A very English cricket blog by Patrick Kidd. Subscribe to a feed of this Times Online blog at http://timesonline.typepad.com/line_and_length/rss.xml
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The county season is in full swing so it's time to reveal the nominations for our monthly Pillock of the Month competition. Harbhajan Singh set a record for this last month, earning more than two thirds of your nominations for slapping Sreesanth. Who will follow him this month and earn his ticket for the end-of-year Pillocks' Hall of Shame? The options this month are:
Ravi Bopara for letting it be known he had been approached by the Indian Premier League. Sorry Rav, but much as I'm a fan it was a bit big-headed to go on about how you turned the IPL down. Given your modest record in a limited international career so far (which I'm convinced will improve) you were hardly going to be attracting big bucks - you're no Kevin Pietersen - and it smacked a bit too much of a cry for attention. Let your batting for Essex do the talking for you.
The England batsmen and umpires in the first Test at Lord's, for being paranoid about playing in iffish light and thus denying the paying spectators half a day's cricket on both the Thursday and the Friday and perhaps preventing a result. Top-level cricketers who have already made a fifty partnership with little trouble should not be so keen to walk off when it gets gloomy and umpires should consider the fans first.
Health & Safety bureaucrats who have demanded a public inquiry over the Brit Oval's planned expansion. Some 2,000 extra seats and a hotel are in jeopardy because the Health & Safety Executive has suddenly noticed the large green gas-holders behind the Oval and is worried that they may explode during a Test match. Never mind that the gas-holders have been there for more than 100 years without going pop. Surrey point out, not without justification, that there are a few active gas-holders near the London 2012 site in the East End, too, and no one is saying we should stop building for the Olympics.
Vijay Mallya, owner of the Bangalore IPL franchise, for turning on his team. Apparently, Bangalore's embarrassing failure in the IPL was all Rahul Dravid's fault for selecting the wrong team and Mallya never wanted the players he was saddled with. He wasn't saying that after Bangalore won their second match of the tournament against Mumbai, of course. Mallya, who made his money from selling alcohol, said he had more of a clue about Twenty20 cricket than Dravid, for all his Test caps. In which case, if he had doubts, why make Dravid captain and why not take more of a role in selection instead of whinging about it? Mind you, Mallya has behaved no worse than any stroppy sports team owner. Just ask Avram Grant.
New Zealand for emulating their rugby union brothers and choking when victory was in their grasp at Old Trafford. Effectively 205 without loss in their second innings, they proceeded to fall apart in the face of Monty Panesar's spin, setting England less than 300 for an unlikely win and then made no impact with their bowling. It should be Daniel Vettori, not Michael Vaughan, who holds a 1-0 lead this series.
The Pigeons at the Oval. One of their number was hit by a hard late cut from Matt Nicholson last week and killed. According to witnesses at the ground, the poor stiff birdie was then set upon by his so-called friends, proving that pigeons will eat anything, even each other. Rana Naved-ul-Hasan rescued the bird's dignity by carrying his mangled carrion to the boundary. I understand that the Times correspondent's description of the cannibalism was cut so as not to offend that noted naturalist Simon Barnes.
It's said through gritted teeth but "well done Ricky Ponting" on passing 10,000 runs in Test cricket today. The Australia captain joined Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Steve Waugh, Sunil Gavaskar, Allan Border and Rahul Dravid in the elite club when he drove Ramnaresh Sarwan for a couple in today's Test in Antigua. Ponting was out for 65 soon after, but Australia, at 185 for two as I type, are heading for yet another of those ominous first-innings positions of strength.
No denying that Ponting is a class act as a batsman and with 35 Test hundreds to his name he is second only to Saint Sachin in the list of centurions. I imagine that Ponting, still only 33, will go on to hold that record on his own as well as becoming the leading run-scorer in Tests, depending on how much longer Tendulkar continues. "Punter" must also have the aim of getting his career average up from 58 and a bit into the 60s before he retires and I suspect that we have a few more years of him.
Yet Ponting always seems to be a step or two removed from the top drawer of Australia batsmen. Obviously he falls well below Don Bradman, but am I alone in rating Hayden as more brutal, Border and Steve Waugh as more gritty, Mark Waugh and Dean Jones as more graceful, Adam Gilchrist as someone I'd rather pay to watch? It seems unfair, but has Ponting's undoubted talents been diminished because so often he has been just one of three or four awesome Aussies in any given Test? If he'd played when there was less expectation, as Border did, would he be regarded as Australia's greatest? What do you think?
A prestigious cricket competition got down to its business end this afternoon with the semi-final stage to decide who would move on to greater glory this weekend. Yes, it was the last four of the ICC World Cricket League Division 5 and Afghanistan and Jersey won bragging rights by beating Nepal and the USA.
Not only do the Afghans and the Jerseyites get to play tomorrow for the prestigious Div 5 title, but they also both earn promotion to Division 4, where they will play Hong Kong, Fiji, Italy and Tanzania in October in the second stage of qualifying for the 2011 World Cup. England had better send scouts (or girl guides, I'm not sexist) to check on the form of their possible opponents.
Much as I'd have loved to have seen a US vs Afghanistan final (what a political hoot that would be), the Americans were well beaten by Jersey. Chasing 221 to win, they were bowled out in the 39th over for 136. Meanwhile, Afghanistan were already celebrating their victory over Nepal, the strong favourites in this event. Having been dismissed for just 142, Afghanistan's bowlers then did the job on Nepal, bowling them out for 105.
