And here’s Vic Marks on Jonny Bairstow’s brilliant innings:
Here’s Mike Selvey’s day two match report:
That is, officially, it. It’s been super. We’ll be back tomorrow at 10.30 for another bumper day (until it starts raining at lunchtime and doesn’t stop). Bye!
James Anderson has been speaking to Sky:
If the weather wasn’t around the next couple of days we’d probably have batted again, but as it is we’d back ourselves. I don’t go out there thinking about records, I’m thinking about doing a job for the team. It’s about building a partnership for the team. We saw when Sri Lanka bowled that there is movement there. We tried to make them play as often as possible, and the swing got more prodigious as the game went on.
The stands seem to be emptying out pretty quickly. There’s been no announcement, but there’s certainly been some strong hunches.
Bad light stops play
0.2 overs: Sri Lanka 1-0 (Karunaratne 0, Silva 0) Anderson ended the last innings and a few minutes later he starts this one. He bowls two deliveries, with the batsmen scurrying through for a leg bye from the first, before the umpires take out the light meters and tell the players to get off again. It seems weird they started the over, if it was that dark. This time – unlike the last stoppage for bad light – the groundsmen wheel out the covers straight away, which suggests they don’t expect the players to get back on any time soon.
“I’m a few miles west of Headingley and the dark clouds are heading to the east of me,” warned John Starbuck a few minutes ago. “They’ve dropped some rain but look to have plenty left, so Cook might as well enforce the follow-on, knowing that the bowlers won’t actually have many overs to tire themselves out today.” 0.2 overs, it appears.
The players are back out, and we’re still talking about donuts (not inappropriately, given the number of zeroes on the Sri Lanka card. “Give me a Youtiao or Lángos any day of the week,” sniffs Oliver Dungey. “I live in NYC and work opposite Dunkin’ Donuts where they offer a (breakfast?) beverage called a Frozen Blue Raspberry Coolatta®. Yes, they really do add the ® to the name, just in case someone else has the bright idea of inventing a fake fruit, freezing it, and selling it using gibberish as a name.”
Seems a sensible decision to me – the bowlers are having fun, conditions are good, they’re about to get a night’s rest anyway, and given the rain forecast over the weekend it’s the only way to take uncertainty out of the equation when England bat again, and allow them to know both their target and how long they’ve got to get it.
England enforce the follow on
Anderson wins the battle for the five-for, and is having so much fun that he wants to keep going!
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WICKET! Eranga c Bairstow b Anderson 1 (Sri Lanka 91 all out)
Hotspot shows a mark, and Eranga is out! England don’t celebrate, engaged as they are in a team huddle. Will they enforce this follow-on?
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REVIEW! Is Eranga out here?
There was a noise as it passed the batsman and headed down the leg side. The umpire shook his head, but England think this is out!
36th over: Sri Lanka 91-9 (Eranga 1, Pradeep 0) James Anderson had never taken four wickets in a single innings at Headingley before today. Broad has now caught him up, and they’re stuck at four all with one to play for.
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WICKET! Thirimanne c Finn b Broad 22 (Sri Lanka 91-9)
I’m not sure what Thirimanne’s trying to do here, but what he actually does is send the ball squirming towards mid on, where Finn runs and dives forward and takes the catch. There’s no need to check this time. Sri Lanka still need eight to avoid the follow-on.
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35th over: Sri Lanka 90-8 (Thirimanne 21, Eranga 0) Anderson bowls, and the ball is deflected off Thirimanne and into the hands of Vince at third slip. The crowd cheers, but the ball literally came off Thirimanne, hitting him in the thigh area, rather than the bat. A maiden. “Years ago, the coolest place to hang out in Athens was the canteen on the top floor of Minion, Greece’s first ever department store,” writes Chris Bourne. “This would be about 1980 when it first opened. And, almost uniquely in the city, you could buy a plate of loukoumades: miniature donuts, about an inch or so across, piled high, and served hot with honey poured over them. Minion’s donuts remain, to this day, the pinnacle of my donut experience.” What we’re learning here is that donuts are truly a global phenomenon. They are something the whole planet shares, and thus may well be key to delivering world peace.
34th over: Sri Lanka 90-8 (Thirimanne 21, Eranga 0) Broad bowls short and the ball rears into Chameera, who fends it away – anywhere will do – and gets away with it. Both batsmen get a single, and then Chameera’s out last ball. “A breakfast donut, Simon? This might be what you’re looking for,” writes Phil Sawyer, referring to this twet. “Apparently it is definitely a donut and not a bagel. I think my arteries hardened just looking at that photo.”
Donut + full English breakfast = no regrets. #NationalDonutDay pic.twitter.com/mJAFbSTZxH
— JUST EAT UK (@JustEatUK) June 5, 2015
WICKET! Chameera c Finn b Broad 2 (Sri Lanka 90-8)
Chameera drives low to extra cover, where Finn dives to his right and catches it. This all happens at ludicrous speed, the ball flying low enough, and the whole idea looking ludicrous enough, to force the umpires into going upstairs just to check they didn’t dream it. They didn’t, though.
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33rd over: Sri Lanka 88-7 (Thirimanne 21, Chameera 0) Anderson bowls round the wicket at Thirimanne, pitches it up and waits to celebrate. He’s still waiting. “If you like doughnuts and have a few weeks to spare, it’s well worth paying a visit to Tamanrasset, a small Algerian town you can reach via the back route through the Sahara Desert,” writes Stephen Nicholson. “If you find your way to the take-away baker shop you can get a hot, fried doughnut stuffed with semolina. It’s over 30 years since I was there, and hardly a day passes on which I don’t think of these ‘specials’.” Semolina, eh? Well that proves that anything can be made palatable by wrapping with sweet dough and throwing in the deep-fat fryer.
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32nd over: Sri Lanka 87-7 (Thirimanne 21, Chameera 0) Now Broad’s back, as England sniff an early conclusion to this innings. There are no wickets, though, and a decent four struck through the covers by Chirimanne, though there are basically no fielders left in the outfield. “In the former Czechoslovakia in the mid-1990s the equivalent of the kebab on the way home was a deep fried flatbread,” writes Dominic O’Reilly. “Officially called ‘Lángos’ and from Hungary, it looked like an elephant’s ear and was topped with huge amounts of garlic butter and cheese. After eating one you had chronic indigestion and breath that could knock over an elephant for days.” Crumbs. That looks a bit like the gnocchi fritti that you get in some parts of Italy, though those are normally eaten – like most things there are, from pears to pasta – with ham, salami or cheese.
