Stuart Broad toasted the near-perfect start to a big summer after his five-wicket haul helped England dismiss Ireland for 172 before the hosts finished only 20 runs behind on the opening day of the one-off Test at Lord’s.
Broad ripped through the Irish top order during the first hour on his way to figures of five for 51 from 17 overs to get himself on the Lord’s honours board for the first time since 2013.
James McCollum (36), Paul Stirling (30) and Curtis Campher (33) all made starts but could not kick on with Jack Leach helping himself to three wickets and Matthew Potts securing a brace of scalps.
It was then over to Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley, who wasted little time getting back into the groove and played true to the aggressive ‘Bazball’ style that has taken the nation by storm with fifties in a century opening stand to help England close on 152 for one.
“When you win the toss and bowl, your aim is to bowl the team out in a day so to have done that was a big tick,” Broad reflected a day before the one-year anniversary of the Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum era.
“Then I thought the way the three guys played this evening was exactly the mindset that Baz and Stokesy want. It was positive, aggressive, put the bowlers under pressure and we’ll hopefully see a bit more of that tomorrow.
“It is obviously always nice when you get on the honours board at Lords but no major difference between four wickets and five wickets really.
“It feels good for me leading the attack this week to have taken a few poles and got us on the front foot as a team, but I thought we did really well as a whole group. It is almost the perfect start to a big summer.”
With James Anderson and Ollie Robinson rested ahead of the Ashes opener on June 16, Broad relished the chance to lead an England attack that contained debutant Josh Tongue and Potts playing his first Test since August.
The Nottinghamshire seamer claimed the 20th five-wicket haul of his Test career to move within 19 of the 600-wicket mark which could be achieved during the upcoming series with Australia.
Broad is not nailed on to start the first Test at Edgbaston with Mark Wood and Chris Woakes for competition but did his case no harm and accepts he will sit out some Ashes fixtures during the next two months.
He added: “I love Ashes cricket but I can honestly say to you whether I play the first, the second or the fifth (Test), my mindset is the same, just have an impact on the game, change the momentum and look to put in a performance that will win the Test.
“I feel like I have done that. I bowled beautifully in my first Test match at Mount Maunganui after last summer, bowled nicely at Wellington, bowled nicely here today.
“I think we all know, not that there has been any talk of the Ashes in our group, that we need an armoury of bowlers over the next six weeks.
“The games come round thick and fast and it is unrealistic to think any bowler will play six Tests in a row, so we’ll need a few of us to be ripe and ready.
“It is great when you look around the changing room, obviously there are a few injuries about with Jof (Jofra Archer) and (Olly) Stoney, then niggles with Robbo and Jimmy, but you only have to look at the bowlers that aren’t playing this week like Woakesy, Jimmy, Robbo and Woody to know we have a lot of strength in depth.”
England captain Ben Stokes was not required to bowl with Ireland all out in the 57th over and after debutant Tongue impressed in an enforcer role that saw him clock 91mph.
Ireland head coach Heinrich Malan was left disappointed with their showing after a poor batting display was followed by Crawley crunching 56 off 45 balls while Duckett finished on 60 not out alongside Ollie Pope, unbeaten on 29, after they tucked into some wayward bowling by the tourists.
“Obviously not our best day, to be honest, I think it’s a little bit more disappointment around the way we went about our business,” Malan said.
“I didn’t necessarily think that they played, you know, Bazball, if you want to term it that way, because I just think we didn’t bowl that well.
“They batted pretty well, with us bowling pretty averagely. So look, I hope we can bowl a little bit better tomorrow.”
Charles finishes with 13 wickets in the match as Red Force demolish Scorpions by an innings and 125 runs on day three at Sabina Park
Bryan Charles finished with 13 wickets in the match as the Trinidad & Tobago Red Force ended their 2024 West Indies Championship season with an innings and 125 run thrashing of the Jamaica Scorpions on day three at Sabina Park.
The Scorpions entered Friday 159-9 in their first innings, trailing the Red Force by 273 runs. The final pair of Jeavor Royal and Andrae Dennis further 30 before being bowled out in the 64th over of the innings.
The Red Force then asked the hosts to follow on before dismissing them for 118 in just 44.4 overs to complete a dominant win.
Opener Javaughn Buchanan was the only Scorpions batsman to offer any kind of resistance with a 95-ball 33 as Bryan Charles was, once again, the pick of the Red Force bowling, ripping through the Jamaican batting on his way to figures of 7-43 from 13.4 overs to finish with a match haul of 13-125.
Debutant Navin Bidaisee took 2-20 from six overs in support.