In the semi-finals of another competition a few time zones away, Rajasthan Royals qualified for Sunday's big pow-wow by destroying Delhi Daredevils. Shane Watson hit a fifty in next to no time as the Royals reached 192 and then Watson picked up three wickets with his bowling to send the Daredevils spiralling towards 87 all out. So well done to Rajasthan, but did they get a nice cream tea afterwards to celebrate as Jersey no doubt did?
Another week, another forlorn hope that Mark Ramprakash will get his historic 100th hundred. Sadly it won't be today. No sooner had I started typing an "83 runs needed at Whitgift" sort of piece, then Ramprakash went from 17 not out to 17 sulking in the pavilion after edging behind off Charl Willoughby. Oh well, there's always the second innings.
Journalist made to look stupid, part 94. The eagle-eyed readers may have seen that I wrote a piece today headlined "Daniel Flynn surgery delays New Zealand return". The exceptionally eagle-eyed, or fans of Northamptonshire, may then have spotted his name in the New Zealand XI just announced to play at Northampton.
Drat and double drat. All I can reproduce in my defence are the quotes that the New Zealand press officer told me last night (and add the caveat that my piece says "not expected to play" while the headline is a bit less ambiguous). "The team's all over the place," I was told. "There's still a big cloud over Flynn. He went into hospital in Northampton yesterday to have the nerve of a bottom tooth removed - the one next to the one knocked out - and he probably won't play. He's busting a gut to get back but if they decide not to risk him then Vettori will play instead."
Oh well, that's my defence. All credit to Flynn for coming back into the team so quickly after his nasty injury at Old Trafford. The fact that Jamie How is not in the team because of an injury and that Brendon McCullum has a stiff back is possibly one reason why he was selected. Good luck to him and let's hope he ducks next time a ball comes heading for his face.
UPDATE TO POST BELOW: They've given it to Ambrose, but were they right? Read and vote...
 England will announce a squad tomorrow for the NatWest Series of one-day internationals against New Zealand and among those huddled around the wireless hoping to hear their name read out by Mr Geoffrey Miller will be the friends and family of Matt Prior, who have their fingers, toes and eyes crossed that their lad will have earned a recall.
Prior was dropped after some ghastly keeping in Sri Lanka but he said that he would fight to regain his place, even if it was only as a batsman. Certainly few can fault his batting this season with an average of 53 in both one-day and first-class cricket and more runs of the latter variety than anyone else. But has his keeping improved?
I have seen only one Sussex match this season, when Prior barely reacted to an edge off Luke Wright until it hit the boundary board, but my colleague Walter, a lifelong Sussex dupe, says he is unaware of much complaining about Prior's glovework. He has been working with Alec Stewart to improve his skills (Prior, not Walter) and maybe that has helped. Anyone else seen him?
And if England don't recall Prior for the one-day series, who should they pick? Phil Mustard is the man in possession but has only one fifty in seven one-day innings for Durham this season and his average of 27, a shade higher than what he averages for England, suggests that he is a man who can do so much and no more. James Foster is keeping beautifully for Essex and his average of 44 this season in both forms of the game is good, if bolstered by a couple of not-outs.
Chris "Fletcher Says He Can't Bat for Toffee" Read is averaging 57 in first-class games and 45 in one-dayers (again helped by not-outs) but rarely looks at ease in one-day games. Tim Ambrose has played only two one-day games for Warwickshire this season because he has been playing grown-up cricket with England and made 28 and 1 in those two innings. Or should it be someone else? If so, tell me.
It would probably have been a sensible investment to bet on an Australian being top run-scorer in the Indian Premier League, even if some of the bigger names left the tournament halfway through for their tour to the West Indies. but the identity of the Aussie who holds a 70-run lead at the top of the run-scoring table will have foxed most of us.
 Step forward Shaun Marsh, the Western Australia and Punjab Kings opening batsman who has nary a Test or one-day international cap to his name but gets to wear an orange cap in Saturday's semi-final for scoring more runs than anyone else. Yesterday, Marsh, son of Geoff, the former Australia opener, made 115 off 69 balls as Punjab beat Rajasthan Royals in their final group match and the two sides may well meet in Sunday's final.
The orange cap is a gimmick but a rather good one. It has passed from batsman to batsman as the tournament has progressed, like the yellow jersey in the Tour de France. The leading wicket-taker at each stage throughout the tournament gets a purple cap, too, and at the moment that is being worn by Sohail Tanvir, the Rajasthan left-armer, who has played only two Tests for Pakistan. Good to see the lesser-known players shining.
Marsh was a very shrewd buy by Punjab, no doubt aided by the advice of their coach, Tom Moody. He was the top run-scorer in Australia's domestic Twenty20 this year and will make his international debut soon after being named in their one-day tour party for the West Indies.
A first-class average of 35 suggests that it is a little early to be thinking of him as a Test match contender, but he averaged 60 in first-class cricket this winter and with the genes and batting skills that he has, it is not improbable. He has been batting first wicket down for Western Australia, behind the now-retired Justin Langer and Chris Rogers, but with Matty Hayden nearing the end of his career there will be a place at the top of the Australia order soon. In fact, come the end of next summer we may be as heartily sick of the Son of Swampy as we were of Geoff in the Ashes summer of 1989.
The ECB is meeting tomorrow to discuss changes to the domestic structure of the game in England. Such changes will come in from 2010, after the more important business of the Ashes and World Twenty20 next summer. Among the ideas floating around is a return to three-day first-class cricket, three conferences of equal status rather than two divisions of the championship and a rethink of the 40-over competition.
