England v Ireland: Test match, day two – live
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WICKET! Duckett b Hume 182 (England 361-2)Graham Hume is driven for four through the covers by Duckett but responds by nipping one back down the hill which uproots the off stump! A wicket! Duckett takes the warm applause and departs, Joe Root is the new batter.
59th over: England 353-1 (Duckett 177, Pope 109) England lead by 181 runs. Ireland look to be out of ideas but they are plugging along gamely. The sun is beating down, it can be a cruel game.
Ben Duckett returned to the Test team with an average of 15.7 in December. It will be at least 46.7 at the end of this innings.
— Will Macpherson (@willis_macp) June 2, 202358th over: England 347-1 (Duckett 176, Pope 104) Duckett shows his sweeping skills, regular, reverse and a huge slog into the Mound Stand for England’s first six of the innings. Fourteen off the over.
57th over: England 333-1 (Duckett 162, Pope 104) A freshly tonned Pope nearly chops an off-cutter from Adair back onto his stump and decides against the back foot method. Next ball he dances down and imperiously drives Adair through mid-on for four. Shot of the day I reckon. There I said it. Adair pins him with a nip-backer off the last and there’s a strangled appeal but the Irish sagely don’t review.
56th over: England 329-1 (Duckett 162, Pope 100) Pope clips to leg and dashes a single to bring up his 100 off just 126 balls! A fourth century and a first at Lord’s.
55th over: England 326-1 (Duckett 161, Pope 98) Righto, here we go. Is Ollie Pope going to get his name on the board at HQ? Not this over he’s not. A single takes him to 98 and Duckett, uncharacteristically faces five dots. Too many cumber sarnies, Ben?
The players are heading back out after taking on some sustenance. I had cucumber sandwiches in the media centre at Lord’s yesterday. For the first time in my life. Promise.
Here’s a link to to a list of names that Ben Duckett has now joined in scoring 100 runs before lunch. Thanks to Romeo for sharing.
“The last time someone hit 100 before lunch in a test match in England was the Sledghammer of Eternal Justice* against Bangladesh in 2005.”
*Ian Ronald Bell
https://www.espncricinfo.com/records/hundred-runs-before-lunch-283003
The wonderfully named Ettiene Terblanche suggests “Gilbert Jessop, Percy Fender, Charlie Nicholas, David Niven, Malcolm McLaren, Elvis Presley… sorry, I was channeling Sick Boy for a second there”
Choose Life, Ettiene.
Mark Allen toots the horn for Allan Lamb, I’m all for it.
Chris Lintott emails in: “Much more fun, surely, to come up with players who would have hated Stokes’ way of doing things. Can you imagine Boycott in the dressing room being gently encouraged to express himself? He’d have exploded.”
Al Camino wants to see Colin Milburn and Richard O’Hagan isn’t afraid to mix it up a bit:
“A controversial selection, but how about Chris Tavare? A free scoring batsman in county cricket, his good technique meant that he was often assigned the anchor role in Tests. He was a very good and attacking player of spin, who loved to hit slow bowlers back over their heads. His Test average is almost seven runs below his first class one as a result of all of this but I’m sure he would’ve thrived if he could’ve played the way that England do now”
That's Lunch54th over: England 325-1 (Duckett 161, Pope 97) England head off for a sarnie having added 173 runs without loss in 29 overs. They’ve been motoring at a tick under a run a ball. It’s all been too easy which does take away from the enjoyment a little.
Pope needs three runs for a fourth Test century. Duckett has nailed his place down for The Ashes, if it was ever in doubt. Back soon to discuss your time travelling BazBallers.
England reach lunch on the second day against Ireland at Lord's on 325 for 1 from 54 overs. Duckett has 161 off 160, Pope 97 off 120. The lead is 153. It's not been hugely exciting.
— Lawrence Booth (@BoothCricket) June 2, 202353rd over: England 323-1 (Duckett 160, Pope 96) Ben Duckett has now scored 100 runs in the morning session.
52nd over: England 315-1 (Duckett 157, Pope 92)
Ireland’s five-man attack has 146 first-class matches between them (with Graham Hume contributing 102 of these).
England’s four-man attack 481 FC games between them.
Whilst England have been excellent, the difference in experience between the sides is vast.
