First Test

[John Hall]

So England announced yesterday their eleven for the first Test, which
starts tomorrow. Given that they've said that this will be Anderson's
last Test, because of the need to prepare for the tour of Australia in
18 months time, I'm a little surprised that Woakes has been chosen. On
all known form, he's highly effective in English conditions but unlikely
to be successful in Australia. Perhaps they were worried that if they
didn't pick him there would be rather a long tail.

I'm going off on holiday again on Thursday, so unfortunately will miss
most of the first two Tests. I've set my Sky box to record the
highlights programmes from the first match, but am uncertain whether
that will carry over to the
second.

[miked]

Post by John Hall
So England announced yesterday their eleven for the first Test, which
starts tomorrow. Given that they've said that this will be Anderson's
last Test, because of the need to prepare for the tour of Australia in
18 months time, I'm a little surprised that Woakes has been chosen. On
all known form, he's highly effective in English conditions but unlikely
to be successful in Australia. Perhaps they were worried that if they
didn't pick him there would be rather a long tail.

i spose they hope he will show the same form as last year in the ashes,
plus his experience since theyve gone with atkinson and bashir. Given
how
wet its been recently [and there may be more to come in the test]
i'm surprised theyve chosen bashir, since root seems to like bowling
now. I wouldnt have retired anderson now, wait and see if the others
are upto it this summer and then make the decision at the end.

team is

crawley
duckett
pope
root
brook
stokes
smith (wk)
woakes
atkinson
bashir
anderson

Post by John Hall
I'm going off on holiday again on Thursday, so unfortunately will miss
most of the first two Tests. I've set my Sky box to record the
highlights programmes from the first match, but am uncertain whether
that will carry over to the
second.

i would have thought they have sat tv everywhere now?

mike

[John Hall]

<snip>

Post by miked

Post by John Hall
I'm going off on holiday again on Thursday, so unfortunately will miss
most of the first two Tests. I've set my Sky box to record the
highlights programmes from the first match, but am uncertain whether
that will carry over to the
second.

i would have thought they have sat tv everywhere now?
mike

I'm on a cruise, and though they do have sat TV the choice is highly
restricted.

[miked]

Post by John Hall
<snip>

Post by miked

Post by John Hall
I'm going off on holiday again on Thursday, so unfortunately will miss
most of the first two Tests. I've set my Sky box to record the
highlights programmes from the first match, but am uncertain whether
that will carry over to the
second.

i would have thought they have sat tv everywhere now?
mike

I'm on a cruise, and though they do have sat TV the choice is highly
restricted.

I hope its balmy and calm waters, not like this beryl storm: many of
those
who I saw watching the T20 games in the WC must have been v badly
affected.

Very humid in London today I thought, ideal conditions for a swing
bowler
Whoever wins the toss tomorrow must surely be tempted to bowl? If its
not raining.

mike

[John Hall]

Post by miked

Post by John Hall
<snip>

Post by miked

Post by John Hall
I'm going off on holiday again on Thursday, so unfortunately will miss
most of the first two Tests. I've set my Sky box to record the
highlights programmes from the first match, but am uncertain whether
that will carry over to the
second.

i would have thought they have sat tv everywhere now?
mike

I'm on a cruise, and though they do have sat TV the choice is highly
restricted.

I hope its balmy and calm waters,

Thanks. It's a cruise round the Britisle Isles, including Orkney and
Shetland, so at least there shouldn't be any hurricanes!

Post by miked
not like this beryl storm: many of
those
who I saw watching the T20 games in the WC must have been v badly
affected.

Indeed. I believe it's almost unprecedented to get a severe hurricane
quite so early in the season, which is not a good sign for the future.

Post by miked
Very humid in London today I thought, ideal conditions for a swing
bowler
Whoever wins the toss tomorrow must surely be tempted to bowl? If its
not raining.
mike

And as expected, on winning the toss Stokes has chosen to bowl. It's
overcast, and it would be surprising after the weather of recent days if
the pitch doesn't start green and a little damp. At least the weather
for the next few days is looking rather better.

[miked]

Post by John Hall

Post by miked
Very humid in London today I thought, ideal conditions for a swing
bowler
Whoever wins the toss tomorrow must surely be tempted to bowl? If its
not raining.
mike

And as expected, on winning the toss Stokes has chosen to bowl. It's
overcast, and it would be surprising after the weather of recent days if
the pitch doesn't start green and a little damp. At least the weather
for the next few days is looking rather better.

