England started this eagerly-anticipated Ashes summer with a 10-wicket victory over Ireland in three days at Lord’s.
Ollie Pope’s 205 and a second Test century for Ben Duckett saw England declare on 524 for four and despite a spirited third-day display with the bat by Ireland, they were all out for 362 to set an easy target of 11 following their below-par 172 on day one.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at how much we learned from this one-off Test.
Josh gets Tongues wagging
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Josh Tongue passed his Ashes audition with five for 66 in Ireland’s second innings to put his name on the honours board and leave an impression on his captain. Ben Stokes revealed ahead of the four-day fixture that Tongue was selected due to his extra pace and he hit 91mph during an impressive first spell. Tongue, who came close to retiring from cricket during a 15-month absence from the game due to a nerve problem in his shoulder, eased between an enforcer role and pitching it up as England’s third seamer. With 11 County Championship wickets to his name, including a certain Steve Smith, he is now a genuine option for the Ashes after being included in the squad for the first two Tests.
Duckett set for a bucket full?
An England bucket hat featured regularly throughout this Test but fittingly it was Duckett who plugged the new must-buy item of the summer on England’s official Twitter account. Duckett wore the hat after his masterful 182 that saw him set a new record for the quickest Test 150 at Lord’s, beating Don Bradman’s effort in the 1930 Ashes series. Since his December recall, Duckett has scored 50 or more six times in six Tests. He cut, drove and flicked off his pads for boundaries all around the wicket to back up the 177 he hit for Nottinghamshire at Lord’s in April. After finally being given the chance to play his natural red-ball game in international cricket, the 28-year-old looks set for a key Ashes role.
Has Bazball peaked?
England rattled along at six runs an over on their way to 524 before they declared after tea on day two. Duckett and Pope scored 174 in the morning, but that was bettered in the afternoon with 178 runs plundered before captain Stokes ended the run-fest after 82.4 overs. If Harry Brook, Jonny Bairstow and the England skipper himself had batted for a significant amount of time, who knows what records could have fallen? While it was another excellent batting display for England, the asterisk on it will be Ireland’s one-paced attack. There is no doubt England’s achievement of scoring 500 on day one in Rawalpindi was a better feat and Pat Cummins and co will not provide so many freebies come June 16 at Edgbaston.
Under-cooked? That’s old skool!
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Stokes acknowledged after England’s 10-wicket victory that he knew when he declared after tea on day two that he would face questions over failing to let Brook, Bairstow and himself get time in the middle before the Ashes opener. It felt justified, especially for someone like Yorkshire batter Brook who enjoyed a phenomenal winter and even hit a maiden century in the Indian Premier League in April, only to be dropped after a string of ducks. But Stokes does not prescribe to that opinion and laughed off the “old skool” view his players need “game practice” given the volume of cricket they play. Maybe a fair point!
Prestige a Little lost
Josh Little’s name dominated the build-up from an Ireland perspective after the seamer was “rested” ahead of his nation’s 50-over World Cup qualification tournament later this month following his IPL exploits. Among a catalogue of reasons behind the decision, Cricket Ireland’s Richard Holdsworth worryingly admitted the Lord’s Test was a “special occasion but not a pinnacle event.” The rewards for Ireland qualifying for the World Cup are great but Little’s absence hurt a bowling attack lacking variation. With his stock high in franchise circles, Little may never play Test cricket.
RCB secures sixth win in a row to eliminate CSK and advance to playoffs
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru held their nerve to secure their sixth win in a row with a 27-run victory over the Chennai Super Kings at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday to book a spot in the Indian Premier League playoffs.
The Super Kings entered Saturday’s game in fourth place on 14 points while RCB were fifth on 12 needing to win by at least 18 runs to overtake their opponents and seal the final playoff spot.
CSK won the toss and decided to put RCB in to bat and that decision looked like the wrong one after openers Virat Kohli and Captain Faf Du Plessis put on a quick 31 off three overs before a quick drop of rain brought a halt to proceedings.
Play eventually started back and the pair brought the score up to 78 in the 10th over before Kohli fell for 47.
The wicket didn’t bring much help to CSK as Du Plessis and Rajat Patidar brought the fire to the Super Kings bowlers to bring the score up to 113 in the 13th before the skipper fell for a top score of 54.
Patidar and new batsman Cameron Green then put on 71 for the forth wicket to further put the Super Kings bowlers to the sword.
In the end, RCB reached 218-5 from their 20 overs. Patidar was eventually dismissed for 41 off 23 balls including two fours and four sixes while Green finished 38* off 17 balls including three fours and three sixes.
CSK, needing at least 200 to advance to the playoffs, fell agonizingly short at 191-7 from their 20 overs.
Rachin Ravindra led the way with 61 while Ravindra Jadeja made 42* against 2-42 from Yash Dayal.
