Coach Andrew McDonald hopes the batters can tire out England’s quick at Old Trafford

Andrew McGlashan11-Jul-2023Mark Wood has changed the mood around this Ashes and Australia know they need to find a way to exhaust him to nullify his impact.Wood claimed seven wickets at Headingley, including 5 for 34 in the first innings, and touched speeds of 96mph as Australia faced an entirely new challenge to one that confronted them in the first two Tests.At Edgbaston and Lord’s, Australia managed to put considerable overs into England’s quicks but at Headingley their two innings lasted for 60.4 and 67.1 overs. Wood did extend himself into a seven-over spell at the back-end of Australia’s second innings, but Ben Stokes was largely able to use him for maximum impact.Related

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It made the double loss of Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith even more of pivotal moment, especially given England were a bowler down with Ollie Robinson having suffered back spasms.Wood’s performance continued an impressive record against Australia which has now brought him 34 wickets at 27.76, although prior to Leeds the majority of that had come from the 2021-22 Ashes tour where he claimed 17 at 26.64, a rare bright spot in a forgettable series for England.He caused Labuschagne and Smith uncomfortable moments, removing them a combined five times in the four matches he played. Both were again rushed by Wood’s pace at Headingley and this time his efforts at hurrying up Australia’s top order and cutting through the tail in the first innings ended with victory. He also brought wickets at the other end; it was no coincidence that he was bowling when Moeen Ali claimed his double.”I think the plans we had leading in, they’ll remain the same,” Australia coach Andrew McDonald said. “In the first innings he was swinging the ball at pace and that’s a challenge for top order, lower order.”You can plan for things but when you get out there you’ve got to be able to adapt and adjust. And maybe we didn’t do that in the first innings of the game.”Going forward, we’re going to be challenged with that. He’s a good bowler, he gives them variety in their attack and I think if we can put a few overs into him we saw that the ball speed can drop off a little bit.”But when he’s got his tail up he’s going to be a handful, so I think deny him any opportunities to make inroads and keep him out there a bit longer.”When Wood knocked over Australia’s tail in the first innings it was largely with the fuller delivery, crashing into the stumps of Mitchell Starc and Todd Murphy while pinning Pat Cummins lbw. In contrast, Australia bowled shorter at England’s lower order when they helped add 95 in 10 overs after lunch on the second day, and used a similar approach in the chase.By way of comparison, Australia bowled 52 deliveries classed as short or short of a length to England’s Nos. 8-11 in the Test, which brought three wickets but cost 65 runs. England bowled 40 balls classed as good length or full at Australia’s tail, taking four wickets and only costing 21 runs.McDonald believed that conditions played a big part in what tactics worked well, but added Australia would assess how they went about it.”The short ball’s been used more regularly in this series than I’ve ever seen before,” McDonald said. “And with the short ball comes the risk of runs, and that sometimes happens – shorter boundaries, faster outfield and the short ball probably didn’t reap the same rewards with the lower order as it has.”But I still think it’s going to be a plan that’s employed throughout the series. I think if it works you say that it works, and if it doesn’t then you’re probably on the opposite side.”Day one Mark Wood had ball speed and the ball was shifting, the overheads were pretty thick and you tend to pitch the ball up a lot more in those conditions. When the sun comes out and the ball’s not shifting as much, you’ve probably got less options on the fuller side so we’ve got to always balance that. We critique ourselves pretty harshly so we’ll be looking into that no doubt.”Ultimately, McDonald felt it was the two-hour session late on the third day after rain where the game took its decisive swing as England worked through Australia’s middle and lower order although Travis Head’s 77 gave the visitors a chance.”[There are] some areas where we can no doubt improve and a little bit of credit goes to England,” he said. “At certain times they got the conditions in their favour and they maximised those, and I thought [Saturday] went a long way to deciding the fortunes of today.”In difficult batting conditions, they maximised them with the ball and put us probably in a position where we didn’t have enough runs to be as creative as we would have liked.”

