the times | Wednesday June 8 2022 61
Sport
Football
Uefa Nations League A: group three
Germany (0) 1 England (0) 1
Hofmann 50 Kane 88 (pen)
Italy (2) 2 Hungary (0) 1
Barella 30
Pellegrini 45
Mancini 61 (og)6 table on page 66
League B: group three
Bosnia-Herz(0) 1 Romania (0) 0
Prevljak 68
Finland (2) 2 Montenegro(0) 0
Pohjanpalo 31, 38
P W D L F A Pts
Finland 2110314
Bosnia-Herz 2110214
Montenegro 2101223
Romania 200 20 30
League C: group one
Faroe Islands (0) 0 Luxembourg(0) 1
Rodrigues 74 (pen)
Sent off: R Joensen 67, S Vatnhamar 80
(both Faroe Islands)
Lithuania (0) 0 Turkey (2) 6
Sinik 2, 14, Dursun
56 (pen), 81, Akgün 89
Dervisoglu 90
PW D L F A Pts
Turkey 2 2 0 0 10 0 6
Luxembourg 2200306
FaroeIslands 200 20 5 0
Lithuania 200 20 8 0
European Under-21 Championship:
Qualifying group three Lithuania 1 Northern
Ireland 1. Group seven England 3 Albania 0.
Cricket
First Twenty20 international
Sri Lanka v Australia
Colombo (Australia won toss): Australia beat
Sri Lanka by ten wickets
Sri Lanka (balls)
P Nissanka b Starc 36 (31)
M D Gunathilaka c Marsh b Hazlewood 26(15)
K I C Asalanka run out 38 (34)
†B K G Mendis c Agar b Hazlewood 1 (5)
P B B Rajapaksa c Wade b Hazlewood 0 (1)
*M D Shanaka lbw b Hazlewood 0 (2)
P W H De Silva c Finch b Starc 17 (15)
C Karunaratne run out 1 (2)
P V D Chameera c Warner b Starc 1 (5)
M M Theekshana c Warner b Richardson 1(4)
I D N Thushara not out 0 (3)
Extras (w 7) 7
Total (19.3 overs) 128
Fall of wickets 1-39, 2-100, 3-102, 4-103, 5-103,
6-116, 7-118, 8-127, 9-128.
Bowling Starc 4-0-26-3; Hazlewood 4-0-16-4;
Marsh 2-0-21-0; Maxwell 2-0-18-0;
Richardson 3.3-0-22-1; Agar 4-0-25-0.
Australia (balls)
*A J Finch not out 61 (40)
D A Warner not out 70 (44)
Extras (w 3) 3
Total (no wkt, 14 overs) 134
M R Marsh, G J Maxwell, S P D Smith, M P
Stoinis, †M S Wade, A C Agar, M A Starc, K W
Richardson and J R Hazlewood did not bat.
Bowling Theekshana 4-0-25-0; Thushara
2-0-21-0; Chameera 4-0-48-0; De Silva
2-0-27-0; Karunaratne 2-0-13-0.
6 Australia lead three-match series 1-0
Vitality Blast: North group
Leicestershire v Lancashire
Leicester (Leicestershire Foxes won toss):
Lancashire Lightning (2pts) beat
Leicestershire Foxes by seven wickets
Leicestershire Foxes (balls)
H D Rutherford c Lamb b Gleeson 0 (2)
S Steel c Vilas b Livingstone 6 (10)
†L J Hill c and b David 50 (34)
A M Lilley c David b Parkinson 19 (15)
*C N Ackermann c sub b Lamb 25 (27)
R K Patel c David b Hartley 9 (7)
B W M Mike b Hartley 3 (4)
R Ahmed c David b Parkinson 8 (7)
C F Parkinson lbw b Lamb 1 (2)
N u Murid run out 5 (4)
W S Davis not out 2 (3)
Extras (lb 5, w 2) 7
Total (19.1 overs) 135
Fall of wickets 1-0, 2-30, 3-70, 4-83, 5-103,
6-113, 7-124, 8-125, 9-131.
