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ollowers have come to expect at the oval where he was much too good for england s callow xi he bowls like he has not just the next ball nor even the next over in mind but the whole spell like a grandmaster building a position a craftsman and a rebuke to anyone who claims that you can t take test wickets at 80 84mph grade a zak foulkes six runs at 6 0 six wickets at 14 5 in sports teams there s always somebody saying that they ll be ready if the call comes but it takes a certain kind of self belief to do it especially as a concussion substitute in a test match foulkes stepped in for the stricken blair tickner in the third test and despite a quirky action hit his lines and lengths and picked up stokes and brook twice each and jacob bethell who still looked a bit concussed himself by the impact of his captain s retirement grade a will o rourke 20 runs at 5 0 10 wickets at 25 6 despite owning the features of one of alastair cook s teenage choirboy contemporaries he seldom cracks a smile presumably playing up to the archetype of the mean fast bowler he needn t bother with the anti histrionics though as his height and pace will trouble batters around the world for years to come if he plays enough test cricket grade b blair tickner four runs at no average no wicket bravely tried to continue after a concussive blow but was wisely withdrawn especially in that heat grade n a ben sears 19 runs at 19 0 one wicket at 85 0 he got first innings centurion ben duckett with a brute of a lifter just when he was threatening to vindicate england s fourth evening fourth innings mayhem earlier he had shown excellent blokeishness in returning to the crease with a bad finger to get mitchell through to his century grade c 5 comments posted in cricket england new zealand tests the tooting trumpet posted by tootingtrumpet june 27 2026 the final over of the day england vs new zealand second day third rothesay test 26 june 2026 ball one taylor cuts her cloth to suit her clients i ve never coached a player but i ve spent a lot of time teaching and as the old cliche has it the bit between the ears is what needs the most work prior to a wait for it crucial first hour england s fielding coach sarah taylor spent some time bringing out equipment and then worked with three players bashing the ball into the stratosphere while they circled below taking skiers none were within 30 yards of the coach at the end of the session she did speak to them at some length which was good to see before the players made for the shade and an energy drink understandably so after that she went to work with jamie smith on keeping drills but with smith standing up and not where he has had problems standing back inevitably he was to drop one standing back in the first hour of play nobody thinks a coach s work is all done within the sight of the public but it does matter to be seen to be proactive taylor is now doing a pre play media interview part of the job but she can t have spent too much time actually talking to the players themselves just prior to what seems a critical moment in the series ball two keep it simple stupid test cricket can be fiendishly complicated but it can be quite simple too when ben stokes ball in hand went to a 7 2 field he was telegraphing two options to a very stubborn will o rourke the england captain wanted him to edge it again only this time for smith and his array of slips to catch it or for him to step away and hoick it to leg far too crude a tactic to work against a proper batter but o rourke despite his resistance is an 11 partly because there s no option for him to bat at 12 it worked and proves that doing what you last did in schoolboy cricket is sometimes enough ball three bashir bashed then blooms redemption is a universal human story partly because it crops up uncannily often in that scary place we call real life shoaib bashir not one of the morning crew taking high catches from the fielding coach drops one in the deep off jofra archer not an easy chance but you would expect it to be caught four times out of five seven balls later off his own bowling he accepts a hard hit return catch off nathan smith at the second attempt maybe it s just confirmation bias but i wonder if players consciously or subconsciously prepare for the chance that so often follows the drop if it gives an edge why not ball four archer arrows in the short ball archer is often maligned usually by armchair keyboard warriors for not trying hard enough not committing to the cause or just trundling in instead of cranking up the pace well if that unfounded criticism is to stick it ll have to explain why he hits batters so often far more than any other bowler i can recall seeing in 16 years in the press box and plenty more earlier the action has plenty to do with it and his fast bowler s instinct for the right line and length for each particular batter s evasive measures but neither factor outweighs the simple rawness of pace that he can t be flat out all the time seems a thin barb to fling at a player whom the opposition never want to see on the teamsheet ball five the consequences of no consequence so no consequence cricket those who want to play bazbash or benbash will use that phrase against them and not just for the i ll be kind injudicious dismissals but also for the off field infractions laissez faire is after all a french phrase for a reason but here is the other side there was a case and i know there was because i was tentatively making it that both ben duckett and jacob bethell were playing for their places especially if england lose this match and the series but neither played like that they saw only a flat pitch a weakened attack and the need to score quick runs to get back in the match and that is what they did the feet up in flip flops regime of brendon mccullum will always irritate some and will do so even if he wins the ashes 5 0 but its impact on some players sometimes can conjure performances that look inevitable in the rear window but were anything but at the start ball six england punch back and hard a nathan smith length ball defeated a tired crooked bat stroke non stroke really from ben duckett who departed for 113 off 99 balls the partnership realising 179 runs from 179 deliveries game changed as is often the case a partnership s mood left the building with its aggressor jacob bethell retreating somewhat into his shell despite the reassuring presence of joe root at the other end the bowling became tighter was allowed to too and tom blundell went up to the stumps and not for the first time disrupted the rhythm of an england innings in so doing bethell showing considerable game awareness got a late half volley and put it away revealing that caution was not his overriding concern i doubt it will be on day three either since he will be there on 74 with joe root on 21 the deficit 215 less than half it was when the innings started just 45 overs ago if they or any of their countrymen are at the crease come the close tomorrow england will be favourites for the series and the doomsayers will have to eat their words 7 comments posted in cricket england new zealand tests the tooting trumpet posted by tootingtrumpet june 26 2026 the final over of the day england vs new zealand first day third rothesay test 25 june 2026 ball one droning on one feels a little for the company that developed the engineering miracle that is maybe was spidercam its looming slightly sinister presence may well be going the way of