I have affection for what used to be called just the Sunday League, not least because Essex have won it five times. This is the 40th year of the competition, which has had 13 different names and has fluctuated from 40 overs to 50, 45 and back to 40 again. I like it best how it is now, although I am intrigued by one proposal to make it a game with two 20-over innings.
Nigel is not impressed with such tinkering but he is even less reactionary than I am. I will, however, repeat the concerned comment I left on his blog about the marketing of Pro40 this year. "It's Twenty20's big brother," the posters say, as if the competition is incapable of having an identity of its own. No doubt if the idea of splitting it into quarters goes through, the marketing men will again link it back to the newest competition: "Like Twenty20, only twice the fun!", they'll say.
If Pro40 is Twenty20's big brother, what does that make Test cricket? Twenty20's venerable and geriatric great-uncle, who sits in the corner grumbling and smelling faintly of wee, but who for some reason most of us love dearly? And will Tests soon be marketed as "Like Twenty20, only slower!"?
The cricket blogosphere is spreading faster than the outfielders when Kevin Pietersen gets that look in his eye. Welcome a few new entrants to the gang who are worth a visit: Nigel Henderson is well-known to long-time readers of Line and Length after he sent regular postcards of despair from Australia during the last Ashes series, which were collated in his book, If It Was Raining Palaces... His blog, Reverse Sweep, is taking its first faltering steps in the world and will be well worth a regular read.
Also, as reminded in these comments, there is the Last of the Summer Whine blog by Len the Yorkshire kitman. Well-written and fun, if rather too focused on Yorkshire for some tastes, it is on my favourites list and should be on yours. Slightly disingenuous to trumpet "brought to you by the Corridor of Uncertainty website" on the banner, when "a CofU website" would be more accurate. It may link to a Yorkshire messageboard of that name, but most of us who have been around the blogosphere for a few years (not to mention Google) regard Will's Corridor blog, which had to drop the "of Uncertainty" bit because of legal pressure from some twit, as the original CofU.
Outside the Line and Well Pitched are two other blogs that have come to my attention recently, and Terry Jenner also has a blog. The self-acclaimed Spin Doctor was responsible for developing the young Shane Warne into the wicket-taking beast he became and is trying to do the same for young Englishmen. He's not posted much so far but it is worth keeping tabs on.
Jenner is arguably more famous for being the Australia batsman who inadvisably placed his head in the way of a bouncer from John Snow in 1971, which led to the England bowler being barracked by the Sydney crowd, who then chucked beer cans at him and grabbed his shirt while he fielded, with a very silly hat, on the boundary. Ah, those were the days when cricket really was a man's game... Not like the over-protected jessies we have today. Watch and enjoy.
I particularly admired the quote at the time from the SCG's curator, Athol Watkins, who said: "That crowd must have been mad. Half of the cans they threw were still full."
They don't make games like this any more. A three-day two-innings match exactly 130 years ago between MCC and Australia at Lord's, wrapped up by Australia with a nine-wicket win shortly before the close of Day 1 (a day, mind you, in which more than 120 overs were bowled). MCC batted first and were dismissed before lunch for 33, a rather rotten collapse from the healthy position of 27 for two.
In came Australia and swiftly took advantage of their opponents' parlous state, advancing to 41 before they were also bowled out. Would it be enough to secure an innings victory? Not quite: MCC made 19 in their second innings to ensure that the touring side would have to bat again and Australia, having lost Charles Bannerman for one and being aware that they had more than two days in which to make the 12 runs they needed, took 16 overs to reach the target.
Actually they do make games like that still, but only at the level I play in.
 Here are the members of the 1878 Australian tour party in their silly blazers and fake beards. Click the pic for a closer inspection. Look at the eyes on some of them. If ever you needed proof that Australians descend from criminals...
The destroyers-in-chief were Harry Boyle, middle row far right, and Fred Spofforth, back row, left. They took 19 wickets between them in the match and 186 wickets (123 for Spofforth) on the tour. Guess they don't make tours like that any more either.
Pic: The Cricketer International
 Twinkle-toed Darren Gough has finally decided to call it a day and dance off into the moonlight at the end of this season.
The England seamer will leave the first class game behind him after 19 years at the top, a spell in which he took 229 Test wickets for England and 235 in one-day internationals.
But although the housewives' favourite and Strictly Come Dancing star is walking away from the county game he isn't going to hang up his cricket boots for good. Gough, who has been known to enjoy a pint or two, is planning to put his years of experience to good use and play a more "relaxed" version of the famous old game.
"I will still enjoy playing the game and will probably turn out for a pub team or something like that," Gough said.
Continue reading "Pubs of England, Goughie needs a team" »
 How could we ever doubt Andrew Strauss? Barely six months ago he was on the scrapheap, left out of England's tour party for Sri Lanka, forced to beg a one-day contract from a New Zealand state in the hope that it might get him back in the England Test side.
Although he failed in Kiwi domestic cricket, he was called up and he had a mediocre couple of Tests before England went to Napier, having levelled after losing the first Test, and Strauss hit his career-best score, 177, to win the series.
Since then, he has looked to be England's most comfortable batsman. Two fifties in the first two innings of this series against New Zealand were followed today by a splendidly composed hundred that set up the unlikely run-chase of almost 300, 60 more than had previously been achieved at Old Trafford. Aggressive when given the chance, patient when not, Strauss offered barely a chance until he was out for 106 and even then it took an astounding catch by Ross Taylor at slip, a contender for champagne moment if ever there was one, to shift him.