Bowling Gleeson 4-0-26-1; Wood 2-0-21-0;
Livingstone 1-0-9-1; Hartley 4-0-21-2; Parkinson
4-0-27-2; David 2-0-16-1; Lamb 2.1-0-10-2.
Lancashire Lightning (balls)
K K Jennings c Hill b Murid 7 (6)
†P D Salt c Lilley b Murid 38 (34)
S J Croft run out 45 (31)
*D J Vilas not out 12 (10)
T H David not out 24 (17)
Extras (b 1, lb 2, w 8, nb 2) 13
Total (3 wkts, 16.1 overs) 139
L S Livingstone, L Wood, D J Lamb, T Hartley,
R J Gleeson and M W Parkinson did not bat.
Fall of wickets 1-16, 2-97, 3-100.
Bowling Parkinson 4-0-24-0; Mike 4-0-33-0;
Murid 3.1-0-32-2; Davis 2-0-16-0; Ahmed
3-0-31-0.
Northants Steelbacks v Derbyshire
Northampton (Derbyshire Falcons won
toss): Northants Steelbacks (2pts) beat
Derbyshire Falcons by five wickets
Derbyshire Falcons (balls)
*S M Khan c Keogh b Sanderson 11 (15)
L M Reece c Neesham b Taylor 8 (10)
H Kerr c White b Neesham 29 (22)
J L du Plooy c Taylor b Heldreich 19 (14)
W L Madsen c Cobb b Taylor 37 (27)
†B D Guest c Curran b Heldreich 2 (5)
A L Hughes c Cobb b Taylor 16 (13)
M H McKiernan b Taylor 1 (2)
M R J Watt not out 15 (9)S Conners run out 2 (4)
Extras (b 2, lb 3, w 4, nb 2) 11
Total (9 wkts, 20 overs) 151
G L S Scrimshaw did not bat.
Fall of wickets 1-19, 2-25, 3-64, 4-74, 5-80,
6-130, 7-131, 8-132, 9-151.
Bowling Cobb 2-0-13-0; Sanderson 4-0-32-1;
Taylor 4-0-27-4; Neesham 4-0-34-1; Heldreich
4-0-20-2; White 2-0-20-0.
Northants Steelbacks (balls)
C A Lynn c Guest b Kerr 0 (1)
B J Curran c Conners b Scrimshaw 11 (13)
*J J Cobb c Conners b Scrimshaw70 (44)
S A Zaib c Guest b Conners 6 (7)
R I Keogh not out 28 (24)
J D S Neesham c Reece b Hughes 20 (13)
T A I Taylor not out 12 (7)
Extras (lb 6, w 2) 8
Total (5 wkts, 18.1 overs) 155
†L D McManus, G G White, B W Sanderson and
F J Heldreich did not bat.
Fall of wickets 1-0, 2-55, 3-77, 4-102, 5-133.
Bowling Kerr 2-0-23-1; Watt 4-0-30-0;
McKiernan 4-0-32-0; Scrimshaw 4-0-32-2;
Conners 2.1-0-18-1; Hughes 2-0-14-1.
