Key events
Geoff Lemon
Thanks Rob. And we’re straight into the action with a wicket…
13th over: Sri Lanka 52-2 (Karunaratne 27, Mathews 21) Shoaib Bashir, who had one over from the other end after lunch, replaces Chris Woakes (6-2-20-1). His first ball kicks to hit Mathews high on the leg, a promising sign for the rest of the innings.
Kumar Sangakkara thinks Sri Lanka need to target Bashir, though for now they’re playing the ball not the bowler. A single for Mathews brings up the fifty partnership from 66 balls; it’s been a great advert for experience.
With that, it’s time for me to welcome Geoff Lemon back to the OBO bunker. Thanks for your company, see you tomorrow.
12th over: Sri Lanka 50-2 (Karunaratne 26, Mathews 20) Karunaratne, who looks in complete control just now, drives Atkinson between mid-on and midwicket for three more. Still loads to do but the 45 minutes after lunch couldn’t have gone much better for Sri Lanka.
It shouldn’t be long before we see Mark Wood.
11th over: Sri Lanka 44-2 (Karunaratne 22, Mathews 18) Woakes shakes his head in frustration when a ball hits Mathews on the buttock, beats leg slip and runs away for four byes.
“I’m having trouble balancing the top order of my World Workers XI,” writes Ant. “Does anyone know if there’s a verb ‘to Tendulk?’ I’m hoping the weight of runs trumps the obvious grammatical faux-pas.
10th over: Sri Lanka 36-2 (Karunaratne 21, Mathews 15) Atkinson turns Mathews into an S with a nasty delivery that lifts and straightens to hit the back thigh. Too high for an LBW appeal but it was a serious delivery.
This is a really good contest. Karunaratne and Mathews are proper batsmen, with around 15,000 Test runs between them, and they’re scrapping to get Sri Lanka back in the game.
“This game has prompted me to get the excellent book Chinaman: the legend of Pradeep Mathew down off the shelf,” writes Simon Longstaffe. “ Well worth a read if you haven’t.”
I haven’t, for I’m a vulgarian, but I’ve always wanted to and have only heard good things about it.
9th over: Sri Lanka 35-2 (Karunaratne 21, Mathews 14) Close! Mathews turns Woakes just wide of leg slip at catchable height. The ball runs away for four. I’ll be honest, I missed the rest of the over as I was attending to the below. Watch the ball, Robert.
“Oh we’re gonna do this eh?” says Max Williams, dukes up. “Yes, 2005 is peerless. The 2023 Ashes was a ridiculously entertaining series but can a draw ever be a satisfactory result? Especially as the Ashes were gone by the fifth Test – so 20% of the series was kind of a dead rubber. Not entirely dead – 2-2 sure beats 1-3 – but heavily wounded.
“1998 is narrative perfection: England look doomed in the third Test and then win two epic matches. Last wicket escapes, titanic duels, heroic performances, dizzying stakes -and it all went down to the wire. You’ve kinda made my argument for me with your piece on the Headingley decider.
“A caveat: I was 8 during that SA series. I followed it religiously but I can’t pretend to be in a position to offer an informed, dispassionate appraisal. I have some hazy, doubtless rose-tinted memories augmented by YouTube highlights and retrospective articles (thanks again). But I like my stories finished and 2023 feels like someone disfigured the final chapter – while 1998 ended on a high.”
I do love 1998 but 2023 had four classic finishes to 1998’s two. The stakes were higher and it just felt weightier. I take your point about the draw but the series was… if not a winning draw then at least a fulfilling draw.
You’re right about the narrative perfection, and there was a classic intro from Tim de Lisle in the Almanack. I guess you could argue the opposite – that the Old Trafford rain made for a more nuanced, bittersweet narrative. The lovely thing is that we can see the same two series through slightly different eyes, and there’s no right or wrong. Well, most of the time.
8th over: Sri Lanka 30-2 (Karunaratne 21, Mathews 9) Karunaratne edges a good one from Atkinson for four. His Fairy Liquid hands ensured it wouldn’t have carried anyway.
He tenses those hands to thump a short, wide ball through point for four. Sri Lanka needed to start with authority after lunch; they’ve done so.
7th over: Sri Lanka 22-2 (Karunaratne 13, Mathews 8) “Looking at Woakes’ stats after his wicket before lunch,” says ames Brough. “At home, he has 128 wickets at 21.45. Away, he has 36 wickets at 51.88. This provokes a couple of questions. Do any other bowlers have a comparable record in England? And is there anyone else with such a disparity between home and away?”