A sixth of Strauss's 48 Tests have been against New Zealand and he seems to like their bowling. It was against New Zealand four years ago that Strauss made his Test debut, compiling a hundred and a near-hundred with such force and sense of destiny that it sent Nasser Hussain into retirement. He followed that with 62 in his next Test innings, before his first failure, a duck and 6 at Trent Bridge. Strauss has a chance to rectify that in the next Test of this series.
In 15 innings against New Zealand, he has scored 776 runs at an average of 52, with three hundreds and four fifties. The only side against whom he averages more, hearteningly, are the second touring team of this summer, South Africa. Strauss's record against them is an average of 73 from ten innings.
It is fair to say that without Strauss, England would not have won today. Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood, both under pressure for their places, saw England home after the idiotic run-out of Kevin Pietersen (honestly, why run two to third man when there is no need for haste?), but how would they have done if the total required were still more than 100, instead of under 50? Both rode their luck, Bell being dropped by Iain O'Brien and Colly surviving a very good leg-before shout from Dan Vettori.
Monty Panesar won the man of the match award for his career-best six-for on Sunday that turned a certain defeat into a sniff of victory. But it took Strauss's determination, inspiring solid near-fifties from Pietersen and Vaughan in support, to ensure that victory was secured. Given that he was top-scorer in England's first innings, too, I'd have been tempted to give the award to him. If England had followed on yesterday, would we have been celebrating a win tonight?
My Australian contingent of readers have gone quiet of late (if anyone sees Peter McG passed out under a table, give him a kick) so hopefully this will bring them out of the woodwork.
Interesting the way that headline writers look at similar situations differently. Two Tests going on at the moment and in each case the home side, having bowled themselves back into the match in the third innings, need getting on for 300 runs in the fourth, which would be a record chase at each ground, to take a lead in the series. In both cases, they have made good starts on the previous evening, making 50 or so runs for the loss of one wicket. Yet in the match where the run-chasers were heavy underdogs going into the match, the story is headlined on Cricinfo as "West Indies set up thrilling finale", while in the game where the batting side were favourites before the toss it is titled "England face tall ask".
Of course, the same headline works in both matches. They are thrilling finales and it will be a tough ask for both batting sides to achieve their aim. Obviously the Cricinfo headline writers wanted to avoid repetition but I find it interesting that West Indies appear to be given more of a chance than England. Maybe they were thinking of West Indies' successful run-chase of 308 in 1999 against the same opponents in Barbados. But Brian Lara isn't playing any more.
 Whatever happens, it's going to be a smashing day today on two continents. But that Australia could be even facing defeat (they won't be contemplating it) is down to some superb fast bowling by Fidel Edwards and Darren Powell; that they have not yet been defeated is down to some typical never-say-die-ness from Andrew Symonds as Australia slipped to 18 for five.
Australia have been five down for under 20 runs on only three previous occasions and not since 1936. They lost all three of those matches, but Symonds's half century and Ponting's hundred in the first innings should ensure that they don't lose this one.
It is ironic that Symonds's rearguard Test innings should come on the same day that his IPL side, the Deccan Chargers, were confirmed as the wooden spoon-winners in the inaugural tournament. Deccan must have fancied their chances this year with a batting line-up that included Symonds, Adam Gilchrist, Shahid Afridi and Herschelle Gibbs. Symonds actually earned his money in India, with 161 runs in three innings, including a hundred, but Deccan lost three of the four games that Symonds played in, winning only when he didn't bat. Proof that you can buy all the batting talent in the world but you need good bowlers to make it pay? It's up to Mitchell Johnson, Stuart Clark and others to prove the same point today.
Lots of good bowling feats today (or bad batting feats, depending on how you look at such things) in the ICC World Cricket League Division 5, the tournament for the lowliest of lowlies and the first qualifying stage for the 2011 World Cup.
Mahaboob Alam, the Nepal left-arm medium-pace bowler, took all ten wickets for 12 runs as Mozambique were dismissed for 19, losing by 219 runs. Gulbadin Naid took a hat-trick for Afghanistan as they bowled out Bahamas for 46 in a five-wicket win. And Norway, mighty Norway, who had given Vanuatu such a thrashing on Day 1, were pining for the fjords after being skittled for 85 by the US of A, who won by ten wickets.
Mind you, beating Vanuatu isn't much of a boast as the Pacific islanders were beaten heavily on Saturday by Germany, who had been trounced by Nepal on Day 1. Nepal are clearly the favourites to progress to WCL Div 4, but their match with the US on Wednesday could be interesting.
Back in the days of Britpop when edgy music groups were emerging from Manchester with the regularity of nit-outbreaks in primary schools, there was an annoying phrase that it was impossible to get away from. "Mad for it" was the customary response of any Mancunian musico, whether he was being asked about the weather, his latest single or the political crisis in the Balkans.
 Monty Panesar is definitely "mad for it" in Manchester. Loopy at the best of times, Panesar goes completely doo-lally when he encounters one of Peter Marron's pitches. In three Tests at Old Trafford, he has taken 25 wickets, almost a quarter of his career total, at an average of under 17 and a wicket every 34 balls. That's 25 of his hop-skip-and-jump high-fiving, 25 of his roars, 25 cheers from the fans.
Frustratingly for Northamptonshire, his county have never played a first-class or one-day match at his favourite ground when he was available.
And given the response that England's leading spinner gets from this ground, is it really wise that England have decided to leave Old Trafford off the Test-match rota for the next three years?
