckett lived by the ramp and died by the ramp on his way to a rollicking 86. Ollie Pope, who made it to 20 for the first time as stand-in captain, has ridden his luck and should now reach the hundred that eluded Duckett. Time for a hot beverage.
39th over: England 191-3 (Pope 80, Brook 0) As so often at Lord’s last week, a bowling change from Dhananjaya de Silva did the trick. He took Mathews off and turned back to Kumara, whose extra pace and bounce lured Root into an unRootish shot – half pull, half flick, strangely lackadaisical. It yielded only a top edge that went straight to Vishwa Fernando, who just had to keep calm and cling on.
Harry Brook, who may have been champing at the bit, goes down the track to his second ball, then steps away from the off stump and aims an exuberant hook into thin air. There are three minutes to go until tea.
WICKET! Root c V Fernando b Kumara 13 (England 191-3)
Caught at fine leg!
38th over: England 190-2 (Pope 80, Root 13) Pope, tiring of all these dots, plays that flash over the slips again and picks up four more. Then he takes a single to bring up the fifty partnership. After a rip-roaring start, it’s been sober stuff, almost teetotal.
37th over: England 185-2 (Pope 75, Root 13) Mathews keeps up the vibe by going for just three. Root’s 13 has occupied 45 balls, as if he’s playing himself out of form.
36th over: England 182-2 (Pope 74, Root 11) Rathnayake’s fine spell comes to an end, which is a surprise, but Asitha keeps up the good work by conceding only a single. Are Sri Lanka fighting back here?
35th over: England 181-2 (Pope 73, Root 11) Pope’s first-class average at the Oval, a stat-box tells us, is now 82 – the highest in the 21st century by any player who has played much at any ground in the world. You wouldn’t know it from his latest move, a late dab at Mathews that flies between first slip and third at catchable height and runs away for four. There is no second slip, so it may have been deliberate, but it didn’t look it.
34th over: England 172-2 (Pope 64, Root 11) You wait hours for a maiden and then two come at once. Rathnayake, bowling to Root, extends his excellent spell (5-2-9-1).
Angelo Mathews is having a bowl!
33rd over: England 172-2 (Pope 64, Root 11) Once an allrounder, Angelo Mathews has bowled only 20 overs in Tests in the past seven years. And here he is, trundling in! As Sri Lanka’s fifth seamer, he doesn’t bring a lot of pace to the party. The keeper could be standing up, surely. But Mathews knows where the stumps are and his comeback over goes for just two singles.
A maiden!
32nd over: England 170-2 (Pope 63, Root 10) Rathnayake, bowling to Root, doesn’t trouble him so much – but he does manage a maiden, the second of the day.
“Duckett leaves so many runs out there,” says Kevin Wilson. “He could easily be averaging another five runs per innings. It’s to his, and Bazball’s credit, I suppose, that he never bunkers down when he’s eyeing up a hundred. He keeps trying his luck and if he falls for 80 or 90, so be it. It’s a remarkably selfless way to bat. He’s not a man worried about his own personal milestones.” True.
Just before Duckett was out, when he was ramping all over the place, Ricky Ponting said: “It takes a lot of courage to bat like that.”
31st over: England 170-2 (Pope 63, Root 10) As Rathnayake reaches a new peak in his short Test career, Vishwa Fernando just needs to keep the pressure on the batters, but he can’t manage it. He sprays the ball wide of off, then wide of leg. I suppose it’s one way of keeping the runs down.
30th over: England 168-2 (Pope 62, Root 9) Rathnayake bowls a shocker of a ball to Pope, who slaps it away for four. But then he raises his game for Root, beating him with a ripper, then a lovely outswinger, and another! One day he will be able to tell his grandchildren, “I beat Joe Root three times in an over.”
“Why are OBO writers so poor at maths?” asks Nick Terdre. “In his exemplary over (25th), Duckett reportedly scored 6+3+6+2=17. If the score really did advance by 16, it’s not just the maths that’s wrong. Kepp up the good work!”
Jesus, Nick. Bazball, admirable as it is, has made our job quite a bit harder. This fabulous format was designed in the days when every over in Test cricket contained, on average, four dots. Those days are now history. Almost every move Duckett made in that over demanded a description, and my eye was on the prose, not the maths. So yes, I have to plead guilty to mistaking a two for a three., but I hope you will see that there were mitigating circumstances.