His record in England is the best since Fred Trueman, of those with 100 wickets. Our great lost talent, Ollie Robinson, has 50 at 20.26. As for the disparity, it’s extremely rare for it to be that pronounced.
The Sky commentator Mark Butcher is 52 today. Between overs, Mel Jones does a glorious number on him, talking the viewers through photos of Butch as a kid, player and commentator. Then he is presented a long, rectangular, slightly phallic birthday cake. “Thank you,” says Butch. “It looks like, well it looks like something…”
It was funnier than I’m making it sound, hopefully they’ll put it on online in a bit.
6th over: Sri Lanka 22-2 (Karunaratne 13, Mathews 8) The Bashir experiment lasted only one over. Gus Atkinson replaces him, with the Sky commentators noticing that his average speeds have been down in this game. He’s still bowled pretty well, though, and he got Karunaratne with the short ball in the first innings. It’ll be coming again soon, but he keeps it in the locker for now.
“I have an idea who might keep wicket in the world workers XI,” says Paul Griffin. I understand Nari Contractor been controversially omitted because he is not permanent. Furious.”
5th over: Sri Lanka 21-2 (Karunaratne 13, Mathews 8) Karunaratne drives Woakes handsomely through mid-off for four. He’s such a good player; in the last five years he has the most runs of any Test opener: 2597 at 50.92. Of those who have opened in more than five innings, only Yashasvi Jaiswal has a higher average.
Karunaratne is not out It was missing, in fact, so England lose a review. Not the greatest piece of captaincy from Pope, because I think Jamie Smith said it looked high.
“Pope now – third reviews, all wrong,” spits Nasser. There’s a pause before he and Mark Butcher suddenly start giggling. “That came out all wrong!” says Nasser.
England review for LBW Woakes has a big shout turned down when Karunaratne pushes around a snarling nipbacker. Pope reviews even though it looked high. I think this will be umpire’s call at best for England and therefore not out.
4th over: Sri Lanka 16-2 (Karunaratne 9, Mathews 7) A loosener from Bashir is driven through mid-on for four by Karunaratne. England have an attacking field – slip, leg slip and silly point – and Bashir finds his length for the rest of the over.
Hello again. The players are back out and Shoaib Bashir is coming on in place of Gus Atkinson, who bowled a lamentable spell of 1-0-4-1.
Jamie Smith’s century aside, the highlight of the morning session was arguably – yep – a crowd catch.
Lunch: Sri Lanka trail by 112
Mike Atherton’s analogy of the Test match as arm wrestle was summed up by the morning session. Sri Lanka, so competitive on the first two days, succumbed to England and will do well to take this game into a fourth day.
Jamie Smith made a thrillingly assured 111 to give England a lead of 122, then Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson each struck in their first over. Sri Lanka aren’t out of it – they were in a not dissimilar position in their glorious win at Headingley 10 years ago – but they can’t afford to lose any mor wickets to the new ball.
3rd over: Sri Lanka 10-2 (Karunaratne 4, Mathews 6) An unthreatening final over before lunch. Mathews walks down the track to negate Woakes’ swing, pushing three runs down the ground with the aid of a misfield. Karunaratne works off the hip for two and then one.
2nd over: Sri Lanka 4-2 (Karunaratne 1, Mathews 3) Angelo Mathews gets off a pair by clouting his first ball through mid-off for three. If he can make 160 from 249 balls, anything’s possible.
“The occupational XI for Australia are, as you might imagine, no slouches either,” says Geoffrey Smith. “(Ron Archer wasn’t a familiar name to me, but he seems to have been very highly thought of…)
-
Mark Taylor
-
Michael Slater
-
Steve Smith
-
Michael Clarke
-
Bob Cowper
-
Keith Miller
-
Greg Dyer
-
Ron Archer
-
Max Walker
-
Herbert Ironmonger
-
Terry Alderman
Oh yes he was apparently a fine player; had to retire very young because of injury I think. That’s a helluva team. I was going to say the bowling is slightly weak but then I was reminded of the fella at No6. Imagine him harassing you with the new ball at one end while Alderman hypnotised you from the other.
WICKET! Sri Lanka 1-2 (Kusal c Smith b Atkinson 0)
This is outstanding from England. Gus Atkinson gets Kusal Mendis with an excellent delivery, fullish and cutting back just enough to take the edge as Kusal pushes tentatively. Jamie Smith embroiders his morning with a very good low catch.
