The 3rd Test Thread

This is our thread for the 3rd Test at Lord’s. Please scroll down for our daily reports and feel free to add your comments as the action progresses over the next 5 days. Cheers.

After a two week hiatus, test cricket is back. And this one promises to be an absolute humdinger. The venue is Lord’s, a magical venue steeped in history. The opposition is Sri Lanka, the best test side located between India and Malaysia. There couldn’t be more a stake. England will be looking to cement their reputation as the best side in the northern hemisphere. The world will be watching … or at least a very small portion of it … live on Sky Sports.

Apologies for that. The part of my brain that enjoys sarcasm was temporarily ascendant. The miserable cynic has now returned, so we can discuss the test from a more sober perspective. This test, of course, is a dead rubber. Nobody gives a rat’s arse about Andrew Strauss’s super series, so there really is nothing to play for. At least, however, England can use this opportunity to look at a new face or two – and perhaps rest some of the guys who have a heavy workload ahead. That’s if they’re sensible.

Unfortunately however, England are rarely sensible. Which is why, predictably and depressingly, they’re expected to name an unchanged side for Lord’s. I literally can’t wait to see how Jake Ball gets on carrying those drinks.

The important thing to remember is that it’s absolutely vital our selectors are 100% vindicated for every decision they’ve made in the last few months. The decision to persist with Nick Compton must be justified. And if he scores a few runs on a typical Lord’s road, and scores fifty or even a hundred against the worst test bowling attack since Bicknell,Ilott, Such and Emburey represented England against Australia on 5th August 1993, then everyone can sleep easy.

It’s also absolutely vital that we see (once again) just how completely out of sorts Steve Finn is. I’m literally drooling at the prospect of seeing big Steve, how once bowled 90mph, amble in and release his 80mph thunderbolts. It’s far more important to embarrass the poor bloke, and let Ball perfect his tea making capabilities, than take him out of the firing line and assess other options.

Note to self: consistency of selection is everything, consistency of selection is everything, consistency of selection is everything.

Perhaps I shouldn’t scoff. After all, whitewashing the seventh ranked test team in the world, at home, will be a brilliant achievement. It’s all we should be focusing on. It will prove, beyond doubt, that the good ship Cook and Co are on the right path to world domination. I can just see the headlines now: England In Russia Statement At Roy’s Boys Draw Another Tournament Blank.

That’s right folks. Euro 2016 starts tomorrow. So even fewer people than normal will be taking notice of England’s irresistible and refreshing brand of positive cricket …. live on Sky Sports.

Day 1

Hmmm. I’ve felt something’s presence, something I haven’t felt since ….. Centurion (probably). That’s right folks, England were under genuine pressure yesterday, something that hasn’t happened for  a while. Sri Lanka actually looked the better side – which is more than a tad worrying, but actually something of a relief too. After all, the last thing we wanted was another dull test match dominated by England from start to finish.

The good news is that England are finally learning something. That’s what happens when we’re tested. Our batting wasn’t up to scratch, and 279-6 on a good Lord’s pitch under blue skies is well below par. Or should that be over par? I don’t think idioms get golf.

Yesterday’s batting effort was actually fairly typical – if you take Joe Root’s failure out of the equation. Our numbers two, three and five completely bombed and it was left to Cook and Bairstow to clean up the mess.

I’ve been on Hales and Compton’s back for a while now so I’ll try not to dwell on their failings too much. Having said that, both their dismissals were typically disappointing.

Hales looks so ungainly at times. Did you know that his first class average is only 38 with 12 hundreds, whereas Moeen (who is mostly seen as an allrounder) averages 38.5 with 16 hundreds? I really don’t understand why we’re investing so much in a player who (a) has a somewhat underwhelming domestic record, and (b) isn’t even an opener.

Hales may eventually be successful in test cricket but he’s going to have to change his game significantly. His unsightly, and completely unnecessary slog-sweep, on the first morning of a test match, was just plain ugly. The purist were wincing.

As for poor old Compo the game looks up. Although I’m usually seduced by orthodox batsmen who like a good grind, I’ve never rated Compton. Although he can drive handsomely on occasion, yesterday’s limp grope was the shot of a tail-ender reluctant to come forward. I genuinely feel for the bloke. He must be cursing his luck that his second chance in test cricket has come along during what must be one of the worst slumps of his career.