29th over: England 163-2 (Pope 57, Root 9) Vishwa Fernando replaces Kumara and returns from the doghouse. Root clips for two and pushes into the covers for a single. Pope adds a single of his own. The hundred that Duckett missed out on is now beckoning to Pope.
28th over: England 159-2 (Pope 56, Root 6) Maybe the batters had a cup of camomile, because this over is decidedly calmer. Just a single from Root and a two from Pope, both flicked to leg off Rathnayake. The scoring rate for this partnership plummets to 9.5 an over.
And that was drinks. Make mine a double.
Fifty to Pope!
27th over: England 156-2 (Pope 54, Root 5) You are the England captain. You’ve just seen your partner get out to a flash shot. So what do you do? You play one yourself! Pope goes for an expansive hook and gets a top edge that sails over the keeper for six. Next ball, he cuts for what should be a single, maybe two, but the fielder at wide third man can only deflect it into the sponge. That’s 50 to Pope, who had had plenty of luck but ridden it in some style.
Joe Root, watching all this, will surely bring some sobr – no, he begins with an airy glance that just eludes the man at short fine leg. That’s another 16 off the over. Even by England’s standards, the last 15 minutes have jumped the shark.
26th over: England 140-2 (Pope 43, Root 0) The batters had seen off the dangerous Asitha, whose figures of 9-0-33-0 didn’t do him justice. On came the less dangerous Rathnayake – but he managed one dot to Duckett, which was enough to prod him into yet another ramp. And this time he could only manage a limp chip, easily snaffled by the keeper. What a shame.
WICKET! Duckett c Chandimal b Rathnayake 86 (England 140-2)
Live by the ramp, die by the ramp!
25th over: England 139-1 (Duckett 86, Pope 42) You are a Test opener. You have just messed up a ramp shot and got a streaky four for it. What do you do? You go again! Duckett plays a ramp for six, then a ramp at thin air (which brings an appeal for caught behind), a cut for three, and an upper-cut for six more, followed by another one for two. Then he’s thumped on the back thigh and the Sri Lankans review for LBW. It’s closer than it looked … it’s umpire’s call! Brushing the top of off. And that’s 16 off the over.
If anyone ever asks you what Bazball is, show them these six balls. They’ll be all over social media in a minute.
24th over: England 123-1 (Duckett 70, Pope 42) Another false shot for England’s collection: Duckett miscues a pull that goes perilously close to mid-on. It’s another good over from Asitha, who doesn’t deserve his zero in the wickets column.
23rd over: England 119-1 (Duckett 67, Pope 41) “I see all those edges,” Duckett says to Pope, “and I raise you a wonky ramp.” Facing the pacy Kumara, he goes outside off, trying to lift the ball over an invisible leg slip, but ends up sending it over the actual slips.
“OK,” says Pope. “I can’t compete with that.” So he plays a dreamy on-drive, like a mini Viv Richards.
22nd over: England 109-1 (Duckett 62, Pope 36) Pope takes ten off this over, but he’s riding his luck. Facing Asitha, he flashes hard and sends a thick edge over gully for four. A less frenetic shot, a comfy tuck for two, is followed by another false one as Pope inside-edges onto the pads. Then he tries to leave the ball outside off and picks up two more by accident. Finally there’s another tuck for two. If he could have just got out as well, that would have been Ollie Pope’s Test career in a nutshell.
21st over: England 99-1 (Duckett 62, Pope 26) Pope, duly bandaged, gets up the other end with a leg glance. Kumara then beats Duckett with some movement off the seam. Duckett waves his hand to tell the crowd what happened, then watches the ball harder and squirts a similar ball to third man for two.
There’s a pause as Pope needs treatment for a cut on the underside of the elbow. Kumara came on and drew blood with his first ball as Pope propped forward when he might have gone back. He’s fine, just needs a bandage. Nasser Hussain remembers that the same thing used to happen to Mark Ramprakash, who took to wearing an arm guard in an unorthodox position.
20th over: England 96-1 (Duckett 60, Pope 25) A much better over from Asitha to Pope – line and length, consistency and movement. The only run comes off the last ball and it’s an inside edge to fine leg.
Richard O’Hagan is back with a good spot. “Pope’s highest score as England captain.”
19th over: England 95-1 (Duckett 60, Pope 24) Duckett, facing Vishwa, shows that even with a sweeper out he can still find the Toblerone if you give him something to cut. He now has the highest score in the series by a player in the top three on either side. And that’s the fifty partnership off just 58 balls.
