World Cup winners collapse
England preparations in ashes — all out for 85 — but Irish smiling after Cup hangover
Only 10 days after the World Cup final, and the greatest climax of any cricket match, came the greatest day Ireland’s cricketers have enjoyed — the nights being another matter. Ireland had slain giants such as England and Pakistan in qualifying rounds of World Cups but they had never done anything so momentous with a red ball as dismiss England for only 85 in a session at Lord’s, as they did in only their third test.
Ireland did not stop there. They went on to take a first innings lead of 122 by means of gutsy batting in conditions that were difficult for batting all day, using the ability to make the most of themselves that would seem to be a proclivity of their country’s sportsmen. On what is forecast to be the hottest day recorded in Britain, England’s batsmen will have to contend far better with Tim Murtagh than they did first time around.
Murtagh, Middlesex’s 37-year-old swing bowler, took five wickets for only 13 runs from the Nursery end, not with searing pace but the more ancient virtues of accuracy and a full length. The Dukes ball did the rest, by either swinging down the slope or nipping back up it.
The only England bowler of a pace little above 112km/h, Sam Curran, was effective, too.
At least, as far as England were concerned, Murtagh did not take a wicket in his final over of the day, which the nightwatchman Jack Leach blocked out. The debutant Jason Roy will therefore bat at No 3 in his second innings, after an unsuccessful foray in his first test as an opener before he fell to Murtagh’s outswinger.
For this northern summer’s tests, against Ireland and Australia, England chose a batch of Dukes balls made in 2018 precisely because they “hoop”, or swing, and move around off their proud seams.
Mark Adair, who backed up Murtagh excellently, although something of a novice, moved the ball up and down the slope from the Pavilion end, as did Stuart Broad and Olly Stone, who made an impressive debut by swinging the ball at high pace.
Throw in dry pitches and extra grass, which is required to bind dry pitches, and no wonder tests in England are getting shorter. This one-off
test is scheduled for four days — at 98 overs per day, although only 81.5 were managed in the heat of day one — which should prove more than enough. James Anderson was, unfortunately for England, not fit enough to benefit from the conditions here because he might have out Murtaghed Murtagh.
Even in Anderson’s absence, if England can set Ireland a three-figure target, the combination of Broad, the brand of ball and scoreboard pressure, together with some help from England’s two spinners, might yet avert embarrassment on the eve of the Ashes.
Has there been a World Cup hangover? Overtly, yes, in that the five England players involved in that triumph have scored eight runs so far. But hubris and complacency are not likely to be the culprits so much as a natural fatigue and unfamiliarity with the red ball’s behaviour. Given little more than a fortnight between the World Cup and the Ashes, this inaugural test against Ireland was the best warm-up in the circumstances, but a championship game or two in addition would have been ideal.
It was only after tea that England began to do the basics as well as Ireland had in the first two sessions. when they dismissed England in the first and reached 127 for two in the second.
Their bowlers, led by Murtagh, bowled fuller and straighter, and therefore swung and seamed the ball more than England’s; Ireland’s batsmen played later and straighter; and Gary Wilson outperformed the rusty Jonny Bairstow as wicketkeeper, and Paul Stirling accepted a low catch at first slip while Joe Root dropped one.
On a day when 20 wickets fell — the most on the opening day of a test at Lord’s — England lurched from 36 for one to 43 for seven, then 85 all out before lunch. Some critics accuse their batting of being inconsistent but, as a team of shot-players and hitters rather than traditional batsmen, England have a regular nightmare.
This collapse bettered the one in Barbados earlier this year when they lost nine wickets in a session to be dismissed for 77; last year New Zealand swung them out for 58 in Auckland; in Dhaka in 2016 they had lost all 10 wickets in a session against Bangladesh.
Murtagh’s cleverest wicket was that of Bairstow who, as a keeper-bat, was at least one place too high, and arguably two, as was Moeen Ali. Bairstow took guard a couple of feet outside the crease to cut down the amount of Murtagh’s swing and was warned by the umpires to go back so as not to damage the pitch. Whether he was distracted by the pursuit of this tactic, or by the posting of a short and straight mid-off, Bairstow went for a booming drive next ball and was bowled through the gate.
After tea England clicked, although not before Ireland had gone into the lead. Andrew Balbirnie timed the ball against pace and spin for a delightful 50 instead of trying to hit too hard, like his England counterparts. Broad and Stone spurred England back into the game, bowling the full length required, but Kevin O’Brien hung in and with the help of Murtagh’s mowing took Ireland to a lead of 100, and with Boyd Rankin’s blocking to 122 in all.
Terrible dress rehearsals have been known to precede performances which are all right on the night.
Terrible dress rehearsals have been known to precede performances which are all right on the night.