The Last Hour S1 E8: In the Raz With SS Das ft. Matty Jackson

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Former Liverpool captain and Academy North coach Matty Jackson joins Tom and Jamie to answer the big questions.

What’s the worst thing he’s ever said to a groundsman? Why are Liverpool doing so well now he’s not captain any more? What’s the deal with young people having fun?

And – in probably the best 10 minutes of genuine cricket discussion we’ve done – what can be done about overseas pros bowling all day?

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Can Ben Stokes really carry on doing all of the things? And what’s Shubman Gill’s lifespan as a captain?

4 minute read

“Pain is just an emotion,” Ben Stokes told his men at Old Trafford – a nonsense claim just a few small steps below Dalton’s standard-setting “pain don’t hurt” in Road House.

For those that don’t know, Dalton is a world famous bouncer in a world where bouncers can be world famous; the kind of guy you’d travel across the country to hire if you’d bought an incredibly violent dive bar and now found yourself needing “the best” (or at least the second best after Wade Garrett because “Wade Garrett’s getting old”). 

Michael Vaughan once told Wisden: “Road House taught me a lot.” We’re worried that Patrick Swayze’s character has become established as some sort of font of strategic wisdom at the ECB with his various pronouncements mandatory study material for every potential captain. (Vaughan apparently put great stock in Dalton’s instruction to his staff to “be nice”.)

At one point in Road House, Dalton gets stabbed in the arm and doesn’t even flinch. He does later have to go to hospital though.

Pain is not just an emotion. Pain signals damage.

Optional suffering

Sometimes pain is instantly significant (a stabbing, say). Other times it’s a strong hint that you should stop doing something because otherwise a small injury is liable to get an awful lot more severe. 

No-one ever rallied the troops with sports science though. No-one ever revved themselves up by taking stock of their niggles and carefully assessing whether any of them were likely to result in serious harm. 

And so it was that Ben Stokes persuaded himself to deliver a different kind of bouncer to his opposite number yesterday; to a man who is, in his own way, similarly battered and bruised. After being struck yet again, Shubman Gill shed his gloves to reveal hands that are by this point 90 per cent Elastoplast.

Gill continued to another hundred – his fourth of the series. It’s almost as if batting has become his great escape from captaincy, which often appears to inflict on him an even greater pain than that from his mangled fingers. Is this brand of self-care sustainable? Will he be driven to ever-greater feats of captaincy avoidance, perhaps culminating in five solid days of batting without a declaration?

> Shubman Gill seems only half angry about hitting Test hundreds

It’s a slightly different equation for Stokes, who habitually goes out of his way to convey to everyone just how much he loves captaincy. The danger in his case is that he doesn’t get to do the leadership bit because he’s cricketed himself into the ground.

Time for a short break

We all love Ben Stokes the all-rounder. We all love watching the batting and bowling show. It’s just that it’s becoming increasingly hard to ignore how frequently the programme’s being interrupted by breaks for niggles.

This seems an odd thing to say given he’s batting and bowling more than he has in years, but Stokes currently seems hell-bent on ping-ponging from one extreme to the other.

At Lord’s he suffered a groin problem and for a while it looked like he wouldn’t be able to bowl again. He then got through 24 overs in India’s second innings, hitting 90mph in the process.

He said he spent four days in bed after that, but then bowled another 24 overs in the very next innings, at Old Trafford. This led to the Ghost Of Hamstring Injuries Past flickering in and out of existence and he then suffered a cramp-induced off-field interval halfway through his hundred.

Stokes didn’t bowl at all the next day, but then returned with a new ailment – a sore biceps tendon – which he could be seen nursing between bouncers.

Stokes’ appetite for the game is hard to fault. He says he’ll play the fifth Test on Thursday (but only if they bin off Soul Limbo and let him write the theme tune, sing the theme tune).

Is he back to his best? Old Trafford was the first time he’s hit a hundred and taken a five-for in the same Test match, but the whinging body parts show why that is such a rare feat for anyone.

Garry Sobers was first to manage it twice and even he never achieved it again. Four other players have since matched Sobers: Mushtaq Mohammed, Jacques Kallis, Shakib al Hasan and Ravindra Jadeja.

Only two players have done this brand of double more often. R Ashwin had four such Tests, while Ian Botham managed it five times – most ludicrously at the Wankhede in 1980 when he followed 6-58 in India’s first innings with 7-48 in the second.

> What has been the most improbable feat by an England cricketer in India?

It’s worth pointing out that the last of Botham’s ton-and-five-wicket-haul combos came at the age of 28 – but then Beefy didn’t really look after himself the way Stokes does. Or indeed at all. Even during that Mumbai Test, he said he didn’t at any point go to bed before 4am.

You can’t do that forever. But then even with the best preparation in the world, you can only ever postpone the inevitable. No matter how strong we think we are, we all succumb to the pain eventually.