The Andhra player was primarily a batter at age group level but has since been working hard on his fast bowling

S Sudarshanan13-Jan-2024After close to 50 overs on another hot Mumbai day, Andhra’s time on the field had finally come to a close, and that’s not counting the 88 they delivered yesterday. Their tired bodies were on auto-pilot when Hanuma Vihari paused just before heading into the dressing room. He stepped aside, broke into applause and asked Nitish Kumar Reddy to lead the team off.Reddy picked up five wickets, his second in first-class cricket, in the Ranji Trophy clash against Mumbai at the Sharad Pawar Academy. Among his dismissals on the first day were Ajinkya Rahane for a first-ball duck and Shreyas Iyer after a free-flowing 48.Brought on as the second change bowler in the 12th over, Reddy struck in his sixth over dismissing Jay Bista and Rahane off successive balls. While Rahane’s lbw call was contentious, it was still pretty much the perfect inswinger, full length, with prodigious movement in the air creating problems for the new batter.”I bowled a lot of outswingers [to Bista and Bhupen Lalwani] and tested their patience,” Reddy said on Friday evening. “I did not bowl any inswingers from the start of the innings. So [Hanuma] Vihari and Ricky [Bhui, captain] came to me and asked me to get the sharp inswing [going]. ‘Let it be full toss or yorker, but you should hit the pad,’ they said. I just came and delivered that, and it worked. In this game, it was first inswinger.”We actually planned the bouncers for Shreyas, but were leaking too many runs. That’s when we came to the normal plan and we bowled full [from around the wicket], and it worked,” Reddy said of Iyer’s wicket, caught by the wicketkeeper.On Saturday, he had Tanush Kotian and Shams Mulani caught at slip to complete the five-for and leave Mumbai on 316 for 8. Vihari had grassed Mulani at first slip a ball before he pouched one to signal the celebrations for Reddy. Andhra, however, had to wait a further 37.4 overs as the last two wickets for Mumbai added 79.Reddy rose through the ranks for Andhra as an opening batter, primarily. He batted No. 3 in the Vinoo Mankad Under-19 tournament in 2018-19. He opened for India Green in the Under-19 Challenger Trophy that same season. He turned up at No. 3 or 4 for Andhra as well at the senior level. At the same time, he kept working hard on his fast bowling until eventually a decision had to be made.”In my Under-16 days, I bowled with the new ball and was the opening batter,” he said. “I got plenty of runs and picked up wickets too. But as I went along, I found it hard to open the batting as well as bowling – padding up after bowling a lot of overs, I felt it affected my concentration.”A conversation with his coaches led him to shift down the order and contribute in both the facets. Like picking up five wickets against Maharashtra in December 2022 or scoring 66 batting at No. 7 against Delhi in January 2023.”It is hard that allrounders do all the jobs – fielding, batting and bowling,” Reddy, who classifies himself as a batting allrounder, said. “It is really hard. Hardik Pandya is doing brilliant; and even Ben Stokes. So I just admire them, enjoy seeing them and I like them.”Sunrisers Hyderabad selected Reddy for his base price of INR 20 lakh in the auction ahead of IPL 2023, where he played two matches but returned wicketless and did not get to bat.”There are a lot of differences in domestic cricket and the IPL, not in terms of the game itself but in terms of preparations levels,” he said. “There will be a crowd in the IPL while not so much here [in domestic cricket]. In the IPL I was at deep point. Bhuvaneshwar [Kumar] is bowling. The batsman just sliced the ball.”In domestic cricket, we hear the sound of the ball hitting bat and [know whether] it is timed well or not. We will accordingly chase the ball in that direction. But in the IPL, I did not hear the sound. I just ran ahead, thought it was mistimed but eventually missed it. I couldn’t hear the sound off the bat due to the crowd. There are a lot of things to learn.”Andhra were 98 for 3 after day two, trailing Mumbai’s first innings score of 395 by 297. With plenty of time left in the game, there’s chance for Reddy to earn more applause perhaps with a batting show.