Well done to Monty, he has turned this Test match into a real battle with his second-innings haul of six for 37 in next to no time. New Zealand showed very little wish to hang around at the crease but then they didn't really need to after earning a first-innings lead of nearly 200. It will be a tough ask for England to make 294 batting last to win, especially if Daniel Vettori gets as much turn as Panesar did, but at least Monty has given a sniff of a hope
I started to write this before Monty Panesar began ripping through New Zealand's second innings to give us hope of a win - a slim one, I'd argue, given Daniel Vettori's skills on a wearing surface. The arguments about England's batting still hold, though. I'll post on the bowling later.
 I wanted to support England this morning, I really did, but as New Zealand's bowlers began to turn a precarious position for the home side (154-4) into a desperate one (164-7) and eventually had them on the brink of following on, I found myself supporting the Black Caps. Not because I wanted to identify myself with the winning side, but because New Zealand appeared to be made of sterner stuff.
They wanted those England wickets more than England wanted to keep them. Pietersen, Bell, Collingwood and Ambrose, who should have been capable between them of taking England past 300 if not into the lead, looked tentative from the off and all were out to their own poor shots as much as good bowling.
Yes, Daniel Vettori was getting a lot of turn and bounce - not for the first time this year - but England didn't appear capable of making - or even looking for - runs against the other bowlers. As they stuttered, so the runs dried up. Only Stuart Broad, with another useful contribution before a soft dismissal, played with the right spirit, it seemed. He eked England past the follow-on.
This England team are starting to remind me too much of the England sides of the early 1990s, when the batting repeatedly failed to deliver and yet every man in the top six looked, on paper, to be worth his place. Gooch, Atherton, Hick, Lamb, Smith, Stewart (with various changes) should have been good enough to make 400 regularly, as should Cook, Strauss, Vaughan, Pietersen, Bell, Collingwood. This England side have made 400 twice in the past 12 months, or 24 innings (the best being 467-7). There have been 11 hundreds in that time, but only one innings of more than 140. Not good enough.
 Vaughan denigrated this New Zealand side as "workmanlike" before the first Test, yet the tourists could be about to go 1-0 up with one to go. We know they don't have many great batsmen, although they have a lot of fine lower-order scrappers, yet they built a lead of almost 200 on first innings despite having one of their batsmen in the hospital. Does that tell us more about New Zealand batting, New Zealand bowling, England batting or England bowling?
England scored at 2.4 runs per over; New Zealand at 4.2. Those numbers say something about the mental state of both teams. It is not just in politics where the conservatives are coming back into force in England. I'm not asking for rashness, but some sense of adventure, some hunger for runs is in order.
So who should stay and who should go? With two fifties since his hundred in Napier, Strauss is fine. Cook and Vaughan continue to cause worries but they will also see out the summer. Pietersen, we assume, is undroppable, although I would like to see him moved up to No 3 if, and only if, the openers have built a large platform with the directive to play his aggressive game and kick the total on.
But I have grave concerns about Bell, Collingwood and Ambrose. To replace the first two, I'd suggest a mixture of youth and experience. Two of the country's leading run-scorers this season are Ravi Bopara and Mark Butcher and both deserve a recall. Owais Shah is another name in contention. As for the wicketkeeper's spot, well the leading run-scorer is one Matt Prior, who like Bopara and Butcher has a couple of hundreds to his name already. Has his glovework improved enough? If not, then Chris Read is averaging 58 for Notts...
No doubt the clamours for change will ebb away if England manage to win this game. As I type, it looks as if they will need more than 300 to win the match. With plenty of time, admittedly, but the highest score batting fourth at Old Trafford is 231. Only six teams have scored more than 300 in the fourth innings at this ground, with four of them losing. The best thing that could happen to New Zealand's chances of winning, given that rain is forecast for the final day, is that they be bowled out today.
Mozambique and Germany are struggling, Bahamas v Botswaana is well-poised and Norway appear to be cruising against Vanuatu. Yes, it is the first day of the World Cricket League Division 5, the first qualifying tournament for the 2011 World Cup. Two of the 12 teams competing this week in Jersey will progress to Division 4 and so on until four of the minor nations have the chance of emulating Ireland or Kenya and embarrassing a bigger country live on TV.
I had a piece in today's Times about the Afghan entry, whose match against the United States should be interesting, but there are all sorts of intriguing stories around this competition, which I shall bring you when I can or you can follow it live here. Mozambique are 54 for five against the US at Farmers Field cricket club today, a ground that three years ago was just a potato field. This Channel Islands version of Field of Dreams was opened by Geoffrey Boycott, a Jersey resident. And you thought that Jersey was only famous for child abuse and Charlie Hungerford.
I always enjoy it when there are two Test matches on at once, especially if they dovetail so you can go from watching one to the other. New Zealand are playing the first day of the second Test against England at the moment and having gone great guns in the first hour and a half they have been pegged back a bit by their old nemesis, Ryan Sidebottom, who has swung the ball beautifully to claim two wickets.
86 for two as I type, but if Jamie How continues his good form from the second innings at Lord's, and if Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum, Dan Vettori and Jacob Oram bat to their expectations, New Zealand can build a decent total. As at Lord's, I really don't fancy England batting last against Vettori if there is much of a total to chase. But plenty of cricket to be played before we get there.
And then later on it is day 2 of Australia v West Indies in Jamaica. Ricky Ponting was yesterday's hero, being dismissed for 158 (Kevin Pietersen's bogey number) as Australia just passed 300 for the loss of four. That was Ponting's 35th Test hundred, which has taken him past Sunil Gavaskar and Brian Lara and with only Sachin Tendulkar (39) in front. Must have been quite a relief for him to know that he had the whole day (and then sum) in which to build his score rather than just a few overs, as he had in India.