Well it didnt rain on jimmys parade but Gus certainly stole the show.
From 88-3 it really was calypso collapso. Hopefully england wont fritter
advantage away by going full bazball. Stokes bowled ok, but Woakes
seemed
well down on pace cp to last summer, barely above 80mphs. Pitch has
strange
horizontal stripes, i assume caused by mowing machine, but i've never
seen that before. I thought they normally just go up or down a wicket
not across?

mike

[David North]

Post by miked

Post by John Hall

Post by miked
Very humid in London today I thought, ideal conditions for a swing
bowler
Whoever wins the toss tomorrow must surely be tempted to bowl? If its
not raining.
mike

And as expected, on winning the toss Stokes has chosen to bowl. It's
overcast, and it would be surprising after the weather of recent days if
the pitch doesn't start green and a little damp. At least the weather
for the next few days is looking rather better.

Well it didnt rain on jimmys parade but Gus certainly stole the show.

Yes, the best ever first-innings figures by an England bowler on debut,
and the best for any country since Kyle Abbott's 7-29 v Pakistan in 2012/13.

At least Jimmy got the last wicket.

[John Hall]

Post by David North

Post by miked

Post by John Hall

Post by miked
Very humid in London today I thought, ideal conditions for a swing
bowler
Whoever wins the toss tomorrow must surely be tempted to bowl? If its
not raining.
mike

And as expected, on winning the toss Stokes has chosen to bowl. It's
overcast, and it would be surprising after the weather of recent days if
the pitch doesn't start green and a little damp. At least the weather
for the next few days is looking rather better.

Well it didnt rain on jimmys parade but Gus certainly stole the show.

Yes, the best ever first-innings figures by an England bowler on debut,
and the best for any country since Kyle Abbott's 7-29 v Pakistan in 2012/13.
At least Jimmy got the last wicket.

An excellent day for England. This evening's Met Office weather forecast
for the next four days doesn't look as good as this morning's was, so
hopefully they get enough play to finish the job.

[miked]

Post by John Hall

Post by David North

Post by miked

Post by John Hall

Post by miked
Very humid in London today I thought, ideal conditions for a swing
bowler
Whoever wins the toss tomorrow must surely be tempted to bowl? If its
not raining.
mike

And as expected, on winning the toss Stokes has chosen to bowl. It's
overcast, and it would be surprising after the weather of recent days if
the pitch doesn't start green and a little damp. At least the weather
for the next few days is looking rather better.

Well it didnt rain on jimmys parade but Gus certainly stole the show.

Yes, the best ever first-innings figures by an England bowler on debut,
and the best for any country since Kyle Abbott's 7-29 v Pakistan in 2012/13.

And hes only the 2nd england bowler to do it on debut this year;
Hartley got 7 [although in 2nd innings] i think it was in january.

Post by John Hall

Post by David North
At least Jimmy got the last wicket.

An excellent day for England. This evening's Met Office weather forecast
for the next four days doesn't look as good as this morning's was, so
hopefully they get enough play to finish the job.

the bbc forcast looks a lot more positive. And positive play from
england
without too many risks, but crawley always needs a lot of luck. Both
looked
plumb to holder but hawkeye must be an englishman. Comms [english] said
holders angel meant it was veering across the stumps down leg. When
Holder
did get Pope, I thought Pope asked for review becos he hit it with the
bat,
but all they showed was ball tracking, did they not review for a toe
end?

2 great catches by Pope and Brook, and 87mph yorker by Seales also
memorable
hilites.

mike

[David North]

Post by miked
When
Holder
did get Pope, I thought Pope asked for review becos he hit it with the
bat,
but all they showed was ball tracking, did they not review for a toe
end?

The 3rd umpire did check UltraEdge, but that wasn't shown on the BBC
highlights.

[John Hall]

In message <***@www.novabbs.com>, miked
<***@library.net> writes
<snip>

Post by miked
the bbc forcast looks a lot more positive. And positive play from
england
without too many risks, but crawley always needs a lot of luck. Both
looked
plumb to holder but hawkeye must be an englishman. Comms [english] said
holders angel meant it was veering across the stumps down leg.

I think it was Pope's and Crawley's angels that saved them. :) Holder
bowling from wide on the crease combined with the slope were always
going to make it hard for him to get an lbw from the end he was bowling.
The lbw he did get was with a very full ball, which meant it didn't have
far to go after pitching.

Post by miked
When
Holder
did get Pope, I thought Pope asked for review becos he hit it with the
bat,
but all they showed was ball tracking, did they not review for a toe
end?