teatime scorecards and broad brimmed richie richardson hats the ubiquitous drone technology taking over the drone is much less intrusive barely taking the eye at all darting about like a bat on a hot night in the balearics they do catch the eye sometimes with a little reflected sunlight the effect a little like those floating islands on the retina we re told to look out for as a sign of worse to come that said they re a positive development for both viewers at home and at the ground until they start thinking for themselves and following the ball guided by ai but i d better not give the hundred s marketing guys any ideas ball two a featherbed on a hot day sends everyone to sleep at the lunch interval it is hard not to reach for the cliche because that was a very good toss to win indeed tom latham and devon conway didn t really get away but england failed to create a chance worthy of the name and the fact that shoaib bashir bowled as many overs as the aa team jofra archer and gus atkinson combined told its own story so far so good but this near perfect batting strip will need to deteriorate under the hot sun if a proper balance between bat and ball is to be achieved across the five days it s 12 years in the past now but this was a gruesome spectacle that nobody wants to see repeated ball three a lot of hard yakka at the halfway point england have made one real chance that they did not send upstairs despite the three reds that subsequently illuminated it was already that kind of day aside from that faux pas england have not made any obvious errors if you don t count losing the toss but two batters are in form and the pitch is like an anti lord s as docile as a kitten in the sun after that snarling wildcat what to do the first thing on the list is to keep heads up and there s no sign of them dropping yet though the post tea session will test that observation with no left arm pace available the bouncer strategy cannot be far away if joe root were still captain we d be asking what would stokesy do well not much at least so far ball four if at first you don t succeed at tea the toil is real england s bowlers perhaps in an ice bath while the kiwis swan about in flip flops of course even on a flat pitch that has to be earned and latham and conway have certainly done that it is worth reflecting as one looks at a scoreboard reading 213 0 that the opening partnerships to date for these two in this series read 2 0 14 and 8 i think this is what trust the process means ball five shit happens especially on a day like this and that s what happens england being flayed in the evening sunshine create or rather are given a chance as a hideous legside long hop from atkinson is gloved to jamie smith for as regulation a catch as you will ever see he wasn t even close to holding on there s mitigation due to the conditions of course but it was a bad error we ve all seen it before and new zealand will claim it as a reward for their strategy grinding england down and then attacking a wilting team it doesn t just feel like two sessions it feels like two weeks that led up to that bad bad moment smith owns it but the blame is shared by pretty much everyone connected to this iteration of england ball six add two wickets to t score just when you re about to condemn england for a scrappy day spent being comprehensively outplayed bashir gutses out a remarkable save on the boundary and spirits lifted all round rachin ravindra unexpectedly on strike hoys one off the top edge and smith pouches one at last then another as archer roars one all but through henry nicholls whom he had shaken up with a clonk on the head a few minutes earlier and the visitors are suddenly four down at 361 4 it is obviously new zealand s day but england will have will o rourke at one end and daryl mitchell taking guard at the other with an all but new ball in hand perhaps more importantly they ll have a spring in their step too another two quick wickets tomorrow morning and the match will be a coin toss it is indeed a funny old game leave a comment posted in cricket england new zealand tests the tooting trumpet posted by tootingtrumpet june 23 2026 the final over of the week in county cricket 23 june 2026 county championship cricket delivers more thrills in a magnificent season but bookmark the page because it s not back until late august ball one liam and fergus lead essex a merry jig almost seven weeks on from their last win reigning champions nottinghamshire went to chelmsford to face essex who have won three matches in that same time this being the 2026 county championship they left with a crushing victory of course they did and top spot for the long midsummer break liam patterson white the spin bowling all rounder who has been ignored by england and even by the lions dismantled the home side s lower order en route to match figures of 9 105 off 53 overs taking wickets and controlling the run rate as graeme swann once did for his county jack haynes undefeated century anchored notts reply but there were runs for haseeb hameed up top and fergus o neill and others below as the visitors posted a lead of 273 which proved far too many o neill completing his five match contract with a fivefer to secure the innings win leaves with 26 wickets at 16 4 and 285 runs at 57 0 i suspect the big new zealand born victorian can expect a warm welcome on his return next spring if he s not claimed by cricket australia first ball two cooke and co burn burns and co glamorgan were the only other winners in the tight top eight that started the round walloping surrey who in football terms are close to being labelled a crisis club the match turned largely on late order runs glamorgan s slump to 79 6 in their first innings was pretty much matched by surrey s 70 6 but the contributions of those last four wickets varied from 279 to 35 the home side got 80 from colin ingram a ton from fellow 40 year old chris cooke and mason crane scored the maiden first class century he has been threatening all summer long as is so often the case the side invited to follow on made a much better fist of things rory burns notching a much delayed first three figure score of the season and tom lawes called in for a test bound gus atkinson joining the rest of the lower order cashing in on a tiring attack the always impressive captain kiran carlson and the wise old owls ingram and sean dickson showed plenty of nous to chase down the 195 that sent their county fourth in the table just nine points off the top who saw that coming what the england selectors should see coming is 18 year old abergavenny born tom norton who took a maiden fivefer in the first innings rout and a couple more in the second dig to give him 21 wickets at 22 8 in his first senior season he may be a bit raw with a lot to learn but if sonny baker is the bar i suggest he s well clear of it ball three white flag from white rose just when eight counties began to feel a degree of safety with hampshire and leicestershire all but marooned in the two relegation slots they both win to leave yorkshire and plenty more sleeping a little less easily across july and august and it was yorkshire themselves who got something of a pasting at grace road losing by an innings and 39 runs to yield up leicestershire s first top flight win since tony blair was prime minister six home bowlers picked up wickets as the visitors were shot out in 55 overs and leicestershire closed the first day just eight in arrears three down ...
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