Busy day for me today, so can't type much more but do leave your comments on either Test match in the usual fashion.
Mike Gatting was at Brighton College yesterday with Chance to Shine to open the new Sammy Woods Pavilion at the school, dedicated to one of the college's famous alumni who was surely one of the great dual nationals in sport. Born in Sydney, he came over to England to be schooled in 1884 and was a big success, taking 78 wickets for the school at an average of 7, including all ten for 14 runs against Lancing College, the local rivals.
After school, Woods was offered a place at Somerset, who he represented until 1910, but decided to play for the land of his birth against England in three Tests 1888. Nothing wrong with that, of course, except that seven years later he then played three Tests for England in South Africa. In between the two series he played for five years, 13 matches, as a rugby international for England, but never played for Australia. Maybe he just went to whoever asked him first?
Warwickshire are cursing the IPL after Sanath Jayasuriya's success in that tournament has led to him being recalled to Sri Lanka's one-day side for the Asia Cup next month instead of joining the county. Apparently the selectors were swayed by the intervention of the Sri Lankan sports minister, Gamini Lokuge, who had seen Jayasuriya make 114 for Mumbai in the IPL and thought he "still had it".
Now I'm instinctively a small government sort of person, who would rather that ministers got their nose out of matters that don't concern them, but I admit that when I read that story I was rather tempted by the idea of our parliamentarians debating the make-up of the England XI. I can see a Prime Minister's Questions in the near future...
Speaker: Order, order. Questions to the Prime Minister.
A Backbencher: "Will the Prime Minister list his engagements for today?"
 Prime Minister: "This morning I had meetings with the England selectors and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I will be heading to the Oval to watch Surrey play Yorkshire."
Speaker: Order. Mr Cameron.
David Cameron (Conservative): "Can the Prime Minister reveal to the House whether England will use a three or four-man pace attack at Old Trafford?"
Prime Minister: "The Right Honourable Gentleman will recall that Monty Panesar has taken 18 wickets at Old Trafford under a Labour Government, I have every confidence in him doing the same in the next Test."
David Cameron: "That's just spin. Answer the question. Three fast bowlers or four?"
Prime Minister: "I am not going to be lectured by the Conservatives on spin given that under their administration, England relied on John Emburey and Eddie Hemmings. Under this Labour Government, more wickets have been taken by bearded Sikh left-armers than at any time in history."
 David Cameron: "He won't answer because he has no policy on fast bowlers. He doesn't know whether Chris Tremlett should be added to the squad or whether James Anderson should play. Will he not admit that what the country is crying out for is the return of a fast bowler who can hit the deck hard and put the wind up batsmen? Will he take responsibility for the complete collapse in the share price of Steve Harmisons in the past year? And when will he admit that the health of Andrew Flintoff is much worse under him than his predecessor?"
Prime Minister: "I remind the House that England won the Ashes for the first time since 1987 under a Labour Government..."
Backbencher: "And you lost them 5-0 away from home."
Speaker: "Order, I won't have members speaking out of turn. Prime Minister."
 Prime Minister: "We are responsible for a top six who all average above 40, the revival of Ryan Sidebottom and the development of a strong support system of coaches and analysts. That is the legacy of my Government, when we are competive in all forms of cricket rather than being walloped by the Aussies. I don't think the country wants a return to the days of Boon and bust."
[Much laughter at his wit]
 David Cameron: "The Prime Minister is complacent. He talks of England victories, but he forgets the last Ashes. He forgets the World Cup, the World Twenty20 and last summer's defeat by India. It is a sad reflection of his poor handling of the England side that Chris Read hasn't been given a proper chance in the side when everyone knows he is the best wicketkeeper in the country, that Paul Collingwood remains in his post despite a poor run of scores that makes Alastair Darling look competent with numbers, that Andrew Flintoff is always promised but never delivered and that the present XI take flight at the first sight of bad light. That is his legacy, is he not ashamed?"
Prime Minister: "We'll see who's smiling next summer, sonny."
Nick Clegg (Lib Dems): "Can I ask the Prime Minister to turn his attention to house prices?"
All: Boring, boring, time for lunch.
"Why bother writing about the IPL," one correspondent wrote to me recently, "when you are clearly bitter about its success." Well hopefully no one will detect any bitterness or sarcasm in today's post. As another reader commented, the IPL is just a domestic competition and as a result it should only be covered when something notable happens. Last night, something very notable happened. The IPL began to resemble a Test match rather than a bashathon.
There's no shock in one or even both sides making low scores in Twenty20. What did seem unusual in the game between Bangalore and Chennai is that both sides made under 130 in 20 overs and were not bowled out. Bangalore made 126 for eight in their 20, with Rahul Dravid making 47 off 39 balls (that in itself is something of a novelty in this tournament) and then their bowlers defended it, keeping Chennai to 112 for eight.
Anil Kumble and Jacques Kallis were the main ones to keep it tight, with their eight overs going for only 29 runs. The odd thing is that Chennai needed 62 to win off 55 balls with nine wickets in hand, which should have been the simplest of asks. Earlier in the day, Mumbai lost a thriller to Punjab by one run. No doubt this will just be taken as bitterness rather than the excitement of a cricket-lover, but was yesterday the day when the IPL finally sprung to life?
Mark Ramprakash, going for his 100th first-class hundred to join an exclusive list of 24 men to have done it, has his third chance at the historic innings on his home turf against Yorkshire today. At lunch, he is 26 not out... Ooooh the tension.
