England's Summer of Cricket 2024

First topic message reminder :

Now the County Championship has begun, it is officially summer once more. Don't let the rain tell you otherwise!

We can talk about promising county performances, the build up to the World T20, and Ollie Robinson's latest injury when it happens. Then, in just under two months, England start playing games:

England v Pakistan, four T20s, 22nd May-30th May
World T20 in June
England v West Indies, three tests, 10th July-30th July
England v Sri Lanka, three tests, 21st August-10th September
England v Australia, three T20s, 11th September-15th September
England v Australia, five ODIs, 19th September-29th September

It's a bit of a pressure summer for England. The ODI side made the most disappointing defence of a World Cup crown since France in the football in 2002, so there's pressure on the T20 side, and Mott in particular, to deliver something decent in the Caribbean.

For the test match side, it's been three series without a series win for England, so the expectation is on for England to get back to winning ways against the West Indies and Sri Lanka. The West Indies often cause England a few troubles, but England have won their last seven home series v the West Indies, dating back to 2000, and you have to go back to 1988 for the last time the West Indies won a series in England.

Sri Lanka are visiting for the first time in eight years for a test series, so it's well overdue. They've certainly managed to upset England in the past, very famously in 1998, but also in 2014, so it's a series that cannot be taken for granted.

And to round off the summer the ECB are making a dash for cash, with eight limited overs games against the Aussies in the fading September light, in games that will probably be forgotten in no time at all.

Deserved hundred for Hodge...

Hodge gets his century. Seems very happy and why not!

Now needs to refocus and get another 101 for his team.

Still no wickets for Wood ... amazing , he's constantly beating the bat but just cannot find an edge. Holder just about surviving though he has hardly put bat to ball since his first over in...

Hodge given for 120.

Looked a bit high to me and he reviews...but umpire's call ends a very fine knock and England will be feeling loads better now.

Five overs to the new ball.

I look away from the screen for ten seconds and bingo ! Woakes pins Hodge lbw ...confirmed , albeit only umpire's call. End of a fine innings and a welcome break for the toiling England bowlers - with the new ball imminent.

So Wood is done for the day - hope that is nothing serious as he will be needed tomorrow and second innings !

Like the strategy of taking the new ball for the last over

Great day for the windies, putting lords firmly in the rear view mirror. Tough day for England's bowlers, Wood the pick but too fast to catch the edge

Good fight from the West Indies on a great batting track.

Holder didn't seem to know where his off stump was, but survived and scored 23, and Da Silva with an ODI knock at the end to add quick runs. Definitely got a game on, West Indies might even take a small lead, but England will be hoping that a recharge overnight and a new ball will knock over the final five quickly.

Wood was good, but the rest inconsistent at best. England have no one who can bowl dry and that's a severe detriment. Not really seeing it with Bashir still, I do think England has come a bit soon for him.

There is a game on now at the end of D2.
I watched an hour and bit yesterday morning session and wondered why WI put Eng in.
And then at the end of day looking at scorecard I wondered how Eng could manage only 413 inspite of a batting pitch and a great start.

Windies dropped plenty of catches & missed a stumping and yet Eng left 130 runs on the table I thought. They tried hitting too many balls in the air resulting in many mishits. Needed to play patient and proper cricket.

How game stands now, with Da Silva, Holder, Sinclair and Alzari in hand all of whom can bat, I believe WI will overhaul Eng and get a slim lead, because pressure is all on Eng.
WI have nothing to lose & Eng are fighting the thought " OMG Bazball lost to WI"
If Eng go swinging in 2nd inning they could leave an under-par chase.
If Eng set upto 350....WI is still pressure-less with nothing to lose & could chase it down.

Hodge's bowling is quite useful & with bat he showed shades of right handed Pant...especially of backfoot, rocking back & pulling balls that are not really short, but just shade short of good length and slapping not quite short balls square on the off.


Woakes swung the 4th ball, said commentators & to me he is the weakest link, a yard slow to be effective unless it's a green seaming pitch.
Bashir bowling first time on a pitch that's not gripping like the 4 tests in India ...and his in stumps line with which he trapped many LBWs & inside edges wasn't effective, because it wasn't turning....and cost him runs.
He needs to bowl outside off, 4th/5th stump line I think.

Ah proof if we needed it that England without Broad and Anderson are ruined as a bowling side

Good day indeed for West Indies. Hodge and Athanaze applied themselves sensibly - while both running well between wickets and taking full advantage of anything loose. So on a very benign day two surface they were able to not just thwart England's attacking intent but also score at an almost Bazball rate : something you can do when England both lack a "control" option and in any case dislike the idea of "dry" bowling. If the later order can prosper on day three they could actually take a strong position and put England under considerable pressure over the last couple of days. Lot to do yet though : new ball , bowlers rested overnight (hope Wood is OK) - and is it not supposed to be a bit cloudier on the weekend ? But at very least , they will have parity on first innings - something a million miles from the Lord's mismatch.

