TRADITIONS CAN BE A CASE OF COS & EFFECT
ENGLAND enjoyed their first sight of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood bowling together in red-ball cricket – a glimpse of what they might be capable of in tandem.
The battle for bowling places intensified despite Sam Curran’s absence casting a shadow over day two of the squad’s internal clash.
And it was Archer and Wood, the country’s quickest bowlers, who caught the eye. Injury has kept them apart since England’s World Cup win last year but they took three wickets between them yesterday.
Jos Buttler’s team, who declared on their day one score of 287-5, dismissed Ben Stokes’ side for 233.
Buttler’s hand was strengthened by Archer and Wood’s first appearance together in the longer format. And midway through the morning session their promising eightover spell cost just seven runs and yielded the wicket of opener
Dom Sibley.
Archer banked the scalp, while Wood returned in the afternoon session to take Jonny Bairstow’s outside edge, before Archer removing Ben Foakes for 38.
Sussex seamer Ollie Robinson also offered a reminder of his skills accounting for Moeen Ali and Lewis Gregory in a double-wicket maiden.
Stuart Broad could find himself vulnerable, with the fetching white bandana he wore over his lockdown hair more eye-catching than his figures of 0-42.
Moeen’s dismissal, lbw for five, followed a peripheral role with the ball. His hopes of a first Test cap in a year appear to be receding, with offspinner Dom Bess likely to be retained.
Zak Crawley top scored with 43, and Stokes hit 41 before being stumped, charging Matt Parkinson.
Stokes will lead out an England side sporting Black Lives Matter logos in a display of solidarity against racism. But the ECB stressed the team’s support for the anti-racism movement does not amount to an endorsement of any associated political organisation.
“There can be no place for racism in society or our sport, and we must do more to tackle it,” said ECB chief executive Tom Harrison. “But our support is not an endorsement of any political organisation, nor the backing of any group that calls for violence or condones illegal activity.”
ANDREW COSCORAN believes Ireland’s middle distance Tokyo hopefuls must tap into Ireland’s rich tradition on the track to put the country back on the map.
The Dubliner said: “We have that huge tradition of being great at middle distance and at the moment we’re not living up to where we were once before.
“Ray Flynn’s standard, his Irish 1,500m record, why isn’t anyone getting close to it? We should be.”
Flynn’s time of 3:33.5 was set in 1982. Coscoran’s fastest time is 3:37.98, hit in the US last year.
“We just need to look at what they were doing and emulate it, use that tradition of middle-distance running to bring ourselves back to that standard,” added Coscoran (inset). “Looking at the times they ran – Eamon Coghlan, Ray Flynn – they were unbelievable.”