18th over: England 89-1 (Duckett 55, Pope 23) It’s not the Sri Lankan bowlers who have struggled today: their boss, Dhananjaya de Silva, has been strangely tentative after winning the toss and opting to bowl. At the start, he often had only two slips, and since then, perhaps rattled by Duckett’s aggression, he’s tended to leave big gaps for ones and twos. The batters help themselves to a single, a two and another single off Asitha’s over without taking any risks.
“Afternoon Tim,” says Simon MacMahon, who always brings news. “Scotland are playing Australia in the second of three T20 internationals in Edinburgh today. The home side won the toss at a foggy Grange and have restricted Australia to 55-2 in the Powerplay. For context, on Wednesday, the Australians reached a world record 113-1 from the first six overs as they cruised to their target of 156 within 10 overs. Inglis and Green are starting to motor now, though, and I expect Australia will still be looking to post 200+, which I think will be too many for Scotland, unless Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes are in town and fancy a bat…” And both make miraculous recoveries from their injuries.
17th over: England 85-1 (Duckett 52, Pope 22) Here’s the other Fernando, Vishwa, who has really struggled for line and length in this series. His first ball is a long hop, slapped for four by a grateful Pope. His second is way down the leg side, lucky not to go for four byes. And his third is a jaffa! Swinging back in yet still beating the outside edge, as Pope does that falling-over thing that the commentators have been muttering about. That is the place to bowl at him. Fernando remembers this for a ball or two, then gives him an easy single to midwicket.
16th over: England 80-1 (Duckett 52, Pope 17) Will England carry on where they left off? You bet they will. Duckett tucks the first ball into the on side for a single. Pope reaches for the second, back knee to the floor, and cover-drives for three. Fernando settles down after that, but the Sri Lankan radar is still not right.
Stuart Broad, on commentary, gives a glimpse of what the England players might have been up to during the break. “One hand, one bounce in the dressing room with a tennis ball.” Typical sports people, relaxing by playing even more sport.
The players are out there. Asitha Fernando is about to bowl to the man of the morning, Ben Duckett.
Cucumber-sandwich latest
The big decision for the umpires is, of course, when to have tea. And they have taken it.
All being well, the afternoon session will still be two hours – 3.10 to 5.10. Then comes our belated cuppa (5.10-5.30), followed by the evening session – officially 5.30 to 7pm, but play can go on till 7.30. And it will probably need to, as there are 58 overs to be bowled and the Sri Lankans don’t have a specialist spinner. Whether the light plays along remains to be seen
While we wait for play to resume, there’s a wacky England selection that has barely been discussed. Jos Buttler, opening batter and all-time great, is ruled out of the T20 series against Australia, so Rob Key and co. send for … Jamie Overton!
Yes, he’s become a handy batter, but he comes in at the end and has a mow. The squad was already acutely short of specialist batters – the only one in the original selection was Jordan Cox, an exciting talent who hasn’t actually played a T20 international yet.
Finding themselves bereft of Buttler, the selectors could have picked someone very similar: an opener, with huge T20 experience, and the ability to keep wicket if needed – Jonny Bairstow. He must be absolutely seething.
It’s such a bizarre decision that it may just be a cunning plan. Make Bairstow’s blood boil, then bring him back with A Point To Prove.
Another postcard from Memory Lane. “About two years ago,” says Richard O’Hagan, “I spent a Friday at the Oval with Gary Naylor, who again was telling me that conditions were going to improve and play start. They didn’t and it didn’t. And then the Queen died.
“I’m hoping that Gary is right this time and that today is somewhat less eventful.”
“As we all know,” says Jeremy Boyce, “The Oval is a big ground, hard to defend on and runs can be scored freely. Bradman racked up 553 in three innings there, but then had his Hollies duck there too that robbed him of his 100 Test average. England posted a record 903-7 there in 1938, against the Aussies. Let’s hope it lives up to its reputation now. I once (late 70s) spent an agreeable Sunday afternoon there watching Australia batting against Surrey. Play started at 1.00pm (Lord’s Day Observance) and went on till 7. The Aussies smashed well over 300 runs in the six hours of play.” Note for younger readers: this was a lot at the time.
Play to resume at 3.10pm
The umpires have done some more inspecting and reached a decision. Unless the weather gets worse again, play will resume at 3.10pm BST, which is in about 25 minutes. “It is looking visually brighter,” says Ian Ward, mixing his meteorology with a touch of tautology.