1st over: Sri Lanka 0-1 (Karunaratne 0, Kusal 0) A wicket maiden finishes with a beauty that beats the new batter Kusal Mendis. This game will be done today if Woakes carries on like that: it was an outstanding first over.
WICKET! Sri Lanka 0-1 (Madushka b Woakes 0)
Sri Lanka’s morning goes from abysmal to even worse. Madushka has been bowled third ball, offering no stroke to a nipbacker from Woakes. It was a cracking delivery, mind; Woakes is close to the top of his game at the moment.
Chris Woakes is about to open the bowling. Lunch is at 1.15, so we should get three overs in.
An exchange on Sky Sports just now
Mel Jones You’ve had your eye on Sri Lanka this morning, Nasser, what did you make of them?
Nasser Hussain Not a lot, to be honest.
The greatest crowd catch ever
“That crowd catch deserves a full commentary on its own,” says Mark Hooper. “It should be shown from all angles and studied in school.”
I can hear Nasser’s commentary in my mind’s ear: ‘No! No way! You cannot do that whatever your name is!’
Jamie Smith is back on the field practising his keeping. Presumably there is an extended morning session, to make up some of the time lost yesterday, because it should be lunch.
England lead by 122 runs, thanks mainly to a terrific 111 from Jamie Smith. Bashir aside, the lower order all made valuable contributions, with Woakes, Atkinson, Potts and Wood scoring 84 between them. Sri Lanka let themselves down this morning: they made a half-arsed start and were playing catch up from the off.
WICKET! England 358 all out (Potts c Kamindu b Vishwa 17)
Potts ramps Vishwa for four before clothing a pull to Kamindu Mendis, running in from deep square to take a good catch.
85th over: England 354-9 (Potts 13, Bashir 3) Bashir, who spoke yesterday about his desire to improve his batting, has started pretty well. A quiet over from Asitha; one from it.
England lead by 118.
84th over: England 353-9 (Potts 11, Bashir 3) “The 2005 Ashes remains the one and only series I watched the whole way through, having just left school and signed on, and if I hadn’t moved back to Scotland would have stood a damn good chance of making me a cricket tragic in my middle age,” says James Humphries. “It had absolutely everything, and I’m confident I’d feel the same if I hadn’t been stoned the whole summer.”
We were all high that summer, mostly on cricket.
83rd over: England 348-9 (Potts 10, Bashir 0) “McCague is a variant of McTadhg,” writes Liam Garvey. “Tadhg is a Gaelic name which means poet/philosopher so shoehorn away!”
It’s on! Jofra, I’m sorry mate…
WICKET! England 348-9 (Wood b Asitha 22)
How many times: DO NOT BOWL SHORT TO MARK WOOD. Asitha tries it, at 81mph, and is swatted into the crowd at square leg, where a supporter takes a nonchalant one-handed catch while holding a pint in the other. That’s the best crowd catch I’ve ever seen!
An overthrow adds another detail to Sri Lanka’s shabby morning, then Potts gets his first boundary with a delightful off drive. Jamie Smith would have been happy with that.
Avisha Fernando, who was so good yesterday, has bowled like me today – but as I type that he picks up his fourth wicket of the innings when Wood misses an attempted cut and is bowled, Thus ends a typically jaunty cameo of 22 from 13 balls.
82nd over: England 334-8 (Potts 3, Wood 15) Wood, always entertaining, larrups four more off Jayasuriya, who is sufficiently affronted to dart a quicker ball that hits Wood on the glove.
Wood has raced to 15 off 10 balls. Not quite 24 off 7, as he was against Australia at Headingley last year, but still a fast start.
81st over: England 327-8 (Potts 2, Wood 9) Asitha Fernando returns to the attack armed with the second new ball. Wood blooters the first ball to the cover boundary, then shows a deft touch to glide the second for four more. Potts gets off the mark with a wristy clip for two. England lead by 91.
A replay of Jamie Smith’s dismissal confirms the commentators’ suspicion that the ball didn’t spin away from the bat; it hit a crack and deviated.
“Part of Sangakkara’s genius is that, just like his batting, his hair improved the older he got,” writes Pete Salmon. “Definitely a high 30-ish average early, then 60-ish for the last few years. Only equivalent I can think of is Jimmy, whose hair average was mid-30s at the start, and a lean 22 when he finished.”