P W LT NR Pts RR
Lancashire 6 5 0 1 0 11 1.32
Northants 7 4 20 1 9 -0.23
Birmingham 6 4 20 0 8 1.40
Yorkshire 63 2 1 0 7 0.30
Leicestershire 73 40 0 6 -1.00
Notts Outlaws 6 2 30 1 5 -0.87
Derbyshire 6 2 40 0 4 0.05
Durham 6 2 40 0 4 0.05
Worcs 6 1 50 0 2 -0.81
South group: Essex v Kent
Chelmsford (Essex Eagles won toss): Essex
Eagles (2pts) beat Kent Spitfires by seven
wickets
Kent Spitfires (balls)
T Muyeye c Sams b Allison 6 (14)
D J Bell-Drummond c Critchley b Sams 0(2)
J M Cox c Buttleman b Allison 2 (5)
G Stewart c Sams b Cook 2 (3)
*†S W Billings c and b Harmer 8 (13)
A J Blake c Walter b Sams 38 (32)
J A Leaning b Critchley 14 (13)
G F Linde c Sams b Critchley 18 (17)
Q A Kamawal c Sams b Cook 24 (14)
M E Milnes not out 7 (6)
F J Klaassen not out 1 (1)
Extras (lb 6, w 4) 10
Total (9 wkts, 20 overs) 130
Fall of wickets 1-6, 2-14, 3-15, 4-17, 5-46, 6-73,
7-91, 8-104, 9-123.
Bowling Sams 4-0-22-2; Cook 4-0-14-2;
Allison 4-0-28-2; Harmer 4-0-19-1; Nijjar
1-0-21-0; Critchley 3-0-20-2.
Essex Eagles (balls)
W E L Buttleman c Blake b Linde 15 (20)
†A M Rossington b Klaassen 8 (8)
M S Pepper c Stewart b Kamawal50 (29)
M J J Critchley not out 18 (20)
P I Walter not out 33 (16)
Extras (lb 2, w 9) 11
Total (3 wkts, 15.3 overs) 135T Westley, D R Sams, *S R Harmer, A S S Nijjar,
B M J Allison and S J Cook did not bat.
Fall of wickets 1-9, 2-53, 3-85.
Bowling Klaassen 4-2-20-1; Stewart 2-0-18-0;
Milnes 3-0-27-0; Kamawal 4-0-31-1; Linde
2.3-0-37-1.
Glamorgan v Gloucestershire
Sophia Gardens (Gloucestershire won toss):
Gloucestershire (2pts) beat Glamorgan by
five wickets
Glamorgan (balls)
*D L Lloyd c and b Howell 68 (43)
S A Northeast b Howell 24 (24)
C A Ingram c Cockbain b Phillips 10 (11)
†C B Cooke c and b Smith 19 (15)
E J Byrom c Howell b Higgins 12 (10)
D A Douthwaite b Payne 7 (3)
K S Carlson c Hammond b Phillips 1 (5)
W J Weighell b Payne 6 (4)
J A R Harris not out 1 (3)
P Sisodiya not out 3 (3)
Extras (lb 3, w 2, nb 2) 7
Total (8 wkts, 20 overs) 158
M G Hogan did not bat.
Fall of wickets 1-90, 2-105, 3-111, 4-128, 5-135,
6-136, 7-152, 8-154.
Bowling Payne 4-0-33-2; Phillips 3-0-22-2;
Smith 4-0-28-1; Shaw 1-0-8-0; Chappell
1-0-16-0; Howell 4-0-34-2; Taylor 2-0-11-0;
Higgins 1-0-3-1.
Gloucestershire (balls)
M A H Hammond c Byrom
b Douthwaite 31 (22)
†J R Bracey c Carlson b Hogan 63 (49)
I A Cockbain c and b Sisodiya 10 (7)
G D Phillips c Hogan b Douthwaite 40 (27)
R F Higgins c Cooke b Douthwaite 0 (1)
*J M R Taylor not out 7 (5)
B A C Howell not out 1 (3)
Extras (b 4, w 3) 7
Total (5 wkts, 19 overs) 159
T M J Smith, D A Payne, Z J Chappell and
J Shaw did not bat.
Fall of wickets 1-58, 2-71, 3-147, 4-147, 5-151.
Bowling Hogan 4-0-34-1; Harris 3-0-29-0;
Weighell 3-0-24-0; Douthwaite 4-0-30-3;
Sisodiya 4-0-26-1; Lloyd 1-0-12-0.