He'll no doubt be keen to get it over and done with so that people can stop talking about it, but how typical it would be if Ramprakash got his historic hundred on today of all days, with the British newspapers occupied by a football match in Russia rather than the county championship. I know of at least one sports editor who is hoping Ramps will be out shy of 100 today so that we can give it more space when he does achieve it.
UPDATE: another failure. Out for 29 to someone called Oliver Hannon-Dalby, an 18-year-old making his first-class debut. The search goes on....
In the first Times cricket podcast of the season it was Bella Emberg who received the admiration of our studio pundits and this week we turn our appreciation of Great British Actresses to Dame Diana Rigg, whose appearance in The Cherry Orchard at Chichester on Saturday went some way to making up for that day's play at Lord's being rained off.
Oh and we talk to Matthew Hoggard about which of his England team-mates he needs to kneecap to get back in the side and to Mike Gatting, as he is pursued around the Isle of Dogs by the Met Police, about how Mark Ramprakash is cricket's version of a Chateau Petrus '47. Click here to listen and click "comments" below to comment.
He's back. Actually, he's probably not but Shane Warne dangled the tempting possibility before the Australia selectors yesterday that he might return for next summer's Ashes, but only if he doesn't have to attend any team meetings, go to any matches he doesn't fancy or fulfil any other commitments. And they have to beg him as well.
Talk about ego. Warne, to be fair, couches his offer with lots of conditionals. "If Australia really needed me and there was no one else around, and Ricky Ponting thought I could do the job, you would weigh up the options," Warne said. "If Stuey MacGill fell over and broke his leg, and there were no other spinners around, and Ricky came out and said, 'Mate, can you please help us out for this one-off tour? We need you', that is something I would weigh up."
He then went on to say that he retired because he was sick of touring and other commitments. "If you could just turn up and play Test cricket, that would be cool. I would definitely consider that," Warne said. Perhaps that is the future for some of the big names in the IPL; they call the shots. We've already had this week the news that Brendon McCullum tried to get permission to pop back to India in the middle of New Zealand's tour of England should Kolkata reach the semi-finals. Rightly, the request was turned down. Bad enough to turn up late but you can't dance off and earn some extra cash for a few days while your touring buddies are slogging away against a county side.
Obviously Warne's tongue is rammed far inside his cheek because, for all the undeniable success he has had with Rajasthan in the IPL, Warne's international career is well and truly finished. A recall would risk him looking silly and would certainly make the Australia selectors look bad. What does it say for their development programmes if instead of choosing a younger spinner they go back to a 40-year-old former hero?
That said, what would it say for England if Warne was recalled, turned up for the Ashes with next to no practice and no international cricket in the previous two years and still skittled our batsmen?
 Almost inevitable that it should be bad light that brought an early close to the final day of the Lord's Test. There weren't too many spectators in the crowd, despite final day prices of £20 and below, and the match had been saved by New Zealand by the stage it was called off, but even so it was typical that the match would barely squeak past 5pm.
In all, 284 overs were bowled in the match out of a possible 450 and while there was a fair bit of drizzle on Saturday, spectators will no doubt feel rather let down by the eagerness of both sides at various stages, but especially by England, to run off as soon as bad light was offered. Something needs to be done by the ICC to ensure that play continues where at all possible. I cannot accept that there is much risk to the safety of established batsmen who have been at the crease for some time (as Strauss and Cook were during Friday and Saturday), especially given the amount of protection batsmen now wear. Exposing a new batsman to bad light is another matter, of course.
Strauss and Cook took the light purely for strategic reasons. They were afraid of getting out. Yet why is bad light not viewed as just one of those things that batsmen have to deal with, in the same way as a wearing pitch or humid conditions that help the ball to swing? It may not be easy, but if spectators can see the ball well enough to see where it goes when it is bowled or hit, then the light conditions are good enough for the batsmen to have a stab at staying out there. Test cricket gets its name because it is meant to be a bit of an ordeal for the players - not for the spectators.
Perhaps the pink ball could be one answer to the problem. It was being thrown around at Lord's during an interval and seemed to stand out very clearly. Another option is to start play early if time has to be made up, rather than trying to add it on at the end of the day.
 Oh well, game drawn and on to OId Trafford. England are unlikely to change their side, although Chris Tremlett, left, has been added to the squad to replace Matthew Hoggard (how unlucky for poor old Hoggy to have his thumb broken facing Stephen Harmison in a county game - just shows how far away from the wicket he must have been backing). Tremlett adds height, pace and bounce, which are useful skills to have at Old Trafford, but I suspect that the same XI will turn out.
Michael Vaughan answered his critics, even if some would have preferred that his eighteenth Test hundred had been scored a bit quicker. The middle order still worries me, with Paul Collingwood in desperate need of runs. Dim shot first-ball by Tim Ambrose to Vettori, too, but he still deserves a run in the side.
New Zealand, meanwhile, can take some heart from this. Jamie How batted maturely and with enough composure to suggest that they may actually have two Test-level batsmen in the top six (Ross Taylor should be a third but he has not had an impressive match). The New Zealand opener provided a good laugh on Thursday when the Kiwi woman I'd taken to the game looked at the new scoreboard after New Zealand lost their first wicket and said "Why does it say How Out? I thought Redmond was the one who was dismissed."