I don't like predicting the course of Test Matches as it can so often leave one looking silly. But I suspect that the greater experience in the England team will likely enable them to get back on top over the remaining days - either by a very strong second innings or the bowlers reasserting themselves tomorrow and potentially on Monday. Then again , if any time is lost to the weather , and/or the pitch remains extremely placid , one of those rare creatures "The Draw' might come into view...

Duty281 wrote:Good fight from the West Indies on a great batting track.

Holder didn't seem to know where his off stump was, but survived and scored 23, and Da Silva with an ODI knock at the end to add quick runs. Definitely got a game on, West Indies might even take a small lead, but England will be hoping that a recharge overnight and a new ball will knock over the final five quickly.

Wood was good, but the rest inconsistent at best. England have no one who can bowl dry and that's a severe detriment. Not really seeing it with Bashir still, I do think England has come a bit soon for him.

Yes Wood was excellent , and extremely unlucky. Easily the pick of the bowlers and nothing to show for it - in a direct sense at least. As for Bashir I thought he bowled quite well early on (I can see the sort of things in him that they find attractive) ; but slipped badly as the day wore on ; reckon he was probably asked to do a bit too much in conditions that didn't offer him any assistance(Surely wouldn't have hurt to let Root share the spin duties for a few overs at some point ?) Jury out at present : not expecting him to be a matchwinner in home conditions at this point in his career ; so it depends to a point on how well the associated seamers perform as to whether he can hold down a spot in the XI - given he is unlikely to provide a real "control" option , or any help with the bat. Maybe he will find the second innings situation more to his liking.

Woakes looked more himself late in the day - good to see ; while Atkinson got a bit of a reality check after Lord's , which won't do him any harm. And really good to see Stokes continuing to bowl seemingly without any niggles. They all know they are in a fight now and it will be interesting to see how they react to a largely joyless day's toil over the rest of this game.

Already seen more clouds this morning than the whole of yesterday so might offer a bit more help today

Gorgeous day yesterday - about as perfect batting conditions as you will get.

Don’t know how Wood didn’t get a wicket and how Holder survived. Hodge batted nicely. McKenzie is proper pants

Good day out had - I thought Root might have got an over or two I if I’m being hyper critical

Holder finally nicks one. Painful innings that. Early breakthrough for Woakes.

Holder's luck running out...couldn't keep missing his edge forever ! The early break England wanted.

Good take from Brook, England will fancy that lead now

Brook has taken several very good catches already in these two games. Joseph and da Silva frustrating England after those two wickets, good to see Wood back bowling, that issue last night apparently nothing much. England's hour ; but more to do.

Another one for Woakes...Joseph gone and the hutch door is wide open...still 30 runs behind - which is nothing much in context.

Very nice ball from Woakes to do for Seales. He now has good figures and a potential hat trick.

England still lead by 30.

Two in two ! Seales done like a kipper and Woakes on a hat trick...

Fifty for Da Silva brings West Indies closer to 400. He's played very well. England would love to wrap this up quickly...though the openers might find batting a bit " interesting " under lights .

Yeah, might think the conditions will be a bit trickier for England when they bat today than it was for the first day, but having said that the new ball has done barely anything this morning for England's bowlers.

Da Silva slicing his way past fifty. Going to be a one innings shootout pretty much.

As usual , England can't take the tenth wicket Hate these spread fields and "different" bowling plans...you've got nine of them out : why not more of the same to finish things ?

Stop bowling short to S Joseph, you loons.

6,6,4.

Utterly idiotic bowling. He's a number 11 with a FC average in single digits!!!! Pitch it up.

And West Indies into the lead as S Joseph tees off with twin sixes ! Atkinson treated with scant respect.. maybe enough of this short stuff ?

Broken roof tiles will need replacing!

Bashir now. Probably twenty five runs late...tactics to last pairs as dodgy as ever . Frustrating . Four wickets to well pitched deliveries and then......

50 partnership.

Embarrassing stuff once again from England against a last wicket pairing. Not strictly a Bazball complaint, this one, because it certainly predates Stokes as captain.

Root taken for 18 by Da Silva.

West Indies lead starting to have a bit of bite about it as it reaches 30. England hopefully regretting their carelessness now with the bat, as they left at least 100 runs out there.