Middlesex v Hampshire
Radlett (Hampshire Hawks won toss):
Hampshire Hawks (2pts) beat Middlesex by
nine wickets
Middlesex (balls)
*S S Eskinazi c Dawson b Wood 21 (13)
M D E Holden c Vince b Fuller 35 (29)
J B Cracknell c Dawson b Currie 3 (6)
L B K Hollman c Whiteley b Dawson 9 (12)
J L B Davies lbw b Wheal 34 (27)
†J A Simpson c Fuller b Dawson 4 (6)
C J Green b Dawson 7 (9)
M K Andersson not out 25 (18)
Extras (b 1, lb 1, w 2) 4
Total (7 wkts, 20 overs) 142
T S Roland-Jones, T N Walallawita and J P
Behrendorff did not bat.Fall of wickets 1-34, 2-44, 3-70, 4-72, 5-80, 6-
94, 7-142.
Bowling Wood 4-0-29-1; Wheal 4-0-38-1;
Currie 3-0-29-1; Prest 1-0-9-0; Fuller 4-0-21-1;
Dawson 4-0-14-3.
Hampshire Hawks (balls)
†B R McDermott c Eskinazi
b Andersson 83 (30)
*J M Vince not out 54 (37)
T J Prest not out 3 (5)
Extras (b 1, lb 1, w 3) 5
Total (1 wkt, 12 overs) 145
J J Weatherley, T E Albert, R A Whiteley, J K
Fuller, L A Dawson, C P Wood, S W Currie and
B T J Wheal did not bat.
Fall of wicket 1-132.
Bowling Behrendorff 2-0-18-0; Walallawita
2-0-22-0; Roland-Jones 2-0-27-0; Andersson
3-0-39-1; Hollman 1-0-18-0; Green 2-0-19-0.
P W LT NR Pts RR
Surrey 54 00 1 9 1.88
Somerset 54 10 0 8 0.97
Essex 6 3 20 1 7 0.48
Gloucs 6 3 20 1 7 0.33
Sussex 6 3 30 0 6 -0.16
Middlesex 6 3 30 0 6 -0.74
Glamorgan 72 4 0 1 5 -0.30
Hampshire 6 2 4 0 0 4 -0.72
Kent 7 1 6 0 0 2 -0.63
Cycling
Women’s Tour of Britain
Leading positions: Second stage (Harlow,
92.1km): 1, L Wiebes (Neth, Team DSM) 2hr
19min 5sec; 2, B Guarischi (It, Movistar Team);
3, S Bossuyt (Bel, Canyon/SRAM Racing) both
same time. Overall 1, C Copponi (Fr, FDJ
Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope) 5:59:06; 2,
M Van der duin (Neth, Le Col-Wahoo) at 3sec
behind; 3, Wiebes 4. Leading British 20, A
Barnes (Canyon/SRAM Racing); 25, A Smith
(EF Education-TIBCO-SVB); 29, D Shrosbree
(CAMS-Basso) all at 14sec.
Critérium du Dauphiné race
Leading positions: Third stage (Saint-
Paulien to Chastreix-Sancy, France,
164.0km): 1, D Gaudu (Fr, Groupama-FDJ) 4hr
9min 38sec; 2, W van Aert (Bel, Jumbo-
Visma); 3, V Lafay (Fr, Cofidis) both same
time. Overall 1, Van Aert 12:50:32; 2, Gaudu at
6sec behind; 3, Lafay 12. Leading British 25, T
Geoghegan Hart (INEOS Grenadiers) 16; 35, C
Froome (Israel-Premier Tech) 47.
Tennis
ATP Mercedes Cup
Stuttgart: First round D Stricker (Switz) bt M
Cressy (US) 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-2); A
Murray (GB) bt C O’Connell (Aus) 6-4, 6-3; M
Fucsovics (Hun) bt J Rodionov (Austria) 6-7
(5-7), 6-3, 6-4; A Rinderknech (Fr) bt U
Humbert (Fr) 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4; N Kyrgios
(Aus) bt J Lehecka (Cz) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3; A Bublik
(Kaz) bt D Kudla (US) 7-6 (7-3), 7-5.
