Reinforcements have been summoned to enable England to omit key players for Monday’s final match of the ODI series against South Africa at Lord’s. With concerns about the fitness of Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali, the Middlesex pair, Steven Finn and Toby Roland-Jones have been called up along with Hampshire’s Liam Dawson. Woakes has a minor thigh problem, Moeen’s trouble is in the groin and everyone knows by now that Stokes’s left knee is troublesome.
This is a precautionary move and a sensible one. The three-match series was won on Saturday with that magnificent two-run victory at the Ageas Bowl. There is no point in taking any risks. It is anticipated that all three absentees for Lord’s will be fit for Thursday’s opening match of the Champions Trophy against Bangladesh.
That win on Saturday was one of England’s best and it owed much to Durham CCC. They are going through some rocky times but they can take pride and much credit for three of the men who fashioned the victory.
Stokes belted a century, demonstrating that he is worth a place in the side even if he cannot bowl much. Mark Wood delivered an inspired final over, which amazingly contained four runs and no wickets. And Liam Plunkett, now of Yorkshire but once a Durham stalwart, snatched vital wickets again, particularly that of AB de Villiers.
All three are now integral parts of England’s best ODI side – although it took Plunkett a decade to get there. All three are strong, impressive characters.
There is a magnetism about Stokes on the field and off it which explains why so many of his colleagues gravitate in his direction for their evening entertainment. Wood is more than the owner – and rider – of an imaginary horse. He has such an open, unfettered mind that there is always the possibility – there can never be any guarantees – that he might do something to change the course of a match.
There is a nice tale about Stokes and Wood demonstrating their off-field contribution to this England set-up on a bonding trip to Spain two years ago, which was an exercise primarily designed for the new coach, Trevor Bayliss, to get to know his new players.
The team was gathered for an early evening drink when Bayliss witnessed a fracas between Stokes and Wood, who was also new to the squad. Tempers were lost at remarkable speed whereupon one laid out the other, leaving the assembled throng – and Bayliss especially – aghast. There was apparently a stunned silence, long enough for Bayliss to wonder about the wisdom of taking on this new job. Whereupon everybody came to realise that this was the Durham duo’s great party trick, expertly delivered which on this occasion enabled the ice to be broken very swiftly.
Now Bayliss is an unashamed fan of Stokes. They merrily exchange jibes; they golf together and laugh together. And there is no doubt that Bayliss would like to see Wood in his squad on a regular basis if his insubordinate body can stay fit.
In fact it is Stokes’s body at the moment that is causing most anxiety. Many decades ago the entire nation would be fretting about the condition of Denis Compton’s knee just before important cricket matches. Cricket does not reach quite so many people now but the true fans are constantly worrying about his knee on the eve of the Champions Trophy. Ostensibly the least concerned man seems to be Stokes himself.
When asked on Saturday night whether he would play in the final match of the series against South Africa at Lord’s on Monday he paused for less than a millisecond and said: “Yes, I hope so.” It seems that the management have mustered enough courage to tell him that it might be wiser to take a break.
Stokes does acknowledge, albeit in a matter-of-fact manner, that he feels pain when bowling. “It is just in my delivery stride, just a bit of a sensation running up the side of my knee. Batting and running around the field is fine. We are managing it as well as we can with the physio, doctors and myself. It is an injury I have had before and something that sometimes just goes away. I have good days and bad days so I could wake up tomorrow and it could be completely gone. I have had it on and off for about two or three years now.”
Stokes, as you can hear, is a positive man. Others who have suffered from knee problems are not so convinced by the notion that the pain will somehow magically go away.
Stokes demonstrated his value to the team yet again with his second ODI century on Saturday – as well as conjuring the wicket of Hashim Amla from nowhere during his three-over spell. Earlier in the day Amla had done him a favour by failing to put his hands on a straightforward slip catch from his first delivery. Stokes edged his second ball as well, which thudded in and out of the gloves of Quinton de Kock.