80th over: England 316-8 (Potts 0, Wood 1) “Apropos Kim Thonger’s musings on cricketers names (over 67) my brother and I were musing along a similar theme during the last Test,” writes Michael White. “The best team we came up with was an Occupational XI as follows
-
Alastair COOK
-
Bob BARBER
-
David SHEPPARD
-
Ollie POPE
-
Mark BUTCHER
-
Nick KNIGHT
-
Jamie SMITH
-
Geoff MILLER
-
Tom CARTWRIGHT
-
Matthew FISHER
-
Jofra ARCHER
Not even I could shoehorn Martin McCague into that team.
WICKET! England 315-8 (Smith c Chandimal b Jayasuriya 111)
Nelson strikes. Jamie Smith flashes at a wide, quicker delivery from Jayasuriya and gets a thin edge that is beautifully taken by Chandimal up to the stumps. That ends an outstanding, match-turning innings: 111 from 148 balls with eight fours and a six.
79th over: England 315-7 (Smith 111, Potts 0) Have some of that! Smith clobbers a length ball from Ratnayeke through midwicket for… only three because of the slow outfield. But he still gave it some humpty.
The new batsman Matthew Potts looks solid in defence has the ability to hang around with Smith. He made 150-odd as nightwatchman in a Championship game earlier this season, albeit on a road.
78th over: England 312-7 (Smith 108, Potts 0) It looks like Smith wants to go through the gears. He whacks a Jayasuriya full toss for four, drags two past leg stump and dances down the track to drive a single.
“I’ve been impressed by what I’ve seem of Atkinson so far this summer,” says Tom van der Gucht. “He’d seemed a but shy and diffident when I’d seen him playing ODI’s but seems up for the fight now whether batting or bowling. Watching the BBC highlights, I wasn’t sure if England had done the trick accused or them in the 2005 Ashes and turned up the speed gun. It clocked Woakes and Atkinson at 87MPH and Potts at 89!”
Is that right? Fascinating. As for Atkinson, shyness doesn’t necessarily mean meekness. Another Surrey and England player taught us that.
WICKET! England 305-7 (Atkinson c Chandimal b Atkinson 20)
Gus Atkinson falls two balls later, caught down the leg side by Chandimal. He flicked across the line and got a thin edge that was well taken just above the ground. The umpires checked the catch but it was fine. That’s Milan Rathnayeke’s first Test wicket.
Jamie Smith’s first Test hundred!
76.3 overs: England 304-6 (Smith 100, Atkinson 20) Smith works Rathnayeke for two to reach a splendid maiden century from 136 balls. His celebration is strikingly modest, just a quick raise of the bat to acknowledge a standing ovation from the crowd and the England balcony. “He looks a top, top player,” says Kumar Sangakkara, who knows of what he speaks.
76th over: England 299-6 (Smith 98, Atkinson 17) Smith dances down to drive a single to long off. Another LBW appeal against Atkinson is turned down, then Atkinson edges a flashing drive past slip for three.
One ball remaining in the over. Jayasuriya tosses up a tempter; Smith pushes it to cover.
“2005?” sniffs Sarah Skelding. “I’ll see your 2005 and raise you 1981. I was younger for the first so it made a greater impression on me but I still think that it was objectively better. I’m waiting for someone older than me to gainsay me.”
If we’re going back that far, it’s got to be India v England in 1981-82.
75th over: England 294-6 (Smith 97, Atkinson 13) Rathnayeke replaces Vishwa and also has a big LBW appeal against Atkinson turned own. It was missing leg comfortably, but at least Sri Lanka are getting animated.
Smith walks across to clip through midwicket for two, which makes this his highest Test score. He has three balls to reach his hundred in this over, but they’re all on the money and Smith treats them on merit.
“Is there an international bowler with a run-up more vague and lackadaisical than Jayasuriya?” wonders James Brough. “Granted, slow bowlers have shorter run-ups, but there’s usually a feeling of momentum. Think of Warne striding to the crease, Abdul Qadir bouncing in to bowl or Phil Edmonds (showing my age) flowing into his delivery stride. Jayasuriya looks for all the world as though he’s out for a bit of an amble, notices a batsman 22 yards away and decides he might as well sling something down at him. I find it rather endearing.”
That’s a good spot. He actually slows down just before his delivery stride, almost like a penalty taker trying to dummy the keeper, but it’s part of his walk-up rather than a piece of deception.
74th over: England 291-6 (Smith 95, Atkinson 13) Jayasuriya has a big LBW appeal against Atkinson turned down. It didn’t look great live – it was surely missing leg – and they decide against a review.