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31st over: Sri Lanka 83-7 (Thirimanne 17, Chameera 0) Well we were warned that Sri Lanka’s batting was suspect. Anderson welcomes Chameera with an absolute stonker that somehow fails to take the edge of his awkwardly-flourished bat. The next and final delivery is an inswinger that Chameera does very well to keep out. Great bowling, this. From the toppermost drawer. “There are these breakfast things called ‘Youtiao’ here in Beijing that look and taste like luffas* but they’re deep fried in oil and dipped in soy sauce or bean curd milk,” writes Andrew Benton. “What a way to start a day (but at least you know it can only get better afterwards). Gimme a pie-barm anyday.”
* a genus of tropical and subtropical vines in the cucumber (Cucurbitaceae) family
WICKET! Herath c Stokes b Anderson 1 (Sri Lanka 83-7)
This is awesome stuff from Anderson. This one’s edged high, and though it flies straight towards third slip I thought for a moment it had gone over his head and he’d got away with it. Turned out Stokes was holding the ball. Sri Lanka need 99 to avoid the follow-on.
30th over: Sri Lanka 83-6 (Thirimanne 17, Herath 1) Finn continues, and Herath gets a single. Now this is interesting. A breakfast donut. Is a breakfast donut different in some way to the more commonly-spotted European Afternoon Donut? Is it perhaps slightly less sweet, or gently spiced, or made using strawberry yoghurt and muesli in some way?
@Simon_Burnton Cambodian freshly deep-fried breakfast doughnuts - the only way to go, doughnutly speaking. pic.twitter.com/0FnBMZsEvr
— Anna Beer (@annarosebeer) May 20, 2016
29th over: Sri Lanka 81-6 (Thirimanne 16, Herath 0) The hat-trick ball is vicious, and bangs Herath somewhere on glove or handle, but he gets through it well enough. There’s still time for one pearl of an away-swinger, which Herath waves his bat at but misses. “If you’ve never had the carob donuts they call bolas de berlim on the beach in Portugal you shouldn’t comment on the world of donuts,” writes Nick Holmes. “They are in another world. They destroy hangovers, accompanied by Super Bock, one of the worlds most under-rated lagers.” I’ve certainly enjoyed some Super Bock in my time, but never one of those. Presumably a bola de berlim = a Berlin ball = a Berliner = John F Kennedy (or not).
WICKET! Shanaka c Bairstow b Anderson 0 (Sri Lanka 81-6)
That’s super bowling, and Shanaka’s first Test moments with the bat don’t turn out to be quite so memorable as his start with the ball, as he feathers an edge through to Bairstow from his very first ball. Bairstow has now taken four catches, and Anderson is on a hat-trick!
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28th over: Sri Lanka 81-5 (Thirimanne 16, Shanaka 0) Turns out that lbw decision would have been overturned on review, as the ball struck Mathews outside the line of off stump. But no review was forthcoming.
@Simon_Burnton - ongoing argument at work with colleague about custard doughnuts! I'm pro custard, colleague very much against! Thoughts?
— Lord Andrew Dennett (@Dennett86) May 20, 2016
I’m not sure I’ve ever had a custard donut. But I do like donuts, and I like custard. Personally I like my donuts fresh and jamless. The churros that you get at Spanish fairgrounds and the like are particularly fine.
27th over: Sri Lanka 77-5 (Thirimanne 12) Anderson’s back on, and he swiftly gets Mathews edging again, though this one heads totally safely down to gully. The wicket follows, with the last ball. “Mention of deep-fried cakes sets me to thinking about what the unhealthiest snack out there is,” writes Phil Sawyer. “As a Lancastrian, I think you have to go a long way to beat a pie-barm. Yes, that really is a meat and potato pie in a large bread roll. It’s amazing that anyone in Wigan, where this delicacy hails from, is still alive.”
WICKET! Mathews lbw b Anderson 34 (Sri Lanka 77-5)
Anderson’s back, and the partnership’s broken! It’s a textbook lbw, rapping Mathews just under halfway up his pad, bang in front of his wicket. And Anderson is now the sixth-highest wicket-taker in Test history, having just overtaken Kapil Dev.
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26th over: Sri Lanka 77-4 (Mathews 34, Thirimanne 12) “In response to Luke Williams, it’s an urban myth that much hilarity ensued when JFK declared himself to be ‘ein Berliner’; listen to a recording of the speech and you’ll hear that it was met with huge cheers from the crowd,” points out sometime MBM helmsman Dan Lucas. “Incidentally the mistake Kennedy made was to use an article. Has he simply said ‘Ich bin Berliner’ then he’d have been correctly saying ‘I am a person of Berlin’. As it is, he said ‘I am a donut’.” Neil Mackie points me towards this Eddie Izzard routine.
25th over: Sri Lanka 75-4 (Mathews 33, Thirimanne 12) “If donuts are the worlds most overrated snack,” writes Stephen Smith (they’re not – I already said that), “the McVities Cheese thin (Cheddar) is certainly the most underrated. Tasty, like a crisp and a biscuit with no commitment to a full bag necessary. A staple of my cupboard, yet the more I search through other peoples cupboards the more my disappointment grows.” So underrated even McVitie’s don’t know about it, if my brief internet search is anything to go by.
24th over: Sri Lanka 74-4 (Mathews 32, Thirimanne 12) Thirimanne gets a four past mid-on as well, and the pressure is rapidly dissipating here. England are down from five slips to three. “Did you know that many European countries call what we know as a jammy doughnut a ‘Berliner’? This is true in Portugal where they are more often custard rather than jam, and in Germany, hence the hilarity when JFK declared himself to be one,” writes Luke Williams. I did not know that.
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23rd over: Sri Lanka 70-4 (Mathews 32, Thirimanne 8) Stokes’ first delivery goes straight back past mid off and down to the boundary, and his third gets similar treatment. With two runs scored in between them, that’s a 10-run half-over. The other half is a half-maiden.
22nd over: Sri Lanka 60-4 (Mathews 22, Thirimanne 8) Finn is bowling quite aggressively, even if he’s not producing many likely wicket-takers, and has the ball bouncing sharply into Thirimanne’s gloves. The batsman doesn’t seem to like it. “Donuts are easily the worlds most overrated snack. Sickly, heavy and messy,” writes Charles Horwood. What could you possibly mean? They’re basically deep-fried cakes. What’s not to like?