Both teams have had a forgettable few months, and now fresh challenges await in Khettarama

Andrew Fidel Fernando05-Jan-2024Like cartoon villains hanging in mid-air having just run off the edge of a cliff, both Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe could have big, dramatic drops in their near future.Sri Lanka bombed their World Cup campaign to finish ninth and failed to qualify for the Champions Trophy in 2025. Zimbabwe are smarting from even bigger failures – first, they did not qualify for last year’s ODI World Cup despite being hosts for the qualifying tournament, and, more recently they have fallen short of making it to the upcoming T20 World Cup. This series – three ODIs and three T20Is, all at Khettarama – provides both teams with the opportunity to claw back some credibility.For Sri Lanka, nothing short of a dominant performance across both series will do. There will be some pressure on new ODI captain Kusal Mendis and new T20I captain Wanindu Hasaranga to begin their tenures on bright notes. Zimbabwe had historically been a challenge that Sri Lanka brushes off, but in recent years these teams have come much closer together largely through Sri Lanka’s long-term decline. Since 2017, Zimbabwe have won five of these teams’ 11 ODIs, even winning a series. All but three of those matches were played in Sri Lanka. (In T20Is, these teams have not played each other since 2012.)Zimbabwe are just looking for something to celebrate. They’ve lost their four most recent ODIs and in the T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier, the losses to Namibia and Uganda which prevented their qualification for this year’s big ICC event, will haunt them for some time.On Khettarama tracks that are likely to be low and slow as usual, here are four questions that could define the contest.How will Zimbabwe’s top order cope?
Since January 2023, no Zimbabwe batter has scored anywhere nearly as heavily as Sean Williams, who produced 720 at an average of 90, and a strike rate of 129. He has not travelled with the team, due to injury though, leaving the likes of captain Craig Ervine, Ryan Burl, and Sikandar Raza to feel the pressure of keeping the batting afloat. Wessly Madhevere is also absent after he breached anti-doping rules.Related

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Can Dilshan Madushanka sustain his excellence?
If there was one silver lining to Sri Lanka’s torrid World Cup campaign, it was the 21 wickets provided by left-arm quick Madushanka. Those heroics have since earned him a contract worth more than USD 550,000 with Mumbai Indians, but he remains only a fledgling bowler at international level with 15 ODIs under his belt. He and Dushmantha Chameera – who also bowls at faster than 140kph – are both fit for the ODIs, and if at their best, will pose a serious dual threat with the new ball.Dasun Shanaka comes on the back of a decent List-A season•AFP/Getty ImagesCan Sri Lanka find more urgency with the bat?
While Zimbabwe need substance, many of Sri Lanka’s problems in the World Cup had to do with their rate of scoring, with problems around finishing in particular. The new selectors have added Avishka Fernando back into the mix and named Nuwanidu Fernando, and Janith Liyanage in the squad – all batters capable of scoring quickly at the domestic level.Dasun Shanaka, freshly ousted as captain, is still in the squad too and has been having a decent domestic List A season. He is likely to be the first-choice finisher in the ODIs, with Wanindu Hasaranga still under an injury cloud. Sri Lanka need their boundary hitters to bring the team’s scoring rates up to where the best white-ball teams operate.Can Zimbabwe’s bowlers turn their results around in SL?
Left-arm seamer Richard Ngarava has six wickets on the island at an average of 23.83, but aside from him, the other bowlers’ numbers on in Sri Lanka are unimpressive. Blessing Muzarabani averages 35.40, Raza 56, and Wellington Masakadza 105. Although Zimbabwe won an ODI series in Sri Lanka in 2017, that win had been largely down to their batting. With the square at Khettarama likely to wear as these series go on, we may be in for matches where bowlers chiefly define the outcome.

From players getting a shot at 36 to cricketers turning more self-reliant, the one year between the two WPLs appears to have changed the landscape already

Shashank Kishore22-Feb-202413:17

WPL 2024: Will it be the Capitals’ year? And what about RCB?

