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44th over: England 216-2 (Pope 16, Root 7) Yo, Bumrah’s the show (I’m determined to flog that pun senseless), as he cuts Root in half with a stunning inswinger. Initially, the bowler is all over the caught behind appeal but there was no bat involved and they decline the review. A flick to leg for one is the only run off the bat in the over. Suddenly this is a battle to survive to the close for England.
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43rd over: England 214-2 (Pope 16, Root 6) More swing from Kamboj, but Root makes one such work to his advantage by helping it to fine leg for four. Oh actually no, it’s four byes.
“As you’re looking fior characters to join your selection of good-time company,” mails Chris Weaver, “may I nominate one of the few ex-professional cricketers I have ever met: Kerry O’Keefe?
“Kerry, who had to retire too early because of a shoulder injury, was a real character: hilariously witty, full of life, and with a host of wonderful stories.
“I was lucky enough to spend a whole day in the commentary box at Sydney with Kerry back in the day (January 1983), together with my Australian-resident brother, who had good contacts in the local radio/TV world. We watched a marvellous day’s cricket between MCC/England and Australia from our lofty perch, at the height of various rivalries featuring Border, Lillee and Thommo and an English team whose stars included Botham, Gower, Randall and the less memorable Derek Pringle, who if I recall replaced an injured Botham for that Test. England only narrowly and undeservedly failed to win because of an awful umpire’s call of not out against Kim Hughes, who hit a shot off somebody’s (?Alan Lamb’s?) foot, which the not-overly athletic Geoff Cook plunged to catch, only for the (Australian) umpires to wrongly rule that the ball had hit the ground. With today’s neutral umpires and video referrals, Hughes, who stood his ground, knowing full well he should have been given out, would have been sent post haste back to the pavilion. He went on to make 137, being named player of the match and ensuring the Australians a score which was narrowly out of reach of their opponents, who ended a frustrating draw on 314/7.
“Despite England’s disappointing failure to win, I really enjoyed my five days in the Sydney Oval, which produced a fantastic atmosphere from start to finish. I hope this year’s winter series comes somewhere close to that experience.”
Good shout. Always enjoyed him as a radio commentator.
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Updated at 13.22 EDT
42nd over: England 210-2 (Pope 16, Root 6) Now Bumrah’s back, to see us through the last 20 minutes. Five dot balls pass with Pope untroubled before he flicks down to fine leg for a single.
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Updated at 13.15 EDT
41st over: England 209-2 (Pope 16, Root 6) It’s become a much more even contest now, and Root’s not taking any chances against Kamboj’s shapely seam-up swing. But he’s denied the first maiden of the innings bowled by someone not called Bumrah when a gift on leg stump is tucked towards fine leg for four.
“Of course Tuffers must be the spinner,” chirps Christian from Vienna, “but surely Gladstone Small is in the 11. He’s lovely. There must be nice guys as well as characters. I want Allan Lamb too. And if I have to have an Aussie, then, of course, David Boon.” Pack your asprin.
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40th over: England 205-2 (Pope 16, Root 2) Jadeja v Root – one of the great duels, and the latter is circumspect and defensive off his first four balls before pushing to midwicket for one. Pope then picks up two with good late soft hands enabling a glide down towards third man.
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39th over: England 202-2 (Pope 14, Root 1) Kamboj’s location of swing and bounce finds its reward immediately, when Duckett edges behind, and gives Root something to ponder with his nicely shaped first ball at the former England captain too. Root is away with a clip to square leg for one and a rare fuller ball from Kamboj is then driven firmly by Pope on the onside for four, courtesy of Thakur colliding with the rope on contact with the ball.
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Wicket! Duckett c sub b Kamboj 94, England 197-2
Duckett falls six short of a seventh Test hundred, Kamboj finding that extra bounce, which does for the batter, who top edges his cut behind. That’s a big wicket, and what a first scalp for the bowler.
Ben Duckett falls just six runs short of his century Photograph: Lee Smith/Action Images/ReutersShare
Updated at 13.05 EDT
38th over: England 197-1 (Duckett 94, Pope 10) Duckett advances to clout Jadeja through the covers for three but Pope finds the bowler harder to pick until he cracks through the off for two.
“Surely Monty Panesar must be in there for his (highly underrated) left arm spin,” writes Matt Kilsby, “and, of course, for the hours of entertainment during rain delays watching that Mastermind performance on loop. A seminal moment in cricketing and television history. Oh goooosh. Dream Boys.”
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37th over: England 192-1 (Duckett 91, Pope 8) Kamboj comes back into the attack, which feels a bit of a risk given India have asserted some control recently and with Bumrah grazing in the field. Kamboj finds some nice swing here mind, and Pope hacks at a bouncing away swinger that just eludes backward point and gets a rather lucky four. A much improved over from the India newbie.
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36th over: England 186-1 (Duckett 90, Pope 4) Duckett sweeps for one, Pope clips for two and then is late to get his bat on to a tricky one that skids on. And the next is even better, which is reviewed for a stumping with Pope bamboozled by the spin outside his edge, but his feet were grounded behind the line.