21st over: Sri Lanka 59-4 (Mathews 22, Thirimanne 8) Stokes gets the ball to straighten and Mathews edges again; this time it goes straight to gully, but doesn’t carry. The next ball is worked, more impressively, between gully and third slip for four.
20th over: Sri Lanka 55-4 (Mathews 18, Thirimanne 8) Oooh! Kind-of-dropped! Finn bowls, Mathews edges and Vince is diving to his right again. He’s at full strength, and the ball is low, but he gets fingers to it. It would have been not so much a peach of a catch as an entire fruit salad. Sky show a boy eating a snack. “Oooh, a jammy donut,” says Atherton. “Phwoar, a jammy donut! Just warm, with the jam running,” drools Bumble. It’s a ring donut. Clear as day. Do these people know nothing?
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19th over: Sri Lanka 54-4 (Mathews 17, Thirimanne 8) After all that – the tea, the cloud, the treatment, the chats – Stokes is absolutely fine to continue bowling thank you very much. He bowls to Thirimanne, round the wicket at first but when he has no joy there (and there’s a no ball for overstepping) he switches sides for the final delivery, is immediately clipped through midwicket for four.
18th over: Sri Lanka 48-4 (Mathews 16, Thirimanne 4) Two balls into the over, there’s an inexplicable delay. Finally, we see the cause: Ben Stokes is holding his left knee. He limps about a bit until a physio comes on, and thus we have another delay, to follow tea and cloud. He’s treated on the pitch for a while, and then the player stands up, but keeps chatting to the physio for a minute or two. No hurry, lads. When an aeroplane passes overhead later in the over, I’m half expecting them to go off for noise. But they bravely soldier on, and Thirimanne gets off the mark with a fine push through the covers for four.
17th over: Sri Lanka 43-4 (Mathews 15, Thirimanne 0) Stokes completes an extended, interrupted wicket maiden.
At which, they come back on.
“This is fairly pathetic,” writes Richard O’Hagan. “They’ve just had a 20 minute tea break. Why did no-one spot the clouds thickening and turn the floodlights on, rather than wasting yet more time in this match?” It’s puzzling, and anyway it seems to have brightened since they went off. They remain, however, off.
Most of the England players are lurking just off the pitch, and clearly don’t expect the break to be a long one.
Bad light stops play
16.4 overs: Sri Lanka 43-4 (Mathews 15, Thirimanne 0) Stokes immediately comes round the wicket to the left-handed Thirimanne, with five slips now in place. Atherton, whose memory is better than mine, says Anderson has profited from this approach in the past, and Anderson has indeed taken his wicket six times in nine innings against England. Three balls later the light meters come out, with the floodlights just warming up, and the umpires take the players off the field. It’s dark, grey and menacing overhead, and may be for a while.
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WICKET! Chandimal c Vince b Stokes 15 (Sri Lanka 43-4)
Sri Lanka lose a fourth wicket from the first ball after tea! Chandimal deflects the ball with the edge of his bat, right near the top, and it’s Vince at third slip who dives to his right to take his first catch in Test cricket!
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The players come back out. There’s a big clump of rain rolling eastwards from Ireland, but unless it starts travelling unexpectedly quickly it’s going to turn up well after play ends.
A little teatime reading for you, courtesy of Barney Ronay:
And that’s it from me. Simon Burnton will take you on home, so email him on Simon.Burnton@theguardian.com or tweet @Simon_Burnton.
Tea: Sri Lanka 43-3, trail England by 255 runs
It looked like anyone who has tickets for tomorrow would be disappointed when Broad and Anderson ran through the top order, but Chandimal and Mathews - as you might expect, given they’re the best and most experienced batsmen in the team - have calmed things down a little, while not looking entirely comfortable all of the time. If they can get through an extended evening session with a wicket or none down, they’ll probably consider today a success.
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16th over: Sri Lanka 43-3 (Chandimal 15, Mathews 15) File this one under ‘captain’s hunch’: James Vince is into the bowling attack to try a few dobbers before tea, but the first one is the rankest of long-hops that Mathews thrashes to the boundary. Then - hello, what’s this? He bangs one in that Chandimal has to sway rather rapidly out the way of, before an inside edge skuttles just past the stumps. And then he nearly picks one up from the last ball of the afternoon: Mathews is squared up and gets one to fly off the shoulder of the bat, hurtle past a diving gully and to the boundary.
15th over: Sri Lanka 33-3 (Chandimal 14, Mathews 6) Stokes is back, and beats Chandimal’s edge twice in two balls by a combined distance of about two inches. However then he over-pitches one well wide of off, and Chandimal drives him pleasantly through the covers, to the boundary and stops to admire the shot as one would a piece of fine art. And rightly so.
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14th over: Sri Lanka 29-3 (Chandimal 10, Mathews 6) Broad sends down a quiet over, but Chandimal gets the first run for a while by gently clipping one just in front of short leg and they gather a single.
13th over: Sri Lanka 28-3 (Chandimal 9, Mathews 6) The last time Ben Stokes bowled in an international match he watched Carlos Brathwaite cart him to all sorts. He’s back on now, and nearly gets a wicket as Mathews tries for a massive drive, but he’s so late he nearly played the shot tomorrow. Then there’s another close one with a ball that hooped in absurdly, starting well wide of off stump but swinging round the proverbial corner to cut Mathews in half and miss the timber by inches.
“What have you got against Billy Cooper (that bloke with a trumpet)?” asks John Starbuck. “For a lot of us he’s a welcome feature of Proper Cricket. Let’s face it, plenty of other sides (Pakistan, West Indies, Australia) have (had) their notable supporters, so why shouldn’t we?”
I find him intensely irritating and not afraid to make his supporting of England very much about himself, but the players seem to like him so who am I to kvetch?
12th over: Sri Lanka 28-3 (Chandimal 9, Mathews 6) Chandimal starting to look a little more solid - more assertive in his defence, anyway. Broad tells Compton to get rid of the lid and go out to deep square-leg, so will this be the short one or the bluff? It’s the latter, a fullish, wide one that’s a no ball anyway.
Meanwhile: uh-oh.
Little preview of that Chris Gayle interview in tomorrow's Times Magazine. pic.twitter.com/VHJgesXDld
— Josh Burrows (@JoshRBurrows) May 20, 2016
11th over: Sri Lanka 27-3 (Chandimal 9, Mathews 6) The sun pokes through the clouds as Anderson whips back in. Mathews gropes a little on off stump, and squares him up very slightly too on another. He survives the over, though - a maiden, and a relatively uneventful one. Although that bloke with the trumpet, whose existence I’d previously forgotten about, has just piped up. Or trumpeted up. Either way...y’know...cease.
10th over: Sri Lanka 27-3 (Chandimal 9, Mathews 6) Possibly the first genuinely bad ball bowled by Broad’s belted backward of point and to the third man boundary by Mathews. Broad’s back on the mark for the rest of the over, and Mathews doesn’t look nearly so comfortable in taking just a single.
9th over: Sri Lanka 22-3 (Chandimal 9, Mathews 1) Chandimal reaches way in front of him for one that leaps up very slightly, and catches the batsman’s bottom hand. Then one is slightly over-pitched, and Chandimal punches a nicely-timed on-drive just wide of mid-on and to the fence. Meanwhile, over in the Vocal Party Section, a beer snake is in full swing. Or full slither. Whatever a beer snake does. Largely dribbles and annoys people, I’d wager.
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8th over: Sri Lanka 18-3 (Chandimal 5, Mathews 1) Broad barrels in and gets one within a gnat’s eyelash of Mathews’ edge. Then Broad strays pad-wards and a single is turned around the corner to get the skip off the mark. The next ball is a similar line, and Chandimal flicks it just - just, just - short of short-leg, where Nick Compton is on duty. One more run, although they nearly contrived to serve up a run-out chance with some iffy dashing.
7th over: Sri Lanka 16-3 (Chandimal 4, Mathews 0) Runs! Runs by someone other than Silva! Chandimal reaches for a fairly wide ball, but nevertheless gets enough of the bat to it to drive through the covers and to the boundary.
Meanwhile, political pressure is being put on the England selectors...
If you missed it, here is the Scottish Government calling for @MoeenAli to be dropped for @AdilRashid03 #ENGvSL pic.twitter.com/UrmenDXIeT
— Andrew Liddle (@PJ_ALiddle) May 20, 2016
6th over: Sri Lanka 12-3 (Chandimal 0, Mathews 0) Now the skipper Angelo Mathews is lined up for the turkey shoot, and his first ball hoops outrageously - but only after it had comfortably passed the batsman. Third ball is so much of a jaffa they’ll be debating in Parliament whether it’s a cake or a biscuit, a similar line to the Mendis wicket but a touch shorter, and that possibly saves Mathews who just manages to avoid it. Belting bowling, this.
WICKET! Mendis c Bairstow b Broad 0 - Sri Lanka 12-3
Ooof. Only one Sri Lankan batsman has scored any runs, and it’s no wonder with Broad and Anderson bowling like this. Broad comes a touch wider on the crease, angling the ball in but with some away shape that Mendis gropes at, only able to edge to Bairstow for his third regulation catch.
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5th over: Sri Lanka 12-2 (Chandimal 0, Mendis 0) Well neither opener lasted too long, let’s see how Dinesh Chandimal does. He starts off solidly enough, blocking the last two balls of the over back down the pitch to Anderson. The Burnley mumbler is now level with Kapil Dev on 434 Test wickets.
WICKET! Silva c Bairstow b Anderson 11 - Sri Lanka 12-2
Silva has hands softer than a room full of pillows, which helps with a thick edge that drops in front of the slips, but doesn’t do him any good at all as Anderson gets one to rise and rear back around his chest, he can’t drop those hands quickly enough and gets a little flick through to Bairstow.
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4th over: Sri Lanka 10-1 (Silva 9, Mendis 0) Early breakthrough for Broad, then. That wicket had been coming, too.
WICKET! Karunaratne c Bairstow b Broad 0 - Sri Lanka 10-1
Some smart running and nice, solid shots from Silva brings a two then a one, both shots through cover. Broad comes around the wicket to Karunaratne, who jabs at a couple a rather troubling distance outside off stump, then the rather inevitable occurs as Broad gets one to shape away just enough, and catches a feather edge through to Bairstow.
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3rd over: Sri Lanka 7-0 (Karunaratne 0, Silva 6) Anderson helps Silva out by floating up a leg-stump half-volley first up, an invitation to runs that he gladly accepts by flicking it high and over mid-wicket, collecting four after a couple of bounces. A single, then a spot of extra bounce catches Karunaratne’s bottom hand and bounces not too far in front of gully, a painful looking blow that requires some magic spray from the physio. Looks like the third finger, but he’s good to carry on. He plays out the last couple of balls, but takes that hand off the bat each time.
2nd over: Sri Lanka 2-0 (Karunaratne 0, Silva 1) Stuart Broad has the ball from the Kirkstall Lane End, and looks to have a bit of zip in his arm, but he does concede the first run of the innings by overstepping. Silva doesn’t look particularly happy facing Broad, and is squared up by one that he edges just in front of Anderson at fourth slip. It’s a packed old corden - four slips and a gully, but Broad strays onto Silva’s pads and the first run off the bat comes with a clip down to fine leg.
1st over: Sri Lanka 0-0 (Karunaratne 0, Silva 0) Early japes, as Dimuth Karunaratne is squared up by a lively one from Anderson, inside-edges it to where short-leg would’ve been, and they look for a run that...well, we’ll just say it wasn’t on, and Karunaratne just about scrambles back. Youngster Nick Compton is then sent to crouch under the lid, but there’s not much further drama in an opening maiden.
WICKET! Finn st Chandimal b Herath 17
90.3 overs: England 298 all out England get to the very verge of 300 but not quite all the way there. Also not quite at 300 is Herath: Finn’s is his 299th Test wicket.
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Another review – and even Finn thinks he's out here!
Herath bowls, Finn swings and misses, Chandimal takes off the bails.
90th over: England 297-9 (Finn 17, Anderson 0) Finn tries to smash the ball through midwicket, but bottom-edges to fine leg instead. Still, a run’s a run. Bairstow then goes big and gets out, having scored 140 of the 206 added by England while he was at the crease, 68% of the total. The batsmen cross, and Chameera tries to york Finn – now with no need to hold back – again. He clips it off his toes past square leg for four, and then pulls the last to long leg for four more.
Bairstow out, having become the 3rd Test No.7 to score 140 or more twice. After Gilchrist (x4) & McCullum (twice). https://t.co/klNgwW3xX5
— Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket) May 20, 2016
WICKET! Bairstow c Pradeep b Chameera 140 (England 289-9)
Bairstow tries to send the ball down the ground for six, but doesn’t get hold of it and it’s an easy catch for the man at mid on.