I’ll move on to James Vince now. He simply missed a straight one. It was weird. Perhaps the Lord’s slope was playing on his mind? We haven’t seen enough of Vince to judge yet, but at least he looks more like a proper test batsman than the other two. Maybe he’ll be one of those players who gets a score and then goes from strength to strength? We shall see.

Finally let’s talk about the two positives: Alastair Cook and Jonny Bairstow. The skipper played pretty well and underlined how lost the top order would be without him. It was a surprise when he got out. Normally Cook makes averaging bowling attacks on good pitches pay.

As for Jonny, what more is there to say? He stood tall, got his eye in, played his shots, and got England out of a hole again. He rode his luck on occasion – he was dropped fairly early on and then survived a bizarre DRS review which basically showed the whole ball cannoning into leg stump – but I suspect he’s making his own luck at the moment. He’s full of confidence.

So what can we expect tomorrow? Sri Lanka’s problem thus far has been their inability to play well two days in a row. Their bowlers performed impressively on day one so I suspect they’ll spray it around like Heath Davis after ten pints today.

However, part of me wants them to knock England over for about 320 this morning. It could set up a fascinating contest. And it will take a fascinating contest to stop everyone from switching over to the football this weekend.

Day 2

Woakes, wacky fields and ‘wobble’. Those were the three main topics in what was a disappointing day for England. The bat dominated ball throughout – as often happens at Lord’s. Many years ago the wicket favoured the bowlers too much at HQ. Now it’s too flat. Lord’s always looks very pretty, but shouldn’t grounds be judged on the quality of the surfaces produced too?

First let’s talk about the positives. Chris Woakes had a good day. I’ve always liked his batting and I’m beginning to like it even more. He’s orthodox, composed and plays like a proper batsman. He’s a fine alternative to Ben Stokes’ more aggressive approach.

Woakes also bowled pretty well again, and was probably the pick of the attack. Again he’s the antithesis of Stokes. Whereas the ginger demon is something of a golden arm, Woakes gets no luck at all!

Which brings us on to Jonny Bairstow’s keeping. What can we say other than ‘oh dear’? I just don’t see an improvement. His hands aren’t particularly soft and his footwork needs a makeover too.

I don’t like criticising Jonny because his batting has come on so much, but England aren’t good enough to let simple chances slip through their fingers … not that Jonny managed to get a finger to the straightforward chance he dropped off Woakes.

Although the catch (or non catch) was made more difficult because the ball wobbled in the air for no particular reason after it took the edge – a phenomenon we tend to see in England – it was still a routine chance and a somewhat embarrassing moment. After all, we’ve all seen balls wobble a lot more than that. A natural keeper would have pouched the chance quite comfortably regardless. Poor Johnny missed it by half a foot.

Finally a word on Sri Lanka’s batting. I was really pleased for them. Silva had already looked good earlier in the series and now he’s beginning to show real promise. He seems very organised and has adapted to English conditions quite quickly – although, to be honest, the Lord’s pitch wasn’t typically English. Some of the fields Cook set were a bit like the ones we saw in the UAE.

I’d like to know what people made of England’s tactics yesterday. Was Cook being funky for the sake of being funky? I’m tempted to say yes. I don’t like it when teams employ a 1st slip and then a big gap to a 3rd or 4th slip. It’s asking for trouble. A lot of catches fly to 2nd slip, and I don’t see how bowlers can aim to take a thick edge rather than a thin one.

If a batsman is good enough to get a thicker deflection that flies down to third man wide of the cordon, rather than a faint deflection that flies to 1st or 2nd slip, then so be it. The bowler didn’t quite defeat him enough. But if a genuine edge flies between 1st and 3rd slip, and the batsman is beaten all ends up, it must be so dispiriting for the bowler.

Isn’t splitting the slips in a rather arbitrary fashion simply randomising England’s strategy and leaving things to luck rather than good planning and good bowling?

Day 3

It was a very different day at Lord’s on Saturday. There was more cloud cover which created a more even battle between bat and ball. As a result, the game is actually interestingly poised. If only the weather forecast was more promising.

