Key events
Worth reminding everyone what happened the last time the Proteas were on this ground.
Why not, eh?
The sun is shining though the hovercraft cover is still hanging about on the pitch.
It’s been one of those London days where they weather constantly gaslights you. It’s gloomy, it’s sunny, it’s wet, it’s dry, it’s balmy, it’s fresh. Make up your mind!
On TMS the gang reckon England should have batted first after winning the toss. Hmmm, both skippers were dead keen on a bowl.
Our first email of the day is from regular correspondent John Starbuck:
Daniel. Good afternoon,
Well, that didn’t go well, did it? A prediction that the match would start at 13:00 already overturned by events. Just goes to show that very little is predictable in international cricket, especially when England are involved. Let’s all cross our fingers, except when emailing you; though typing an email with crossed fingers might well become a rite of passage for OBOers.
According to Harry Brook, and Stuart Broad on comms, Sonny Baker hasn’t been dropped because of the pasting he received two days ago.
The argument is that on this pitch Saqib Mahmood’s fuller length will be a handful.
South Africa have two spinners. Which is…interesting. Lord’s isn’t really a grippy sort of surface. The bowlers in reserve are Kagiso Rabada (being rested) as well as young Kwena Maphaka and Codi Yusuf. But not of them can bat. So Senuran Muthusamy comes in as much for his willow-wielding as his orb-tweaking (just go with it).
Teams
England: Duckett, Smith, Root, Brook (c), Buttler (wk), Bethell, Jacks, Carse, Archer, Rashid, Mahmood.
South Africa: Markram, Rickelton (wk), Bavuma (c), Breetzke, Stubbs, Brevis, Bosch, Muthusamy, Maharaj, Burger, Ngidi.
England win the toss, have a bowl
“We think it’ll hopefully have a bit in it from thje start,” says Harry Brook.
He says it’s a “new day” and that the “series starts today”. It actually started on Tuesday, but we know what he means.
Sonny Baker, after getting loads of tap, misses out and is replaced by Saqib Mahmood.
Temba Bavuma also wanted to bowl. “We’ll just have to do a job with the bat,” he says.
The injured Tony de Zorzi, as well as the unwell Wiaan Mulder are absent from the team that did the job on Tuesday. Mathew Breetzke and Sunaren Muthusamy enter the fray.
Matt Hughes has been doing his best Tillakaratne Dilshan impression by getting loads of scoops for us.
Here he lifts the lid on on a dispute over signings in the Hundred:
And here’s a yarn on the County Championship’s restructure:
Delayed start
The sun may be shining but the outfield is still a little wet.
That means we’ll have the toss at 12:45 with play underway at 13:15.
What did you make of Harry Brook’s seemingly blasé comments after their heavy defeat on Tuesday?
The skipper said: “Not ideal. Not a great start to the series – one of those bad days and we have to move on as soon as possible.”
Look, I get that players shouldn’t dwell on disappointing results. And that looking forward is healthy. But wouldn’t a little apology to the paying public have been welcome? Couldn’t he have acknowledge that an international game is expensive and time consuming, that many people would have taken a day off work, that some kids might have been watching England live for the first time?
I’m not saying Brook should serve jail time. It’s only cricket after all. But some sort of recognition for their abject show would have been welcome.
This week’s Spin
The covers are on after some heavy, but brief showers. So while we wait for things to get underway, why not tuck into this week’s Spin.
It’s from yours truly on the magic of cricket scorecards. I’ve always loved them. I love looking at them. I love filling them with little names and numbers. So I decided to write about them with the help of two legends of the craft.
Hope you enjoy it:
Preamble
Daniel Gallan
Ready or not, here comes another one! England were rubbish two days ago. After getting bowled out for 131, they got tonked by Aiden Markram in a seven-wicket rout.
The good news is that there’s little time to contemplate that result as the boys are back. It’s a mad schedule, one that flogs players, tests journalists and asks so much from the paying public. But that’s the modern game and on we go.
England need to improve in just about every department at the Home of Cricket today but its their batting that needs a serious rethink. As Mark Butcher said at Headingley on Tuesday, they fail to recognise that putting the brakes on for a little bit in the innings isn’t a sign of weakness but is often the sensible thing to do. When they’re rolling they look unstoppable. But when they need to take stock and consolidate they’re a shambles.
Can they rectify their mistakes today? If not they’ll lose the series with a game to spare.
There’s a bit of mizzle in the air around west London but we should get a full game on.
I’m excited to kick things off today. If you’d like to get in touch please drop me a mail. Reckon this England team can show a bit of humility and common sense? Or is that just woke nonsense in the age of Baz? Let me know.
Play gets underway at 1pm BST.
Toss, team news and other bits to come.