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89th over: England 288-8 (Bairstow 137, Finn 8) Bairstow takes a third-ball single, and Finn survives the rest. One bounces higher than he expected, hitting him in the glove but landing safely. He does get a single off the fifth, which given his partner can’t score from the last means he’ll face the first ball of an over for the first time in nine overs.
88th over: England 286-8 (Bairstow 139, Finn 7) Bairstow clips the ball to square leg. Lovely timing there, but he picks out a fielder and gets only one. Chameera goes round the wicket to Finn, which pretty obviously discomfits him, leading to the last-ball lbw appeal, but even though it was at yorker-length, from round the wicket it still couldn’t pitch in line.
Not out!
The ball pitched outside leg stump, and Finn survives.
REVIEW! Is Finn out here?
Sri Lanka reckon he is. Umpire says no.
87th over: England 283-8 (Bairstow 136, Finn 7) This is now the second-highest partnership of the innings, overtaking the opening partnership’s 49. The first 50 runs came from 67 deliveries, which given that Finn’s faced 33 and scored seven gives some indication of what Bairstow’s been up to. And it nearly ends there, as Finn edges the last to gully, but he’s dropped! A smart chance, not taken.
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86th over: England 278-8 (Bairstow 131, Finn 7) Chimeera returns, and by way of welcome his first delivery is clattered past point for four by Bairstow. A single leaves Finn on strike for the final three deliveries, the first two of which he deals with without trouble, and the last goes straight where his chest was until but a fraction of an instant earlier, so that it looked for an instant as if it had simply passed through him entirely.
85th over: England 273-8 (Bairstow 126, Finn 7) Bairstow takes a single off the second, leaving Finn to deal with the rest of Eranga’s over. This he does with some style, on the way turning a delivery that was heading well wide of off stump to the square leg boundary, a very fine shot which both he and Bairstow find absolutely hilarious. “Viv Richards, eat your heart out,” gushes Ian Botham.
Brian Charles Finn?
— Elizabeth Ammon (@legsidelizzy) May 20, 2016
AzharuFinn...
— George Dobell (@GeorgeDobell1) May 20, 2016
84th over: England 266-8 (Bairstow 125, Finn 3) Bairstow spots a yawning chasm of uncluttered lawn over midwicket and chips the ball in the air and into the space, the ball bouncing away for four. Next ball he leans back and cuts between slips and gully for four more. What with that and the first, fourth and fifth balls going for two apiece, Pradeep’s desperate to stop Bairstow getting a single off the last, so he bowls a bouncer that flies so far over the batsman’s left shoulder a wide is signalled, and Bairstow then gets three off the last. That’s an 18-run over, the most productive of the innings by a distance. “You can tell Lee Smith that, as a Lancashire supporter, I say you can never get enough DOOMEDs in early doors,” writes Phil Sawyer. “It saves time later on which you can then devote to weeping.”
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83rd over: England 248-8 (Bairstow 108, Finn 3) Bairstow’s drive down the ground bounces up towards Eranga, who gets a hand to it and thus stops it disappearing away for four. He gets a couple, and then a single, leaving Finn a two deliveries to face. The second leads to a ludicrous lbw appeal, as a rising delivery hits a 6ft 6in human in the hip. “I think Chris is a bit pessimistic,” agrees Sam Honywill. “Not a great score and certainly not where England should have been when 220-odd for 5, but there’s been swing in the air throughout, a bit of nibble off a pitch which also appears to have quickened up, and even a hint of uneven bounce, albeit only outside off stump so far. England certainly are not in any position to dominate, but they’re well in the game.”
82nd over: England 245-8 (Bairstow 105, Finn 3) Finn’s ambitions are abundantly clear here, as he sets out to survive the over and does precisely that, no more and no less. “Surely Chris Drew needs to wait until after the Sri Lanka first innings before starting with the Dad’s Army Doomed,” insists Lee Smith. “Or is he a Lanky supporter?”
81st over: England 245-8 (Bairstow 105, Finn 3) Eranga gets us restarted, and his second ball’s a corker, full and fast and flying just past a squirming Bairstow and his nervous bat. If bats can be nervous. Which they can’t. Anyway, Bairstow eventually adds a couple of runs to his swelling tally.
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Hello world!
“England are looking doomed to a low first innings score here,” complains Chris Drew. Be careful what you call low – this is England’s 14th consecutive Test against Asian opposition in which they have exceeded 240 runs in their first innings; before that they’d failed to reach that mark in four of six matches.
This innings is entering its fourth session. Given yesterday’s rainfall and the weekend forecast, even though they’ll probably play until 7pm wherever possible, well over a quarter of the game has been played. This hasn’t been a brilliant innings but on that basis it hasn’t been terrible either, even if the scoring has been a bit slow at times.
Anyway, the players are back out, and there’s a new ball in play. Let’s rock.
That’ll do from me for now. Simon Burnton will gently, tenderly guide you through the first bit of the afternoon session. Email Simon.Burnton@theGuardian.com or tweet @Simon_Burnton.
To celebrate Bairstow’s century, here’s Donald McRae’s interview with him from the start of the week. It is, as you might expect, a wonderful read.
Lunch: England 243-8
Jonny Bairstow delights the chaps in Jonny Bairstow masks by scoring his century, but beyond him that wasn’t an especially clever morning from England. Hales looked scratchy before getting out, while Ali and Broad’s wickets were limper than week-old lettuce. Depends how you look at this total: from 83-5 this looks OK, but from 224-5, not quite so much. Still, if Bairstow gets going after lunch they could well crack on to around 300.
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80th over: England 243-8 (Bairstow 103, Finn 3) Chameera sends down a sharp bouncer that zips past Finn as he ducks and desperately tries to keep hands and bat away from it. A fuller one on his toes is clipped in front of mid-wicket for a couple, then some more short stuff vaguely troubles Finn but, after a quick conference to ensure this is the final over of the morning, he survives for lunch.
79th over: England 241-8 (Bairstow 103, Finn 1) A shot! Finn plays a shot! Clipping a single through mid-wicket after a series of doughty blocks from Herath.
Bairstow’s Yorkshire colleagues have been watching, I see...
Bluey 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 @jbairstow21 pic.twitter.com/Rqtd35EHve
— Jack Brooks (@BrooksyFerret) May 20, 2016
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Not out!
Sliding well down leg, as it turns out.
Review!
Herath gets one past Bairstow’s inside edge, it hits the back pad and they go up with gusto....it’s turned down and it takes a while before Mathews decides to review, but they might as well - the last batsman, under two overs before the new ball and the reinstated reviews...