Libéma Open
‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands: First round:Men E Ruusuvuori (Fin) bt B van de
Zandschulp (Neth) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1; T Griekspoor
(Neth) bt A Bedene (Slovenia) 7-5, 7-5; K
Khachanov bt A Tabilo (Chile) 6-3, 6-3; J
Brooksby (US) bt J de Jong (Neth) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3;
B Nakashima (US) bt T Paul (US) 6-7 (4-7), 7-6
(7-5), 7-6 (7-2); K Majchrzak (Pol) bt D Koepfer
(Ger) 6-1, 6-4; S Querrey (US) bt R Haase (Neth)
6-3, 6-2; I Ivashka bt M McDonald (US) 6-3, 6-7
(8-10), 6-1; A Mannarino (Fr) bt A Seppi (It) 7-6
(7-4), 7-6 (11-9); T van Rijthoven (Neth) bt M
Ebden (Aus) 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (11-9). Women A
Sabalenka bt K Baindl (Ukr) 6-4, 6-1; A Hartono
(Neth) bt T Preston (Aus) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4; B Bencic
(Switz) bt M Brengle (US) 6-4 6-3; A Blinkova bt
G Minnen (Bel) 2-6, 6-1, 6-4; A Li (US) bt L
Samsonova 6-3, 6-4; E Alexandrova bt D
Yastremska (Ukr) 2-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-2; E Rybakina
(Kaz) bt J Loeb (US) 6-4, 7-5; C McNally (US) bt
D Saville (Aus) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3; T Zidansek
(Slovenia) bt H Tan (Fr) 1-6, 6-2, 6-4; A Kalinina
(Ukr) bt O Gadecki (Aus) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4; E
Mertens (Bel) bt S Sanders (Aus) 6-7 (5-7), 6-1,
6-2; S Rogers (US) bt V Diatchenko 6-2, 6-4; V
Kudermetova bt L Jeanjean 6-2, 6-3; K Flipkens
(Bel) bt A Tikhonova 6-2, 5-7, 6-3; A van
Uytvanck (Bel) bt T Korpatsch (Ger) 6-4, 7-5.
WTA Rothesay Open
Nottingham Tennis Centre: First round M
Sakkari (Gr) bt C Osorio (Col) 6-2, 6-3; V
Golubic (Switz) bt E Raducanu (GB) 4-3 ret; C
Giorgi (It) bt S Kartal (GB) 6-4, 6-3; Zhang Shuai
(China) bt C Bucsa (Sp) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3; R Marino
(Can) bt E Silva (GB) 6-4, 6-4; M Linette (Pol) bt
K Kawa (Pol) 7-6 (7-4), 6-2; B Haddad Maia (Br)
bt Qiang Wang (China) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3; Y Miyazaki
(GB) bt M Frech (Pol) 6-4, 1-6, 6-1; K Boulter (GB)
bt T Maria (Ger) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4; A Tomljanovic
(Aus) bt Wang Xinyu (China) 6-4, 6-4.Results and scoreboards
Football
Kick-off 7.45
Uefa Nations League A: Group four Belgium
v Poland; Wales v Holland. League B: Group
one Ireland v Ukraine; Scotland v Armenia.
Cricket
Vitality Blast (6.30): North group: Emirates
Riverside Durham v Birmingham Bears.
Headingley Yorkshire Vikings v Lancashire
Lightning. South group: Kia Oval Surrey v
Sussex Sharks.
Cycling
Women’s Tour of Britain: Third stage
(Tewkesbury to Gloucester).
Tennis
Nottingham Tennis Centre WTA Rothesay
Open.Fixtures
Poor ticket sales, low attendances,
boozy crowds, fighting in the stands
and an absence of England stars. In its
20th year, the T20 Blast is facing its
biggest challenge and an uncertain
future as it tries to establish how — if at
all — it can co-exist with the Hundred.