England were exceptional in the first session. We bowled brilliantly and fielded like tigers. Poor old Sri Lanka couldn’t build on their strong showing on Friday and were blown away. The best bowler, once again, was Chris Woakes. I wonder what the watching Ben Stokes was thinking?

It was also good to see Steve Finn back in some sort of rhythm. His pace was back up (not to pre-kick the stumps over levels but pretty close) and some confidence returned. I don’t think there’s a more frustrating bowler in England’s recent history. His ceiling is so high that I find it exasperating when he runs in apologetically. We all want to see the good Finn all of the time.

I’m convinced that Finn’s problems are 90% mental. His media appearances reveal a somewhat insecure and anxious person. He’s almost too nice. If only he had the confidence and menace of a Merv Hughes. When he’s relaxed and happy he’s twice the bowler and absolutely indispensable.

I would have taken him out of the firing line (like Nick Compton) for this game, because I he feared he might become ‘unelectable’ again if he had another bad match in front of a packed crowd at Lord’s. However, it’s amazing what a wicket did for his confidence – even if it was a strangle down the leg side. Perhaps, over time, Bayliss and Farbrace are learning how to handle him and manage his personality?

Sri Lanka’s collapse put England in a commanding position with a large first innings lead. That cushion seems vital now. With Cook unable to open the batting because of a nasty knee injury (thankfully it’s just bruising and no break) England’s top order looked even more fragile than normal.

After a solid start, in which Compton hit two handsome boundaries, it looked like the whiskey in the last chance saloon was to his liking. Unfortunately however, the good times didn’t last long. He edged another ball just outside off stump to the keeper. He looked a beaten man on his way back to the pavilion.

Compton’s trigger movement (or lack of one) is all over the place. Like Alastair Cook two summers ago, this front foot is still in the air when the ball is half-way down. This is a recipe for disaster. Compton won’t get as many chances as Cook to put things right. I suspect we’ve seen the last of him.

James Vince is also finding test cricket hard work. I doubt he’ll be dropped yet, as he’s only played three games, but getting clean bowled twice in the same match for low scores isn’t the kind of thing any specialist batsman wants on their CV.

I actually thought Alex Hales played quite nicely though. Is he growing into the role? It’s hard to tell. Although wickets were falling Sri Lanka’s attack still looked extremely friendly to me. At least he’s looking more confident though. And as we all know, cricket is played in the head as much as it is on the field.

Day 4

What a frustrating day. Everything was set up nicely but the weather ruined it all. I hate it when it rains at the weekend during test matches. Few people can watch test cricket live as it is. But when it rains on a Saturday and / or Sunday, even the small fraction of the population who actually have access to Sky Sports have nothing to watch. Oh well.

Sunday was generally a day of anticlimaxes. We hoped that England would press on and build an unassailable lead. They didn’t. We hoped that Alex Hales would score a hundred. He didn’t. We hoped our opening bowlers would claim a couple of early wickets late in the day. They couldn’t. Well, at least day five promises to be something special.

Or does it? A quick glance at the weather forecast shows there’s sod all chance of a result on Monday. Instead of talking about a nail-biting finish, we’re going to be repeating all the familiar talking points: England’s dodgy top order and DRS. Did you see the incident when Alex Hales was bowled by Pradeep but the umpire called no-ball? Replays showed that it wasn’t a no ball after all and Sri Lanka were robbed.

Day 5

Bloody rain. Just as we thought this series might become a little more entertaining, the English weather intervened. Only a handful of overs were possible on the final day, which means that Sri Lanka’s useful recent record at Lord’s endures.

Angelo Mathews was quite bullish in the post-match interviews. He claimed that Sri Lanka rather fancied their chances and would have gone for the runs. I’m not so sure really. I would’ve expected them to go into their shells once a couple of wickets fell. Although they might have dreamt of a consolation victory, I imagine they’re simply pleased to avoid the series whitewash.

I’ll be back soon to review the test series so stayed tuned for that. England will be pleased that they won the series 2-0, with two resounding wins at Leeds and Durham. Alastair Cook claimed after the game that Lord’s was a winning draw too, as England declared in their second innings.