“Just wondering,” begins Gary Naylor, “if MCJ Nicholas and Rameez Raja have been in touch yet about judging the Lovely Hair competition?”
73rd over: England 290-6 (Smith 95, Atkinson 12) Smith hasn’t played a shot in anger in the nineties; he doesn’t need to with easy singles on offer. His latest brings up a really good fifty partnership with his Surrey buddy Gus Atkinson.
72nd over: England 287-6 (Smith 94, Atkinson 11) Jayasuriya is starting to toy with Atkinson, who gets a leading edge that plops safely. That was his best over of the morning.
“As people seemed to enjoy the 1990s reminiscing yesterday…” writes Max Williams. “God that 1998 series against South Africa was an epic, wasn’t it? Two iconic teams going toe to toe. England were pulverised in the second Test, scraped a last-wicket draw in the third, the closest of eight-wicket wins in the fourth (ft the Atherton – Donald duel) and clinched the decider by 23 runs!
“Can we go full cricket hipster and anoint it better than 2005 Ashes? Not quite but it was arguably a greater underdog triumph – that was a fearsome SA team and England hadn’t won a five-match series for 12 years. Certainly a lock for the second best series of my lifetime. (Call it 1990 onwards.) I suppose 2023 Ashes is third but it’s a long way back and I’d be delighted if someone could suggest an alternative.”
The first paragraph was perfect but you’ve overstepped the mark with the second. My instinct is that 2023 should be second, though I’d like to think about it. You’re right that 1998 was a dirty epic, cricket’s version of Deadwood, which also had oodles of controversy and a truly hilarious willow-waving contest between Brian McMillan and Dominic Cork. Nothing gets close to 2005 though.
71st over: England 287-6 (Smith 93, Atkinson 11) Out of nothing, Smith is beaten by a terrific cutter from Vishwa that bounces twice before reaching the keeper.
70th over: England 286-6 (Smith 92, Atkinson 11) For now Smith is happy to stroll through the nineties. He drives a hooping full toss from Jayasuriya to deep cover for a single, after which Atkinson batters the ball painfully into the man at silly point. Sri Lanka are letting the game drift, waiting for the second new ball; I’m surprised Asitha only bowled one over, even if it wasn’t the best.
69th over: England 285-6 (Smith 91, Atkinson 11) The Sky commentators are putting the boot in after a very sloppy start from Sri Lanka. As well as the field placing, bowling and changing of plans, I didn’t realise the start was delayed by about 90 seconds because the short leg didn’t have the necessary equipment.
Vishwa is bowling round the wicket now. After an unsuccessful attempt to change the ball, Atkinson continues to demonstrate a pretty sound front-foot defence. He has 11 from 37 balls, Smith 91 from 118. England lead by 49.
“I have a thousand meetings today,” says James Humphries, “and now have about 90 per cent of my mental runtime occupied by ‘lovely hair’ in Dermot Morgan’s voice, so thanks for that. PS Did Thomas Montague get three in a row during his five-fer? There should be a phrase for that…”
C’mon, James, lighten up!
68th over: England 284-6 (Smith 90, Atkinson 11) Smith pats Jayasuriya for a single to move into the nineties for the second successive innings. Jayasuriya is bowling accurately from round the wicket, with a fair bit of drift because of the wind, so Atkinson continue to defend solidly on the front foot.
“In response to the various comments on Kumar Sangakarra and his lovely hair, my cat is called Kumar, after the great man, and also has lovely fur,” writes David Jollie. “He has not yet shown much ability at cricket, sadly.”
67th over: England 283-6 (Smith 89, Atkinson 11) Nope, Vishwa continues and bowls a maiden to Atkinson. Why the hell not?
“I’ve been idling away an hour in the bath reading the cricket reports, until I got distracted by wondering about the origin of the surname Brook,” writes Kim Thonger. “It is apparently a topographic name for someone who lived by a brook, stream, water-meadows or low marshy ground, from the Middle English brook Old English brōc. Seems appropriate for Harry, a veritable flowing stream of runs.
“And of course that led me to discover by accident the oldest known surname in England, which to my surprise is Hatt. An Anglo-Saxon family with the surname Hatt are mentioned in a Norman transcript, and it is identified as a pretty regular name in East Anglia.
“But I cannot find any record of anyone called Hatt playing any sort of professional or even amateur cricket. I feel sure another OBOer can deliver something on this front. And perhaps in the far future if cricket becomes popular in Iceland as the planet warms, Oboersson or Oboerdottir will become a surname…”
I’m surprised you’ve forgotten Thomas Montague Dodd Hatt, who played four games for Oxfordshire in the Minor Counties Championship of 1927. I’d have to check but from memory he took 5 for 59 against Berkshire at Kennington Road, Reading.