The Blast’s high-water mark came in
2019, with almost a million attendees in
total, feeding off the feel-good factor of
that summer’s England 50-over World
Cup victory at home and before the
Hundred had come into existence.
But now the counties are reporting
that sales for some of their matches are
more than 25 per cent down on 2019,
and very few of the 135 matches in the
competition have sold out. This is
partly because the competition is
taking place six weeks earlier than it did
in 2019 — to accommodate the
Hundred starting at the end of July —
and because the fixtures were
announced two months later than
usual, while the May start also clashed
with the end of the football season.
Crowd behaviour and the spectator
experience for children, families and
non-drinkers in particular is under
scrutiny. The Blast has always had
something of a boozy culture — cer-
tainly among the after-work crowd on
Thursday and Friday evenings — but
there have been reports on social media
in the past two weeks of individuals in
the crowd making it an unpleasant
experience for other spectators.
Yorkshire have launched an investi-
gation into drunken behaviour and
brawling with stewards during their
Vitality Blast match against Durham
on Friday and there were reports of
fighting between rival fans at New Road
during the West Midlands derby
between Worcestershire and Birming-
ham Bears.
Alcohol sales are important for the
counties’ finances, and after-work
spectators have always been an impor-
tant part of the Blast audiences, but
there is a growing spotlight on crowd
behaviour as cricket looks to be more
inclusive — one of the main reasons for
the ECB inventing the Hundred and
giving it prime position in the schedule.The governing body has recently
announced a “crowd behaviour initia-
tive” in response to some unsavoury
incidents during both the Blast and the
Hundred last year, and will be encour-
aging grounds to have more alcohol-
free zones and increased security, as
well as a zero-tolerance policy on foul
or discriminatory language.
There is also a perception among
some that counties are trying to exploitspectators with exorbitant food and
drink prices. This was not helped last
week when Worcestershire were forced
to reverse their policy of confiscating
spectators’ food and drink after receiv-
ing a lot of criticism from fans who
said they would not go again if they
were not allowed to bring their own
snacks.
This is the first year that the full effect
of the Hundred on the Blast will beFighting fans add to Blast’s woes
seen. Last year, during the inaugural
edition of the Hundred, there were still
some Covid restrictions in place and
the tournament was an unknown. This
year the Hundred venues are all report-
ing huge increases in ticket sales, with
some reporting a 120 per cent rise —
even though all the Hundred matches
will be shown live on Sky Sports, com-
pared with only 24 of the 135 Blast
matches.
The counties are caught between a
rock and hard place: they know that
their prices do not compete with the
Hundred — it is often £15 more expen-
sive for an adult to attend a Blast match
than a Hundred match (which are also
double headers, ie two for the price of
one) — but Blast ticket revenue is a vital
source of income, and slashing ticket
prices is not straightforward for their
already tight budgets.
One county said that ticket sales
were being affected by the cost-of-
living crisis and post-pandemic work-
ing patterns, with many office workers
— particularly in London — working
from home on Fridays and therefore
not in town to attend cricket. It is a per-
fect storm for the counties.
The packed international schedule is
not helping, either — England’s Test
stars rarely feature in the Blast, but with
England’s white-ball team in action in
the Netherlands next week, some
counties have been shorn of all their
stars. Lancashire, for example, will be
without Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone,
Matt Parkinson, Phil Salt and Luke
Wood.
It is not all doom and gloom, though.
The Blast remains a high-quality
product and tickets for the finals day at
Edgbaston, one of the best days of the
summer, always sell out almost as soon
as they go on sale.Elizabeth Ammon
Police and stewards try to calm fans down at Edgbaston — and there have been reports of fights at other Blast gamesJOHN MALLETT/PROSPORTS/SHUTTERSTOCK