コロラド対ジョージア工科大学
Key events
“Following Richard O’Hagan’s fury (over 59), I can vent similar frustration of an erroneous quizmaster – and at the Royal Geographical Society’s Xmas Quiz, too!” writes Martin Wright. “The question was: ‘Which city hosts the annual Shandur Polo Festival?’ As many of your Pakistani readers will surely know, it’s not staged in a city at all – it’s held outside the town of Chitral, high in the Hindu Kush (one of the most beautiful regions in the world).
“Having been lucky enough to go there for work, I knew the answer. But ‘city’ confused me. So I thought I must have got it wrong, and since the nearest actual city is Peshawar, I opted for that.
“Imagine my reaction when the answer was given as Chitral. ‘It’s not a city! It’s NOT A CITY’, I shouted at the confused MC, while my embarrassed team-mates looked away. I don’t think there’s a video of me correcting him. But there should be.”
You’ve always been the quizmaster.
Jonathan Liew
Lunchtime reading
The ball is short outside off. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi goes to pull it, hoiks it high to deep midwicket, is out for 44 off 37 balls. Almost immediately, a portion of the 12,000 fans who have risen at dawn to queue outside the Chepauk Stadium for free tickets begin to vacate their seats. The Duleep Trophy final in Chennai between East Zone and South Zone is scheduled for five days and has been going for barely an hour. But for some, the show is already over.
Of course, Sooryavanshi is part of the reason the final is taking place in Chennai in the first place. It was originally slated for the national academy on the outskirts of Bengaluru, only to be moved in order to accommodate the thousands of fans desperate to glimpse the child prince of Indian cricket in the flesh. Sooryavanshi is the hottest player in the world right now, a 15-year-old left-handed jaw-dropping genius with records spilling out of his pockets. But when it comes to red-ball cricket, the classic form of the game, he’s still – by any objective measure – not very good.
Going into this final, Sooryavanshi’s first-class average is a shade above 23, rendering him statistically a less effective red-ball batter than Craig Overton. Here, in perfect batting conditions, he scores a brisk and brash 44 in a mammoth total of 708, before dancing down the pitch and getting stumped for eight in the second innings as East Zone chase the outright win. None of which really tells us anything conclusive. The numbers are largely subservient to the project, the hypothetical, the burning question with implications not just for Sooryavanshi, not just for India, but very possibly for cricket itself.
Lunch
64th over: England 299-6 (Smith 47, Atkinson 5) A quiet over from Mohammad Imran concludes an excellent morning session for England, who scored 143 runs in 25 overs to take a decisive grip on the third Test. The only frustration was that Harry Brook and Dan Lawrence missed out on centuries; Brook (75) ran himself on and Lawrence (65) dragged Imran onto his stumps.
63rd over: England 298-6 (Smith 47, Atkinson 5) Atkinson throws his hands at a wide one from Razaullah and gets four over the slip cordon. There’s time for one more over before lunch.
Incidentally, that was Dan Lawrence’s seventh Test half-century. Only three England players, all Middlesex legends, have scored more fifties without going on to reach three figures: John Emburey (10), Fred Titmus (10) and Mike Brearley (9). England’s new coach Stephen Fleming also had conversion issues at the start of his Test career – he scored ten fifties before finally making a hundred – so he might have some advice for Lawrence.
“A very good friend of mine, when we were but 18/19 and impoverished, missed a solo spot price question in our pub quiz that would have earned us 80 odd quid (a tidy sum back then even between four),” writes Andrew Benzeval. “The question was ‘What was the name of the wolf in Due South?’ We three who remained at the table sat back in glee, as he obviously knew this, but the look on his face said otherwise sadly. He blamed momentary brain fade.”
England review! Atkinson not out 1
Gus Atkinson is given out LBW to a fullish delivery from Razaullah, but replays show a slight inside-edge. Atkinson didn’t realise he’d nicked it – he reviewed because it thought it was misisng leg stump.
Edit: I was talking nonsense. Replays show Atkinson looked at the inside edge of his bat as he reviewed.