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Related posts:

1. Captain Stokes v Captain Root
2. Succession: Who becomes England Test captain when Ben Stokes inevitably suffers his next major injury?
3. Shubman Gill seems only half angry about hitting Test hundreds

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Love Lane Liverpool Competition report, reaction and round-up: July 26-27

Tom Brown starred for Ormskirk against Northern

ECB National Club Championship: Knight’s men charge into semis after edging two-run thriller

As they set out to defend 204 from 36 overs, Gary Knight urged his Ormskirk side to create some memories – they did as they were told.

One match from Lord’s, they will have the opportunity to create even more.

Their rain-reduced quarter-final at Tyneside’s South Northumberland came down to the last over, bowled by Sam Marsh, with the hosts needing 10 for a tie and having lost two fewer wickets.

The first ball went for four – “we thought the dream was dead,” Knight admitted.

But the next three were dots and the penultimate ball a wicket. Six off the last would still have done it, but Jonathan Wightman managed only four.

“I’ve got a few more grey hairs, that’s for sure,” added Knight.

“But it was a really special day for the club, and the coach journey back was something that’ll live with us all.

“These are the days that stick with you.”

After a rain delay, Ormskirk had flown out of the blocks, with George Lavelle and Calum Turner helping them to 84/1 in the 11th over.

But Knight believes the fast start seduced his middle order into thinking scoring was easier than it was, and it took a last-wicket stand of 26 between Ian Robinson and Jamie Barnes to nudge them over 200.

Sam Holden’s first five-over spell cost just eight runs, and when Knight stumped skipper Chris Hewitson off Tom Brown, the hosts were 100/5 and needed 105 from 70 balls.

Will Alexander’s unbeaten 52 kept things interesting, but Ormskirk prevailed.

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Knight hailed two of his supporting cast – former captain Robinson and all-rounder Holden – for their key roles in the win.

He said: “Robbo was my captain when I joined Ormskirk and I always wanted him to stick around as he gets a little bit older and a little bit stiffer in the field because I know he can produce performances like that.

“He has a calm head in a big moment and won us the game effectively because it was that close.

“Sam has been a massive player for us these last three years. Good pace, he can whack it out of the park and he’s a great lad as well.”

Birmingham League side Knowle & Dorridge will come to Brook Lane on August 17, with Penzance or Wanstead & Snaresbrook lying in wait at the Home of Cricket.

Knight added: “It won’t be easy and we’ll need another really good performance.

“But if someone came up to you at the start of the season and offered you a home semi-final to get to Lord’s, you’d take it.”

ECB Premier Division: Golden Brown’s ton puts Ormskirk 50 points clear in title race

Ormskirk opened up a 50-point lead on Northern, with their quest for a third successive league title heading towards the final stretch.

All-rounder Tom Brown’s second century for the club led their chase of 224 after a necessarily aggressive declaration by Northern skipper James Cole, who knew only a win would do.

Louis Bhabra’s unbeaten 112, supported by 58 from Stephen Lucas, enabled Cole to reach maximum bonus points within 46 overs and set a competitive target.

Bhabra then struck twice early on, but Aussie-English all-rounder Brown made 111 to get his side within striking distance of the winning line.

Captain Gary Knight said: “It was a really professional knock, a proper first-class knock against one of the best bowling attacks in the league.

“I was at the other end for a lot of his innings and I didn’t have to fire a shot.

“I was watching him in awe.”

Brown is still just 19 and, after being selected for Australia’s U19 side last autumn, has a bright future ahead of him.

Knight added: “He offers so much in all three facets of the game.

“He’s a brilliant fielder, and his off-spin speaks for itself – and his batting has come so far over the past 12 months.

“His technique stands up really well to good seam bowling, and he can hit spinners wherever he wants to with a lot of power.

“I know he’s got big plans to push harder this winter in Australia when he goes back home – hopefully we’ll see him in the first-class game soon.”

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Elsewhere, Formby’s Ian Cockbain continued his stellar individual season with the highest score in the Comp’s top flight in the three-division era… and finished on the losing side.

Cockbain’s unbeaten 188 at Firwood Bootle – his former club, and where his late father played for many years in his prime – included 23 fours and nine sixes, making a total of 146 in boundaries.

The next highest score in Formby’s total of 296/6 was 29. But cricket remains a team game, and Bootle – led by 94 from Alastair Andrady and 72 from stand-in captain Steve Rimmer – managed to chase it down for a three-wicket win.

Top individual scores

ECB Premier Division, since 2010

Score	Player	Team	Date
188*	Ian Cockbain	Formby @ Firwood Bootle	26 Jul 2025
174	Sam Dorsey	Leigh v Southport & Birkdale	06 Aug 2022
171*	Steven Mullaney	Leigh v Wallasey	14 Jun 2014
169	Alex Davies	Lytham v Ormskirk	13 Jul 2013
164	Josh Hine	Southport & Birkdale v Leigh	08 Jun 2013
162*	Ian Cockbain	Formby @ New Brighton	30 Apr 2022
157*	Aryan Juyal	Southport & Birkdale @ Northern	03 Jun 2023
157	Aryan Juyal	Southport & Birkdale @ Ormskirk	27 May 2023
155*	Jonathan Wells	Leigh v Southport & Birkdale	12 May 2012
155	Luke Procter	New Brighton @ Fleetwood Hesketh	21 Jun 2014

Another impressive chase came at Rainford, where Wigan eased their relegation fears with their own three-wicket win. Jake Leyland and Daniel Yates made 59 each, after Jason Login top-scored with 54 in the hosts’ 220/8. Young spinner Brad Barrow took a personal best of 6/94 for Wigan.