Gouher Sultana played the last of her 50 ODIs in 2014. She took four wickets in a match-winning spell but got dropped immediately for the next tour. At 36, she wonders what could’ve been had there been more avenues for her to perform.Gouher toiled in domestic cricket for Hyderabad, Puducherry, Railways and Bengal. Last December, she earned a WPL contract with the UP Warriorz, and over the coming week, she could be among the oldest players to feature in this year’s competition.This comeback has only been possible because of Gouher’s unwavering belief that she wasn’t finished, even though the system scoffed at her. A senior player says that wading through domestic cricket in one’s mid-30s is like being in a dark pit. You’re left to feed off crumbs of comfort.Things have slightly changed from those dark times, even though plenty more remains to be done at a systemic level. Domestic contracts are still just a dream, but match fees have been raised considerably, even though the volume of cricket barely makes the increase felt.The advent of the WPL has, however, incentivised domestic players to attract the attention of talent scouts through their performances. Ask Satheesh Shubha, a 24-year-old from Karnataka who kept churning big runs in domestic cricket from when she was 17.Last year, she moved to Railways to strengthen her case for an India call but was injured for much of the season. Yet, when she produced scores of 99 and 49 in an intra-squad red-ball practice game ahead of India’s one-off Test against England, she had impressed RCB’s scouts enough.A week later, Shubha celebrated not just the realisation of her India dream but also a maiden WPL gig. She earned more money from just that one Test than she may have across three previous domestic seasons combined.Considering she earned a Test cap post the auction, Shubha will now take home an INR 30 lakh contract as against the INR 10 lakh she was signed for with the BCCI incentivising domestic players, especially those signed at base prices, for being capped between WPL seasons.Shubha had the WPL to look forward to. Four years ago, Jemimah Rodrigues didn’t. What might her India career have been if not for a sensational run for Northern Superchargers in the 2021 Hundred? Dropped across formats, performing in a world-class tournament in front of a global audience reinvigorated her international career. Today, it’s inconceivable to think of an India XI without Rodrigues.Smriti Mandhana and co. gather for WPL 2024•RCB

‘Mindset change’

Earlier this week, at a pre-tournament camp in Bengaluru, a senior India player was asked to explain why a single off the second ball, after she had hit a boundary off the first, was her most prudent option while requiring 14 runs off five balls during a match simulation exercise. The session was stopped for the player to present her case.Several Indian domestic players that ESPNcricinfo spoke to echoed a similar sentiment, that it had been ingrained into them as youngsters to take a single after hitting a boundary.”We’re told to hit along the ground,” a player added. “At the domestic level, we are spoon-fed. Coaches have a set of instructions, and we try and follow them. We don’t deviate from set plans, we’re not trying different things.”Upon being prodded a little more on how this makes them feel, there’s a revealing answer.”We’re often caught between following instructions and not being able to think for ourselves. But last year, when we went into the WPL setup, it was quite surprising that we were asked to set our own field, formulate our own plans at team meetings.”Arjun Dev, Shreyanka Patil’s coach in Bengaluru, touched upon how she had to unlearn to re-wire herself ahead of the inaugural WPL.”She had the skills; it was more about helping her understand her game,” Dev explains. “She bowls at a quick pace for women’s cricket. Initially, she would be dubbed as this expensive offspinner. For me, most of the coaching was around making her understand [that] pace is her speciality, not a weakness.”A quirk of fate had it that Shreyanka’s first international wicket came off a yorker that she had fired across Heather Knight.”My biggest learning has been to think for myself and develop plans and then fine-tune it with people I trust,” Shreyanka told ESPNcricinfo. “When Mike [Hesson, Royal Challengers’ director of cricket] told me after our first training session how he was impressed that I had come fully prepared, it was a kind of vindication of my own beliefs and plans had worked so hard on.”Jon Lewis, head coach of UP Warriorz, acknowledges players’ inability to think for themselves at the age-group level has been a common problem in the setups he has been a part of.”When you have players coming into an environment where it’s healthy to challenge, ask questions and be direct, they wait until someone tells them what to do. It pleases me to find out a year later how their thinking [around this] has changed. That is truly the way they will be able to get the best out of themselves.”If you ask most senior international players what they’ve about their game over time, they’ll tell you it’s to trust their own judgment, to understand how to make decisions on the field. Of course, they’ll have coaches talking to them about it, talking, not telling them what to do.”My gut feel is, still at the domestic level, especially in India, players get told what to do all the time by the senior coaches or the hierarchical figure. Which at times can be really good when that person is around, but when they come to an environment like the WPL, where that person isn’t around, sometimes they can get lost. My job is to try and encourage thinking and growth, and how to deal with pressure, and playing situations because that is what will make them great international players.If you’ve got international players coming into the setup, looking and waiting around for someone to tell them what to do, unless they’re incredibly skilful at remembering what someone’s telling them, it’s an incredibly hard thing to do.”File photo: The UP Warriorz have stayed in touch with players over their development between seasons•BCCI

