58 2GM Tuesday July 28 2020 | the times
SportCricket
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KEVIN QUIGLEY/NMC/POOLBroad is at his most dangerous with a point to prove, according to Strauss, his
former captain, as rain precluded any play at Old Trafford yesterday, top leftThe left-arm seamer Reece Topley has
been recalled to the England one-day
squad after an absence of more than
four years for the three-match series
against Ireland at the Ageas Bowl that
starts on Thursday.
With a number of first-choice white-
ball players in the Test-match squad for
the forthcoming series against
Pakistan, England have also recalled
Sam Billings, Liam Dawson and David
Willey, none of whom was in England’s
World Cup-winning team last year.
Three uncapped players, the fast
bowler Richard Gleeson and the
all-rounders Liam Livingstone and Le-
wis Gregory, will stay in the biosecure
bubble at the Ageas Bowl as reserves for
the 14-man squad.
Topley, 26, has been plagued by inju-
ries since being part of the England
squad to reach the 2016 World T20
final.
He has suffered from a number of
Elizabeth Ammon and Public Health England to demon-
strate how they will comply with the
government’s Stage Five guidance that
allows the return of some spectators to
grounds. It is hoped that the next pilot
events at the Oval and Edgbaston will
demonstrate further that cricket
grounds could fill about 20 to 30 per
cent of their capacity safely.
Richard Gould, the Surrey chief
executive, described the first day of
their pilot match on Sunday as a
“definite success” and the county are
putting in place plans to more than
double the size of the crowd for their
first match in the competition. Smaller
grounds believe they could safely wel-
come up to 800 members for Bob Willis
Trophy matches.
It is hoped that, by September, when
the T20 Blast competition is in full
swing, counties will be able to sell
tickets to the public. The Blast gets
under way on August 27 but, for the
moment, ticket allocations will be
limited to existing county members.
something to prove and he’s had the bit
between his teeth in these last two
Tests. Write them off at our peril and
let’s not be in a hurry to pension them
off because they have both got a lot
more to offer. We need to savour everytime they bowl together in an England
shirt.”
Strauss is attending the
#RedforRuth Test match — the fourth
day of which was lost to rain yesterday
— to raise awareness for the RuthStrauss Foundation in memory of his
wife who died in 2018 from a rare form
of lung cancer. As of yesterday more
than £655,000 had been donated.
Strauss said he understood the
England selectors wanting to plan
ahead. “This season is a strange one
with a lot of Test cricket being played
over a short time so you’re not going to
play the same bowling attack all the
time,” he said.
“The selectors have an opportunity
to be flexible and are right to start
thinking about Australia. From a
selector’s point of view it is a great posi-
tion to be in.
“The bowling stocks are as good if not
better than they have been for a long
time, not just in terms of numbers but
variety — the genuine pace in [Jofra]
Archer and [Mark] Wood, we haven’t
had two 90mph-plus bowlers probably
since the dawn of time, and Sam Curran
offers the left-arm option as well which
is very effective in the right conditions.
We have the capability to go on a really
strong run in Test cricket.”
Strauss knows from personal experi-
ence how challenging it can be opening
the batting in Australia but has been
impressed by the temperaments of
Rory Burns and Dom Sibley at the top
of the order. “They are made of the right
stuff temperamentally. They’ve both
got quite quirky but effective games,”
he said.
“That is a big tick. [An Australia tour]
is a significant new challenge for those
guys. Burns showed some fantastic
technique and ticker against Australia
last year. He played brilliantly and was
probably the pick of the England
batsmen.
“Sibley’s method of getting across the
stumps and getting into the channel
works well in most circumstances. He
might have to be careful about the
potential to be caught down the leg side.
But they’ll work that out and will be
relishing the challenge.”Topley returns to England
fold after four-year absence
back problems, including several stress
fractures and at one point it looked as
though injuries would end his career.
The 6ft 7in seamer moved from Essex
to Hampshire in 2015 but was released
at the end of the 2018 season after
surgery on his back.