78th over: England 239-8 (Bairstow 103, Finn 0) Hundred for Bairstow! It’s achieved in slightly curious fashion, with a push straight to short extra cover that is then flung at the non-striker’s stumps, it goes awry and they come through for a couple of overthrows. Bairstow celebrates with glee, a Test century at Headingley, and it’s suddenly a little misty in here. Bairstow takes another two with a drive that goes past that short fielder, then a single out to deep backward point.
It doesn't get much more Headingley than seeing a pint of bitter being tipped all over three chaps wearing Bairstow masks... #ENGvSL
— Dan Quarrell (@Dan_Eurosport) May 20, 2016
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77th over: England 234-8 (Bairstow 98, Finn 0) Bairstow is happy to give Finn the strike with a single off Herath. The Watford Wall plays a few solid defensive shots, which are greeted like dashing cover drives by the crowd, who may be a couple of ales to the good by now.
76th over: England 233-8 (Bairstow 97, Finn 0) Hmmmm. Bairstow might need to get a bit of a wriggle on if he wants his hundred now...
WICKET! Broad b Chameera 2 - England 233-8
Broad is the new man, and gets off the mark straight away with a jab out towards the cover boundary, where it’s saved but they take two. Broad, it will not stun you to learn, is here for a good time, rather than necessarily a long time, and he plays a big drive way outside off that gets a thick edge, and onto his stumps. This is a clatter, now.
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WICKET! Ali c Mendis b Chameera 0 - England 231-7
Well, that was a limp end to an innings that never really got started. Ali jabs at a ball around his knees, gets a thick inside edge and it goes straight to Mendis at short-leg, who takes a smart catch.
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75th over: England 230-6 (Bairstow 96, Ali 0) Bairstow tucks a single off his pads, then Herath sends down a pretty quick five balls to Moeen. The flighty lefty does like to get the drive out quite early on, so Herath obviously wants to tie him down. Ali does get out with a few of those drives, mind.
74th over: England 229-6 (Bairstow 95, Ali 0) Bowling change, as Chameera celebrates that catch by entering the attack. That catch ensured one century isn’t going to happen, but another looks very much on, as Bairstow chops a couple down to third man, then pushes more directly to the same man for a single.
73rd over: England 225-6 (Bairstow 92, Ali 0) A couple of singles from Bairstow - one before the wicket, one after - then new batsman Moeen Ali plays out the last couple of balls.
WICKET! Hales c Chameera b Herath 86 - England 224-6
Hales decides to take Herath on, but doesn’t quite get to the pitch of the ball, coming down the pitch, and skies it to Chameera, who takes a decent catch running in from the cover boundary. A shame, but to be honest it’s mildly surprising he survived this long today.
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72nd over: England 223-5 (Hales 86, Bairstow 90) Still not quite happening for Hales: Mathews gives him a buffet ball - short, wide, slow - and he spanks it...straight to deep backward point, and what should have been at least a four only brings one. Still, he’s at least accumulating with some regularity now. Bairstow plays a similar shot which goes in front of the same fielder, and also takes one.
More anagrammary with Luke Williams, now: “Tipping a hat to Kimberley Thonger (Over 63), whose own name is crying out to be anagrammatized, Hales/Bairstow also covers ‘Hear a two? Bliss!’.”
71st over: England 221-5 (Hales 85, Bairstow 89) We have spin. Herath is on for his first bowl of the morning, and Bairstow immediately takes a single to watch what’s going on from the other end. Hales plays out the rest of a decent over with a series of vaguely uncertain jabs and prods, save for a clod down the ground for a single.
While I would like to see the big man go one more, this would be pleasing...
@NickMiller79 Surely all Stats Fans are waiting for Hales to get out for 99 in all three formats? Surely?
— Jim (@worldofjim) May 20, 2016
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70th over: England 219-5 (Hales 84, Bairstow 88) Drop! Hales plays airily but strongly at a shorter, wider one and gets a flashing thick edge, which flashes to the right of Dimuth Karunaratne at second slip, but he’s pretty close and it was pretty quick, so he can only parry the thing. He gets two runs, but it is a bit of a struggle for Hales at the moment.
Robert Wolf Petersen’s been on: “If the Ramayana is to be believed, there was a time when Sri Lanka was known simply as ‘Lanka’, and was home to demonic hordes and enemies of dharma called rakshasas. Presumably it’s picked up a bit since then.”
69th over: England 217-5 (Hales 82, Bairstow 88) High comedy as Shanaka loses grip of the ball in his gather, and it loops in the air to where silly point would’ve been. Bairstow makes to chase after it, then in amusing fashion very deliberately makes sure he’s in his ground. We have a laugh, don’t we? Next ball Bairstow drives with something like a thick inside edge, and it goes at half pace past Herath at mid-on, but the old boy isn’t especially fleet of foot and they take three. A couple of balls later it’s three more, as Hales does more or less the same thing, but this time from a slightly back-foot clip off his pads. Two more singles, both cuts to deep point, and that’s eight from the over.
68th over: England 209-5 (Hales 78, Bairstow 84) First real loose shot of the day from Hales, who drives in that vaguely awkward-looking way of his and misses, the ball sliding past the edge by a matter of millimetres. Bairstow then starts a frankly bonkers run from one that Hales dabbed down to gully, before scrambling back after being told in no uncertain terms that there was not a run on there. Decent over from Mathews (there was another missed-the-outside-edge in there too), and it’s a maiden.
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They’re having a drink, so why not have a listen to a splendid podcast? It’s called Freelance CC, and it features OBOers past (well, yesterday) in Will Macpherson and future (well, tomorrow) Vithushan Ehantharajah. It’s good. Trust me.
67th over: England 209-5 (Hales 78, Bairstow 84) A two! A two for Hales! He rocks back and punches through the covers, but the man from deep point runs around to deny him the boundary. Another rather expansive shot goes rewarded only with a single, Hales flicking with some élan down to deep square, the sort of shot that he would have tried to clear the stands with in a Twenty20.
66th over: England 206-5 (Hales 75, Bairstow 84) Hales only going in singles so far, getting another one to once again remove himself from strike. Mathews seems to have convinced himself he’s Colin Croft, sending down a couple of short ones, one so high that’s it’s called as a no ball for the second over shoulder bumper of the over.
65th over: England 204-5 (Hales 74, Bairstow 84) Woof. Bairstow gets himself a boundary with a scrumptious straight drive betwixt bowler and mid-on, inspiring the expected gruff “SHAAAAAAAAAT LAD” from the Yorkshire locals.