66th over: England 283-6 (Smith 89, Atkinson 11) Sri Lanka are already chasing their tail. Jayasuriya is back in the attack, which probably means Asitha will change ends for the second time inside the first half-hour. A pretty good over from Jayasuriya, two from it.
65th over: England 281-6 (Smith 87, Atkinson 11) Atkinson gets off strike with an easy single to deep point from Vishwa. “Bizarre” says Athers of the Sri Lankan field. Stuart Broad sees that and raises him a “woeful”.
Sri Lanka haven’t started at all well this morning. Smith takes a single and then Atkinson cuts a wide ball between slip and gully for four. It was finer than intended but safe enough as he smacked it into the ground.
“I think it’s important that we celebrate the good-kind-of-weird OBO as a place where glorious captions such as ‘Kumar Sangakkara and his lovely hair’ can be written and enjoyed,” writes Ant. “Thanks, Rob et al.”
There’s a bad kind of weird? I can’t take credit for the caption – that was our picture editor John Windmill. I’m now distracted by the thought of a Lovely Hair competition on Craggy Island.
64th over: England 273-6 (Smith 86, Atkinson 4) The reason Asitha didn’t bowl is that he wanted to change ends from last night. His first ball of day three is driven beautifully whence it came for four by Smith, a shot that takes him into the 80s.
The last ball of the over brings an even better shot, a pristine drive between extra cover and mid off. With each emphatic boundary it becomes a little harder to not get carried away about what Jamie Smith might achieve in this thing of ours.
“Just an update on Darren Stevens,” writes Sam Smith, who got in touch on day one. “He led the English Over 40s to defeat yesterday in Dublin. Ireland chased 262 to win by five wickets with 11 balls to spare, Darren scored 12 runs. Scorecard here. And match report here. I won’t share the videos of the after match karaoke, to spare your readers and the participants alike.
63rd over: England 263-6 (Smith 76, Atkinson 4) Sri Lanka start with the left-armer Vishwa Fernando, a bit of a surprise given the success of Asitha yesterday. Smith flicks him wristily for two, a shot which, as Mike Atherton notes on Sky, has a touch of Kevin Pietersen about it.
Vishwa has to abort his run-up when the heavy bails are blown off by the wind. His second attempt is a good delivery that beats Atkinson.
“Talking about wind” is the rather ominous start to Krishnamoorthy’s email. “In our college team we had a pace bowler who was extremely thin. As our college ground was close to the Arabian Sea, strong winds were the norm. This guy used to start his run up aiming for over the wicket and ended up bowling round the wicket.”
I hope he had a Bob Willis run-up for maximum comedy, being blown of course with his arm going everywhere.
62nd over: England 260-6 (Smith 73, Atkinson 4) Jayasuriya starts around the wicket to Atkinson, with a slip and short leg. Tight line, bit of turn; Atkinson defends solidly on the front foot.
The players are about to take the field on a very blustery morning in Manchester. Imagine Shane Warne bowling in this; he’d be drifting it square.
In other news, the TMS overseas link is here. Thanks again to Ruth for that.
It looks like play will start on time. As I type, Kumar Sangakkara’s usually immaculate hair is being buffeted while he chats with Nasser Hussain and Ian Ward on the outfield, but it doesn’t seem too bad. No such problems for Nasser #baldcommunity.
Read all about it
Preamble
As a great man once said: there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that it’s dry at Old Trafford and should stay that way. The bad news is that there could an outside chance of wind stopping play this morning. Oh, behave.
There’s a yellow warning for wind in Manchester, specifically the beast known as Storm Lilian. We know for sure there are no cricket fans at the Met Office, because the urge to christen it Storm Lilian Thomson would have been irresistible.
At some stage, hopefully 11am, England will resume on 259 for six, a lead of 23, with the impressive Jamie Smith needing 28 for his maiden Test century. Smith’s last two innings have had an undeniable aroma of Gilchrist. Dynamism is one thing but Adam Gilchrist’s greatest quality was his ability to seize the initiative before the opposition knew what day it was.
In his last two innings Smith has arrived with England in bother and left with them in the ascendancy; he made 95 from 109 balls at Edgbaston and 72 not out from 97 yesterday. It’s important we don’t get carried away, as tougher challenges await. But nor should we sit still and act like nothing is happening.
