Daily Mail, Saturday, August 17, 2019127
MARTIN SAMUEL
PAGE 124
ES ENGLAND
BUMBLE
AT THE TEST
ARCHER BUZZ JUST LIKE FREDDIE
THERE has been so
much talk about
Jofra Archer, not
least about his
pace. But he’s got
another
commodity which is
absolutely
priceless: he has
instantly won the
public over. Not
once have I heard, ‘he can’t do this’ or
‘he can’t do that’. It reminds me so
much of Andrew Flintoff (above).
Whenever he came into the attack,
there was a buzz around the ground.
Archer has got that same buzz. Long
may it continue.I’M VEGGIE FOR VIPERS
I GOT a curry away on Thursday night
up in Hampstead Village. Since I’ve
gone pescatarian, on the urging of
Vipers, I’m into the veggie tackle. Okra,
Bombay potatoes, daal, sag aloo,
mushroom pulao — you name it, I’ve
eaten it. I really fancied a lamb bhuna
but I’m sticking with this diet for a
while. Truth be told, I don’t feel any
different. In fact, I feel awful. I wouldn’t
be surprised if Vipers gets me eating
budgerigar seed before long.SMITH CREASES ME UP
WE’VE seen a lot of Steve Smith so far
in this series, with his idiosyncrasies
such as his fidgets at the crease and his
extravagant leaves. All of this is very
watchable and quite funny. But it’s
obvious that it’s so important to him in
his set-up, his approach and his
run-scoring. He really is an absolute
one-off.THAT TAKES THE BISCUIT
A HEATED debate ensued after I
handed over a packet of Jofra Cakes —
or is that Jaffa Cakes — to the press in
the Lord’s media
centre. Are they
cakes or biscuits?
Usually it’s clear
cut: you’ve got
your digestives,
your Rich Teas,
your Battenburgs
and your lemon
drizzles. No one
could decide and
things threatened to turn nasty. It was
like Brexit. But a spokesman for the
ECB settled the matter. ‘If it was large,’
he said, ‘it would be a cake.’By DAVID LLOYD
T P SPIN AT THE TEST
STUART BROAD’s dismissal of Travis Head,
trapped plumb in front for seven,
continued his excellent form this
summer. In two and a bit Tests against
Ireland and Australia, Broad (right)
now has 15 wickets at under 19 apiece.STUART IS ON A ROLL
CAMERON BANCROFT’s third
failure in three innings — leg-
before to Jofra Archer for 13 —
confirmed Rory Burns as the
outstanding opener so far in this
Ashes. While Burns has made 197 runs
at an average of 65, Jason Roy, David
Warner and Bancroft have totalled 79
runs in nine innings at 8.78.LAWRENCE BOOTH
AT LORD’Sv1