Topley was signed on a short-term
deal by Sussex last season and was their
leading wicket-taker in the T20 Blast,
catching the eye of Surrey, who staved
off competition from a number of other
counties, including Sussex, to secure
his services.England 14-man squad (to play Ireland): Eoin
Morgan (Middlesex, capt), Moeen Ali
(Worcestershire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire),
Tom Banton (Somerset), Sam Billings (Kent),
Tom Curran (Surrey), Liam Dawson
(Hampshire), Joe Denly (Kent), Saqib
Mahmood (Lancashire), Adil Rashid
(Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Reece Topley
(Surrey), James Vince (Hampshire), David
Willey (Yorkshire). Reserves: Richard
Gleeson (Lancashire), Lewis Gregory
(Somerset), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire).Andrew Strauss has said that Stuart
Broad has never bowled better than he
is right now and warned that no one
should be in a hurry to pension off
either him or James Anderson.
The former managing
director of England cricket
— who captained the
seamer in 38 Tests from
2009 to 2012 — does,
however, support what
the selectors are trying
to do in preparing for
next year’s Ashes tour.
“The challenge is to man-
age your bowlers and get
them bought into your strate-
gy,” the 43-year-old said.
“They [Broad and Anderson] have
been a phenomenal opening partner-
ship — two of England’s greatest of all
Hungry duo
not ready for
pensions yet,
says Strauss
time. What has impressed me is their
hunger to continue. Anyone who has
played for England for a long period
will know there is a lot of sacrifice.
You’re away from home a lot and as a
bowler you have to do more physical
work to make sure you are ready to
go. To be so hungry is extraor-
dinary.
“I don’t believe Stuart
has bowled much better
than this. There were a
couple of years where
perhaps he lost his wrist
a bit and it was hard work
for him bowling to right-
handers,” he said. “This
series [against West Indies]
he seems to be equally potent
against left and right-handers.
“You can talk about his height and
pace, but it’s actually his competitive-
ness... he is at his best when he hasSimon Wilde Old Trafford
Counties hopeful of being
allowed 2,500 spectators
Elizabeth Ammon
Counties are increasingly confident
that they will be able to welcome
limited crowds to matches in both the
Bob Willis Trophy first-class competi-
tion and the T20 Blast this summer.
As revealed by The Times yesterday,
the government has extended the pilot
scheme for crowds returning to elite
sport, enabling up to 2,500 spectators to
attend the first two days of Surrey’s Bob
Willis Trophy match against Middlesex
at the Kia Oval and Warwickshire’s
match against Northamptonshire at
Edgbaston, both of which start on
Saturday.
Surrey were able to welcome 1,000
county members for their warm-up
match against Middlesex on Sunday
and yesterday — and a further 1,000
will be at Edgbaston today and tomor-
row for Warwickshire’s warm-up
match against Worcestershire.
Other counties are now in discussion
with their local Sports Safety AuthorityBid to banish junk-food
sponsors from TV sport
The government has been urged to
close the loophole that allows
junk-food companies to carry on
sponsoring sports teams and events
despite the planned ban on such
foods being advertised on TV before
9pm (Elizabeth Ammon writes).
As part of the effort to reduce
obesity, the government has
announced that junk-food adverts on
TV and online will be banned before
the 9pm watershed but its proposals
do not include sports sponsorship
deals. Children watching next year’s
new cricket tournament, the
Hundred, will still see the logos of
fatty snacks emblazoned on the kits
of the players as well as around the
grounds. The eight-team city-based
competition will be shown on both
the BBC and Sky Sports throughout
July and August 2021, with matches
starting at about 6.30pm.
A spokesman for the Obesity
Health Alliance, which represents 40
health charities, said: “We hope that
this will make sports organisers think
twice before entering into these types
of deals and that the government will
act to close this loophole.”31
Entirely abandoned days
of Test cricket at Old
Trafford — ten more than
the next top ground for
rain: 21 Lord’s, 15 Oval,
13 Headingley, 10
Trent BridgeHow the match stands
(Today, final day of five): West Indies
need 389 runs to win with eight
second-innings wickets in handEngland 369 (Pope 91, Buttler 67,
Broad 62; Roach 4-72) & 226-2 dec
(Burns 90, Root 68)West Indies 197 (Broad 6-31) and 10-2
Today’s forecast Sunshine
and showers — unlikely to
be a washout, but could
well be stoppages