IIRC there was quite a conflab between the batsmen before Pope reviewed.
I think that if he thought he'd hit it he would have reviewed the
decision a lot more quickly. I'm pretty sure that in all the lbw
reviews, including that one, the third umpire followed standard
procedure and checked for an edge before going to ball tracking. The
replay you saw probably cut that out to save a bit of time.

Post by miked
2 great catches by Pope and Brook, and 87mph yorker by Seales also
memorable
hilites.

Yep. England's catching was a highlight, and quite a turn-around from
the last 12 months or so. Smith kept tidily, took a good catch, and also
correctly didn't attempt to go for the catch that went to Root at first
slip, which might have put Root off. One can remember several instances
over the last year where the keeper has made that mistake, though
perhaps most of them weren't as clearly first slip's catch as this one
was.

[miked]

Post by John Hall
<snip>

Post by miked
the bbc forcast looks a lot more positive. And positive play from
england
without too many risks, but crawley always needs a lot of luck. Both
looked
plumb to holder but hawkeye must be an englishman. Comms [english] said
holders angel meant it was veering across the stumps down leg.

I think it was Pope's and Crawley's angels that saved them. :) Holder
bowling from wide on the crease combined with the slope were always
going to make it hard for him to get an lbw from the end he was bowling.
The lbw he did get was with a very full ball, which meant it didn't have
far to go after pitching.

Post by miked
When
Holder
did get Pope, I thought Pope asked for review becos he hit it with the
bat,
but all they showed was ball tracking, did they not review for a toe
end?

IIRC there was quite a conflab between the batsmen before Pope reviewed.
I think that if he thought he'd hit it he would have reviewed the
decision a lot more quickly. I'm pretty sure that in all the lbw
reviews, including that one, the third umpire followed standard
procedure and checked for an edge before going to ball tracking. The
replay you saw probably cut that out to save a bit of time.

Post by miked
2 great catches by Pope and Brook, and 87mph yorker by Seales also
memorable
hilites.

Yep. England's catching was a highlight, and quite a turn-around from
the last 12 months or so. Smith kept tidily, took a good catch, and also
correctly didn't attempt to go for the catch that went to Root at first
slip, which might have put Root off. One can remember several instances
over the last year where the keeper has made that mistake, though
perhaps most of them weren't as clearly first slip's catch as this one
was.

quite so and smith batted well with the tail, might have gone on but
had a touch of the harrys went down slogging. Motie was impressive but
the joseph twins gave a lot away, not great captincy by KB. windies need
a miracle. bash hasnt bowled a ball yet. Anderson was close to his best
late on in the sunshine, getting the ball to move in the air and off
the pitch. a lot of the lords wickets early season started flat and
got flatter, not this 1.

mike

[dnorth]

Post by David North

Post by miked

Post by John Hall

Post by miked
Very humid in London today I thought, ideal conditions for a swing
bowler
Whoever wins the toss tomorrow must surely be tempted to bowl? If its
not raining.
mike

And as expected, on winning the toss Stokes has chosen to bowl. It's
overcast, and it would be surprising after the weather of recent days if
the pitch doesn't start green and a little damp. At least the weather
for the next few days is looking rather better.

Well it didnt rain on jimmys parade but Gus certainly stole the show.

Yes, the best ever first-innings figures by an England bowler on debut,
and the best for any country since Kyle Abbott's 7-29 v Pakistan in 2012/13.

.. and England's 2nd-best ever match figures on debut - 12-106 - just
outside Fredddie Martin's 12-102 at The Oval in 1890. Also the 4th-best
on debut for any team, behind Narendra Hirwani and Bob Massie, who each
took 16.

Hopefully Atkinson will go on to have a longer Test career than those.
Hirwani played 17 Tests, Massie 6 and Martin 2.

[miked]

Post by David North

Post by miked

Post by John Hall

Post by miked
Very humid in London today I thought, ideal conditions for a swing
bowler
Whoever wins the toss tomorrow must surely be tempted to bowl? If its
not raining.
mike

And as expected, on winning the toss Stokes has chosen to bowl. It's
overcast, and it would be surprising after the weather of recent days if
the pitch doesn't start green and a little damp. At least the weather
for the next few days is looking rather better.

Well it didnt rain on jimmys parade but Gus certainly stole the show.

Yes, the best ever first-innings figures by an England bowler on debut,
and the best for any country since Kyle Abbott's 7-29 v Pakistan in 2012/13.

... and England's 2nd-best ever match figures on debut - 12-106 - just
outside Fredddie Martin's 12-102 at The Oval in 1890. Also the 4th-best
on debut for any team, behind Narendra Hirwani and Bob Massie, who each
took 16.
Hopefully Atkinson will go on to have a longer Test career than those.
Hirwani played 17 Tests, Massie 6 and Martin 2.

apart from martin, how many england bowlers taken 10 on debut? Lever i
believe,
cant remember any others.

by contrast Bash had a quiet first test in england, didnt score a run,
take a
wkt or even a catch. i spose its not so uncommon.

mike

[David North]

Post by miked

Post by David North

Post by miked

Post by John Hall

Post by miked
Very humid in London today I thought, ideal conditions for a swing
bowler
Whoever wins the toss tomorrow must surely be tempted to bowl? If its
not raining.
mike

And as expected, on winning the toss Stokes has chosen to bowl. It's
overcast, and it would be surprising after the weather of recent days if
the pitch doesn't start green and a little damp. At least the weather
for the next few days is looking rather better.

Well it didnt rain on jimmys parade but Gus certainly stole the show.

Yes, the best ever first-innings figures by an England bowler on debut,
and the best for any country since Kyle Abbott's 7-29 v Pakistan in 2012/13.

... and England's 2nd-best ever match figures on debut - 12-106 - just
outside Fredddie Martin's 12-102 at The Oval in 1890. Also the 4th-best
on debut for any team, behind Narendra Hirwani and Bob Massie, who each
took 16.

Just to be clear, that's career Test debut, not England Test debut, so
it excludes John Ferris, who took 13-91 in his only Test for England
after playing 8 for Australia.

Post by miked

Hopefully Atkinson will go on to have a longer Test career than those.
Hirwani played 17 Tests, Massie 6 and Martin 2.

apart from martin, how many england bowlers taken 10 on debut? Lever i
believe,
cant remember any others.

You'd have to be in your 80s at least to remember any others first hand,
because the previous one was Alex Bedser in 1946. Atkinson is the 7th
(excluding Ferris), the others being Tom Richardson, Charles Marriott
and Ken Farnes.

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;debut_or_last=1;filter=advanced;orderby=wickets;team=1;template=results;type=bowling;view=match

[miked]

Post by David North

Post by miked

Post by David North

Post by miked

Post by John Hall

Post by miked
Very humid in London today I thought, ideal conditions for a swing
bowler
Whoever wins the toss tomorrow must surely be tempted to bowl? If its
not raining.
mike

And as expected, on winning the toss Stokes has chosen to bowl. It's
overcast, and it would be surprising after the weather of recent days if
the pitch doesn't start green and a little damp. At least the weather
for the next few days is looking rather better.

Well it didnt rain on jimmys parade but Gus certainly stole the show.

Yes, the best ever first-innings figures by an England bowler on debut,
and the best for any country since Kyle Abbott's 7-29 v Pakistan in 2012/13.

... and England's 2nd-best ever match figures on debut - 12-106 - just
outside Fredddie Martin's 12-102 at The Oval in 1890. Also the 4th-best
on debut for any team, behind Narendra Hirwani and Bob Massie, who each
took 16.

Just to be clear, that's career Test debut, not England Test debut, so
it excludes John Ferris, who took 13-91 in his only Test for England
after playing 8 for Australia.

Post by miked

Hopefully Atkinson will go on to have a longer Test career than those.
Hirwani played 17 Tests, Massie 6 and Martin 2.

apart from martin, how many england bowlers taken 10 on debut? Lever i
believe,
cant remember any others.

You'd have to be in your 80s at least to remember any others first hand,
because the previous one was Alex Bedser in 1946. Atkinson is the 7th
(excluding Ferris), the others being Tom Richardson, Charles Marriott
and Ken Farnes.
https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;debut_or_last=1;filter=advanced;orderby=wickets;team=1;template=results;type=bowling;view=match

As soon as i posted i remembered Bedser did it, but forgotten poor
Farnes.
In the 2nd innings Gus was def helped by the windies trying to collar
him,
and they did a few times. Hopefully england managed to win before John
got
on his boat! Until I saw the hilites I didnt realise that Jimmy had
dropped
the final wkt off his own bowling! I think Mcgrath took the last wkt in
his final test and Anderson was the man.

mike

[John Hall]

In message <***@www.novabbs.com>, miked
<***@library.net> writes
<huge snip>

Post by miked
Hopefully england managed to win before John
got
on his boat!

I only saw Day 1. I arrived home this morning, fortunately in time to
today's start of play, and I now have 7 hours worth of highlights to
catch up on: Test 1 Days 2 and 3, Test 2 Days 1 to 4, and Test 3 Day 1.
That can wait until the current match is over, though. I did manage to
keep up to date with the scores while I was away. I'm please to see the
Surrey contingent doing so well.