This seems like a splendid thing to be doing with your time/life...
@NickMiller79 we're looking for a volunteer to help with our Refugee Cricket Project: something for an OBO fan?? https://t.co/Vr2NBImxVb
— Refugee Council (@refugeecouncil) May 20, 2016
64th over: England 200-5 (Hales 74, Bairstow 80) It’s a double trundle for Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon - although more on that shortly), as Angelo Mathews brings himself into the attack. Bairstow wanders across his stumps and shovels the ball into The Gap for a single, before Mathews rather adorably attempts a bouncer, which loops like a shuttlecock over Hales’ head, and Chandimal behind the stumps has to use every inch of his reach to stop it going for byes and so forth.
“Never mind Ceylon,” says Jonathan McCauley-Oliver, “before that Sri Lanka was known as Serendip because early Persian sailors would make a happy discovery of it after a long sea voyage and replenish their stocks and stomachs.”
So there. Jonathan brings you genuinely interesting trivia, I bring you...
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63rd over: England 199-5 (Hales 74, Bairstow 79) Bowling change, and the debutant is back, Shanaka getting a go as the Leeds skies cloud over. “Apropos of nothing,” writes Kimberley Thonger.” Hales/Bairstow is an anagram of ‘Ha, I bats slower.’” As if to prove the point/anagram, Bairstow largely leaves Shanaka’s over alone, apart from the last ball which he tries to turn into the legside, but gets a leading edge into the covers and they get one.
Tony Rowlinson has been at the stats: “For batsman who have made it to test level I’ve been looking at how test average compares to first class and the majority of players test average’s I have seen so far (it’s a work in progress) have been about +/- 3 runs around their first class average. Hales currently has 37.86 in first class so if he makes it we could expect an average probably around 35 to 41. I’m not sure if any of that’s helpful or interesting.”
62nd over: England 198-5 (Hales 74, Bairstow 78) “Whereas I have nothing but love for our russet cousins,” writes the presumably non-auburn Ant Pease, “whenever he’s bowling to Bairstow, all I can hear in my head is “The bowler’s Eranga, the batsman’s a ranga,” and it’s slowly driving me mad. Please help.”
I suppose it would help if Hales kept the strike, but he steadfastly refuses that request by taking a quick single. Bairstow replies in kind, then Hales sees out the rest of the over from Pradeep that’s so wide it’s halfway to Otley.
And now, a fully-deserved admonishment for your OBOer, from Ian Palmer: “Solid start to the day for England.’ Really? You said that? Really? I hope I don’t have to blame you for the collapse of England shortly because I will write some fairly cutting remarks in an email to you if we do collapse, and you will deserve every stinging word I send. You should know better than that.”
Sorry.
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61st over: England 196-5 (Hales 73, Bairstow 77) Eranga’s back with the offside field, and Bairstow benefits from a thick inside edge which trundles through the very vacant mid-wicket for a couple. That levels the scores for the batsmen, but only for a few balls as Bairstow jumps all over a shorter, wide one and cuts down past a diving third man and to the boundary.
Ever wanted to see a pantomime zebra twerk? “I’m assuming whoever started the zebra riffs has to take responsibility for this,” writes Matthew Valentine.
60th over: England 190-5 (Hales 73, Bairstow 71) Hales inches along once more, pushing a rapid single into the covers. Then - DROP! Bairstow tries to launch a drive over the bowler’s head, but gets a bit of a leading edge and it flies straight back to Pradeep, but he seems to trip over his own feet at the crucial moment and grasses the thing. A lucky escape for Bairstow, which he celebrates with another quick single.
Here’s Christopher Dale with some thoughts on Ally H: “Is anybody else slightly bemused by the praise of Hales’ innings yesterday for being “out-of-character”? Good innings, particularly given the late-morning/early-afternoon collapse, but Hales is scarcely Virinder Sehwag. He’s got into the test side on the basis of runs scored opening at an extremely swing-friendly ground, as much as he has for his limited overs form.
“Minor point, perhaps, but the references to Hayden, Trescothick and Warner with Hales are deceptive. None of them were/are openers in the mould Sehwag or Jayasuriya (sloggers), they’re technically correct batsmen who are naturally aggressive, as is Hales. His cuts and drives yesterday were exactly that, proper cuts and drives, high elbowed and straight-batted.
“Expecting Hales to score like a subcontinental opener, teeing off from the first ball, entirely misses that batsmen can still vary style and tempo between formats, and that T20 and ODI Hales won’t be Test Hales.”
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59th over: England 188-5 (Hales 72, Bairstow 70) Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) have gone for a 7-2 field, meaning there’s enough wide open space at mid-wicket to train a horse in. This is leading to two things: firstly, Eranga is very much erring on the side of caution and dragging things very wide outside off (and the swing is taking it wider), while at the same time Bairstow is shuffling across his stumps to try shoving the ball into the gap. No runs in that over, you therefore won’t be stunned to learn.
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58th over: England 188-5 (Hales 72, Bairstow 70) Pradeep continues from the Football Stand End, gets one to thud into Hales’ pads and begins an appeal, but then spots that it got to the protective equipment via a pretty chunky inside edge. Hales then gets his first run of the morning with a nudge just in front of mid-wicket - he has looked a little edgy, but that might settle him down a smidge. Bairstow ends the over with a single of his own. Solid start to the day for England.
57th over: England 186-5 (Hales 71, Bairstow 69) Bairstow jabs the ball just wide of the man at around deep backward point, they come through for a pair and that brings up the hundred partnership. A couple of balls later he flicks it to the other end of the field, and some absolutely whipsmart running turns a long single to deep backward square into another two.
Presumably solid partnerships rescuing a previously sticky Test match situation is what Father John Misty was singing about here.
56th over: England 182-5 (Hales 71, Bairstow 65) There is a group of absolute hammer legends in the Western Terrace - which cricket journo Dave Tickner tells me is referred to as the ‘vocal party section’ on the YCCC website - watching the game in Jonny Bairstow masks and comedy ginger wigs. Their hero rewards them by pushing uncertainly outside off stump to Pradeep, and getting a thickish edge through about fourth slip and past where third man would’ve been, had he existed.
55th over: England 177-5 (Hales 71, Bairstow 60) It’s Shaminda Eranga from the other end, and Bairstow bids him a brisk good morning with a back foot drive through the covers and to the boundary. There’s limited cloud cover but there does seem to be a whiff of swing around, presumably reverse, which Bairstow does a decent job of covering. Eranga drops back of a length and Bairstow cuts neatly to third man for a single.
