Rob Smyth's Blog, page 25

England v Sri Lanka: Pope hits 100 on interrupted first day – as it happened

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2nd over: England 2-0 (Duckett 2, Lawrence 0) The left-armer Vishwa Fernando, brought back into the side, shares the new ball. In the past this would have been the kind of morning on which you want to leave as much as possible, but England aren’t wired that way. Dan Lawrence, who needs runs, is beaten by a beautiful full-length delivery, on off stump and moving away.

“You are going to have a tough time deciphering which Fernando bowled and which Mendis took the catch,” writes Krishnamoorthy V. “Best of luck with that. As if the existing dread of a typo is not daunting enough, another layer of complexity has been added to your tasks.”

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England beat Sri Lanka by 190 runs in second men’s cricket Test – as it happened

Gus Atkinson got on the Lord’s honours boards yet again, grabbing five wickets to give

23rd over: Sri Lanka 55-2 (Karunaratne 25, Jayasuriya 3) Woakes sends down a maiden of his own, stitching together six balls outside off stump with a hint of movement back in. Karunaratne defends solidly.

Not many shadows being cast by supporters at Lord’s today.

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England v Sri Lanka: Root brings up record 34th Test century at second Test – as it happened

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Gone! Duckett edges a flashing drive towards gully, where the diving Madushka fumbles a tough chance to his right. Happily for Sri Lanka the ball flies straight towards second slip, where Big Ange takes a smart reaction catch.

10th over: England 36-1 (Duckett 24, Pope 4) Duckett steals a second to fine leg, a good piece of running, and then forces Kumara square on the off side for three. Everything he does is so positive. Pope then plays his first good shot of the morning, a flashing cut for two runs. Would’ve been four but for a fine stop by Karunaratne.

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England v Sri Lanka: second men’s cricket Test match, day two – as it happened

Gus Atkinson hit a sparkling maiden hundred before the England seamers all chipped in to dismiss Sri Lanka for 196

91st over: England 380-7 (Atkinson 94, Potts 21) Kumara bowls a loose bumper, with Atkinson pulling away to move to 93. A stylish single behind point follows. Get there with a six, Gus! Kumara ends the over by beating Potts outside off.

90th over: England 375-7 (Atkinson 89, Potts 21) Milan Rathnayake takes the ball from the Nursery End and strays down the leg side with a no ball; Atkinson tucks it away to fine leg for four more. He’s sprinting to that ton. Atkinson and Potts exchange singles, England already enjoying themselves under blue skies.

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Liverpool 2-0 Brentford: Premier League – as it happened

Luis Diaz and Mo Salah scored as Liverpool continued their strong start under Arne Slot with a stylish performance to beat Brentford

4 min Both teams have started brightly, albeit without creating anything of note. It’s interesting that Brentford have stayed with a back four; as Jamie Carragher says on Sky, they usually always play a back five against the big teams.

2 min This is how the two tems have set up.

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England beat Sri Lanka by five wickets to triumph in first Test – as it happened

Joe Root anchors the fourth innings run chase as England seal opening Test win against Sri Lanka

62nd over: Sri Lanka 211-6 (Kamindu 60, Chandimal 23) Chandimal, who had his thumb scrunched by Mark Wood yesterday, doesn’t look totally comfortable but is in there and fighting. He’s hit on the pad by a good ball by Atkinson, who surprisingly doesn’t appeal for LBW. The cordon went up and, though it was probably missing leg, I reckon it was closer than Atkinson thought.

Chandimal gets his first runs of the day, clipping Atkinson for three. There have been lots of those in this game because of the slow outfield.

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England v Sri Lanka: first men’s Test match, day three – as it happened

Jamie Smith’s superb 111 put England in charge but Angelo Mathews led Sri Lanka’s resistance after openers wobbled

67th over: England 283-6 (Smith 89, Atkinson 11) Nope, Vishwa continues and bowls a maiden to Atkinson. Why the hell not?

“I’ve been idling away an hour in the bath reading the cricket reports, until I got distracted by wondering about the origin of the surname Brook,” writes Kim Thonger. “It is apparently a topographic name for someone who lived by a brook, stream, water-meadows or low marshy ground, from the Middle English brook Old English brōc. Seems appropriate for Harry, a veritable flowing stream of runs.

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England v Sri Lanka: first men’s Test match, day two – as it happened

England left with a 23-run lead and four wickets remaining as gloom cuts short play on day two

“If you’re really, REALLY bored during the inevitable rain breaks today then maybe you might be interested in an old blog of mine on the first Test between England and Sri Lanka in this country back in 1984,” writes Steven Pye. “The match at Lord’s was supposed to provide England with a bit of light relief after the battering they faced at the hands of the West Indies that summer, but it didn’t quite work out that way.”

Thanks Steve. It’s a great story, this, especially Duleep Mendis emasculating Lord Beefy. We covered it in an old Joy of Six as well.

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England v Sri Lanka: first men’s cricket Test match, day one – as it happened

Sri Lanka recovered from 6-3 to post 236 at Old Trafford before England reached 22-0 when bad light stopped play

“As a 90s kid I always remember Thorpe as a swashbuckling strokeplayer,” writes Matt Storey. “That one-legged pull shot and thrilling cut shots. His hundred at Edgbaston 1997 when we were all tricked into thinking we might actually win the Ashes! He changed over time to be a gritty, no nonsense player protecting his wicket but that was a regeneration of his original game. I like to remember early Thorpe the shot maker. Though any version was amazing.”

That’s my favourite version too, even though he became a more complete player under Duncan Fletcher. Those counter-attacks, which stemmed from watching Brian Lara in 1993-94, were both exhilarating and impactful. Pick an England win against the big three in the 1990s and there’s every chance the match will have been turned by a Thorpe counter-attack. Even at Edgbaston in 1997, Nasser Hussain rightly stole the show with his 207, but it was Thorpe who started it at a time when England were wobbling.

Feeling good, a lot better than I did when I did it. I went down like a sack of potatoes! It’s good to be back in the gym.

[On his role in this Test] The hardest thing for me is to fill my time and not get bored. I think Marcus Trescothick’s in for a long week with me around!

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Chelsea 0-2 Manchester City: Premier League – as it happened

Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic scored as the champions started with a routine victory at Stamford Bridge

2 min Rico Lewis, ostensibly the right-back, moves into midfield, plays a give-and-go with Doku and screws a cross into the side netting. For a 19-year-old, his tactical maturity is pretty special.

1 min Peep peep! City kick off from left to right ass we watch.

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