Specs appeal! Leach gives England hope
Pathetic England throw it all away
JACK LEACH managed to keep his eye on the ball during his heroic nightwatchman’s innings of 92 against Ireland at Lord’s — despite his glasses steaming up in the heat. England reached 303 for nine in their second innings, a lead of 181. And without the highest score of Leach’s first-class career, they would be in deeper trouble. Leach bats in spectacles, which brought a problem as he battled in vain
towards an unlikely Test ton. He said: ‘The glasses kept steaming up. I had the headband on, but in those conditions you need to keep cleaning them. I didn’t think I’d be out there for that
NOT even some lusty late hitting that gave England a chance of saving face today could camouflage the woeful extent of an Ashes dress rehearsal that has gone badly wrong.
The second day of what was meant to be a gentle warm-up exercise for the bigger battles ahead turned into another sorry mess for an England side who cannot execute the disciplines of Test batting.
They could not have been in a better position at Lord’s to recover from the first-day embarrassment of being skittled by Ireland and gain some red-ball practice. Surely, at 171 for one on a flat pitch against an ageing Irish attack wilting in the sultry heat, even England could push on to a decisive score?
Not a bit of it. Instead they gave it all away in a miserable display of pathetic batting that, in many ways, was even worse than being demolished for 85 on a first- day green-top while still in a euphoric post-World Cup fug.
When the threat of lightning cut short another tumultuous day here, England had stuttered to 303 for nine and a lead of 181 that should provide a test of Irish mettle today when in sight of the greatest win in their cricketing history.
But even if England pull off another dramatic escape, they must be hugely concerned about batting that has not been able to cope with Ireland’s motley crew of county hopefuls and misfits.
Australia’s pedigree attack must be licking their lips.
Nothing epitomised England’s lack of mettle and nous better than the dismissal of the one man who should have been able to set the right example.
While captain Joe Root was there, England would have been confident of building on the perfect platform laid by the unlikely couple of nightwatchman Jack Leach and debutant Jason Roy.
Yet, inexplicably, Root came charging down the pitch to Mark Adair, impressing again for Ireland, and edged a loose drive to Gary Wilson that left England seven wickets down and reliant on a desperate counter-attack from Sam Curran and Stuart Broad to stay in the hunt.
Maybe it was frustration at making only 31 from 64 balls or maybe Root was still in one-day mode, but his capitulation was an indictment of England’s all- out attacking policy that has to be
moderated at times in the longer form of the game.
Root is hardly the only World Cup winner who has not looked in the right frame of mind for this match, but at least he had good reason to play as the captain of a side beginning a run of six Tests in just over seven weeks.
Jonny Bairstow has no such excuse. It was left to each England player to decide whether they wanted to rest after the huge mental effort of winning the World Cup, but Bairstow was insistent he did not wish to join Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler on the sidelines.
Perhaps he did not want to give Ben Foakes another chance to impress with the gloves, but Bairstow has looked distracted throughout this Test and completed a dismal pair when he was lbw to the rampant Adair.
There was a World Cup hangover, too, for Moeen Ali, who does not look capable of buying a big score and again submitted meekly when the pressure was on, and Chris Woakes aimed another loose drive to add to first- day bowling that was down on pace.
At least Roy, the last of the ‘World Cup five’, did himself a power of good with 72 off 78 balls that demonstrated how he just might take a Test or two away from Australia if the force is with him over the next few weeks.
It was perhaps pertinent, though, that Roy’s contribution came at No 3 because of the protection afforded him by nightwatchman Leach on the first day, rather than in the opening berth that he will be thrown into again at Edgbaston next week.
It is still that oh-so troublesome top three that will be England’s biggest worry next week, with nothing that has happened here easing concerns of trouble ahead when Mitchell Starc and Co come calling in Birmingham.
Rory Burns was introduced to Tests because of his prolific form for Surrey, despite a technique that looked unsuited to the highest level. Now the runs have dried up, he is just a jumble of moving parts and there are major concerns about what lies ahead.
The Surrey captain will start the Ashes, not least because of the dearth of alternatives, but the odds on him finishing the series are lengthening after a second failure when he pushed far too loosely at Boyd Rankin and edged through to Wilson.
Another man certain to start the Ashes is Joe Denly, who was done in cold blood by Root, who called the Kent man for a run, then left him stranded. Denly was run out by yards. An opportunity wasted, but not his fault.
Of all the batsmen England wanted to spend time at the crease, Leach would have been among the last, not least because he is highly unlikely to feature at Edgbaston despite the ongoing problems with Moeen. But it was the Somerset spinner who led the way with a defiant and gutsy 92, before he became the fifth English nightwatchman in Test cricket to fall in the 90s, when Adair finally clung on to the fourth chance offered by Leach.
He may have ridden his luck in being dropped on 64, 72 and 92 but this was a superb effort from Leach who, in his glasses, resembled David Steele, the ‘bank clerk who went to war’ when he defied the Australians in 1975.
While Leach and Roy were together, all was calm, but when Roy missed an expansive drive — that will happen with him and we have to accept it — after a stand of 146, the gates were suddenly thrown open and Ireland stormed through.
Should Ireland go on to make history today, they will thoroughly deserve it, but if England get out of jail the questions will remain. The World Cup seems an awful long time ago already.