62nd over: England 294-6 (Smith 47, Atkinson 1) Gus Atkinson survives a big LBW appeal first ball. He was hit on the back thigh by a nipbacker that would have bounced over the stumps. Imran wanted to review but the wicketkeeper Ghori rightly advised against it.
“In Cambridge, where I live,” begins Paul Haynes, “wrong answers in pub quizzes are often met with comments such as ‘I should’ve got that one – I actually did my PhD thesis on it’.”
WICKET! England 293-6 (Lawrence b Imran 65)
A first Test wicket for Mohammad Imran, but no first Test hundred for Dan Lawrence. He dabbed lazily at a wider delivery, dragged it onto the stumps and screamed “No!” as he realised what had happened. For a split-second he looked like he might demolish the stumps with his bat. That will sting: it was an avoidable dismissal and there appeared to be a Test century with Lawrence’s name on it.
61st over: England 293-5 (Lawrence 65, Smith 47) Smith shapes to uppercut Razaullah, realises the ball won’t be high enough and under-edges it short of the slip cordon. The next delivery is too straight and muscled to the midwicket boundary. Smith top-edges a hook for four more to move to 47. Edgbaston is being kind to him again: he scored 272 runs against India a year ago.
“Dear Rob,” begins Will West. “Bonzour (sic) from Mahé, Seychelles! Am I deluding myself (“I can handle despair, it’s the hope I can’t stand..”) that we have a really exciting batting lineup coalescing here? Not the sternest of Tests now I admit, but some sublime talent, surely.
“So here’s a wild idea; move Root to 7. It takes pressure off him to focus on captaincy; it forces the youngers to shoulder responsibility; plus as the fielding side it is always unspeakably demoralising to feel you have fought through the batting only to have someone dig in and score from the tail. So: Duckett, Gay, Cox, Bethell, Brook, Smith, Root, Atkinson, Archer, Robinson, Tongue. What’s the worst that could happen?”
Probably a load of wild West puns, given your surname and admission that it’s a wild idea. That and Joe Root being left high and dry on 17 not out once a month. I agree that, on paper, England’s batting line-up is seriously exciting – but right now only Brook feels like a sure thing, and even he hasn’t scored a Test hundred for 14 months. Bethell, Cox, Gay and to a lesser extent Smith are still learning to play Test cricket, Duckett has had a lean 18 months and Root has the LBW blues.
60th over: England 283-5 (Lawrence 65, Smith 37) Smith, who looks in excellent touch, dismisses Imran through midwicket for four to bring up the fifty partnership. Pakistan are starting to look resigned to their fate.
“I got a question about the number of different species of owl in the UK wrong,” says Richard O’Hagan, “but only because the question-master had the wrong answer themselves (they said there were five, there are actually six – barn, tawny, long-eared, short-eared, little and eagle).”
Please tell me there’s a video of you correcting them.
59th over: England 277-5 (Lawrence 65, Smith 32) Razaullah returns to the attack. Pace can be a mixed blessing; Smith uses Razaullah’s to score three twos in the over. Razaullah is going at more than a run a ball, with figures of 13-0-80-2. That’s surprising because he hasn’t bowled that many loose deliveries.
“I can sympathise with David Hopkins,” says John Swan. “The exact same thing happened to me, except my T-shirt/unoffered answer was Depeche Mode. Sigh.”
Erm, I feel you.
58th over: England 268-5 (Lawrence 64, Smith 24) Mohammad Imran replaces Saim Ayub and is worked round the corner for two by Lawrence. It’s been a morning of two halves for Lawrence, who wants that first Test hundred real bad:
“To further clarify,” says David Hopkins, “the question was ‘Youngest female to have a UK No. 1 album’. I think we put Amy Winehouse. I can’t confirm whether anyone else poisoned my mind with their bl0ody 4 Non Blondes…”
57th over: England 263-5 (Lawrence 61, Smith 23) Smith is beaten by some extra bounce from Ali, who must wonder what he’s done to deserve such ill luck. Later in the over, Smith tries a tennis shot and mistimes it over the bowler’s head for a single.
Ali’s mood doesn’t improve when he bowls a no-ball and then a wide on height. England lead by 131.