I think the skipper has a point, but I’m not as sure as him that England are necessarily heading in the right direction. For every positive in this series there has been negative too. The batting and spin bowling remains a real worry. We’re no closer to resolving these key problem areas in my humble opinion.

James Morgan

36 comments

  • Wow… and I thought I was disillusioned with England cricket.
    :-)
    Can’t really disagree with much of that, though.

    • I’m not disillusioned really, just completely unexcited at the prospect of this test match. I thought there was no point disguising it :-)

      The only thing I was looking forward to was perhaps seeing how Jake Ball looked. Bit disappointed he’s not playing. I really don’t see the point in picking exactly the same side when you’ve already won the series.

      I hope I’m wrong but this could prove to be a highly irrelevant and uninteresting game.

      • The weather’s likely to play havoc with this game too. Draw for me. This series has been disappointingly (if unsurprisingly) one sided, and we can only hope for better from Pakistan.

  • It is a difficult balance isn’t it when you want to achieve continuity to give the players confidence etc. and putting players in to have a look at them. If you drop Finn, then you’d have to drop him for a series wouldn’t you? Just to give Jake Ball a decent run to prove himself.

  • No chance of me turning to the football.

    But with having a cricket supporting son and a rugby one (who is currently doing his GCSEs) I am trying to keep them both happy by watching Lancashire’s home one day and T20 games and giving the rugby supporter a break (from pretending to study) by attending the U-20 World Cup.

    Not easy.

  • Morning James!
    Your ‘admirable’ post could well end up being the high spot of the cricketing day. Can’t argue with any of this. I’m sure I’m not supposed to laugh but I did! ?

  • England currently 84-4 under blue skies. Told you this would be predictable and boring

  • New test same old issues. I won’t bore you with my view (again)
    As much as I understand the scepticsm towards Strauss’s super series idea, you kind of see where he’s coming from. 3 out of England’s last 4 series have included a dead rubber.
    Is there any point in playing them?

  • Day 1 didn’t really tell us much we didn’t know. Hales has a problem with spin, Compton has a problem with bowling (sorry, but he’s a walking wicket at the moment), James Vince looks the part but is loose, Bairstow is a fine batsman (even if he was rather lucky yesterday), Cook is serene at the top of the order. I reckon England lost a couple more wickets than they should have yesterday (they’d have been looking at 3-4 down rather than 6), and really need another 100.

  • Given there’s not much to say about the cricket, let’s diverge to something else. Am I alone in finding listening to Alison Mitchell’s commentary on TMS insufferable? Yesterday, for the first time ever, I had to turn it off when she was on. Her voice is just so grating. I’ve no problem with women commentating (e.g. Ebony R-B, Isa Guha), but surely the production team should consider what someone sounds like as well as what they’re actually saying? Or is it just me…?

  • And i thought Maxie was always the grumpy one…..did somebody spit in your morning cup of tea yesterday morning?

    As far as consistency of selection goes, I much prefer this approach to the revolving door days of 20+ players and 3 captains per summer.

    Having decided to stick with Compton after South Africa, it surely made sense to give him the series. He’s been lucky to get these 3 tests, and every chance he owes his place to Taylor’s retirement and partially to the 85 he scored under pressure in the first test in South Africa. They’ve been true to their word about giving people a test too many rather than a test too few. I would have changed after SA, but have no real problem with what they’ve done, because it’s easy to forget that his first 3 innings in SA were an 80-odd and a couple of 40s, all under pressure. As long as they change now, although Vince has flattered a bit to deceive so would not be too keen to shove him up the order.

    As for the other option of putting Ball in over Finn, I just can’t agree with that. Finn’s idiosyncratic action makes him a rhythm bowler – he’s going to have a run of games where he looks ordinary but when he clicks he wins matches. Dropping him now would be a huge mistake. Ball will get his chance.

    • This is so true (re Finn). Not to mention the fact that he’s also very much a confidence player, it took him a while to get over being branded ‘unselectable’ and find his way back into the England fold. Now that he is relatively re-established in the team and coming off a good tour of SA, it’s counter-productive to drop him after two average tests, especially at the ground that he’s most familiar with. I wish he wasn’t so hot and cold but I’m backing him to find his rhythm (and form) in this match.