Rubbish from Root...rightly slaughtered. West Indies taking a decent lead and all the momentum in the match. How often we have seen this from England in recent years : thought they might have learned by now ? Grrrrr

Deserved for Wood to get at least one.

England completely lost their way when bowling to the 11 again. Still genuinely baffling stuff from the nation that is responsible for Bumrah scoring the most runs off an over in tests.

41 lead, that's decent. England will have to work hard in this second innings. Not seeing any signs of pitch deterioration, so 300, or even more, could be chaseable in the fourth innings.

I am less bothered about not making 500 on day one. Only trail by41 as Wood finally gets Joseph (and not from a short ball ! ) But furious at the way they dropped the ball against that last pair. Never going to convince me a " normal" bowling plan wouldn't have been more effective than this nonsense about scattering the field for the main batsman in hopes of getting the rabbit cheaply , nine times out of ten. Game on...

While I feel like having a bit of a rant , should elaborate on my dislike of these "tactics" to the tail. Not opposed to the use of short balls - though within reason. But it is the psychological effects of the tactical changes that bother me. Consider :

You have taken 4 for 30 in the morning , in a dozen or so overs. The one remaining good bat is looking sound enough but hardly destroying your attack. Should you not fancy taking the last wicket reasonably soon with no change in attacking methods ? But when you immediately send fielders to line the boundary , remove close catchers , and dare the batsman to risk everything in case his tail end partner is exposed and removed, you send 2 messages :

To the batsman : "OK you can stay in , no pressure , we will wait for you to make a mistake or run out of patience" .  And to your own bowlers :" OK we don't think you can get this fellow out so just put the ball there for four or five balls an over and have a go at the rabbit when you get the chance" . It totally reverses whatever actual pressure you have had over the batting team . May not always misfire as badly as today ; but I very much doubt it ever gets the innings wrapped up significantly earlier than otherwise would be the case.

It is called "handing the initiative to the enemy". And as a tactic , it sucks.

Da Silva averages a whole 27 in Tests, over quite a few Tests now. Average vs England, of course it's 72

Wow, Crawley gone. I thought he got back, wasn't much of an appeal, but he didn't and that's a frustrating dismissal.

Minor difficulties for England, still trailing by 33.

How unlucky was Crawley ! What a way to lose your wicket...

8/1 so still minus 33. Pope enters to serious pressure.

Pope enjoying his new bat and some loose stuff from Seales...no surprise to see an early bowling change. I see some idiots on BC comments calling for Crawley's head : short memories ; and ignorance of the reasonable and correct practice of backing up to prepare for quick singles. No blame to the batsman for a fluke incident like that : he was not recklessly far out of his ground. Just really unfortunate. Deficit erased in 7 overs...

Can criticise England's habit of wasting good positions but the pace of this game does leave all results on the table

Been dividing my attention with the Diamond League in London...but seen plenty of Pope and Duckett flourishing in this partnership ...fifty for Duckett as he welcomes Sinclair's introduction to the attack
He was taking a back seat to Pope earlier but is now flowing rather well. 100/1 in the nineteenth a good response to that early freak setback.

116/1 after 22 overs at tea. England reasserting themselves after that messy finish to their bowling duties.

This is a real road at present. Will it get any more tricky for batting over the next couple of days ? If not , going to want to set a big fourth innings target.

Easier said than done on this pitch and against this lineup but the windies can tighten up for a few overs England will give you chances

Sky highlighting England's issue v the tail.

Good busy work from Pope and Duckett after Crawley went. On present scoring rates the lead could be up to 250 by stumps, or even greater.

Not coming out because there's a few spots of rain? Don't think they'd go off for this.

That's cricket.

The ball change does this trick.

Still not a fan of the ball change.

I'm a simple man but surely if a ball can't last 25 overs of the allotted 80?

Lot of balls this match must have been stitched on a Friday Big change with that break as now Duckett has been pinned lbw and suddenly three down and vulnerable...

Wasted a review too...that looked stone dead. End of a very handy and free scoring knock. He might be a bit cheesed off at getting out at seventy odd again.

West Indies will be keen to press their advantage now with the light not ideal and this new cherry moving around. Important period looming...

There's the two quick wickets and all of a sudden the score doesn't look so smart for England. Net 99/3.

All that work trying to get Duckett to cut one to a fielder on the off side and they get him with the plumb LBW!

Get another in the next 20 minutes or so and the West Indies will be ahead.

Not sure of that WINVIZ 64% England at the moment ? Reckon it is closer to 50-50 . Probably a ground on which chasing even on day five is perfectly feasible - though obviously depends on how many England can muster in this innings.