56th over: England 260-5 (Lawrence 60, Smith 22) Lawrence pumps Saim Ayub over wide mid-on for four. England are helping themselves against Ayub’s occasional spin, although as I type that Jamie Smith has to react smartly to keep out a grubber. That was almost one for the Hooper-Hussain files.
“The collective difficulties of the batting line-ups across this series have been a valuable reminder of all of our fallibilities,” begins David Hopkins. “I was keenly reminded of my own this week at a pub quiz, at which an answer to a music question was ‘Billie Eilish’, rather than what we’d put. The faces of my team slowly turned to my way, with a mixture of perplexity and disgust, as I sat there in one of my many Billie Eilish T-shirts. I stalked off to the bar for some liquid consolation, only to be informed by the bar staff that they’d all got the correct answer. Have other OBOers been similarly caught out on their ‘specialist subject’?”
First things first, Hopkins.
-
What was the question, and what answer did you actually put?
-
Frey Bentos.
55th over: England 249-5 (Lawrence 55, Smith 21) Smith drives Ali handsomely to the extra-cover boundary, then helps himself to four more when Ali strays onto the pads. Ali also goes past the edge on a couple of occasions – I reckon he’s beaten the bat at least 10 times in this spell.
“Have you an explanation for Smith being out there with an injured thumb?” asks Geoff Wignall. “Surely England have enough on the board and in the tail plus Lawrence to not need whatever runs he manages, against a team who’d struggle in league cricket.”
I think it’s bruised rather than mangled. It’s the last Test of the summer, and England’s lead isn’t yet big enough that they can stick two fingers up at Mother Cricket. NB: if Razaullah crushes Smith’s thumb and Smith misses the tour to South Africa, this entry may mysteriously disappear.
54th over: England 245-5 (Lawrence 55, Smith 13) Smith goes after Saim, driving him over mid-on for six and then four. Ave it.
53rd over: England 234-5 (Lawrence 54, Smith 2) A spectacular outswinger from Mohammad Ali squares Jamie Smith and hits him on the back pad in front of middle stump. Ali pleads for LBW, Paul Reiffel says not out because of the height and Babar Azam decides against a review. Replays confirm it was just bouncing over.
Smith is also beaten outside off stump on a couple of occasions. A fabulous maiden from Ali, who has bowled a fine spell and deserves a wicket or two.
52nd over: England 234-5 (Lawrence 54, Smith 2) Saim continues after drinks. That’s a bit of a surprise – I thought Pakistan might test Smith’s injured thumb with the pace of Razaullah. Three singles from the over.
“Not used to this England dominance at all,” says Robert Lewis. “It is most unsettling. What with West Ham briefly topping the table, I feel I’ve woken up in a parallel universe, along with the Turkish women’s volleyball players winning the Euros last weekend, and my fellow Istanbulities walking round with stupid grins on their faces.”
An email from Mark Allen
Is there a bit of a run-out renaissance in Test cricket, due to lack of traditional ‘proper calling’, ‘running the bat in’ (Emilio Gay was mentioned in dispatches yesterday about this), or are these the ramblings of an old man in chilly Dundee, who never played top-level cricket anyway?
I’d have to check but I think the record for Test run-outs in a calendar year is 71 in 2001. There have been something like 15 this year. But as I say, I’d have to check.
51st over: England 230-5 (Lawrence 53, Smith 0) Ali, who is starting to make the ball murmur, beats Lawrence with back-to-back deliveries. Time for drinks, and a musical interlude.
50th over: England 230-5 (Lawrence 53, Smith 0) Replays show that Brook was slow to set off for that single, though I’m not sure he’d have made it anyway. It was a simple misjudgement, and a frustrating end to a very mature innings.
Jamie Smith, his right thumb in a splint, is the new batter.
WICKET! England 229-5 (Brook run out 75)
Harry Brook dies by the quick single. He has run so well in this innings but he tried to steal a single to midwicket and was well short when Saim Ayub collected Shan Masood’s excellent throw and broke the stumps. Brook flips his bat up in the air in frustration; he knows he has left a Test hundred out there.