      Giving a player one game too many instead of one too few (as is TB’s selection policy) has the advantage of ‘definitively’ knowing whether they have got what it takes to have sustained success in international cricket. Compo was arguably dropped too soon the first time round, it certainly felt harsh at the time. There can be no doubt or questions this time.

      • Just that picking Compton when everyone knows he’s out of form and then judging him on his performance strikes me as rather pointless. Trying out a new no 3 at the beginning of the series against an acknowledged lesser attack would have appealed to me. Now they’ll be throwing someone in against Amir and Yasir.

    • I disagree actually Hamish. Finn is a confidence bowler. Playing him when he’s not in the groove – which he hasn’t been for the entire summer (in county cricket too) – is just going to damage his confidence further. He doesn’t enjoy the spotlight, especially when things aren’t going well.

  • I just wonder if we’ll do something funky and turn the order around. Root + 6-9 seem to be scoring the bulk of the runs.
    We could go
    Cook
    Root
    Borthwick
    Bairstow
    Ali
    Stokes
    Woakes
    Hales
    Vince
    Broad
    Anderson

  • I’m all in favour of a margin for umpire’s call within DRS but the amount of margin is making it ridiculous. By making umpire’s call the width of half the ball AND half the stump means there’s an error margin of over 5cm (stump width c3.5cm and ball diameter c7cm) which is too much. I’d be for half the ball width having to clip the outside of the stump which would reduce the error margin by a third to about 3.5 cm. After all, the ball only has to graze the stump to dislodge the bails for it to be out.

    The other point is that the built in error margin of umpire’s call only favours the batsman. If it’s given not out and the bowler reviews there is the 5cm margin that Bairstow got where the ball is hitting the stumps and the decision remains not out. However if the decision is out and the batsman reviews, umpire’s call still shows the ball hitting the wicket, which would be out anyway. There is no 5cm margin where the ball hasn’t actually hit the stumps i.e. not out which stays as out in favour of the bowler.

    Not sure if that above paragraph made sense but hope you get my drift.

  • Well that didn’t exactly go to plan. Where’s Darren Gough when you need him?!

  • Going a lot better this morning! Sri Lanka can’t seem to play well for two days in a row. It’s usually good day, bad day.

  • Most interesting thing so far today is the after lunch session proving Joe Root’s limitations as a skipper. Over bowling Anderson and Broad with the new ball when Woakes has looked more dangerous suggests he may not be the man for the job when Cook calls it a day. It is no excuse that they finally nicked wickets to get him out of jail.

    • Come now, how many tests did it take Cook to achieve something approaching competence as captain ?

      Root will do just fine.

      • I agree about Cook. All that is demonstrated by both of them is that the best player does not necessarily make the best captain. The obvious problem is ‘who else?’. But sometimes you have to think laterally and, if needed, bring someone into the team for their captaincy skills – as was done so successfully all those years ago with Brearley. (Mind you, I cannot think of a decent candidate at the moment!). We cannot afford a learning period for Root or anyone else, as has been shown many times in the past.

        • Root needs a lot more experience at doing the captain’s job before he takes over from Cook. I don’t know how he is going to get it.

        • Are we seriously condemning Root’s captaincy credentials based on one session bowling at the Sri Lankan tail?

          Tough crowd….

  • In support of your slips argument, I’d imagine an edge through vacant third slip is more likely to be picked up by 3rd man. However an edge through vacant second slip is more likely to go for four.

  • We had the same no-ball farce a few years ago and everyone agreed then that the umpire needed to stop calling no-ball until the shot was played, so that in circumstances like this, the wicket could be reviewed.

    Everyone that is, except the umpires and lawmakers….

  • Sadly I fear the weather will be the winner today. James, a common theme is “Stokes or Woakes?” I can see the issue, but, in the longer term, there’s a good argument for playing both (certainly when Anderson retires). Chris Woakes swings the ball (not as well as Jimmy, but he’s improving rapidly), and he can bat. I’ve been impressed (and pleasantly surprised) by him in this series.

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

copywriter copywriting