CSK entered the final over, bowled by Dayal, needing 17 to qualify to the playoffs. Captain MS Dhoni smashed the first ball out the ground before he was dismissed off the second ball.
Dayal then held his nerve to concede only one run off the next four balls and seal RCB’s spot in the last four.
Full scores:
Royal Challengers Bangalore 218-5 off 20 overs (Faf Du Plessis 54, Virat Kohli 47, Rajat Patidar 41, Cameron Green 38*, Shardul Thakur 2-61)
Chennai Super Kings 191-7 off 20 overs (Rachin Ravindra 61, Ravindra Jadeja 42*, Ajinkya Rahane 33, Ms Dhoni 25, Yash Dayal 2-42)
CWI President congratulates Hayley Matthews on ICC Women’s Player of the Month Award
Cricket West Indies (CWI) President, Dr. Kishore Shallow, has extended congratulations to West Indies captain Hayley Matthews for being named the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for April 2024.
Matthews’ exceptional all-round performances against Pakistan earned her this prestigious accolade for the third time, a testament to her consistent excellence on the international stage.
She amassed 325 runs in the ODI series at a remarkable average of 162.5 and took six wickets. In the T20I series, she continued her stellar form, scoring 126 runs at an average of 42 and securing six wickets. Her outstanding contributions earned her four Player of the Match awards and the Player of the Series title in the ODIs.
President Shallow praised Matthews' achievements, stating, “Hayley continues to be an inspiration and a beacon of excellence for West Indies cricket. Her dedication, skills, and leadership are evident in her performances, and we are incredibly proud of her accomplishments.”
Matthews edged out strong competition from South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt and Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu to claim the award. Her latest triumph adds to her previous wins in November 2021 and October 2023, making her one of the most decorated players in this category. Only Australia’s Ashleigh Gardner has won the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award more times than Matthews.
Reflecting on CWI’s commitment to women's cricket, Dr. Shallow remarked, “CWI’s continuous efforts to support and develop women’s cricket are yielding remarkable results. Hayley’s success is a clear indicator of the growth and potential of women’s cricket in the West Indies. We remain steadfast in our mission to provide our female cricketers with the best opportunities to excel.”
President Shallow also emphasized the broader impact of Matthews' success: “Hayley’s achievements not only bring pride to West Indies cricket but also inspire young girls across the Caribbean to pursue their dreams in the sport. Her journey is a powerful narrative of what can be achieved when desire meets hard work and determination.”
CWI remains committed to fostering the development of women’s cricket through robust programs, dedicated support, and investment in talent. The success of players like Hayley Matthews showcases the progress being made and the bright future of women’s cricket in the region.
Ambrose bullish on West Indies’ chances at T20 World Cup
West Indies great and ICC Hall of Famer Curtly Ambrose believes his former team have enough talent to win an unprecedented third ICC Men's T20 World Cup title next month.
While the West Indies are just one of the two sides to have won multiple men’s T20 World Cup titles, the Caribbean team will need to overturn some poor form at recent ICC tournaments, if they are to become the only three-time winner of the event.
The West Indies didn't make it out of the first round of the most recent T20 World Cup in Australia in 2022 and failed to even qualify for last year's ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in India.
But Ambrose thinks the West Indies' fortunes are turning under skipper Rovman Powell and pointed to T20I series successes over powerhouses South Africa, India, and England in the last 14 months as evidence of this.
These returns have the legendary fast bowler confident of a strong showing from the West Indies in the ninth edition of the T20 World Cup, an event they will co-host with the USA.
"We have a very, very good team. As we speak they (West Indies players) are in Antigua at a camp preparing themselves for the start of the T20 World Cup which is a couple of weeks away," Ambrose said while speaking at the launch of the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York earlier this week.
"I believe once the guys start playing consistent cricket and smart cricket, I believe we can take the trophy. It is not going to be easy, but we are one of only two nations to have won it twice so we are going to try and make it three. And no other nation has ever won it on home soil, so all that is motivation for the guys to do well and I am hoping they can do it,” he added.
The West Indies are drawn in Group C at the T20 World Cup and face the champions of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup East Asia-Pacific Qualifier Papua New Guinea first up in Guyana on June 2, before their remaining opening round fixtures against Uganda, New Zealand and Afghanistan.
Ambrose expects to see some upsets at this year's edition of the T20 World Cup as he knows every side has plenty of talented players at their disposal.
"I admire a lot of cricketers (at the T20 World Cup) and I am looking forward to them doing well. As a proud Antiguan and being from the West Indies, I want the West Indies to win,” he said.
"It is not going to be easy because in T20 cricket every team has an equal chance of beating any other team and that is just the nature of T20 cricket. It is going to be exciting, but I am going to be rooting for the West Indies,” Ambrose ended.
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