Newton-le-Willows also earned a crucial win, over bottom side Birkenhead Park. George Bell top-scored with 47 in the hosts’ 166; four of Park’s top five fell for ducks as they slumped to 26/5 in reply, but their lower order rallied and got them an agonising 10 runs from parity.

Park and Colwyn Bay are now beginning to look a little bit adrift. Bay mustered just 117 against Leigh, before Tom Grundy and Luke Prescott did the bulk of the chasing in a six-wicket win.

Wallasey played the long game and won at Rainhill, taking 73 overs to compile 173/8 then managing to take 10 wickets in 35.2 overs – including the last five for 20 runs in 32 balls – to win by just five runs.

Division One: Liverpool thrash Highfield to stretch lead

Liverpool earned their second successive 10-wicket win to secure their spot at the top of the table.

Highfield were Saturday’s victims, rolled for just 55 by tall seamer Adam Stringer’s 7/18, his best ever 1st XI figures.

Second-placed Spring View, leaders for much of the season, lost their third successive game, falling 69 runs short of Southport & Birkdale’s 209. Former Northern and Lytham man Matthew Wood made 80 for S&B, before Edwin Geary’s 64 was in vain for View.

Orrell Red Triangle failed to capitalise, held to a draw by Hightown St Marys and staying in third. Mark Waddington made 97 for the hosts, as Gordon Bryan took 5/46; the visitors closed eight down and 26 shy of their target of 220.

Sefton Park’s Jimmy Dixon took 5/28 to roll Sutton for 83, before openers Haroon Khan and Ben Percival knocked off the runs.

New Brighton moved up the table at the expense of Maghull, courtesy of a 29-run win. Damitha Silva top-scored with 64 in the hosts’ 187, and while Nick Richie made 94 in reply, Sheshan Silva’s 5/43 carried the day.

Bottom side Old Xaverians earned their third win of the season, over Lytham. Josh Dilworth made 59 as Sabbir Patel’s 5/26 dismissed the hosts for 124, but it proved enough thanks to Colin Gibson’s 5/39.

Division Two: Ainsdale and Northop neck-and-neck after big wins

Ainsdale’s Dilanka Auwardt took 6/23 to dismiss Southport Trinity for just 60 and set up a seven-wicket win which keeps his side top of the league.

They lead Northop Hall on batting points, after the Welsh side blew past St Helens Town. Finley Jenkins’ unbeaten 73 was the top score in their 220/9, before Paul Jenkins and Carwyn Johnson took five wickets each to wrap up a 124-run win.

Caldy kept up the pressure with a 93-run win at Wirral rivals Parkfield Liscard. Rohan Sanjaya made 127 out of their 217, then took 5/32 to wrap up the victory.

The highest-scoring game was at Whitefield, where the hosts hung on for a five-run victory over Wavertree. James Anderson made 74 and Cronje Van Greunen 52 in their 279; Christanieo Giby and Hamish Farrell managed half-centuries in reply.

Prescot & Odyssey’s Harsh Shonak made 130, his second successive century, to set up an 82-run win over Fleetwood Hesketh.

Norley Hall were held to a draw by Prestatyn, who closed on 181/8 in reply to 230/6. Kieron Tidswell and Andy Taylor put on 107 for the first wicket for the Welsh side, after Alex Martlew and Ryan Wood’s unbroken stand of 96 for the hosts.

Ray Tyler Cup: Spring View and Sefton Park set up final showdown

Spring View will face Sefton Park in the final after they overcame Old Xaverians and Maghull respectively.

View did the damage to Xavs early on, with Marc Birch’s opening spell helping to reduce them to 34/6. They recovered to an extent but still could only post 86 – the hosts knocked the target off with nine wickets to spare.

Sefton Park compiled 259/9 thanks to half-centuries from Haroon Khan and Scott Aitchison, then induced a collapse from 31/0 to 46/5. Daksh Singhvi claimed 4/12 as the hosts subsided for 92.

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Merseyside Cricket Online at the Test: Ineffective England may end up regretting insipid final day as India secure draw

Ben Stokes offers a handshake… but Ravindra Jadeja has eyes on a century
(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Towards tea, an Ed Sheeran lookalike in the Party Stand at Emirates Old Trafford revelled in the spotlight, posing for photos with fans who were either tricked or going along with it.

On the pitch, you would be forgiven for thinking another set of lookalikes had taken the place of the England side who had dominated the first three days of this match.

If India go on to square the series at the Oval, England’s performance here should haunt them.

Over three days and a session, they put themselves in a perfect position to earn a victory that would have put them 3-1 up with one to play. 

But they let it slip with a tepid, directionless and insipid display in the field.

It won’t grab the attention as much as a Bazball batting collapse, but this was an abject failure as bad as anything they have produced in the past three years.

It came even after they managed to take the key wickets of KL Rahul and Shubman Gill, exposing India’s middle order with only a brittle tail to come. 

Taking lunch at 223/4, still 88 behind having managed just 49 runs in the opening session, India might have been concerned about what the hosts might manage with their tails up and in helpful conditions.

Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja knew they were the best hope for their side; after them came Shardul Thakur, an injured Rishabh Pant and three genuine tailenders.

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They needn’t have worried. Instead of going for the jugular, England dropped catches, they bowled without a consistent plan, they burned their reviews (not that it mattered), they overstepped, they misfielded.

Jadeja and Washington stood firm, picking off the many, many bad balls and blocking the merely unremarkable ones. By the scorecard, this will look like a defiant rearguard rescue act, but in truth they were not made to work for it.

Stokes, who made the first breakthrough by pinning Rahul for 90 with one which kept low, at least has the excuse of being injured. 

Jofra Archer had Shubman Gill caught behind just after completing his century, then had Jadeja dropped by Joe Root first ball. Chris Woakes often beat the outside edge. 

It wasn’t that they weren’t trying, it was just that they were ineffective. Which is worse, somehow.

As for Liam Dawson, this Test should live long in the memory whenever the debate about “rewarding county form” comes up. Dominant for Hampshire, the left-armer sent down 25 overs today on a wearing pitch and created not a single chance.

Ormskirk’s Tom Hartley, who took 10 wickets and scored a century for Lancashire last week, will have been watching with interest – as will Rehan Ahmed, who did the same for Leicestershire.

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Speaking of spinning all-rounders, Washington and Jadeja both reached 50 in the same Stokes over, at the same time as India took the lead, 20 minutes before tea.

By then, the majority of the England fans in the crowd had given up, and the Indians were noisily cavorting – scarcely able to believe the way their jailors had handed over the keys.

The 100 partnership came up with the last ball before tea, and England could barely drag themselves off the pitch. Having started the day as hot favourites, they had 35 overs left to conjure up six wickets then a run chase.

They managed none. With 15 overs to go, Stokes offered to shake hands – but Jadeja was on 89 and Washington on 80, and quite fancied batting on.

Indian fans might ask where Jadeja’s appetite for runs was when he attempted to somehow block out for a win at Lord’s the other week – here, with the genuine hard work already done, he and Washington helped themselves to two of Test history’s less meaningful centuries by carting Root and Harry Brook around the park.

Eventually, at 425/4 and no chance of a result, the handshakes came to bring the Test to a slightly farcical end.

It’s not that there are no positives for England to take to the Oval. Root’s runs, Stokes’ all-round brilliance (logic says he skips the final Test, but since when did logic have anything to do with Stokes) and the way the bowlers stuck to their task to restrict India’s first innings.

They will win or draw this series, and who knows what the wounded India XI will look like when they convene again on Thursday.

But the overwhelming sense here was of an opportunity missed, and a weakness exposed.

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Merseyside Cricket Online at the Test: Indian pair’s bloodless brilliance frustrates England after Stokes ton

KL Rahul and Shubman Gill are all smiles as they leave the field
(Picture by Greig Cowie/Shutterstock)

England won’t lose this match, and therefore they won’t lose the series, and that is about the only crumb of comfort from a chastening few hours today.

A day that started well for the hosts, then looked like getting even better, ended up as their worst of the series outside of the thrashing they took at Edgbaston.

Securing a 311-run lead then taking two wickets in the first over of the reply should have lit the blue touchpaper; instead it merely brought together Shubman Gill and KL Rahul for a bloodless unbroken stand of 174 across more than 62 overs.

And with rain forecast for tomorrow morning, India are in a perfect position to save the Test when they could have been condemned to a series defeat long ago.

Take nothing away from Rahul and Gill, who batted beautifully. The only chance either gave was a flashing drive by Gill off Brydon Carse, spilled at backward point by Liam Dawson just before tea, when he was on 46.

Dawson bowled 132 balls yesterday, and 132 times he theatrically threw his hands to the sky in feigned excitement – in reality, he never looked like creating a chance as good as the one he spurned.

Against two right-handers on a wearing pitch with the field in, this should have been the slow left-armer’s chance to shine – instead, Rahul and Gill smothered everything the Hampshire man could twirl at them.

Chris Woakes, who took those two early wickets, was the pick of the seamers; by mid-afternoon, Jofra Archer and Carse were mainly used for ineffective barrages of bouncers.

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Ben Stokes, having begun the day by cantering to a century, ended it limping around the covers and did not bowl despite his first innings five-for.

Before the close, with Dawson and Joe Root bowling, Rahul swapped his helmet for a cap – both batters might as well have been in their slippers and dressing gowns, so comfortable they looked.

It had been such a different story in the morning session as Stokes, who resumed on 77, led England to their highest home total since 2011 and their fifth highest anywhere, ever.

The hosts resumed on 544/7 and after Bumrah bowled Dawson, Stokes almost edged one on 99, then kept losing the strike to Carse before finally reaching three figures with a tickle to fine leg off Mohammed Siraj. It was his 14th Test century, his second against India and his third at Emirates Old Trafford.

He also became the fourth England player, and the fourth captain of any country, to combine a ton with a five-wicket haul in the same Test.

Stokes wasn’t done – he launched Washington Sundar over long-off to go past 7,000 Test runs (and Bradman’s aggregate, for good measure), then reverse-swept four more. 

Some of Gill’s captaincy was baffling during the Durham pair’s ninth-wicket stand of 95. For Ravindra Jadeja, he posted boundary riders everywhere except at extra cover, where Stokes promptly took 10 runs off two balls.

Next over, Carse repeated the dose over the leg side off Washington. The only way a wicket was coming was off a mishit – eventually they came, with Stokes making 141 and Carse 47, to close the innings on 669.

Ben Stokes hits out on his way to 141
(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

It should have been decisive; it looked like it would be within five balls of the Indian second innings, when both Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan nicked Chris Woakes to slip.

Gill survived the hat-trick ball, and Rahul two blood-curdling appeals from Archer, before lunch came with India two down with a single run on the board. 

Two of their three first innings half-centurions were back in the shed, while the third, Rishabh Pant, has a broken foot.

But England failed to capitalise. Woakes and Archer bowled too full with the new ball, letting Gill and Rahul ease into their task with some simple drives, and Carse’s shorter length was harder to score off but mostly unthreatening.

At tea, with tomorrow’s forecast worsening, India were 82/2 and utterly serene; Gill had just clipped Joe Root for three to bring up his 50.

In the evening session, they prolonged their stand to the highest ever to begin at 0/2. As the crowd lost interest and sang about beer and darts, Rahul turned Dawson (arms in the air) behind square on the off-side to move to 50 from 141 painstaking balls.

By the end, Rahul had 87 and Gill 78 – both have centuries there for the taking tomorrow, weather permitting – and the chance to keep the series at 2-1 heading into the final Test.

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Merseyside Cricket Online: Root hits new heights as relentless England leave India out of ideas

Joe Root on his way to 150 at Emirates Old Trafford today
(Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

England fans have a saying about Joe Root, that “you look up and suddenly he’s on 30”. 

It speaks to a number of his qualities: His quiet accumulation, his busy starts, his ability to make the special look so mundane you hardly even bother watching.

Well now when you look up he’s on 13,409, and when he looks up he sees only Sachin Tendulkar above him on the list of Test cricket’s highest scorers of all time.

He may never have carried the dreams of a billion, like Tendulkar, or produced numbers which turned the game on its head, like Bradman. 

Nor is he necessarily the equal of Sobers, Hammond or any of the other greats of the past. Comparison between eras is rarely meaningful.

But since Root made his debut in 2012, nobody has done it better.

His 38th Test century may not have been quite his smoothest, but it was among the most statistically loaded, taking him past Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting on the all-time runs chart and level with Kumar Sangakkara in fourth place for tons.

When he reached 120 with yet another back-foot glide off Anshul Kamboj just before tea today (FRI), he passed Ponting and became the first English batter to sit second in the all-time table since Allan Border pushed a (presumably grumbling) Geoff Boycott down to third on August 11, 1989.

More importantly, his 150 also consolidated England’s grip on the fourth Test, as they closed day three on 544/7. 

An unassailable 3-1 lead in the series is not a foregone conclusion but with a first innings lead of 186 and power to add, it is within sight.

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Statistics

At times during Root’s stand of 142 with his captain, Ben Stokes, India looked beaten already. Their best seamers, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, both spent time off the field with injuries and their backups, Kamboj and Shardul Thakur, looked mainly toothless.

Stokes’ first half-century of the summer played a significant part in what looks likely to be his best series result yet as captain. 

The one sour note of the day for England came when the captain had to retire hurt with cramp on 66, having hurt himself reverse-sweeping Washington Sundar through cover (possibly the most Bazball injury imaginable).

Washington, ignored for too long by Shubman Gill, was the pick of India’s bowlers. He broke Root and Ollie Pope’s stand of 144 just after lunch, then drew a skittish Harry Brook out of his crease shortly afterwards.

But by then England were almost level, with Root having shaken off some early nerves to begin ticking off the milestones.

He moved into the 90s with a reverse sweep off Ravindra Jadeja, persuading Gill to finally take the new ball more than 10 overs after it was due, with England 380/4. 

It made an immediate impact on Stokes’ box, struck for the second time in as many games, but not on the wickets column.

Stokes kept up the scoring as Root became beached on 98 then, finally, tickled Kamboj to fine leg for his 38th Test century, only his second at Emirates Old Trafford after his 254 against Pakistan in 2016.

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The shadows were lengthening by the time Jadeja eventually removed him, stumped smartly off one which spun past a weary forward push, with England 499/5 and 141 ahead.

Bumrah took his first wicket with the first ball of his 24th over, Jamie Smith edging to Jurel, and Siraj castled Chris Woakes with one which kept low – he turned to face the other Old Trafford and celebrated in the style of Cristiano Ronaldo, which is a bold move when you’ve taken 1/105 and your team are 170 behind.

To the delight of the England fans, Stokes reappeared to join Liam Dawson at the crease – the pair will resume tomorrow (SAT) on 77 and 21.

Two years ago, in an Emirates Old Trafford Test which followed a similar pattern to this one, England were denied a win over Australia by the weather. 

There are a few showers on the radar – India need them to turn into something bigger, or the series looks like it is heading England’s way.

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‘The hitting was outrageous’: How the T10 Tape Ball World Cup took off in Liverpool

T10 Tape Ball World Cup at Liverpool College

The T10 Tape Ball World Cup got off the mark with a bang – several of them, most from the bat of Pakistan’s Junaid Qadeer.

He hit 85* as his side racked up 222/4 from their 60 balls against India.

For Pakistan, it led to a big win over their fierce rivals – complete with a passionate but good-natured pitch invasion.

And for World In One City’s Sam Goodall-Walker, it was just the start the pioneering tournament needed.

Goodall-Walker said: “It’s always challenging when it’s something new because you don’t know how it’s going to go down, how people are going to take it. 

“But so far, it’s been fantastic and really enjoyable for everyone involved.

“I didn’t really know what to expect from India v Pakistan – I know teams from South Asia know a bit more about tape ball than teams from the home nations, but the hitting was outrageous. 

“It was a big rivalry and it got heated, but it was all in good spirit.”

Monday, July 21

Wales 111 (7.5) lost to Bangladesh 171/6 (10) by 60 runs

India 161 (8.2) lost to Pakistan 222/4 (10) by 61 runs

Wednesday, July 23

Ireland 148/7 (10) lost to Sri Lanka 149/3 (10) by 5 wickets

England 142/6 (10) lost to Afghanistan 165 (10) by 23 runs

WIOC has been running successful football tournaments along the same lines for four years, but cricket was still a step into the unknown.

Crucially, they have had plenty of buy-in from big local cricketing names.

Former Leigh skipper Finn Hulbert, now at Liverpool, is the captain of an Ireland squad including all three Rankin brothers; Rainford wicketkeeper Will Threlkeld, brother of Lancashire women’s captain Ellie, leads an England side including club teammates John Dotters and Jason Login, Newton-le-Willows’ Ben Walkden and Chris Chambers, and Northern’s Chris Laker.

But the winners so far have all been from the Subcontinent. 

There’s a few familiar names there – Whitefield’s Asiri Gamage for Sri Lanka, Sefton Park’s Huzaifa Zubair for Pakistan, to name two – but many of the city’s South Asian cricketers play outside the old-money structure of the Love Lane Liverpool Competition.

If this tournament gives them a high-profile platform to show what they can do, that’s another plus. 

“What’s got me most excited about it is that I didn’t realise how much cricket players would buy into it,” Goodall-Walker added.

“There’s a lot of travelling, a lot of commitment, but it’s been great. 

“Hopefully the word will spread, when people hear about the chance to represent their nation in a world cup, and get excited. 

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“Anyone can run a tournament, but there’s a danger you’ll get some players who’ll just run away with it because they’re a level above, so what we tried to do is to come up with a format that will even the teams up. 

“Tape ball was ideal for that. A lot of the Sri Lanka side play for South Liverpool, lower down the pyramid, but they’ve played a lot of tape ball cricket, so it was a leveller straight away.”

The difference is not just the ball. Fielding sides have nine players on the field, and batting sides have nine batters and eight wickets, but the squad of 15 can all play a full part with unlimited substitutions.

Goodall-Walker said: “We wanted to maximise participation.

“So you can have specialist bowlers, batters and fielders – it allows captains to be more dynamic, and increases participation. 

“It’s been interesting to see how each team has gone about it.”

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The tournament, which is being held on the hockey pitches at Liverpool College, continues tonight with Pakistan v Ireland and England v Wales. 

It concludes next Sunday, August 3, with a finals day – if attendances and enthusiasm so far are any guide, it could be a cracker.

“Spectators are coming down, about 100 each night,” said Goodall-Walker.

“People are coming here to play because it’s a big opportunity and they want to represent their countries.”

And WIOC, which is running the tournament along with the Academy North coaching organisation, already has plans to bring it back next year – possibly in an expanded format.

Goodall-Walker added: “All the equipment will still be available and the teams will be established. 

“We don’t have a West Indies team, or teams from Australia and New Zealand this year. 

“But with the Academy North database and a city the size of Liverpool, and the new format we’re using, hopefully the word will spread and that will change.”

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Merseyside Cricket Online at the Test: Crawley and Duckett seize control after Pant steals Manchester hearts

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett during their stand of 166
(Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

A partnership of 166 between Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett put England in charge of the fourth Test, with a huge chance of wrapping up the series at Emirates Old Trafford.

Lasting exactly 32 overs, the opening stand was just two overs longer than India’s yesterday, but yielded 72 more runs as the tourists’ attack struggled in the afternoon sunshine.

By close, the score was 225/2 after both openers fell within sight of their centuries, but Ben Stokes’ side will resume tomorrow morning 136 shy of India’s first innings total, with Ollie Pope on 20 and Joe Root 11.

India began the day on 264/4 and managed to add 92 runs to finish on 358.

Seven of the top eight passed 20, but none made more than Sai Sudharsan’s 61. It was the sort of innings that has frustrated England fans in recent years, with several wickets falling to loose attacking shots – except the overall run rate was just 3.13 an over. 

Jofra Archer’s first over, from the James Anderson end, could have yielded more than the one wicket it did, Ravindra Jadeja edging low to Harry Brook at second slip. It was a beautiful display of swing and seam, one Anderson himself would have been proud of, and Jadeja’s is the only new ball wicket in this Test so far.

Shardul Thakur made a breezy 41 and Washington Sundar dug in for 27 off 90 before both fell to Stokes, getting through more overs than he ever has in his Test career.

But the highlight of the India innings came after Thakur’s dismissal, when Rishabh Pant hobbled to the crease to pick up where his broken foot forced him to leave off yesterday. 

He could barely walk, let alone run, and will play no part in the series after this Test – but he can still swing the bat.

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England, naturally if cruelly, aimed at his toes; Pant usually got his bat in the way and even managed to pull Archer for six when he dropped short.  

Lunch came early courtesy of a shower, the only time the Manchester weather has misbehaved so far.

Old Trafford rose as one when Pant managed to squeeze a wayward Stokes yorker out to the cover boundary to pass 50 – he didn’t celebrate with a backflip, but his off-stump did moments later courtesy of an Archer nip-backer.

Anshul Kamboj, on debut, nicked his third ball to Jamie Smith, giving Stokes his first Test five-for since 2017 and perhaps illustrating why India had sent the guy with the broken foot out ahead of him; Bumrah gloved Archer down the leg side to end the innings. 

Stokes led the team off with 5/72 to his name, while Archer finished with a well-deserved 3/73.

Much depended on how India’s seamers used the new ball, and how England’s top order responded. The answer, delivered over the course of the afternoon and evening, was emphatic.

Crawley didn’t get off the mark until Duckett had moved to 24, feasting on some leg-side half-volleys. 

But the Kent man, who made a brilliant 189 here against Australia in 2023, was catching up by the time their stand passed 50, again helped by some unusually wayward seam bowling.

Anshul shared the new ball with Bumrah, ahead of Mohammed Siraj; neither made a compelling case for the decision being either right or wrong.

Even the great Bumrah was lacklustre, beating the outside edge a few times but seemingly down on his usual pace. By his own pre-announced schedule, this will be his last Test of the series.

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Both batters flirted with danger – Duckett almost dropped his bat on to his own stumps on 4 and Crawley was desperately close to being LBW, padding up to Siraj on 26.

But they brushed off the near-misses and raced to 77 off 85 balls between them by tea.

Little changed after the break; Crawley and Duckett kept compiling, India’s seamers kept straying. Duckett ran Shardul off the face to bring up his 50 from 46 balls then celebrated with the shot of the day, a back-foot punch through the covers to bring up the pair’s fifth century opening stand and their second of this series.

Crawley followed Duckett past 50 a couple of overs later, off 54 balls. Gill didn’t turn to spin until the 26th over, with the score 124/0 – Crawley launched Jadeja’s second ball into the stands, then lap-swept his fourth to the fine leg boundary.

India just had no way of stopping the runs and when drinks came out after 30 overs, the scoreboard read 156/0.

The deficit had dipped below 200 before Jadeja finally separated the openers, KL Rahul taking a sharp low catch to remove Crawley for 84. 

(The previous ball, swept for four towards the lively party stand, had been a no-ball, from which India benefited massively for a cost of just one run; free hits in all forms of the game need to be brought in before any messing around with substitutes.)

The second wicket was a gift of a maiden Test scalp to Anshul as Duckett flashed wildly outside off stump on 94, when subtler shots had been serving him so well.

Root came out with half an hour of play left, and Bumrah was soon back on to hurl himself at him. But the Yorkshireman, who averages 65 at this venue, made it to close despite one big appeal.

With two balls to go in the day, Siraj wandered in from cover and switched the bails at the striker’s end, hoping to invoke an old superstition – Pope punched Bumrah’s next delivery for four. It wasn’t the only thing which didn’t work for India’s seamers today.

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‘This is what it’s all about’: Ormskirk’s Harvey Rankin ahead of a massive weekend

Ormskirk’s Harvey Rankin holds a catch, as George Politis watches
Picture by Ray Hibbs

Ormskirk’s Harvey Rankin is raring to go ahead of what could be a pivotal weekend in his club’s season. 

The defending Love Lane Liverpool Competition champions take on their nearest rivals, Northern, at Brook Lane on Saturday, hoping to stretch an already imposing 36-point cushion.

Then, on Sunday, comes a massive trip in more ways than one – all the way to Gosforth, Tyneside, with a place in the semi-finals of the ECB National Club Championship on the line.

If there are any nerves in the camp following an uncharacteristic collapse against Rainford on T20 finals day last Sunday, they are not showing.

Rankin said: “We’re all extremely keen to keep the train going. 

“We’ve got some good momentum from the earlier rounds of the National and we want to take that same energy into Sunday. 

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“The club has a history of doing well in this competition, just not well enough at times – there’s nothing to suggest we don’t have the skills or the application to go further. 

“We’re all focused on that.

“Last Sunday was just one of those things. 

“We’ve had conversations about it and everyone knows what went wrong, myself included – luckily, we don’t have those days very often.

“This is why we play club cricket, and it’s why we all play for Ormskirk – to play in these big games and get to the later stages. 

“It’s what it’s all about.”

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This season’s previous meeting of the Big Two, at Northern’s Moor Park, ended in a draw – one of five in the last 10 El Compico clashes in the league.

But only one of those was at Brook Lane, a venue which has only hosted two draws in total since the pandemic – an end-of-season encounter with Leigh in 2022, and last year’s Northern game.

As one of the people tasked with making runs on it every other week, Rankin knows all too well what the wicket is like, and he wouldn’t bet on another stalemate on Saturday.

“I think the pitch could play a part and there could be a lot of wickets,” he said.

“The pitch isn’t always the best for batting and it’s one where you need to work hard for your runs and play the scenarios well. 

“I’d envisage a result either way, and it’s a good, high-quality game to have ahead of Sunday.”

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A behind-the-stumps look at the bowl-out as Northern and Formby look forward to all-Comp Lancashire Knockout final

They were at the centre of all the drama in last Sunday’s Lancashire Knockout semi-finals… but they couldn’t do a thing to influence it.

Thanks to miserable weather at both grounds, Northern and Formby had to rely on bowl-outs to progress at Burnley and Salesbury respectively.

And all the wicketkeepers could do was watch, and hope the ball didn’t make it to their gloves.

Northern skipper James Cole and Formby’s Jack Carney agreed on one thing: It was a deeply unsatisfactory way to settle a semi-final, and a reserve day should have been made available.

Nonetheless, winning a bowl-out is better than losing one. 

Cole has plenty of experience of them. His side became the Comp’s first ever national champions last September by winning one against Oundle Town at Derby, and also outbowled Wallasey in the Ray Digman Trophy final on a rare rainy day in 2022.

Going back even further, Northern’s first Lancashire Cup came via a bowl-out in 2013, Cole’s first season at the helm.

He said: “We’ve had a handful of bowl-outs in the last few years and they’re not ideal for anyone. 

“It’s out of your hands, but at least as keeper I could see where the ball was going. 

“It’s a bit strange that there wasn’t a reserve day, but the rules are the rules. 

“It was that wet at one point that I didn’t think it would even be fit for a bowl-out.

“Everything was soaked, there were puddles everywhere; people were trotting in and there was water coming up. 

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“There was water under the wicket as well, so when the ball hit the stumps it would go on the ground and get wet, and they kept changing it. 

“It helps having been in a couple over the last few years, as you know what kind of pressure the bowlers are under. Three or four of them will have bowled in all of them.”

Liam Grey hit the stumps on Sunday, just as he had in Derby, while Dan Wilson and Josh Thompson also found the target in a 3-1 win.

Formby had to do things the hard way, coming back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 through Ollie Sutton, Junaid Farooq and the last ball from last bowler George Evans.

“It was getting a little bit tense,” said Carney. 

“Larry Edward bowled two absolute snorters that pitched on leg stump and spun past off.

“Ollie and Junaid brought it back to 2-2, then their last guy missed both his. 

“George’s first one was literally millimetres from hitting, and that put the pressure on him, and he hit.

“It’s not a nice way to win and it was pretty disappointing for both sides, but the weather was just horrendous.”

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Cole has been at Northern all his life, while Carney joined Formby over the winter from Southport & Birkdale. 

Both keepers are looking forward to the final at Blackpool on August 31, the first between two Comp sides since Ormskirk beat Sefton Park after a replay in 1999.

Carney added: “It’s the biggest game in the club’s history.

“I came here to win trophies – we’ve managed a win at finals day and now we’re in the Lancs final. Hopefully we can make it a couple of wins this season for the club.”

Cole said: “It’s a great achievement by Formby getting there, and it’s a bit of a derby. 

“Formby is also where my dad started playing cricket. It’ll be a good day for both clubs.

“We’re two good sides – it’s a shame it’s not at Old Trafford but Blackpool is a county ground in its own right. 

“We know we’ll have to play well to beat them, but we’re confident if we can perform, we’ll come out on top. 

“It’s a great spectacle for the league to have two sides in it – and it means the trophy will be coming back to the Comp again.”

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