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54th over: England 172-5 (Hales 71, Bairstow 55) Nuwan Pradeep is the bowler, and Bairstow gets off the mark for the day with a jabby tuck off his thigh. Hales twirls the tattoo display boards he has instead of arms to get the blood flowing. Just the single from the over, the rest of which Hales largely leaves alone.
@NickMiller79 as @selvecricket said, Hales hasn't reined his red ball game in much. He has a 1st class SR of 59. He's often watchful early
— Daniel Forman (@dannyforman) May 20, 2016
This is true. I meant limited overs county cricket, but missed out some words, like a buffoon.
“Nick, as nice as it would be for Hales to reach his ton,” writes Kevin ‘Bloody’ Wilson, “let’s not forget that Robson, Lyth and Compton (twice!) did the same and were all dropped within seven or so tests each. I’m confident he’ll do better than any of them long term though.”
Quite so.
The players are out on the field. It’s sort of sunny. It’s cricket. Lovely.
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Damn right. Real men cry at songs.
@NickMiller79 That Monkees song is as beautiful as an Ian Bell cover drive. I'm in pieces at my desk. Thank you.
— James Walsh (@jamesofwalsh) May 20, 2016
“As Hales has reined in his normal scoring rate,” writes a man who goes by the name Chopper1973, “should he get his century I’m presuming the always knowledgeable though sparse Yorkshire crowd will salute his Boycottian tribuite appropriately. Proper creekit.”
Weather report from Leeds: a bit cloudy but still sunny. No rain is forecast for today, but if you’ve got tickets for Saturday and Sunday it might be worth researching a pub to kill some time in. I can recommend a ten minute walk up the hill to Woodies.
And here’s Vic Marks on the lad Shanaka’s brilliant day in Yorkshire:
Just before lunch Dasun Shanaka had us scurrying for our cricket records just as England’s middle order were rushing around in their dressing room in pursuit of pads, thigh pads and boxes at the sudden fall of three wickets. All had seemed so serene at Headingley until the 24-year-old debutant was tossed the ball by his captain, Angelo Mathews.
Shanaka should not quite be regarded as Mathews’ last resort. The ball was only 18 overs old and England, at 44 without loss, were hardly racing away. But Shanaka was the fifth seamer to be employed by the Sri Lankans. Mathews, bowling into a strong breeze, had just yielded 10 runs in an over to Alex Hales and it had all looked terribly straightforward.
It was time for another change and Shanaka, if not the last resort, was the next of a decreasing number of options for Mathews. England might have sensed that it was time to accelerate and to test the nerve of a Test newcomer, who had taken only 26 first-class wickets in his life. His first two deliveries did not inspire great confidence. The first was very wide of off-stump and disdainfully ignored by Hales; the radar registered 77mph. The second was just as wide and a full toss; Hales stretched hard and just reached it. The ball skewed off square of the wicket but crucially runs were saved by a sprawling dive. Shanaka took a deep breath, found a length and emerged with a confidence-enhancing maiden over.
Here’s Alex Hales telling Ali Martin that England need to place boot to throat this morning:
It’s delicately poised at the moment and the first hour will shape the game,” said Hales, who struck 12 fours in a watchful innings of 154 balls as he went past the 60 he made in Cape Town during his maiden series against South Africa over the winter.
“If we can get through the morning without losing any scalps it will stand us in good stead but give them a sniff and they will be all over us. The way Jonny counterattacked was brilliant. There was consistent swing most of the day, a bit of nibble and bounce so I had to rein myself in. I’m pleased to get through it but it’s just the start.”
You’ll want to catch up on yesterday. Here’s Mike Selvey’s report from Headingley:
Before the rain came to wash out play beyond the tea interval, we had the makings of a game at Headingley. A first session to Sri Lanka, in the course of which a young debutant seamer managed to take three wickets for the loss of just one run, was countered in the afternoon by an unbroken retaliatory partnership of 88 in 21 overs between Alex Hales, playing what is even now comfortably his most accomplished Test innings, and Jonny Bairstow, batting with real urgency but without any recklessness, that left the day evenly poised. Hales will resume on 71 and Bairstow 54, as England, 83 for five at one stage and staring at an embarrassing start to the series, reached 171 without further loss.
England’s slump was dismally processional and to some extent self-inflicted, the mindset that suggests a moving ball can best be countered by flinging the bat at it and teeing off proving naive. But nothing should detract from the performance of the Sri Lankan seamers, who until they broke ranks a little with the advent of Bairstow, were excellent. Headingley was overcast all day, the sort of conditions in which bowlers can, and generally have, flourished; a capriciousness that tends to disappear when, or if, the clouds roll away and the sun emerges. There is a secret to bowling at this ground in particular though and one that all too often in the past England, in looking to pick bowlers specifically because they can swing the ball, have chosen to ignore. In these conditions, the skill is not in making the ball do something because it will manage that without trying, but to ensure it goes consistently down the right channels and to a fullish length.
A Test hundred is an arbitrary thing. In terms of judging a batsman’s performance it’s no better than scoring 99. Well, it’s one better, but you get the idea. It shouldn’t matter. It’s just a number. Thing is, though, it does matter. Specifically it matters to players, who gain confidence and pride and whatever else you like from raising their bat, especially if it’s their first.
So if you’re at all sympathetic to England you’ll be hoping for Alex Hales to get another 29 runs or more today, not least because it will be a delicious bird to those who reckoned he doesn’t have the technique for Test cricket. It’s been slowish going for Hales - certainly slower than some of his county knocks - but there it is. This is not a county knock, and a hundred here would vindicate the decision to go with a dasher at the top of the order. Plus, from an English perspective it would be nice to have an opener actually stick around for more than ten minutes.
Preamble
Morning everyone. Am I allowed to say that? Doesn’t feel quite right without Richie around. Anyway, there it is.
Nicely poised, this. The first day panned out pretty much exactly as Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow apparently told Alastair Cook beforehand: bit of trouble early on, but after that everything flattens out a bit and runs ahoy. Bairstow and Alex Hales have put on 88 to calm things down for England after that blustering clatter of early wickets, that had as much to do with some ropey shots as good bowling, although hats off to debutant Dasun Shanaka for at least throwing it up there.
Anyway, here’s something I didn’t expect: the Monkees have a new song, and it’s beautiful.
Nick will be here soon.