49th over: England 229-4 (Brook 75, Lawrence 52) Brook edges/steers Ali just short of the slips, with the ball bouncing away for four runs.
Ali appeals for caught behind when Lawrence is beaten by a beauty that nips back off the seam. It was a no-ball, and replays confirm Lawrence missed the ball anyway.
48th over: England 221-4 (Brook 68, Lawrence 52) And now for something completely different: the occasional spin of Saim Ayub. Lawrence works him for two to reach a terrific counter-attacking fifty, made from only 47 balls. Tougher tests await, particularly against South Africa’s bloodthirsty pace attack, but Lawrence has made an excellent return to Test cricket. It could get a whole lot better in the next couple of hours: he has a great opportunity to make his first Test hundred.
England have scored 65 runs in nine overs this morning.
47th over: England 214-4 (Brook 64, Lawrence 49) This has been a fascinating innings from Brook, with very few big shots by his standards. His running between the wickets has been so good that, even though he has hit only five boundaries in 89 balls, he still has a strike rate of 72.
46th over: England 212-4 (Brook 63, Lawrence 48) Mohammad Ali replaces Razaullah, who bowled pretty well yet conceded 29 from his three overs. Lawrence, who is one hit away from another fifty, has an almighty wipe at fresh air. He bunts the last ball for a single to keep strike.
“England looking to make quick runs before a lunchtime declaration setting Pakistan 240 or so in two sessions?” writes Gary Naylor. “Sounds like a plan. Hang on…”
Dog stops play at Grace Road
Oh yes.
45th over: England 210-4 (Brook 63, Lawrence 47) Lawrence dumps Abbas through midwicket for his seventh boundary of the morning. Seven fours in the first half-hour!
Make that eight – he has just timed Abbas majestically through point. England, Lawrence in particular, have been so good this morning. Pakistan haven’t bowled badly but England are putting them under so much pressure – both through boundaries and hyper-aggressive running between the wickets.
I know it’s a dirty word nowadays, but England’s performance this morning has been the platonic ideal of Bazball.
44th over: England 201-4 (Brook 63, Lawrence 39) Dan Lawrence is flying. He pulls Razaullah for four, then slices another boundary over the head of backward point. That brings up the fifty partnership in just 58 balls. And Lawrence has scored 34 from 21 this morning.
“What a nice touch that Sarah Taylor is helping the Pakistan wicketkeeper out!” writes John Stedman. “Surely it’s in everybody’s best interests that the visitors put in a good performance here.”
I might not say that that in earshot of Dover’s finest. But yes, the sharing of expertise has always been one of cricket’s more endearing features – Shane Warne with young legspinners, Rahul Dravid and Michael Vaughan at The Oval in 2002, the wobble-seam brotherhood and so on.
43rd over: England 188-4 (Brook 61, Lawrence 28) Lawrence hits two three in Abbas’s over to continue England’s superb start: they’ve scored 32 runs in four overs.
“Brook and Lawrence have been England’s most successful pairing this summer, by average (min. two partnerships),” writes Tim de Lisle, who will be on duty later. “And look who’s bottom of the table!”
42nd over: England 181-4 (Brook 60, Lawrence 22) Razaullah digs in a short ball to Lawrence, who gloves a pull down the leg side for four. Ghori dived to his left but needed a telescopic arm to reach it. Brook then squirts his first boundary of the day past gully.
Some excellent running makes it 12 from the over; Razaullah didn’t do a lot wrong either.
41st over: England 169-4 (Brook 53, Lawrence 17) Mohammad Abbas starts from the other end with the keeper up to the stumps. Lawrence takes him for consecutive boundaries, a flick through square leg and an edge along the ground. England are off to a flyer.
40th over: England 160-4 (Brook 52, Lawrence 9) Razaullah’s first ball of the day is a hot, hot lifter that beats Dan Lawrence. After wearing another lifter on the elbow, Lawrence clips firmly through midwicket for four. Nice shot.
The sun is shining at Edgbaston and the players are ready to go. It’s Razaullah time.