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35th over: England 183-1 (Duckett 89, Pope 2) Siraj – again – strays towards leg, and Duckett times his clip exquisitely, the fielder deep behind square seemingly seeing it late, which means four more.
Krishna Moorthy mails again to invert the “Mates XI” ethos with a “won’t touch with a barge pole XI:
“Pietersen, Kohli, Warner, Marlon Samuels, Gautam Gambhir, Hershelle Gibbs, Shane Warne, Shoaib Akthar, Javed Miandad, Andre Nel, Merv Hughes”
Some of those figure in the “Best Mates XI” emails too, which just goes to show it takes all sorts to make a friend.
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34th over: England 178-1 (Duckett 84, Pope 2) Duckett wants to sweep and reverse sweep most of what Jadeja has to offer, sometimes scoring sometimes not, and then Pope gets off the mark with a push through midwicket for two. Jadeja against these batters at least feels like more of an ebbing and flowing contest now.
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33rd over: England 175-1 (Duckett 83, Pope 0) Duckett, rhythm seemingly uninterrupted by the loss of his opening partner, glides Siraj to the third man boundary for four, and gets four more with a rare straight drive. The bowler responds with a proper bouncer, something whose under-use in this innings is exercising Ricky Ponting on comms.
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32nd over: England 166-1 (Duckett 74) Duckett pulls out the reverse sweep for a single off Jadeja, who switches to round the wicket at Crawley in search of new rough to exploit. The singles continue though, until a crisp sweep square from Crawley – off a no-ball – goes for four. But that extra ball proves a blessing, Crawley squirting an edge to slip to end a fine partnership.
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Wicket! Crawley c Rahul b Jadeja 84, England 166-1
Crawley looks to have edged this to slip, off the extra ball following the no-ball. He reviews, doubting whether it carried, but replays show it did. A fine grab from Rahul brings a desperately needed breakthrough.
Zak Crawley is gone for a fine 84. Should have been a century, though. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PAShare
Updated at 12.37 EDT
31st over: England 158-0 (Crawley 79, Duckett 72) Siraj has looked unthreatening all afternoon but this is a better over, with more appropriate lengths.
Derek Randall has had plenty of Mates XI noms this afternoon, the latest from Nicholas Walmsley. “Randall would be one guy I’d love to have in my team and then chat in the bar with afterwards. Universally adored the cricket world, there’d never be a dull moment with him on or off the pitch.”
Yeah I remember as a young kid, watching Randall was my introduction to the importance of athletic fielding, in an era when there wasn’t loads of it about. And he nearly broke my young heart with his (foiled at the last) heroics at the 1985 NatWest Trophy final.
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30th over: England 156-0 (Crawley 78, Duckett 71) Jadeja is finally bringing a modicum of control, conceding three singles from a tidy over, but these openers still looking pretty serene. And that’s drinks.
“Does Shubman Gill have any left-field slow bowlers on the field?” asks John Starbuck. “It looks like he needs a Joe Root equivalent for surprise unfamiliar wicket.” A penny for Kuldeep Yadav’s thoughts?
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29th over: England 153-0 (Crawley 76, Duckett 70) A Duckett pull shot is a thing of wonder and he gets on top of a back of a length Siraj delivery to thump it through the gaps for four to bring up the 150 partnership. This continues to be all very easy.
“Yes Thomas Atkins,” nods James. Kerr. “My Mother in Law was physio at Hants CC while Warnie was captain. She is a stern Welsh Methodist judge of character. ‘He was charming’. I heard the Young Hants players worshipped him
“Listening to the BBC Phil. / Charles Dance thingy at lunch reminded me how much I miss Warnie, even when he was tormenting us …”
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28th over: England 145-0 (Crawley 74, Duckett 64) Jadeja, wider at the crease, finds a better line at Duckett and essays a half-hearted lbw appeal when Duckett sweeps and misses, one of two such fluffed shots from the batter. A nudged single brings Crawley on strike, who inside edges an attempt to reprise his earlier six.
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27th over: England 144-0 (Crawley 74, Duckett 63) Another delay for pitch surgery gives the players a chance for a breather, which India will need more than England. Then Siraj resumes and Duckett glides him beyond gully for four straight away. One more single follows.
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26th over: England 139-0 (Crawley 74, Duckett 58) Spin, at last, from Ravindra Jadeja, who’s shone more with bat than ball this series. Crawley’s clocked this too, and clobbers his second ball straight down the ground for SIX. That’s brilliant decision making to be honest, as his flick of a quicker ball to the fine leg boundary for four more, prompting a leg slip to be brought in, but he too is beaten by the next ball which is padded wide of him for four leg-byes. That wasn’t the control Shubman Gill sought.
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25th over: England 124-0 (Crawley 64, Duckett 58) All-seam continues with Siraj returning to the attack, who strays on to Crawley’s pad straight away and is clipped for one. Duckett adds another and Crawley drives the final ball of the over square on the off for a single.