“It was a shaky start,” he admitted. “I found it tough for the first 20 balls; Morgy did as well and he had been out there a bit longer than me.” Even so England exceeded 300 for the 10th time in 11 ODI innings. “I got through the hard bit and made sure I was ticking along nicely by the end. But, hey-ho, the first two balls were a bit lucky.”
Crane and Dawson leave Somerset up a creek with a sinking feeling
Somerset’s sinking feeling deepened as they were spun out for 168 and a 90-run defeat by Hampshire’s Mason Crane and Liam Dawson. After four games and three defeats they are rooted to the foot of Division One.
With five second-innings wickets for Crane and four for Dawson, English spinners – all aged 27 or under – claimed 30 of the match’s 40 wickets. Taunton’s morphing into Ciderabad is making for thrilling cricket and affording spinners opportunities, too. Crane, Dawson, Jack Leach (seven wickets) and Dom Bess (10) bowled 142 of the 227 overs.
Only Dean Elgar, who was yorked on the second bounce by a heinous, hugely turning half-tracker from Crane (who sunk to his haunches in embarrassment), put up real resistance, with 60, and an opening stand of 58 with Marcus Trescothick, whom Dawson had caught behind defending.
One of Somerset’s problems has been the concurrent loss of form of the middle order of Tom Abell, James Hildreth and Steven Davies. Abell played on to Dawson, who then pinned Davies in front with a turner after Hildreth was bowled by Crane. A mix-up with Elgar saw Peter Trego run out from mid-on and, when Elgar received his shooter, Somerset’s hopes were up. Crane bamboozled the tail, with Jamie Overton last man out stumped.
There was cheer for young Englishmen (and spin) at Chelmsford, too, where Surrey’s Amar Virdi, the 18-year-old off-spinning debutant, picked up his first three first-class wickets but Dan Lawrence, a year older yet playing with great maturity, carved out a fine 107 for Essex. His was a classy innings, studded with silky work through midwicket and point but characterised by the care he took outside off-stump.
struck with his second ball, bowling James Foster with a flighted beauty that spun sharply between bat and pad; that brought an early lunch and at the end of that over he had Simon Harmer stumped. Essex, through half-centuries from Ryan ten Doeschate, who Virdi would trap lbw from round the wicket, and Neil Wagner, who pumped the offspinner down the ground regularly, charged their way to 383.
After rain stopped play around 5pm (26 overs were lost), with Surrey one second-innings wicket down – Mark Stoneman caught at slip by Alastair Cook – the final day’s main point of interest will be whether the peerless Kumar Sangakkara can match only CB Fry, Mike Procter and Don Bradman in making six consecutive first-class centuries. Surrey lead by 41.
In Division Two the pacesetters Nottinghamshire bowled out Gloucestershire for 231, with Steven Mullaney picking up a first-ever five-wicket haul, to secure an innings victory. Cam Bancroft and Phil Mustard provided some resistance but both fell to Mullaney, while Stuart Broad picked up two wickets.
Worcestershire moved second with a maximum-point, eight-wicket victory over Northamptonshire, whom they bowled out for 343 – Ben Duckett made 67 then Rob Keogh 88, while Richard Levi retired hurt after being hit on the head – then knocked off the required 148 in 27.4 overs; Daryl Mitchell finished the job with a run-a-ball 78. Worcestershire have won all four of their games and are 13 points behind Notts, who have played five.
Kent, however, will likely leapfrog Worcestershire. They have Sussex 182 for six chasing 504 after their top four made hay building a target in their second innings. They then reduced Sussex to eight for three before the visitors’ middle order dug in.
Durham have a shot at their first win of the campaign; at Swansea, they are 147 ahead of Glamorgan with seven second-innings wickets in hand and Paul Collingwood (40 not out) chasing a second century of the match. A career-best 75 from Andrew Salter carried Glamorgan to an 11-run first innings lead. Derbyshire and Leicestershire shook hands for an interminable draw – 1,411 runs for 23 wickets. Will Macpherson at Chelmsford
