Category Archives: English cricket

February 20, 2020 · 2:33 am

Whistle-Stop Boosts in Sri Lankan Cricketing History

Nicholas Brookes at https://wisdenblog.wordpress.com/2020/02/06/notes-from-a-small-island/ …. with this chosen title “Play to the Whistle” … with highlighting added and Pix illustrative and not always from such moments

Until 1982 Sri Lanka were stranded on the fringes of international cricket: a small island, marooned. Life on the outside wasn’t easy, but Sri Lanka still had something to make most of the cricketing world envious. You might call it a geographical blessing.

In the days before planes, the only way to get between England and Australia was by boat. It was an arduous journey that could take up to three months and required a stopover. With the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, Ceylon (as it was called until 1972) emerged as the natural point of transit.

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February 3, 2020 · 7:24 am

Bradman’s Last Hurrah! A Duck!

Dan Coliasimone, in ABCnet, 1 February 2020, where the title runs “The inside story of Don Bradman’s final innings duck”

“Out from the pavilion came the short, slight, little figure whose name will still be in bright lights as long as cricket is played.” This is how a contemporary newspaper report set the scene for Sir Donald Bradman’s last innings.

Bradman b. Hollies… 00 — Photo supplied by State Library of South Australia

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December 28, 2019 · 8:00 am

Alfred Holsinger’s Unmarked Bowling Haul in UK: 6 wkts in six balls

Though Lasith Malinga, who picked up four wickets in four balls, has been immortalized in the annals of cricket, another Sri Lankan bowler who picked up six wickets in six balls continues to be in oblivion. Even though this rare feat was achieved in a club game in England, Holsinger’s accomplishment merits a lot of recognition since not often do bowlers produce such an unusual phenomenon.

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December 8, 2019 · 2:10 pm

Tripl Centuries!**! Huge Innings, Dull Games –From Adelaide to the SSC Grounds

Geoff Lemon, in Daily News, 7 December 2019, with this title “Like those of greats before him, David Warner’s triple century was a giant feat in a dull game”

When David Warner made his unbeaten 335 in Adelaide, a fair few people felt inclined to present some caveats. The pitch was flat, the bowlers were no good, the ball didn’t swing, Mercury was in retrograde. Those opinions would hardly have been muffled when the Pakistan tail-ender Yasir Shah made his first Test ton in reply, having never previously passed 50.

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November 26, 2019 · 2:54 am

England’s Tragedy at Mount Maunganui is charted by Dannie Byrne

Dannie Byrne, Travelling Reporter Extraordinary, provides a Day-by-Day Account of England’s Descent at Mount Maunganui

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November 11, 2019 · 9:54 am

MCC Cricket Season to be launched at Galle in late March 2020

News Item, 31 October 2019, ….. https://www.lords.org/lords/news-stories/mcc-champion-county-match-to-be-held-in-sri-lanka

The traditional curtain-raiser to the new English domestic season, which dates back to 1970 in its current guise, will be played at the Galle International Stadium between 24th and 27th March 2020. The Champion County match, which sees MCC play the winners of the Specsavers County Championship in a four-day first-class match, was played at Lord’s until 2010 when the match first moved abroad.

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September 17, 2019 · 4:28 pm

Day Four at the Oval: Broad and Leach complete the victory for England despite valiant resistance from Wade

Dannie Byrne

Lyon bowled the first over of the day and immediately got the ball to turn away from Leach. He dropped short and Leach clubbed it to the extra cover fence. Cummins bowled from the other end and Archer was caught behind off his glove down the leg side. Marais Erasmus initially ruled not out but Paine used the DRS successfully for a change and Archer was obliged to return to the Pavilion ( 317 – 9 ). It was Cummins’ 29th wicket of the series, the highest in an Ashes Series by a bowler not taking five wickets in any innings. Broad hit Cummins for a six straight over Siddle’s head at deep square leg and with five men on the boundary he smashed another six into the groundsmen’s hut under the Bedser Stand. Leach was caught at wide mid-on by Hazlewood off Lyon and the home side were all out for 329 effectively setting the Australians an unlikely target of 399 for victory.

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September 15, 2019 · 11:06 am

Days 2 and 3 at the London Oval via Dannie Byrne

Dannie Byrne in his element

DAY TWO Smith breaks more records but Archer and Curran swing things in favour of the home side; Day Two at the Oval.

The 50 partnership between Buttler and Leach was completed from 74 balls in the first over of the day when Buttler crashed the final delivery from Cummins to the extra cover boundary. Leach followed this with a lovely square drive off Marsh. Leach edged Marsh at catchable height through the vacant third slip area before Buttler was comprehensively bowled by Cummins attempting to hit the ball into the Pavilion again ( 294 – 9 ). Broad edged Cummins just short of Warner at first slip before Leach played on to Marsh without any additional runs being scored. The home side was all out for 294 from 87.1 overs and Marsh had taken five wickets in an innings for the first time in his 32nd Test appearance.

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September 15, 2019 · 9:46 am

From Colombo Oval to London Oval …. Strange Doings

Danny Byrne = “Late September sunshine and the Australian captain’s strange decision to bowl first; Day One at the Oval

When I checked out of the Renuka City Hotel in Colombo the Hotel manager’s final words asked me to take the rain with me. The following evening I was back in London when I received an email from Nick with a photograph of a beautiful sunset in Negombo. In the 15 days I was in Sri Lanka I don’t recall ever seeing the sun. The rainfall for August was well above the average level for the time of year and my uncanny reputation for creating precipitation wherever I go was further enhanced. However, it isn’t always directly my responsibility when it rains.

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August 31, 2019 · 3:56 pm

Heroes: Two Number Elevens who hung in There till the Last Hurrah …. Fernando and Leach

Andrew Fidel Fernando, in ESPNcricinfo, 30 August 2019, where the title is “The near-identical tales of Vishwa Fernando and Jack Leach taking their teams to epic wins”

On a warm weekend afternoon, a left-hand No. 5 batsman is on a fourth-innings warpath for the ages. There are fearsome quicks tearing in – bowlers who together form one of the most lethal attacks on the planet. They are breaking like waves but they can’t quench this inferno. The batsman is cutting, hacking, driving and reverse-bludgeoning his way through incredible odds. On the leg side, it’s open season. The area beyond the boundary is bombarded repeatedly. From the ground first, and later, thrillingly, from the air.

Heartbeats around the planet have quickened on his account. Shallow breaths are being drawn all through the stadium. But although he is batting better than he (or perhaps anyone) ever has, late in the piece, he must endure a moment of utter helplessness. Continue reading →

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