51st over: England 312-1 (Duckett 155, Pope 91) Duckett crunches Hand through mid-wicket for a couple and that takes him to 150! Kumar Sangakkara reckons that his the fastest Test 150 at Lord’s! The previous holder? Sir Donald Bradman. That’s not confirmed but in Sanga we trust.
50th over: England 301-1 (Duckett 148, Pope 87) Three hundred up. Duckett crunches two fours off McBrine, Pope rotates the strike easily and England rack up 14 from the over. Duckett is now on the brink of a very fast Test 150.
49th over: England 287-1 (Duckett 135, Pope 86) Fionn Hand, Ireland’s sole man in the wicket column, continues to plug away. Three runs off it, Pope might have eyes on three figures before lunch, we’ve got about ten mins to go til then.
48th over: England 284-1 (Duckett 133, Pope 85) Pope and Duckett finally get their act together and each peels off a boundary off McBrine. We haven’t yet seen a six so far in this innings – I have a feeling that could change this afternoon.
47th over: England 273-1 (Duckett 127, Pope 80) Four overs without a boundary. A disgrace, that’s what that is.
46th over: England 269-1 (Duckett 126, Pope 78) McBrine fires down another over, four runs off it for England.
A few suggestions for time-travelling BazBallers, I’m getting plenty of Graeme Hicks.
Peter Bellew chirps up: “Obvious but imagine KP… ”
Lordy.
45th over: England 265-1 (Duckett 124, Pope 76) A lesser spotted maiden! A probing over from Fionn Hand, including a DRS review for LBW agaisnt the Papal one but ball tracking showed the ball to be skimming over the stumps. No dice for the Irish.
44th over: England 265-1 (Duckett 124, Pope 76) England lead by 93, McBrine is nurdled away for three runs. Nasser Hussain asks Eoin Morgan on commentary how much he would have liked to have played in this Test side. Morgan positively purrs at the prospect, the freedom, the vibes.
Thoughts turn to other England cricketers over the years who would have been a scary prospect if their time came under the current regime. Answers on a postcard/email/tweet please.
43rd over: England 262-1 (Duckett 123, Pope 74) Eight off the over, another slapped four through point for Duckett off the beleaguered Campher.
Hello to Martin Wright:
“Hi Jim, lots of talk on TMS about Stokes wanting to win in two days... Understandable maybe, but isn’t there any pressure to take the game into Saturday and allow all those wanting to come to Lord’s to enjoy at least some of a day at the cricket. (Not to mention the ECB enjoying filling its coffers.) Or don’t they think like that these days...”
I really don’t think they do Mart. I bet there are a few twitchy ‘suits’ at Lord’s right now though.
42nd over: England 254-1 (Duckett 116, Pope 73) England pick up four more from the over, Stokes sits on the balcony and stares down at all he’s created, he’s got a bucket hat and round shades on. Very much reminding me of this:
Madforit.
41st over: England 250-1 (Duckett 116, Pope 69) 250 up for England. Debate swirls about a declaration, are Stokes and co really going to try and win this today?! Can anyone love golf that much?!
40th over: England 246-1 (Duckett 114, Pope 67) I found a rich tea biscuit tha had been exposed to the elements. Bit soft. Slim pickings at our gaff today. The same can’t be said of England who are feasting on Ireland’s bowlers in the Lord’s sunshine. Andy McBrine comes on to bowl some spin and is patted away for a couple off the first over back after drinks.
39th over: England 244-1 (Duckett 113, Pope 66) A bruising first hour for Ireland, England reach drinks with a lead of 72 runs, Pope and Duckett motoring.
I’m off to boil the kettle and hunt down a biscuit.
38th over: England 236-1 (Duckett 107, Pope 64) More runs for Pope, they are coming in floods now. The lead climbs to 64. Root, Brook and Stokes all still to come. Gulp.
They’ll have a 10am tee time in mind tomorrow in order to be in front of a telly with a pint somewhere nice for the FA Cup Final at 3pm. #ENGvIRE
— Adam Collins (@collinsadam) June 2, 202337th over: England 228-1 (Duckett 104, Pope 59) Curtis Campher is picked off for consecutive boundaries by Pope, a flick through mid-wicket and an off-drive, the Surrey lad looks in good touch.
@Jimbo_Cricket off topic, but whilst I love the Ireland sweaters- proper cricket- I'm slightly disappointed they haven't gone for their own version of the Baggy Green cap. Boggy green, perhaps?