‘Franchises have had a massive role to play’

Until recently, domestic players were by themselves during the off-season. Pre-season camps being conducted in September for a season spanning November to February meant players were largely on their own.Last year, some WPL franchises conducted scouting and mid-year conditioning camps, and tailored personalised programmes for each of the domestic players keeping in mind their domestic commitments.Related

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It was during one such camp by the Mumbai Indians that SB Keerthana, a legspinner who had lost nearly four years of cricket to various injuries, impressed the coaches enough to earn a contract. She had been recommended to trial by Abhinav Mukund, the former India opener after he’d heard of her from his father, TS Mukund, a former first-class cricketer himself. Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Capitals and UP Warriorz had two mid-year camps.”It was an exercise in development and growth,” Lewis explains of the Warriorz’ approach. “At the end of the WPL, we spoke to every player and told them this is where they need to learn and develop, and we’ll check in a few months. That’s what we did in August.”We had a look at whether or not they’ve been able to work at their game. We looked at their calendars, how much cricket they were going to play at the domestic level and then tried to support them between that point and now to hopefully get some improvement in performance.”From what I can tell in practice, and it’s not game time yet and that’s what counts, I’ve seen quite a big shift in skill levels. We have more skilled cricketers here than we had at this time last year because we were clear about how we wanted them to develop. Whether that translates to performance on the field that’s up to whether they’re able to clear about their plans, but they’re definitely more skilful.”The other spin-off has been the introduction of the Under-15 tournament for the girls over the past two seasons. This has ensured girls at 14-15 are competing against players of similar age and maturity levels, as against those who competed against teams having players who are much older and physically more developed.These measures have helped streamline talent and ensure the feeder system is up and running. The ICC’s addition of an Under-19 T20 World Cup for women has been another welcome step.Four years ago when he took over as BCCI president, Sourav Ganguly’s biggest concern surrounding the formation of the WPL was a lack of talent depth. From there to see two uncapped Indians – Dinesh Vrinda and Kashvee Gautam – walking away with top honours at an open auction disproves those notions.There is depth and the expanding of the canvas at a systemic level will only further accelerate the progress women’s cricket in India is making. For that, we will have the WPL to thank.

He dominated attacks in the U-19 World Cup, but here he made an excellent century by being patient and cutting out risk

