Geoff Lemon's Blog, page 24
June 25, 2023
Australia ready to turn up heat on England at their Lord’s stronghold
Tourists hold a 1-0 lead and have an extraordinary record at England’s HQ, having lost just two Ashes Tests there since 1934
If you took your cues from the England camp, you could be forgiven for thinking that they had taken an Ashes lead in Birmingham. It is true that by probability they should have won the first Test, at least from the point when Australia went eight wickets down in the chase. It’s also true that they didn’t and heading to Lord’s Australia have that most precious commodity for visiting teams: a lead.
After Edgbaston had proved a tricky venue over several tours, they would be as relieved to come away from the ground with a win this time as they were in 2019. Both times, first with Steve Smith’s comeback ton from a terrible position, then with Pat Cummins and his run-chase charge, there is a sense of having burgled a result from a place England have tried to characterise as a fortress.
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June 24, 2023
Australia’s ruthless machine shows signs of fallibility to let England back in | Geoff Lemon
Questionable calls from captain Alyssa Healy and uncharacteristic mistakes in the field leave intriguing Ashes Test in the balance
All the extolling of Test cricket’s wonders as a format doesn’t obviate the fact that it is hard work. Even watching it can be a marathon. Park cricketers who ache and grumble after their 20, 30 or 50 overs in the field can’t extrapolate what it must be like to make that 90 overs a day, five days running, a full working week of toil. The effort is what makes it special, but toils are toils.
Looking at Australia’s first-innings 473 and England’s 463 in reply, you would assume the pitch was lifeless. In fact, while it was great for batting, there was pace and carry. Edges flew instead of rolling along the ground, as per most previous venues for women’s Tests. Scoring happened quickly instead of in dribbles. Taking wickets required patience and skill, but was possible if you were sharp. Australia, for too much of England’s innings, were not.
Continue reading...Women’s Ashes Test: England v Australia, day three – as it happened
Tammy Beaumont hit 208, the highest Test score by an England women’s batter, but then had to watch as Australia’s openers raced along
55th over: England 219-2 (Beaumont 100, Sciver-Brunt 42) Kim Garth was Australia’s tidiest operator with the ball yesterday, kept the runs down, and she starts similarly this morning on an off-stump line, treated watchfully by Sciver-Brunt.
54th over: England 219-2 (Beaumont 100, Sciver-Brunt 42) Drama first ball of the day! Darcie Brown booms an inswinger, nails Nat SB on the pad, and she’s given out. The batter reviews, of course she does, biggest wicket remaining and there’s plenty of movement on that ball. So much so that it’s sneaking past leg stump. Hard being a bowler: beat them all ends up with a great delivery, but it’s doing too much.
Continue reading...Women’s Ashes Test: England v Australia, day three – live
55th over: England 219-2 (Beaumont 100, Sciver-Brunt 42) Kim Garth was Australia’s tidiest operator with the ball yesterday, kept the runs down, and she starts similarly this morning on an off-stump line, treated watchfully by Sciver-Brunt.
54th over: England 219-2 (Beaumont 100, Sciver-Brunt 42) Drama first ball of the day! Darcie Brown booms an inswinger, nails Nat SB on the pad, and she’s given out. The batter reviews, of course she does, biggest wicket remaining and there’s plenty of movement on that ball. So much so that it’s sneaking past leg stump. Hard being a bowler: beat them all ends up with a great delivery, but it’s doing too much.
Continue reading...June 23, 2023
Australia in good hands as Annabel Sutherland picks up Perry’s baton | Geoff Lemon
Annabel Sutherland had advantages early in life but her first Test century shows she has never stopped learning
In terms of sporting provenance stories, having a national cricket board CEO for a father doesn’t hit the inspirational high notes. James Sutherland spent two decades at the top for Cricket Australia and, like some players, probably held on a few years too long. When he did make way, it at least partially cleared the air for his children, Annabel and Will, to pursue playing careers.
No doubt being connected to power in the game opened plenty of doors and gained access to the best development. It gave them a life so entwined with cricket, perhaps attempting to play it was inevitable. The one drawback to all these advantages would be on reaching the top level, where perhaps a player has to do more to justify their presence.
Continue reading...June 22, 2023
Ellyse Perry leads the repeated charge of a relentless winning machine | Geoff Lemon
Despite some new faces and a surprise dismissal, Australia showed no pity, remorse or fear against England in Ashes Test
Cricket is an organic experience. Players wander around a green field, their day unfolding subject to the vagaries of sun and rain, time and tide. Before the Women’s Ashes Test here, the greenness of the pitch stood out, the freshness of the air, making the England captain, Heather Knight, want to bowl. Then into this pastoral scene came Australia: the rise of the machines.
If you’re not up to date with your Terminator references, fair enough. But that describes their style and they followed it again. Win the toss. Bat first. Start piling up runs. Win everything in sight at all costs.
Continue reading...Women’s Ashes Test: England v Australia, day one – as it happened
Ellyse Perry was out for 99 as Australia had the better opening day, although England found some late wickets at Trent Bridge
No Lanning, no crisis
Australia will miss Meg Lanning, because she’s a genius, but her absence is not the scary prospect it would have been a few years ago.
Continue reading...Women’s Ashes Test match, day one: England v Australia – live
No Lanning, no crisis
Australia will miss Meg Lanning, because she’s a genius, but her absence is not the scary prospect it would have been a few years ago.
Continue reading...June 21, 2023
Pat Cummins answers critics with one of greatest Ashes captain displays
Hounded by sections of the media for political correctness, Australia’s leader made vital contributions with bat and ball
In the moment after striking the winning boundary at Edgbaston, Pat Cummins looked to have taken his celebration cues from Usman Khawaja. Charging down the pitch for a second run that became obsolete as the ball ricocheted into the rope, he embarked on the turning circle of a semi-trailer back towards Nathan Lyon at the far end and started throwing his gear away as he went. Bat? Didn’t need that any more. Bear hug? That was far more pressing.
It was emotion bursting out in its purest form, something instinctive. “I can’t really remember any of it, to be honest,” he told BBC radio, eyes and mind and limbic system still adjusting after the adrenaline bath of those final overs. On one part, though, he was very clear. “Never thought of a draw,” he said about the over when he clubbed two sixes off Joe Root, dynamiting the target down to 37, making the chase seem possible again after Alex Carey’s wicket.
Continue reading...June 20, 2023
Forget 2005 comparisons, this was as dramatic as decade-old Durham | Geoff Lemon
First Test was reminiscent of 2013 as Warner gave Australia a flying start before Broad delivered one of his Ashes specials
Smoking Jesus. Take a moment to collect yourself. If you were watching that final day at Edgbaston, you deserve to let your nerves unspool. They must be clenched to raging little clusters of data. Do some deep breathing. Take your shoes off and walk on the lawn. Fists with your toes. Even if you’re not invested in either team, close Test cricket can make you sick, when awaiting each delivery feels like you’ve just chugged a large chocolate milk before jumping on Magic Mountain.
If you’ve paid any attention to coverage over the past five days, you might have heard one or two comparisons to the Edgbaston Ashes Test of 2005. Run totals of 407 on the first day, fourth‑innings targets for Australia of 282 and 281 respectively, falling short both times under clouded skies, simmering in the fetid steambath of noise generated by the Hollies Stand.
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