Section:GDN 1N PaGe:36 Edition Date:190807 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 6/8/2019 20:26 cYanmaGentaYellowbl
- The Guardian Wednesday 7 August 2019
(^36) Sport
Cricket The Ashes
Moeen’s
fall shows
the cruelty
of sport
at top level
Vic Marks
Chris Stocks
Woodman Cote
W
e all make
mistakes but
most of us
manage to do
so without
attracting too
much attention. However, this
luxury is not given to Test cricketers- even in the post free-to-air era.
Moeen Ali is rediscovering this after
his moon ball, his misguided leave
and his wayward second-innings
bowling at Edgbaston; so, too, is
Jason Roy, who swung and missed so
memorably when producing a poor
imitation of Virender Sehwag at the
crease. Playing international cricket
is a great job; it is also a cruel one.
It is an easier game in the press
box. In my eagerness to feel some
England’s Ashes hopes received a
welcome shot of adrenaline when
Jofra Archer impressed for Sussex’s
second XI in his fi rst red-ball match
for 11 months to make a compelling
case for his inclusion in next week’s
second Test against Australia at Lord’s.
The 24-year-old fast bowler took
six for 27 as Gloucestershire’s sec-
onds were routed for 79 inside the
morning session. More important wasempathy with a few of our Test
players, let me admit to splitting an
infi nitive in 2001 and more recently,
just before the start of the fi rst Test
against Australia in a typical bit of
journalistic smart-arsery, there was
this pontifi cation : “ If England can
get to 80 for two on a regular basis
they will win the series .” Well, at
Edgbaston England were 154 for one
at the high point of their fi rst innings
and 80 for two in their second.
They ended up being thrashed by
251 runs.
The game can make fools of us all.
Three weeks after their World Cup
win Engl and’s cricketers are being
castigated; Steve Smith, a pariah in
his own country not so long ago, is
now canoni sed. And there are stillthat Archer, who has played two T20
matches for Sussex in the past fort-
night, got through 12.1 overs without
any hint of discomfort from the side
strain that had aff ected him during the
World Cup.
He later hit an impressive century
with the bat, reaching three fi gures in
84 balls in his fi rst red-ball match since
last September. There was one scare
late in that innings of 108, when Archer
took a glancing blow on the helmet
from the Scotland bowler Adrian Neill,
who eventually trapped him lbw. How-
ever, after a short break for treatment
and no replacement helmet needed,
Archer was fi ne to continue.
Bowling at full pace, Archer had
earlier got through three spells – the
fi rst of eight overs. He did not hold
back either, forcing two players out
of the game. The fi rst, Milo Ayres, was
hit fl ush on the grille by a short ball.
The 19-year-old continued to bat after
treatment but did not reappear whenfour Tests to go. None of us is safe.
If England score more runs than
Australia on a regular basis, they
might win the series.
Suddenly there is gloom and
despondency. Only twice since 1954-
55 have England won an Ashes series
after losing the fi rst Test and that
happened in the miraculous years
of 1981 and 2005. Before the contest
resumes next Wednesday at Lord’s
the England selectors have some
agonising to do, not over whether
to make changes but on how many
would be appropriate.
It is clear that Jimmy Anderson
will be missing, probably for the rest
of the series, possibly for the rest of
time. Jofra Archer is primed to take
his place. Until yesterday againstGloucestershire’s second XI he ha d
not bowled with a red ball since last
September. He is a brilliant prospect
but expectations of him should be
measured.
The same applies to Jack Leach,
if he is selected to replace Moeen.
There is a fair chance this will
happen. Everyone wants Moeen to
succeed. He is the most endearing
and dependable of characters, who
gives so much to the squad around
the dressing room, where he is a
rock-solid presence. Yet on the fi eld
the opposite applies at the moment.
There is no knowing what he is
going to do. He cut a forlorn fi gure
at Edgbaston. He bowled more
than adequately in the fi rst innings
but his inability to put pressure onAshes boost
Archer shines
on return for
Sussex seconds
Anderson must
prove match fi tness
to return in Ashes
Ali MartinJimmy Anderson has been told his
hopes of an Ashes return now hinge
on proving his fitness in a match
situation after England offi cially ruled
him out of the second Test at Lord’s
next week.