Vishal Dikshit23-Feb-2024A bear hug for the older son last week and an equally big embrace for the younger one on Friday.If Naushad Khan’s tearful reactions to Sarfaraz Khan’s Test debut in Rajkot spread like wildfire on social media last week, his emotional hug for Musheer Khan this evening after his maiden first-class hundred went unnoticed despite it happening in a metropolitan like Mumbai.Musheer, just 18, was playing only his fourth first-class game and it was a Ranji Trophy quarter-final for Mumbai at home against Baroda. After winning the toss, Mumbai found themselves at a precarious 90 for 4 on a turning and bouncing track. Without the injured Shreyas Iyer (back spasms) and Shivam Dube (side strain), without Sarfaraz (on national duty), and with an out-of-form captain Ajinkya Rahane (averaging 13.11 this season), the weight of Mumbai’s expectations fell on Musheer’s young shoulders as he walked out at No. 3.He had recently returned from the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa, where he was the second-highest scorer while averaging 60 and striking at 98.09. Musheer had to score quickly there because it was white-ball cricket, but when confronted with a tricky pitch at home, he needed to find a different gear.” (Our father has always prepared us for the red ball),” Musheer said after the day’s play. “We keep preparing with that and after returning from the Under-19 World Cup I had a few sessions with the red ball. So I was prepared for this.”With Baroda’s spinners, led by the experienced Bhargav Bhatt, exploiting the dampness in the pitch, Musheer knew he had to be tight. He relied on his technique to play the ball late and stayed away from any thoughts of playing the big shots. Unlike Sarfaraz, who is known for his aggressive batting, and even himself at the Under-19 World Cup where he struck eight sixes (the most for India), Musheer took care to keep the ball along the ground, although he did indulge in some audacious sweeps.”I trust my defence more,” he said of his shot selection. “I knew that if I would defend and play with the straight bat then I won’t get out easily unless one of the balls suddenly took off from the pitch.”Sarfaraz Khan (left) in his Under-19 days with his brother Musheer (middle) and father Naushad•Naushad KhanCall it patience or nerves of being in the nineties, Musheer spent a good few minutes and nine balls on 96 before he finally breached the three-figure mark with a single towards backward square leg to raise his arms. Just like Sarfaraz had punched the air from the non-striker’s end when his India team-mate Yashasvi Jaiswal had crossed 200 in Rajkot last week, Musheer’s team-mate Hardik Tamore punched the air for his partner’s landmark. Tamore had redefined what’s called “digging in” in a four-day game. In their unbroken stand of 106 for the sixth wicket, Tamore had gone from 4 off 43 to 15 off 90 at tea and 30 off 163 at stumps, with 137 dot balls.”My mindset was to talk to my batting partners to bat the whole day,” Musheer said. “Whether you score a hundred or double-hundred, it’s not easy to bat on this wicket, you’ll never be set. Some [balls] were turning, some were straightening. You can score boundaries only when you get those kind of balls so we were managing with singles.”He was not as settled early on but he defended his way through it and things got easier,” Musheer said of Tamore’s knock. “We had planned to bat through the day and kept targets of scoring five-six runs at a time.”” which means to hurry things up.”When I made my debut last year, I was thinking too far ahead,” he said. (I was racing ahead for no reason). And since they were my first few matches, there was some pressure. So this time I’m not thinking much and reacting to the ball.”I don’t think much now about many things, the focus is to play my normal game. If I get out early, it’s fine, otherwise I want to bat big.”Within a matter of 10 days the brothers have rewarded their father for the years of hard work he has put in with them. As Musheer gets a massage at the end of the day, a visibly tired Naushad waits outside on a bench before he can meet his son properly again. Naushad is feeling the fatigue from the constant travel he has to endure, whether to Hyderabad for the BCCI awards or Rajkot for a Test debut or Uttar Pradesh back home once in a while.But what might give him instant relief is that the rewards of all the hard work has just started to show.

England happy to take lessons of hard toil after largely fruitless day at Trent Bridge