More “Mates XI” theorising from Thomas Atkins: “Shane Warne – OK, hear me out. He could be boorish, and anyone who Merv Hughes calls unreconstructed is going to be hard work, but as a pure force of nature he’d be enthralling company, and his loyalty and generosity mean he’d be a great man to have in your corner. I also can’t think of many people I’d rather spend time talking about cricket with, he was very rarely dull as a pundit.”
Yeah there was much to quibble with when it comes to Warnie – that Boris Johnson backing for one – but on the subject of cricket he was endlessly fascinating, and yes, a generous guy by all accounts. I’d also have loved to have talked to him for a very, very, very long time about this:
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24th over: England 121-0 (Crawley 61, Duckett 58) Bumrah’s hit his groove, and he has Duckett beaten all ends up with an away-seamer that wasn’t far at all from his outside edge. Two from the over.
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23rd over: England 119-0 (Crawley 60, Duckett 57) Thakur strays down leg and is punished the way almost all such balls have in this innings – with a four down to fine leg. Four more ensue with a more fortuitous thick edge through the cordon. This feels like an important knock for the ever-scrutinised Crawley, at his most productive Test venue.
“Somerset’s 1950s cricketer John McMahon looks like the man who’d be good value…” writes Simon Withers, the words “good value” literally covering a multitude of sins. “From Wikipedia:
The reason behind McMahon’s sacking did not become public knowledge for many years. In its obituary of him in 2002, McMahon was described by Wisden as “a man who embraced the antipodean virtues of candour and conviviality”. It went on: “Legend tells of a night at the Flying Horse Inn in Nottingham when he beheaded the gladioli with an ornamental sword, crying: ‘When Mac drinks, everybody drinks!’”
The obituary recounts a further escapade in second eleven match at Midsomer Norton where a curfew imposed on the team was circumvented by “a POW-type loop” organised by McMahon, “with his team-mates escaping through a ground-storey window and then presenting themselves again”. As the only Somerset second eleven match that McMahon played in at Midsomer Norton was right at the end of the 1957 season, this may have been the final straw. But in any case there had been “an embarrassing episode at Swansea’s Grand Hotel” earlier in the season, also involving Jim Hilton, who was also dismissed at the end of the season. Team-mates and club members petitioned for McMahon to be reinstated, but the county club was not to be moved.
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22nd over: England 111-0 (Crawley 52, Duckett 57) As the Barmy Army trumpeter treats the assembled to Rocket Man (Duckett, man), singles continue to be milked off Bumrah, who finally, fourth ball of the over, manages to rip a beauty away from Duckett and past his outside edge, and repeats the trick two balls later. Much better from the India spearhead.
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21st over: England 109-0 (Crawley 52, Duckett 56) These opening batters have the field more or less where they want them now, so easy singles such as Crawley’s drive off Thakur to deep extra cover are a regular feature. Duckett adds one more to put Crawley back on the strike, and he brings up his half-century in style with a ruthless cut past backward point for four.
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20th over: England 102-0 (Crawley 47, Duckett 54) You wonder whether fitness is catching up with Bumrah a little. If they hadn’t been behind in the series, India would’ve wanted him to play at the Oval rather than here, you’d imagine. This one’s a decent, tight over, extracting some seam movement but wickets aren’t looking likely.
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19th over: England 102-0 (Crawley 47, Duckett 54) Ben Duckett brings up a pretty effortless 50 with a nudge for two off Thakur. A lovely punch through the covers for four then brings up England’s 100. Another hour of this and England could be in a match-dictating position.
“Hello Tom.” Hello Krishna Moorthy. “My wish they were my mates is an open and shut case:
Greenidge, Haynes, Richards, Lloyd, Kalicharan, Gomes, Dujon, Marshall, Holding, Roberts, Garner.”
Heh. I see what you did there. Has any sports team in history been as nostalgically pined for and loved by fans of the opponents they thrashed as the 1980s West Indies? It’s an extraordinary phenomenon, some of it rooted in us wanting our childhoods back.
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Updated at 11.34 EDT
18th over: England 96-0 (Crawley 47, Duckett 48) Bumrah’s now at least locating the kind of movement off the seam and in the air that England’s attack found earlier. It’s much better from the bowler but his one loose delivery is flicked off Crawley’s pads to the deep midwicket boundary for four
Jasprit Bumrah in action. Photograph: Lee Smith/Action Images/ReutersShare
Updated at 11.34 EDT
17th over: England 92-0 (Crawley 43, Duckett 48) Thakur jags one past Crawley’s outside edge with venom – best ball of the innings, I’d wager – but is driven gloriously through the covers by him for four a couple of balls later. A mixed old over concludes with Duckett swinging carelessly outside off and missing.
“A friend of mine here in Canada told me he lived in Australia next door to Adam Gilchrist for a couple of years and reported that he was a delightful chap,” writes John Johnston. “It’s also become clear to me that Glenn McGrath is nothing less than a hell of a guy. In fact so many of that Australian team that made my life hell turned out to be great blokes. Which somehow makes it worse.”
I think that’s why 2005 resonated so much in England, not just a “we’ve finally beaten this mob in a thrilling series” but the way it enabled us to connect with and appreciate Australia too.
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