Full Scores: Trinidad & Tobago Red Force 432 all out in 122 overs (Joshua Da Silva 106, Terrance Hinds 79, Amir Jangoo 51, Kjorn Ottley 45, Khary Pierre 43, Jeavor Royal 3-113, Ojay Shields 2-61, Peat Salmon 2-83)
Jamaica Scorpions 189 all out in 63.4 overs (Kirk McKenzie 57, Jeavor Royal 46, Bryan Charles 6-82, Khary Pierre 3-57) & 118 all out in 44.4 overs (Javaughn Buchanan 33, Bryan Charles 7-43, Navin Bidaisee 2-20).
England stars out cheaply as Dukes ball returns to County Championship
England trio Zak Crawley, Joe Root and Harry Brook were all out for single-figure scores as bowlers across the Vitality County Championship had more success following the return of the Dukes ball.
The trial of the Kookaburra ball, which has a flatter seam than its Dukes counterpart and tends to go softer earlier, in the opening two rounds has proved divisive and led to much higher scores than expected in the early season.
Warwickshire captain Alex Davies’ fantastic 149 underpinned his side’s 340 for four in their Division One clash against Hampshire at the Utilita Bowl – but the opener was the only batter in the country to reach three figures on Friday.
Crawley edged to third slip for five in his first appearance of the season for Kent, who ended a rain-affected opening day on 111 for three after 39 overs against defending champions Surrey at Canterbury.
Daniel Bell-Drummond registered 70 before he was trapped in front by Tom Lawes and Daniel Worrall accounted for Crawley and fellow opener Ben Compton.
Four wickets for Shane Snater and three for England hopeful Sam Cook helped Essex skittle Lancashire for 146 at Chelmsford, where the hosts went to stumps on 68 for one with just 54 overs possible.
England off-spinner Shoaib Bashir snared the in-form Joe Clarke as Nottinghamshire were all out for 193 against Somerset at Taunton.
Craig Overton was the pick of the attack with three for 57 before a classy 70 not out from Sean Dickson led Somerset to 116 for one at the close.
Durham’s Ollie Robinson thrashed six fours and three sixes in a belligerent 55 off 43 balls but his side were all out for 244 against Worcestershire in a clash between the two promoted sides at Kidderminster.
Former West Indies captain Jason Holder took three wickets for Worcestershire, who reached 78 for four in reply.
In Division Two, Yorkshire were dismissed for 159 by Middlesex at Lord’s, where Root steered to gully for five while Brook made just three before nicking to second slip.
Middlesex slipped to 37 for two in reply but Mark Stoneman’s unbeaten 38 and Leus du Plooy’s 23 not out led the hosts to 84 without further loss, with 55.4 overs bowled in the day.
Half-centuries for Ben Charlesworth (62), Miles Hammond (56) and James Bracey (69) ushered Gloucestershire to 319 for eight against Sussex at Hove. Danny Lamb took three for 49 for the hosts.
Colin Ingram’s 69 not out rescued Glamorgan from 27 for four against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road. Ben Sanderson’s third wicket left the Welsh side on 96 for five but Ingram’s efforts and 50 from Dan Douthwaite helped them close on 203 for seven after 56.1 overs.
Leicestershire opener Marcus Harris’ unbeaten 77 got his side to 168 for two after 46 overs against Derbyshire at Derby.
Windies legend Walsh joins Zimbabwe in hunt for historic Women's T20 World Cup spot
West Indies fast bowling legend Courtney Walsh has joined Zimbabwe’s women’s team as a coaching consultant, as they prepare to challenge for a spot at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh later this year.
The Jamaican, who led West Indies women’s to the semi-finals of the 2022 ICC Women's World Cup in New Zealand, where they lost to eventual winners Australia, will now aim to rewrite the history books by assisting Zimbabwe to a maiden World Cup appearance.
The Lady Chevrons are targeting one of two spots from the Women's T20 World Cup qualifiers, which begins in the United Arab Emirates on April 25.
Walsh, 61, who took 519 Test wickets in his stellar career, is assisting head coach Walter Chawaguta ahead of the tournament, and Givemore Makoni, managing director of Zimbabwe’s Cricket is delighted to have the legendary pacer on board.
"We count ourselves fortunate and privileged to be able to bring in Courtney as a technical consultant for our campaign in Abu Dhabi," Makoni said.
"He is one of the world's greatest cricketers and we believe his experience at the highest level of the women's game in particular will boost our chances,” he added.
A total of 10 teams will participate in the qualifiers in the UAE, which culminates on May 7.
The sides will be split into two groups of five, with the top two progressing to the semi-finals, from where the two finalists will secure berths to the Women's T20 World Cup in Bangladesh later this year.
Walsh and his Zimbabwe outfit will face the hosts, Ireland, the Netherlands and Vanuatu in Group B, while Sri Lanka, Thailand, Scotland, Uganda and United States, are set to lock horns in Group A.
Zimbabwe women won the gold medal at the African Games in Ghana last month, beating South Africa in a super over.
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