— Gareth Wilson (@garethclw) June 2, 202336th over: England 219-1 (Duckett 104, Pope 50) Ollie Pope also brings up his fifty. Ten runs come off the over, the sun beats down at Lord’s and England are in clover.
Here’s the moment
100 for Ben Duckett!Yes he can! A flick into the leg side and a misfield allows the opener to scamper the single he needs! The England players stand and applaud their man, that’s Duckett’s second Test century and his first on home turf.
Duckett celebrates his 100 with Pope. Photograph: Andrew Fosker/Shutterstock35th over: England 209-1 (Duckett 99, Pope 44) Duckett picks up two boundaries and all of a sudden he is on 99! I’m now feeling bad that I posted the Athers 99 run out below. A Pope single brings up the 100 partnership for this pair off just 112 balls. England cruising. Can Duckett make it to a century…
34th over: England 196-1 (Duckett 88, Pope 43) Pope opens the face to glide away for four runs. A tad lucky but he’ll take ‘em.
33rd over: England 191-1 (Duckett 88, Pope 39) That is more convincing from Duckett, a half volley from Adair is caressed back past the non-striker for four.
Sam Glover sends in his thesis on Crawley:
“Height mismatches in opening pairs is really useful for the reasons you (and Athers) state and as originally demonstrated by Haydn and Langer. The perfect solution at this point for England would appear to be a return to Alex Hales who is vastly more secure technically than Crawley. Unfortunately we all know that’s never going to happen given the calendar, but it’s nice to dream.
Incidentally, (in my view) Crawley’s technical problems mean he’s always going to be a walking wicket any time a decent bowler is using a ball that’s moving. Tall batters have a big advantage given their longer levers and the fact that they can get further forward. However, they also have the problem that their head is further away from the ball unless they develop their technique to bat like short batters. The further away from the ball the head is the more vulnerable the batter is to the moving ball. Best example I can think of is KP who had unbelievable technique, because he was very tall but kept his head amazingly close to the ball. Crawley is the opposite, he stands tall. While he’s going well it looks great because he has all the advantages of his height, but his inability to get his head close to it means he will always be susceptible to a moving ball, especially in the hands of a bowler who can hit the right length for the amount of movement. He wouldn’t last two min against Anderson and won’t last two min against Cummins with a Dukes ball.”
32nd over: England 186-1 (Duckett 84, Pope 38) Yeeesh. Duckett plinks one in the air juuust over the extra-cover fielder, he gets four runs for it but it was dicey dicey.
Good morning to an ill at ease Aidan McCarthy:
“As an Irishman who is lucky enough to have tickets for tomorrow, I’m increasingly concerned that England are going to try and win this thing today while I’m in the office. As well as sparing a thought for Ireland’s seriously outclassed bowling attack, won’t someone spare a thought for tomorrow’s crowd, who may have to find something else to do at short notice?”
I think you might be safe for some action tomorrow Aidan… I’m not making any promises though.
31st over: England 179-1 (Duckett 78, Pope 37) A tidier over from Adair, Duckett cue ends one uppishly as he tries to create summat from nowt. The opener has just started to look a bit of jittery, perhaps too eager to get on with things. He’ll want to get three figures and a Test ton at Lord’s* under his belt (in his first home Test).
*Plenty of decent players haven’t of course.
30th over: England 177-1 (Duckett 76, Pope 37) Shot! Duckett drives back down the ground to pick up four and take England into the lead. The camera lingers on Giles Coren sat in the crowd. I’m saying nothing.
Careful!
"I thought you said 'yeah'"
A close escape for Ben Duckett after some miscommunication almost sees him collide with Ollie Pope! ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/Pvy9SkG6BF
29th over: England 172-1 (Duckett 71, Pope 37) Five pocketed off the over including a bit of mid-pitch jiggery-pokery that sees Duckett out of his ground when Harry Tector has a shy at the stumps but the throw missed.
“Hi Jim”
Hello to you Peter Salmon.
“Crawley. What is to be done? My feeling is he will average 8.4 in the first couple of Tests against Aus, then make 64 when they stick with him for the Third. Then 12 and 8 in the Fourth, and dropped. Prove me wrong!”
Only one man can do that Peter… What would be interesting is if Crawley gets ‘game affecting’ runs early in the Ashes series, whether all the chatter dies away? Or not. He got a breathtaking ton on the tour of Pakistan remember? But you get the feeling that his feast or famine returns mean that the big knocks buy him more time rather than cement his place.