Vithushan Ehantharajah19-Jul-2024It was always likely to come from the Fox Road Stand, where Trent Bridge tends to accommodate its more raucous patrons. These are where the beer snakes are conceived, and it was from this environment that a familiar tune emanated. At around 4.25pm on Friday, we had our first rendition of “Oh Jimmy Jimmy” in a post-Anderson world.West Indies were 243 for 3, and building. Alick Athanaze and Kavem Hodge were marching along confidently having brought up the team’s first 150-plus stand in over a year. The creep towards parity was turning into a jaunt. And the toil for the hosts, in 30-degree heat, with a Dukes not playing ball, was very real. In many ways, it was the perfect preparation for an Ashes tour.Were these the melodic afternoon cries of discontent from the (well-sauced) public? Probably not, given how quickly they shifted to “Well, I’ve never seen a pirate down a pint”.At the time, the man himself – Jimmy, not the pirate – was perched on the balcony of the Executive Members Suite. A bowling-mentor-over-the-shoulder view of Ben Stokes running in from the end now bearing Stuart Broad’s name. Fifteen minutes later, Stokes dismissed Athanaze to finally break the fourth-wicket partnership.England would go on to get another, as Woakes dismissed Hodge for a rich maiden century. But with just five batters seen off on day two of this second Test, it ranked as England’s third-least productive day’s play at Trent Bridge, set alongside the third-most runs they’ve conceded in a day anywhere, since 2011.Related

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The two spectres watching from on high had their Trent Bridge averages of 19.23 (Anderson) and 25.06 (Broad) flashing above their halos. Broad even quipped off-mic that their absence was clear upon finding out the opening five overs had showcased the least amount of new-ball swing in a decade. Nasser Hussain sold Broad down the river by relaying the remark to Sky Cricket viewers, but it was instructive to hear the half of the duo who went willingly speak so bluntly.As England showed by tripping over themselves on day one and still making it to 416, this was a good batting deck. Combined with conditions and a West Indies batting card keen to make amends after a dismal showing at Lord’s, maybe it was no surprise that the growing pains of moving beyond Anderson and Broad would be evident on the first day without either to call upon.And yet, on a day when the rest of the new world was struck down, with flights grounded and computers frazzling (including, briefly, Sky Sports’ feed), England were able to move on. At times uncertainly, but often with clear plans and never without enthusiasm.Chris Woakes was unable to find a helpful amount of swing with the new ball. So Gus Atkinson, opening the bowling for the fourth time in a competitive first-class match, lent on the cross-seamers that helped him pocket 12 in the first Test to find an edge.With West Indies openers set, the introduction of Mark Wood as first-change ramped up the intensity. An opening four-over spell in which overs three and two now rank as the first and second fastest delivered by an Englishman at home sent shockwaves throughout the away dressing-room.Mark Wood beat the bat regularly but went wicketless•AFP/Getty ImagesEach delivery followed a familiar routine: spectators shuffling to the edge of their seats, eyes bulging as the ball rocketed through before gasping at the speeds displayed on the big screens. Not one was under 90mph, with the fastest at 97.1mph even drawing hoots and hollers from those on the field.Had Joe Root held onto a chance at slip, not only would England have dismissed Hodge for 105 less than he eventually scored. West Indies would have been 140 for 4, and Wood would have had more to show for four gut-busting spells than just cramp in his left hamstring that forced him off the field after one ball of his 15th over. All in all, he elicited 19 plays and misses.Shoaib Bashir was gifted his first two home Test wickets, though could have had a more aesthetic dismissal in there – Kirk McKenzie, LBW for nought – had England decided to review. A 17-over spell at the Radcliffe Road End gave those unfamiliar with the off-spinner’s work an indication of why England left India so impressed with his endurance and pluck.The short-ball ploy, something of a staple of the McCullum era, was a success, even if there was only a solitary wicket to show for it with Atkinson’s removal of a settled Kraigg Brathwaite. The shelled edge from Hodge was the result of the right-hander hanging on the back foot. Athanaze, similarly, was pinned on the badge of his helmet trying to avoid Wood rather than take him on.Even Woakes, down on pace and still searching for his usual nip off the surface, returned at the dregs and was able to summon some troubling movement to beat both edges of Jason Holder’s bat. A third ball-change erred in the 35-year-old’s favour, this one finally offering some lateral movement, before it was discarded for a brand-new one for the final over of the day.As play wound down, the crowd were very much on side, conducted by Root at first slip with slow claps and encouraging waves to raise the volume. Holder and Joshua Da Silva were able to water down the merriment with an unbeaten 46 between them through to close. But England walked off satisfied – not so much for enduring the toil but glad they endured it.”I think you’ve got to go through different experiences, different periods of play,” assistant coach Paul Collingwood mused at stumps. “We didn’t expect to blow them away again, we knew they’d fight back.”You’ve got to go through periods where you’ve got to come up with different plans, trying to take 20 wickets to win the game. The experience will be really good for Gus, for Bash. There’s plenty of talent around, having these experiences will hold everyone in good stead for years to come.”Leading by just 65, with four wickets still to get, England still have plenty to do in this Test. What learnings from today will only count for something if they can build on it over the coming days.

