I’m delighted that England won the second test in Grenada. A draw would have been unappetising, and a loss disastrous for our young team. However, I have to say I’m gobsmacked and also slightly exasperated by the media’s reaction to England’s win. I though sensationalism was the preserve of English football hacks. I was wrong. It’s endemic in cricket journalism too. Indeed, many esteemed cricket writers and their football counterparts seem to have swapped roles in recent times. Almost a year...
Victory at St George’s – Day 5
Well scrub my back with Molton Brown and call me Susan. What a morning! Once again, the cricketing gods laugh in the face of my pessimism. I can’t start anywhere other than James Anderson. He turned the match on its head. There was nothing in the pitch at all, but Jimmy had other ideas. For England to pick up all those wickets in the morning session was remarkable. Sure, the Windies were compliant in their capitulation, and their penchant for the spectacular collapse is world renowned...
Day Four at St George’s
A good day followed by a depressing one. A depressing one for England, and a depressing day for test cricket in general. Depressing, depressing, depressing. They say you can only judge the quality of a pitch after both teams have batted. When Joe Root was flaying the bowling to all parts in the morning – and didn’t he play well – I think most of us hoped the surface would look different when England bowled. Or, at the very least, the Windies would show a little indiscipline...
A Matter of Time? Day 3 at St George’s
Yesterday was a good day for England. Most of our batsmen got runs and the scoreboard look’s healthy. But this statement comes with a caveat. Have we left ourselves enough time to bowl the West Indies out? Hmmmm. We’ll get to that in a bit. First let’s talk about the individual batsmen. What did you think of Trott? Personally I thought he looked pretty solid. His half-century will do him the world of good, and once again it took a useful delivery to get him out. But did he...
Day Two at St George’s
Yesterday was a bit of a strange day for me. It was like going back in time. For starters, Stuart Broad took a wicket with a ball that registered just over 90mph. He also picked up three further wickets. It’s easy to forget that when Broad gets his tail up, he’s one hell of a bowler. We need to see more of him at this best. Apparently Mark Wood and Liam Plunkett are tearing up trees in training. He’ll need to be on his toes. It was also strange to see Cook and Trott back...
Day One at St George’s
You’d think that England would be inspired by this ground. St George is our patron saint, after all. Unfortunately however, the pitch made inspirational all but impossible. The words turgid, pudding and dull spring to mind instead. I completely despair at surfaces like this. Everyone who cares deeply about test cricket should be extremely disappointed. I appreciate that a groundsman’s job isn’t an exact science, but would it really be that hard to leave a little grass on the...
