The Daily Telegraph - 29.08.2019

long as I’m bowling well I don’t

really care what speed I’m bowling.”

Archer notably reduced his

speed in the first innings at Head-

ingley as he took six for 45 to dem-

onstrate he can change his game to

suit conditions, pairing skill with

short-ball hostility. That, though,

did not include the wicket of the

absent Smith – a fact he aims to rec-

tify at Old Trafford, traditionally the

quickest ground in the country – in

the potentially decisive fourth Test

starting next Wednesday.

“Well, I can’t get him out if he

wasn’t there,” said Archer, who was

on media duties at Hove yesterday.

“I did want to bowl at him when he

came back out to bat [at Lord’s] but

he was out before I even got to

come back on. But there’ll be more

than ample time to get him out.

“At the end of the day, I’m not

saying I won’t get him out, but if we

don’t get him out there’s 10 other

people we can get out, and if he’s

stranded on 40, that’s not helping

his team too much, to be honest.

By Isabelle Westbury

Lizelle Lee pummelled the fastest

Kia Super League half-century to

ensure the Surrey Stars finished

their fixtures with a bang.

The South African opener

smashed 50 in just 17 balls to propel

her side to a 35-run victory over

Lancashire Thunder in a reduced

nine-overs-a-side match.

While the last round of group

games was all about dotting the i’s

and crossing the t’s before the Hun-

dred replaces the competition next

year, Lancashire will hope it is con-

signed to a footnote of history as

they ended 2019 winless.

They are the only side to go

through a season without winning,

a feat they also endured in 2017

when each team played only five

matches.

Only one of their bowlers went at

under 10 per over, while England

all-rounder Nat Sciver had her own

fun at the top of the order with Lee,

reaching her 50 off 26 balls.

Needing 133 to win, Lancashire

reached 50 without loss but it was

the rate that got to them in the end

as only two of Surrey’s six bowlers

went at more than 10 per over.

Another South African, Mari-

zanne Kapp, made sure her legacy

as one of the most disciplined bowl-

ers of the KSL was intact, finishing

her career with an economy rate of

5.38, the lowest of any bowler, with

58 per cent dot-ball deliveries.

Meanwhile, Hannah Jones, bowl-

ing her first overs of the KSL, picked

up three for 11 in one over, the best

figures of the night.

A brilliant knock of 74 by Amy

Jones helped Loughborough Light-

ning (163 for four) beat Southern

Vipers (127) by 36 runs while York-

shire (104 for four) won their rain-

affected match at Western Storm

(99 for three) by five runs.

Holders Worcestershire have gone

through to the quarter-finals of the

Vitality Blast after the washout of

their North Group encounter with

Nottinghamshire at New Road.

The single point acquired ena-

bled them to join Nottinghamshire,

Lancashire and Derbyshire in the

last eight.

It was the third home match in

seven during this summer’s Blast

campaign that has been called off

without a ball being bowled.

Worcestershire will now be

vying with Nottinghamshire for

second spot and a home tie when

the North Group is completed to-

morrow evening.

Worcestershire travel to take on

Northamptonshire while Notting-

hamshire, who have a one-point

advantage, will do battle with Dur-

ham at Trent Bridge.

Lee hits 50

off 17 balls in

Surrey blitz

Rain is boost

to holders

KIA SUPER LEAGUE

VITALITY BLAST

“We all know he’s a world-class

batter, and has the right tempera-

ment for Test cricket, but he can’t

do it all himself. Even if we don’t get

him, fair play to him, but we want

to win the game. I’m not here to get

caught up in a contest with one

man. I want to win the Ashes.”

Archer will be summoned when-

ever Smith returns to the crease

and there is no doubt he will test his

mettle with short-pitched bowling.

The pair know each other from

playing together at Rajasthan Roy-

als but there has been no small talk.

This Ashes series is bubbling away

and after England’s tense, narrow

victory on Sunday, during which

the Australians sledged Archer for

his dismissal, it would be no sur-

prise if the tension became more

obvious at Old Trafford.

“Yes, I’ve seen him around,” said

Archer about Smith. “But you’re

not going to sit and pull a chair and

have a deep conversation, are you?”

Archer faced 33 balls, hitting 15

runs in nine overs, when batting

with Ben Stokes on Sunday, but

thought he had thrown away the

chance of victory when he was

caught on the boundary. Adrenalin

had overtaken common sense after

he hit Nathan Lyon for two fours in

the over. “I thought I had messed

the series up, not just the game but

the series, so I was very relieved

yesterday and today that we are still

alive and fighting,” he said.

Archer has been on the receiving

end of plenty of short balls, some-

thing that has given him perspec-

tive on playing in an Ashes series.

“I generally don’t receive much

bouncers at county level, because

they know I can bowl it back, so

everyone just tries to hit me on the

knee,” he said. “But the first ball at

Lord’s was short, the second, the

third, the fourth, the fifth. So that

just goes to show actually how com-

petitive it is. Everyone wants to

win, no one cares – and that’s fine.”

Specsavers are the official Test part-

ner of the England cricket team.

Touch of bad luck Lyon’s injury scare

Nathan Lyon’s

bad week

continued

when he

turned his

ankle playing

touch rugby in

training.

Australia’s

off-spinner

(right) left the

Derby outfield

and did not

return. He will

not play in the

match against

Derbyshire

starting today

but is expected

to be fit for the

next Test.

His missed

run-out helped

England win at

Headingley on

Sunday.

through that match unscathed be-

fore pairing him with Jofra Archer.

They look set to name the same bat-

ting line-up, but Jason Roy will drop

down the order after being given

one more chance to open at

Headingley and failing.

Stokes’s performance has caught

the public mood. Crowds at Vitality

Blast matches have been chanting

“Shoes off if you love Ben Stokes”, a

song that was shouted loudly at

Headingley on Sunday.

Sky Sports achieved a peak

viewership of 2.1 million, their

highest ever, while Channel 5’s

‘Bowling

fast does

not get

people

out, you

still need

to put it

in the

right

area’

‘The

crowd

were so,

so loud

• they

are your

12th

man’

highlights package also pulled in

2 million viewers.

“The crowd were so, so loud and

they were during the whole four

days. We have an amazing support

and I didn’t get told until after about

everyone taking their shoes off, but

they are your 12th man,” said Stokes.

“We are very aware that we have

a responsibility to inspire the next

generation. What we did in the first

half of the summer [win the World

Cup] helped us to do that and, if we

win the Ashes, hopefully it will help

produce more cricketers out of

England over the next 20 years.”

Whole new ball

game: Australia’s

players tried to

forget the pain of

Headingley by

engaging in a

game of touch

rugby yesterday

on the outfield of

the County

Ground in Derby.

(From the left)

Tim Paine, David

Warner and Steve

Smith were in the

thick of the

action on the eve

of a three-day

warm-up game

against

Derbyshire

Pace aces

Cricket’s

fastest

100.23 mph

Shoaib

Akhtar

(Pakistan) v

England

2003

100.1 mph

Brett Lee

(Australia) v

New

Zealand

2005

99.1 mph

Andy

Roberts

(West

Indies) v

Australia

1975

even if he bowls quicker

The Daily Telegraph Thursday 29 August 2019 *** 3

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