28th over: England 160-1 (Duckett 66, Pope 37) Delightful from Ollie Pope, a classical cover drive zings across the carpet for four runs. High elbow, hold the pose. Class.
G’morning to a slightly wistful Ian Cuff.
“Hi Jim
Yesterday just reiterated for about the 100th time that when time finally catches up with Sir Stuart and Sir James it’ll have the same effect that McGrath and Warnie’s retirement did on Oz.
Jimmy can be unplayable but the look Broad gets when he gets a couple of quick wickets is just like a Great White with blood in the water.
Boy we’ll miss them... can I put in a vote now to keep them on board as bowling coaches (if they want to that is!)"
27th over: England 160-1 (Duckett 65, Pope 31) A solitary leg bye off Mark Adair’s first over, sun beginning to burn off the cloud in North London.
Adair bowls to Pope. Photograph: Ben Whitley/INPHO/Shutterstock26th over: England 159-1 (Duckett 65, Pope 31) Graham Hume bustles in for the first over of the day and his first delivery is cut away for four by the diminuitive Duckett! A tad short and rasped to the fence. A single brings Pope on strike and England’s Vice Captain opens his account for the day with a flick through square-leg for a couple. Seven off the first over. Could be a few hours of hard toil for Ireland in the offing here.
Right, the players take to the field at a slightly gloomy looking Lord’s. Let’s have some play.
Good morning to you Tom Van Der Gucht
“Morning Jim,
Feeling your pain regarding the early rise: my 4-year-old rises with the lark and it’s my responsibility to get up with him and keep him entertained... You know it’s early when you find yourself watching pre-Milkshake Channel 5 cartoons with bleary eyes and a strong espresso for company.
Watching the highlights on BBC2, I was struck by the discrepancy in height between lordly Crawley and the Ewokian Duckett when batting together. I imagine that’s another reason they’re sticking with Crawley as it might disrupt the bowlers’ lengths having to adjust between the two of them.”
Sending solidarity on your first point Tom, and you are right on the second. Mike Atherton was explaining yesterday (far more articulately than I’m about to) that the ‘little and large’ opening pair of Crawley and Duckett does disrupt bowling lengths. Crawley’s long levers and stride makes a bolwer push their length back a bit and that is meat and drink to Duckett who is deft on the cut and nurdle. Just like a left-right hand combo is annoying too, it makes sense.
A bucket-hatted Broad talks us through the different grips for his outswinger and inswinger. Here was me thinking his “new” outswinger was all part of the phoney/baloney war.
This did make me chuckle:
The England players are talking about their Ashes memories in a Sky VT. It’s making me feel very old… Zak Crawley can’t even remember the 2005 series, 2009 is where it all began for him. Time waits for no man.
PreambleJames Wallace
Hello and welcome to Day Two of England v Ireland from Lord’s.
Jim here to tentatively take your hand through the first session and a bit - think something slightly more affectionate than Tom and Shiv in the back of the blacked out SUV in the Succession finale. Palms lightly brushing, air thick with unspoken feelings. Like I say, slightly more affectionate than that.
I’ve been up since 5am y’see thanks to a belligerently carpe diem espousing two year old. So, jacked up on three coffees already, let’s kick off with Some Things That We Learnt Yesterday (That We Probably Already Knew)
(STTWLY(TWPAK) for short, obviously)
1. Stuart Broad knows when to turn it on. With his place in a fully fit and firing starting Test XI not secured, Marmite’s freshly yeasted brand ambassador and self anointed Aussie goader-in-chief strapped on his bandana and did his thing - prising out five wickets for 51, racking up his 20th five-wicket haul in Tests and his first at Lord’s for more than a decade.
2. Ireland are undercooked and struggled to get a foothold in the game. Andy Bull’s excellent piece digs into the myriad reasons why. “I don’t know much about red ball cricket,” Lorcan Tucker said before this game began - “I’ve hardly played any in four years.”
3. Zak Crawley is a flighty and flawed opening bat. A skittish innings comprising of plays and misses and spawny inside edges but also majestic strokeplay - eleven boundaries and a strike rate of over 124 put the pressure on Ireland’s bowlers immediately. The debate will rumble.
There are plenty of other things to discuss too but we can get into them as the day unfolds. It’ll be fun. Play gets underway in about 40 minutes time.
Do drop me a line on email or tweet @Jimbo_Cricket