“Nothing hurts me more than a non-performing Pakistan team,” says Krishnamoorthy V, who has clearly never had piles. “I still recall with awe the super-talented, all-conquering team of 1992. It is true they have been falling steadily but one would exoect a correction and reversal of fortune/form from such a cricket talent nation. West Indies and Pakistan shall forever remain a mystery in their current underperformance. And the bulk of the common malady lies with their respective boards.”
Jamie Smith suffers thumb injury
Some injury news from the England camp. Jamie Smith took a blow on the thumb yesterday while standing up to the stumps. He’ll bat this morning but Jordan Cox may keep wicket in Pakistan’s second innings.
‘Wicketkeeping is an art, and art is universal’
Sarah Taylor, England’s fielding coach, is on the outfield giving a tutorial to Pakistan’s debutant keeper Ghazi Ghori. Arthur Mailey would surely approve.
Ali Martin’s weather report is in
Weather fine, pitch good, 16 wickets incoming.
Simon Burnton
England’s four-man seam attack once again demonstrated its collective threat in bundling Pakistan out for 133 at Edgbaston. Josh Tongue highlighted the work the quartet have done together beyond matchdays by experimenting with a wobble seam delivery that he has honed with assistance from Ollie Robinson – work that brought immediate reward.
“I’ve spoken to Robbo quite a bit about it,” said Tongue, who took four wickets, with the other six equally shared between Robinson and Jofra Archer. “Obviously he’s unbelievable at that and he’s showed that throughout the series. So I’ve been speaking to him quite a bit during the last couple of Tests and I tried a couple of things in training the other day. That was the first time I’d bowled it in the game and it got me a wicket, so I’ll be using it again. I want to get more skills under my belt.”
Ali Martin
Day one report
In jettisoning seven players from their squad, parachuting seven more in, and then making four changes to their XI, Pakistan went into this third Test against England pretty much throwing mud at the wall in the hope that some of it might stick.
Some did, in fairness, with the newcomer Razaullah dismissing Joe Root after tea on the opening day with just his fourth delivery in Test cricket. Propelling the ball from a slingy, chest-on action that has a smidgeon of Waqar Younis in his pomp – and hitting 92mph on the speed gun – the 21-year-old’s figures of two for 42 offered a glimmer of cheer for Pakistan’s otherwise downbeat supporters.
Sadly their team’s broader slide continued and by stumps – even with just 73 overs bowled despite a mere five-minute rain break – England’s upper hand in a series they have already secured at 2-0 up remained. Having dismissed the tourists for 133 in just shy of 34 overs after winning a helpful toss, Root’s men closed on 156 for four and will go into day two leading by 23 runs.
Preamble
How do you do? Enough of the pleasantries, can we please talk about Razaullah? At this stage he could be the new Waqar Younis or the new Mohammad Zahid, so we shouldn’t get carried aw- ah, sod that. At the end of a thoroughly dispiriting series, Razaullah’s fervent, uncomplicated fast bowling – full, straight, 90mph; mind the bloody pads, lads – was a welcome reminder that Pakistan cricket will always touch the parts other nations can’t reach.
In the opulent history of irresistible Pakistan fast bowling, figures of 9-0-42-2 don’t amount to much, but it was the first bit of haal we’ve seen all series. England fans needed it; Pakistan fans needed it; Pakistan cricket really needed it.
What Pakistan need this morning is for Razaullah and his more forensic companion, Mohammad Abbas, to keep the match alive by taking a shortcut through England’s middle- and lower-order.
England will resume on 156 for 4, a lead of 23, with Harry Brook well set on 52 not out. It’s a measure of how good Brook is, and how much better he might become, that he played a responsible, almost subdued innings and still scored at a strike rate of 68. Brook hasn’t made a Test century since he panelled an astonishing and ultimately infuriating 111 against India at the Oval 14 months ago; he’ll be desperate to right that wrong today.
If Brook goes early, it’s not beyond the realms that this will be the last day of the series. The Edgbaston pitch looked pretty good yesterday, even though 14 wickets fell, so the nature of the day’s play may be shaped by the overhead conditions. I’ve asked our cricket correspondent Ali Martin for a comprehensive weather update.
