Rob Smyth's Blog, page 31

England v Pakistan: third men’s T20 cricket international abandoned – as it happened

Persistent rain in Cardiff meant a second washout in three games for England and Pakistan

Some learnings are bigger than others

The rain is forecast to clear around 7pm, after which the radar looks clear for at least an hour. I’m sure Andrew Miller will be able to find a radar that has the apocalypse pencilled in for 8.01pm, but for now let’s accentuate the positive.

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Leeds United 0-1 Southampton: Championship playoff final – as it happened

Adam Armstrong scored the decisive goal at Wembley as it ended in tears for Daniel Farke’s side

Failure isn’t always the best way to learn

As Nietzsche was saying

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Premier League Darts: Luke Littler overcomes Luke Humphries to win title – as it happened

A rampant Luke Littler beat Michael Smith and Luke Humphries to become the youngest major winner in darts history

Littler 3-1 Smith No nine-darter – he managed seven perfect darts before missing T19 – but more importantly he has broken Smith already. He pinged his bestie D10 to complete a 12-darter, and now Smith is effectively two breaks behind.

Littler is six darts into a nine on the Smith throw…

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Manchester City 3-1 West Ham: City win Premier League – as it happened

Phil Foden scored twice, including a beauty after 79 seconds, as Manchester City made history by winning their fourth consecutive title

“As a Liverpool fan, all I want is for Arsenal to score early and for the Hammers to be resolute in defense for at least the first half,” writes Joe Pearson. “Then City can crush all our neutrals’ dreams with a devastating second half rout. For myself, I’m watching Klopp’s Last Rodeo, but I’ll be checking in with you to know when it’s all over.”

It’s odd that, in Europe’s other big leagues, the leaders are often overtaken on the final day. Never seems to happen in England though. Even 1988-89 was slightly different because the top two were playing each other (although Arsenal still needed a miracle). In the 1990s and early 2000s, in particular, it happened all the time in Italy, Germany and Spain. Maybe today’s the day for good old English jeopardy to strike back.

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Leeds 4-0 Norwich (agg: 4-0): Championship playoff semi-final, second leg – as it happened

Leeds are one game from the Premier League after pulverising Norwich on a memorable night at Elland Road

5 min A ball over the top almost bounces for Piroe in the area. Gunn springs from his line to claim at the second attempt. It’s all Leeds.

4 min: Chance for Leeds! Summerville plays a slick give-and-go with Rutter on the left edge of the area, moves inside and whips a shot over the bar from a tight angle. It wasn’t an easy finish, though he might have had options in the middle, I’m not sure.

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England beat Pakistan by 53 runs: first women’s T20 cricket international – as it happened

Amy Jones starred with bat and gloves in her 100th T20I as England recovered from a desperate start to beat Pakistan at Edgbaston

2nd over: England 11-2 (Capsey 5, Knight 0) That was the last ball of the over. Hearther Knight is the new batter.

Well this is going well. Danni Wyatt hoicks the left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal straight to mid-on, where Gull Feroza takes a comfortable catch and sets off on an aeroplane celebration. England are in a bit of bother.

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The Spin | ‘New lease of life’: how walking cricket is giving the over-50s a taste of Bazball

Older people are reconnecting with their inner child by taking up the bat again and remembering how fun the sport can be

In Lawrence Booth and Nick Hoult’s terrific book on the subject, James Anderson is asked what Bazball means to him. “Bazball is trying to encourage people to get back to the kid in you,” he says. “How you imagined the game would be: exciting, fast and fun.”

Some of the purest forms of Bazball are being played in leisure centres up and down the country. Walking cricket has given thousands of older people the chance to reconnect with their inner child, to remember how exciting and fun (OK, maybe not fast) cricket can be and, like any self-respecting Bazballer, to hit sixes. While 50-over cricket is having a bit of an existential crisis, over-50s cricket is thriving. If he’s not still taking wickets at Test level, Anderson will be eligible to play himself in September 2032.

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Liverpool 4-2 Tottenham: Premier League – as it happened

Mo Salah’s header and a beauty from Harvey Elliott helped Liverpool race into a 4-0 lead before Richarlison gave them a fright

Ange Postecoglou chats to Sky Sports

This is the most challenging part of the season for us. You’ve gotta be up for it, because in 12 months’ time maybe there’ll be a different challenge and we’ll need to be up for that. The players understand that it’s not easy to do what we’re trying to do, but they need to be up for it.

It’s a massive test today. But what a great opportunity for us to go out and try and play some football.

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Manchester City 5-1 Wolves: Premier League – as it happened

Erling Haaland was in terrifying form on his return to the City XI, smashing four goals in the first hour as they hammered Wolves

A reminder of the teams

Man City (possible 4-2-3-1) Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol; Rodri, Kovacic; Bernardo, De Bruyne, Foden; Haaland.
Substitutes: Dias, Stones, Grealish, Doku, Ortega, Alvarez, Gomez, Nunes, Lewis.

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The Spin | Head-to-head stats highlight why Test cricket is greatest sporting format

Every match comprises hundreds of contests between batter and bowler. If statistics are your thing, it’s mesmerising

Let’s start, as all bad pieces of writing should, with a cliche: cricket is an individual sport dressed as a team game. Every match comprises hundreds or thousands of contests between a batter and a bowler. That unusual gameplay is one of the main reasons why Test cricket, in particular, touches the parts other sports cannot reach. But never mind all that soulful, meaning-of-life stuff; we’re here to talk about the joys of the humble statgasm.

Ever since doing a statistical preview of the 2002-03 Ashes for Wisden Cricket Monthly, an impossible glamorous commission for a budding anorak hack, The Spin has been fascinated by head-to-head averages, especially in Test cricket. Mano a mano and all that.

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