Thanks Rob and afternoon everyone. Things are looking up…
I’m going to hand over to Tim for a while. The good news is that the groundstaff are getting busy (oh behave), and our man Gary Naylor has this to say: “Bright now – we should be on soon.”
“That South Africa series in 2003 is memorable for many reasons,” says Kevin Wilson. “It was really the point where you thought the 2005 Ashes could be won. You had a young Jimmy Anderson being tormented by Graeme Smith. Martin Bicknell with a late-career renaissance after being overlooked for what seemed like forever. Flintoff’s hundred at Lords. Great times.”
It was a cracking series. Not sure I felt at the time that England couple compete with Australia, but looking back there were some important moments. Flintoff played two mighty innings and there was one ferocious spell from Harmison, possibly second innings at The Oval. What is interesting is that less than half the XI for that Oval Test started against Australia two years later: Trescothick, Vaughan, Flintoff, Giles, Harmison.
This is a cracking read
“I’d broadly go along with your selection for Pakistan but I feel faith must be kept in Woakes as the experienced attack leader in the absence of Anderson,” says Dean Kinsella. “Maybe Leach’s work has been done for England now and Ahmed should go. But which one?”
Ha. Not even Baz, Ben and Bob are that funky.
“Here on the north-western edge of London the sun has come out,” writes Laurence J Cox. “I suspect were this Test at Lord’s they would be playing now. You may lose another hour but I expect there to be most of a day’s play at The Oval.”
While the TV pictures suggest the apocalypse has finally arrived, the weather forecast is surprisingly good for the rest of the day. I do think we’ll get more play, though I’d rather that stayed off the record.
That said, I can’t see anything before 3pm, so I’m off to make another coffee. Back in a bit.
“I’m at the ground, and I can confirm this is all about the light,” says Tom King. “It’s not raining in any real sense. It’s tangibly gloomier than at the start of play and when they went off, you could see all four shadows from the artificial lights.
“I do wonder whether the 15-over refund cut off has played a part in this… As it feels like one of those days where the chances of coming back on are touch and go. But communication from the authorities is basically nil. As a very amateur cricketer the idea of batting in this is pretty unattractive so I do get it. But it’s the lack of comms that does my head in.”
We’ve had a few emails about this. I’m not 100 per cent sure but I think, as things stand, all spectators would receive full refunds. It’s after 15.1 overs (I think) that it becomes a partial refund. I THINK.
“Good morning from a Belize that is way more rainy that the Oval (over six inches Wednesday night, another three last night!),” begins David Hilmy. “I used to teach just down the road in Camberwell – no grass, just extensive playground, so every now and then on sports for the older kids’ PE, we’d sneak off down the road to watch whatever cricket was ongoing. In August 1988 the kids and I saw England’s first innings vs Windies, went back on the Sunday to watch Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes score 77 each to win the match (and the 5-match series).”
That means you saw The Judge’s first Test fifty, you lucky… chap.
“Love a speculative squad game…” says Will Juba. “Mine would be very similar to yours, but I’d be keen to have Woakes in to see how he goes abroad. It seems there is more and more talk that he may be up for the Ashes down under, so if that’s the case he needs to be tested beforehand. I’d therefore take him to Pakistan and New Zealand and see how he gets on. My fourth seamer would then not be Potts (who I would take if I wasn’t taking Woakes), but either Stone or Hull – decided on how they get on in this test. It’d only be Hull if he did something really special, otherwise Stone would be the one.”
I know what you mean about Woakes, I’m just not sure whether Pakistan will tell us much about his suitability for Australia. I would take him to New Zealand, more because of his potential effectiveness than as an Ashes trial. I suspect England will keep an open mind all the way through next summer. Even if Woakes doesn’t go to Australia, if he’s bowling as well as he has in the last two years I’d play him in as many Tests as possible against India. England need to win that series. No point going to Australia with a bespoke squad if you’ve just been plugged at home by India.
“Duckett is such a pugnacious opener isn’t he?” says Max Williams. “He’ll rack up 100 Tests and play the same innings in all of them. Him and Crawley should go very well in Australia.”
I’d worry slightly about Duckett with the extra bounce, but he’s so smart and resourceful that he should find a way. Crawley, as you have said before, has the potential to play like Michael Vaughan in 2002-03 given the quality of his driving and pulling.