The best photographs from Anderson’s final day as an international cricketer at Lord’s

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jul-2024James Anderson’s final day as an international cricketer started with a guard of honour. He was applauded onto the pitch at Lord’s by his England team-mates and the West Indies’ line-up, with captain Kraigg Brathwaite shaking his hand as he walked on.Gareth Copley/Getty ImagesAFP/Getty ImagesBowling from the Nursery End – not his preferred end at Lord’s – he struck with his seventh ball of the morning. It was a classic Anderson dismissal, suckering Joshua da Silva into playing across the line with an outswinger that angled in before swinging away late to take the outside edge.Gareth Copley/Getty ImagesAlex Davidson/Getty ImagesAt the Pavilion End, Gus Atkinson was closing in on a landmark of his own. He removed Alzarri Joseph to clinch ten wickets on debut, then ripped Shamar Joseph’s off stump out of the ground to leave him with four second-innings wickets.Getty ImagesWith Atkinson hunting a five-for at the far end but West Indies nine wickets down, Anderson had a chance to make his final ball as a Test cricketer a match-winning wicket. It looked like the perfect ending when Gudakesh Motie chipped one back to him…Alex Davidson/Getty Images…but the ball evaded his grasp, leaving Anderson covering his face with his hand before smirking in disbelief. Look closely below for Ben Stokes’ reaction at mid-off.Alex Davidson/Getty ImagesAtkinson sealed England’s innings victory with the wicket of Jayden Seales, caught in the deep in the leg side. It meant he finished with 12 wickets in the match, and a second five-for on Test debut.PA Images via Getty ImagesBut it was left to Anderson to lead England off the field to a standing ovation at Lord’s, the same venue where he played his first Test against Zimbabwe back in 2003.Alex Davidson/Getty ImagesAFP/Getty ImagesPA Photos/Getty ImagesHe was interviewed by Nasser Hussain in the England dressing room, Guinness in hand, then had a moment or two to compose himself before the post-match presentation.Alex Davidson/Getty ImagesAFP/Getty ImagesHe was presented with an honorary life membership by MCC president (and incoming chair) Mark Nicholas, before ECB chair Richard Thompson performed a similar presentation.Gareth Copley/Getty ImagesMichael Steele/Getty ImagesHe was given several rousing cheers by the crowd, who broke into one final chant of ‘Oh, Jimmy, Jimmy’.PA Images via Getty ImagesAFP/Getty ImagesAnderson wasn’t done just yet, with another TV interview to complete on Sky Sports.Alex Davidson/Getty ImagesBut he was finally given the opportunity to take it all in, on an emotional day for Anderson and for English cricket as a whole.Alex Davidson/Getty Images

Alan is joined on the pod by Andrews Miller and McGlashan to wrap the Australia white-ball series and look ahead to England’s Test tour of Pakistan

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Oct-2024England lost their ODI series with Australia 3-2 after the tourists won their race against the rain in Bristol – but thoughts are already turning to the team’s next engagement, a three-Test trip to Pakistan starting on Monday. In this week’s pod, Alan Gardner was joined by Andrew Miller and Andrew McGlashan to review “Super September” and the English summer in general, as well as look ahead to the Tests. Topics up for discussion included Harry Brook’s captaincy, 2025-26 Ashes pointers, and how well the Hundred equity sale is going.