Anderson pulled up lame after just
four overs of bowling proved catastro-
phic to Joe Root’s side at Edgbaston,
with Steve Smith feasting on a resulting
four-man attack for centuries in both
innings that propelled Australia to a
251-run win.
Stuart Broad said his strike partner
was “distraught” at letting his team-
mates down while Root tried to
describe the injury as a “freak” after the
Test, given Anderson had passed the
fi tness tests and the decision to select
the 37-year-old was “unanimous”.
England, however, remained
vague over the severity of this appar-
ent recurrence when announcing
yester day that Anderson would miss
the Lord’s Test next week. A state-
ment referred only to a “calf injury”
fol lowing a second scan and saidAnderson’s return would be assessed
on a rolling basis.
Despite the injury prompting fears
that Anderson’s record-breaking
England career could be coming to a
close, the player himself is privately
upbeat about his prospects of a return.
But his word alone will not be enough
second time around.
That said, the options for demon-
strating fitness are limited by adomestic schedule that is awash with
Twenty20 cricket. Lancashire face
Glamorgan in a County Championship
game at Colwyn Bay from 18 August- a fi xture in which Anderson could
theoretically play for the fi rst two
days before linking up with England
for the third Test at Headingley that
starts on 22 August.
If that scenario is deemed to be
too rushed, further options include a
three-day second XI match between
Lancashire and Leicestershire in
Liverpool that starts on 20 August, or
even Derbyshire’s tour match against
the Australians from 29 August were
a loan deal to be arranged.
Being 1-0 down and with a number
of question marks over the team,
England must put thoughts of Ander-
son to one side as they try to level the
series at the scene of their World Cup
fi nal triumph last month; Jofra Archer
demon strating his fi tness after a side
problem with 12 overs for Sussex 2nd
XI yesterday is at least one plus.
Trevor Bayliss confirmed Jack
Leach, Somerset’s left-arm spinner,
would enter the thoughts of the selec-
tors when they fi nalise their squad at
the end of the week, with Moeen Ali’s
match fi gures of 42 overs, three for 172
a source of concern.
The head coach said: “Everyone is a
confi dence player but I think with Mo it
is very much like that. He puts together
one good spell we know he can pick up
three or four very quickly. He’s got to
try not to put too much pressure on
himself and go out and enjoy it.”
Despite losing the bowler most likely
to exploit a seaming pitch, Bayliss is
still hoping that Lord’s has more live
grass than was witnessed at Edgbas-
ton; after day one it became tougher
as the pace dropped out of the surface.
This summer’s bespoke Duke ball
is not swinging like the 2017 and 2018
editions it was supposed to replicate.
But Bayliss believes seam movement –
aided by greater vegetation – could be
the key to removing the in-form Smith
early on in his innings.
Bayliss, who has previously worked
with Smith in Australia, said: “We
passed the bat 17 times in the fi rst
innings – if he nicks one of those we
are all saying ‘well bowled’.
“All world-class batters play and
miss a little bit but the best players take
advantage of that little bit of luck. If
he’s not the best player in the world
he’s certainly very close to it.”
James Anderson was able
to bowl just four overs in
the fi rst Ashes Test
LINDSEY PARNABY/AFP/GETTY- Wed 14 - Sun 18 Aug
Second Test, Lord’s
Sun 18 - Wed 21 Aug
Glamorgan v Lancashire
Tue 20 - Thu 22 Aug
2nd XI: Lancs v Leics - Thur 22 - Mon 26 Aug
Third Test, Headingley ( above)
Thur 29 - Sat 31 Aug
Tour match: Derbyshire v Aus - Wed 4 - Sun 8 Sept
Fourth Test, Old Traff ord
Jimmy’s journey: options
Injured bowler out of Lord’s
Test and county schedule
off ers few chances to playРЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛА ГРУППА "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS