England v South Africa at Headingley today. Patchy start by England so far. Duckett, Root and Brook back in the shed. 101 - 3 after 17 overs. Smith 54 no, Buttler 10no. Smith now out 54 Update. 107 - 5.not looking good Update 117 - 6,getting worse 119 - 7,only 21 overs gone, disaster 131 all our. Poor batting, 24.3 overs.
World record victory for odi yesterday for England. Won by 342 runs. Bethell finally got his first century, Root with another. Archer at one point had 4 for 8, finished 4/18. Rashid ( how we are going to miss him when he retires) 3/13.
Thinking of Rashid retiring I have checked his stats. He is the only English spinner to take more than 100 odi wickets. He has taken 232. In the three matches against SA he took 8 for 72. At 37 years of age is he now as good as he has ever been? And with all this he has had shoulder trouble for years. We are seriously going to miss him when he packs it in. Hope he does a Jimmy Anderson and carries on into his 40's.
Watched T20 last night. Most farcical game I have ever watched. Rain delayed and reduced to 9 overs. What is the point of that? Absolutely ridiculous. The only reason to even attempt a game after such a late start, was so that those attending were not reimbursed. So they got 14 overs of farcical cricket for their money,and these games aren't cheap to attend.
Ended up with England's innings needing 69 in just five overs. That is a ludicrous situation to be put in.
I was all booked up to go to Australia and watch the Boxing day test about 12 years ago, but had to cancel due to family reasons. One of the biggest regrets of my life. Doubt I will get the chance again.
