RORY FLOPS IN IRELAND YET AGAIN
Anderson turns back the clock to put England in control with late wicket GOLF
MOEEN ALI isn’t always the first all-rounder people think of in the England team but he is definitely one of the first names down on the teamsheet.
He’s done brilliantly to become the second fastest England player to the pairing of 2,000 runs and 100 Test wickets and I expect to see him double them both.
For a while people saw Moeen (below) as a bits and pieces bowler, but he’s better than that and when it comes to his batting he is a very dangerous player who can take a game away from you very quickly with his range of elegant strokes.
He is not afraid to go aerial and use his feet to come out of the crease and attack the bowlers, a bit like Adam Gilchrist used to do at No.7 for Australia.
In playing like that he is always going to give you a chance and as a bowler you feel as though you could take his wicket at any time, but when it is his day the runs will flow.
We’ve seen it here with his 87, taking the game away with Joe Root on day one and starting positively on day two so that England could turn a good score into a very good total. He has become a reliable bowler with a knack of taking big wickets and at 30, he still has plenty of time to add a lot more. FRUSTRATED Rory McIlroy crashed out of his own tournament, missing the cut at the Irish Open for the fourth time in five years.
Winner last year, McIlroy (below) added a second-round 73 to his opening 72 at Portstewart Golf Club for a halfway total of one over par. Before the tournament McIlory talked optimistically of his preparations for this week and further ahead for the Open at Birkdale. But yesterday he said: “My short game is not sharp enough and I’m making silly mistakes. I’m making it difficult for myself.”
Playing partner Jon Rahm added a 67 to his opening 65 to finish 12 under, a shot behind clubhouse leader Daniel Im.