“Too soon for Jofra to be back?” says David Nicholls. “Those pitches are pretty unforgiving as well. Also Gus wants a word for leaving him out of the allrounders section…”
Arf. Definitely too soon for Jofra I would say; he has to be managed so carefully. I wondered about Woakes but I would leave him out, partly because England shouldn’t need his runs as much if they play one or maybe two of Lawrence, Jacks and Hartley.
September in London
Just look at this man
❤️ Jos x Baz ❤️
We’ve taken lunch here, so why not catch up on our sit-down interview with Brendon McCullum in the break? 👇
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 6, 2024
“Well, here we are, end of summer,” writes Rob Grey from The Oval. “Spirits still high outside the ground and at the bar. Weather is meh, but we need to find a way to get back out there. Good chance to play Sunsleeper by Barry Can’t Swim, please. Overlooked for the Mercury prize last night.”
I can’t believe M People won again.
Still no immediate prospect of a resumption, so I’ll start sifting through your emails.
“I can see England taking four spinners and only three seamers, with Rehan Ahmed being the obvious fourth choice in terms of variety and also slightly higher batting ability,” says Richard O’Hagan. “I am sure that Lawrence will get the nod over Jacks as he is supposedly a good player of slow bowling. And I presume the Cox that you have listed as the back-up keeper is Ben and not Jordan.
“On that note I wonder if they will even bother with a back-up and take an extra player elsewhere, reasoning that they have both Duckett and Pope who can fill in if need be. The lack of warm-up games nowadays almost renders the back-up keeper role otiose, doesn’t it?”
And just like that, the word ‘otiose’ appeared in an OBO for the first time. I think they’ll take Cox as much as the spare batsman as the back-up keeper. Mind you, second guessing Baz, Ben and Bob is a fool’s errand. As for the spinners, I think they would definitely do that if they were going to, say, Bangladesh, but seamers usually play quite a big part in Pakistan.
“Being a bit of a stats geek,” begins Matt Pitchforth, who knows exactly how to get a boy’s attention, “I dug a bit further into the fastest fifties after being put into bat. Checking the top 12 on the Statsguru link I reckon Duckett’s knock today is joint seventh, but relatively pedestrian by his standards.
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Dilshan 30 balls
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Duckett (vs WI) 32
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Duckett (ws NZ) 36
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Tamim Iqbal (vs NZ, Hamilton) 37
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Gayle 42
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Sehwag 45
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Duckett (vs SL) 48
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(7=) Tamim Iqbal (vs NZ, Wellington) 48
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Umar 62
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Trescothick 74
“No records exist for Simmons or Sohail. Hayden’s 380 is worth its own analysis as he started slowly then went through the gears.
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50 off 107 balls (SR 46.7)
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100 off 210 (2nd 50 off 103, SR 48.5)
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150 off 242 (3rd 50 off 132, SR 37.9)
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200 off 292 (4th 50 off 50, SR 100.0)
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250 off 321 (5th 50 off 29, SR 172.4)
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300 off 362 (6th 50 off 41, SR 122.0)
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350 off 402 (7th 50 off 40, SR 125.0)
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380 off 437 (last 30 SR 85.7)
“A worthwhile investment of 15 mins of my lunch break.”
And so say all of us.
If you have access to Sky Sports, they’re showing highlights of the innings Graham Thorpe cherished more than any other: 124 against South Africa at The Oval in 2003, when he became the only England player to twice score a century on debut. His death isn’t getting any easier, is it?
Weather update
It’s grim down south. The light seems to be a bigger problem than rain, though I’m not actually at the ground so I could be talking out of my isobar.
Lunch
The umpires have taken an early lunch, which gives us all time to reflect on our life choices think about a squad for Pakistan. See you in 30 minutes or so.
Come on then, who will/should be in the Pakistan tour party? Let’s assume a 16-man squad and that everyone is fit. Off the top of my head, this is what it might look like.
Batters Crawley, Duckett, Pope, Root, Brook
Allrounders Stokes, Lawrence or Jacks
Wicketkeepers Smith, Cox
Spinners Bashir, Leach, Hartley
Seamers Atkinson, Wood + two more.
I’d pick Potts as the hard yakka man, then maybe Stone? I’d be tempted to take Sam Cook as well, though maybe they could save him for New Zealand. I’d love to see Ollie Robinson repeat his performances in Pakistan two years ago; probably too soon for a recall though.