I'm fairly busy this morning so will post a more considered comment on the Test match later but it is interesting that after two full days were effectively lost to bad weather and the first innings ended in all but parity, England are still hopeful of forcing victory on the last day. That says something about the brittle state of New Zealand's batting. As I type, eight overs of the day have gone and England have taken two of the ten wickets that they will need to take by, I'd guess, mid-afternoon if they are to leave enough time for their batsmen to win the match.
Just one thought, if England are within a sniff of victory at stumps today will they regret the sissyness of their batsmen taking the light so readily on Friday? It happened last year against India as well, when England were punished for going off for bad light by India's last-wicket pair holding out just long enough for the draw. Another half an hour's play earlier in the match and England could have won that, as they may find today. Much will be written on the light issue after this match, but you do have to wonder whether England shoot themselves in the foot by reducing the amount of time they have to bat in conditions that are not all that bad. Put it like this, if it is a bit gloomy later this afternoon and England need 50 to win in 45 minutes, I don't think they will be rushing for the dressing-room.
Slowly, the bowlers are gaining the upper hand in the Indian Premier League. Winning scores that in the first week or two were above 200 are now barely 150. Wonder how popular that is with the crowds? Sriram Veera has done a good job of analysing why.
Today the bowlers got their ultimate revenge as Kolkata Knight Riders, who you may recall began this tournament an awfully long time ago by bowling out Bangalore for 82 chasing 223, were skittled for 67 by Mumbai Indians. Not only was it 67 all out batting first but it was in just over 15 overs, a run-rate of 4.36 an over.
There were some immensely economical bowling figures in there, with Shaun Pollock taking three for 12 in four overs and Dominic Thornely two for seven in three. Mohammad Hafeez, with one for eight in four overs, has the tournament's best economy rate but Thornely and Pollock have respectively the best rates for two-fers and three-fers.
In the reply, Sachin Tendulkar was out for a three-ball duck but Sanath Jayasuriya ensured that the Mumbai side needed only 33 balls to chase the target
Or rather Day 1 at Chelmsford, where I'm watching Kent struggle to deal with the controlled pace of Andre Nel, Graham Napier and Chris Wright. 120-3 off 31 overs, which is almost Test match pace rather than a 50-over game. I get all the glamorous assignments.
As this is a day-night match, I watched the morning's play from Lord's on TV and have a little set on in the corner of the Chelmsford press box, where I've been able to watch the players trudge on and off during breaks for bad light. Ryan Sidebottom was swinging the new ball a long way this morning, too far for Steve Bucknor who repeatedly turned down appeals for leg-before that did appear to be missing leg stump. Didn't stop the pained looks from Sidebottom or the pointed one at Buckner when he swung the ball past Kyle Mills's front pad to rip out his off stump.
It's hard to know how to call this game. The past four Tests there have been drawn, with England scoring more than 500 in the first innings of three of them. Yet the Ashes Test in 2005 was a low-scoring thriller and the match with India last summer featured four innings between 200 and 300. So is New Zealand's 277 all out a good score or not? How will England (68-0 overnight) find it batting on the third day or even the fifth? Will the rain and bad light let up over the weekend to allow a match to break out?
Incidentally, questions ought to be raised about Tim Ambrose's keeping in New Zealand's innings. He didn't drop any catches that I can recall, but he let 16 byes through and as a proportion of New Zealand's total runs, more than 12%, that was the eighth worst display by an England keeper (praise be to Statsguru for allowing us to work out such things). It shouldn't matter much and is hardly a hanging offence, especially as keeping is always hard at Lord's, but it is a small cause for concern.
Some thoughts on today's first day at Lord's:
 Well the rain came but it went away by lunchtime, so those of us at Lord's got to see just over 50 overs as New Zealand reached 208 for six. At 104 for five, with 15 minutes still to go until tea, it looked as if my plea that Daniel Vettori shouldn't bat until the final session would be rebuffed, but Brendon McCullum and Jacob Oram put on 99 together. It may not have tilted the game New Zealand's way - although it's fair to say that New Zealand's tail ends at 6 and the batting begins at 7, so they may yet make it to 300 or more.
England bowled well but not brilliantly, I thought. The pace bowlers were controlled and hard to get away - until McCullum got in - but they lack an absolute snorter of a fast bowler. That's not to criticise, but against some very ordinary batting they did not need to do much to take wickets, just stick it in the right place. A huge amount of New Zealand's runs came through edges through, over or wide of the slips, with very few runs scored between extra cover and mid-wicket.
Poor Aaron Redmond on his Test debut. Great location, lousy weather. After twiddling his fingers nervously in the Pavilion for two hours, he came out to bat and was heading back five balls later, just failing to judge the movement from Anderson. Daniel Flynn, the other debutant, stayed around longer, hitting two decent fours, but also departed for a low score.
Ross Taylor deserves a bollocking from the coaches tonight. He was like a wound-up spring, always appearing on the verge of doing something silly. So often he charged off for singles without considering if the run was on - could this be the influence of the IPL? - and that very nearly did for James Marshall, who sent Taylor back, realised that his partner wasn't going back and set off very late himself. He would have been run out if Anderson's shy at the stumps hadn't been rushed.
In the morning as the covers were being removed we got to see the warm-up routines of the two sides. New Zealand kicked rugby balls and threw into baseball gloves but little else, while England went through a very elaborate series of routines, that seemed to involve bunny-jumps, dosie-dohs, press-ups and lunges. Probably the influence of their new fielding coach, Richard Halsall, who started just before this match. It seemed to work as the fielding was fairly impressive, although I bet KP was thinking "not the face, not the face" when he ducked beneath a ball hit hard at him by, I think, McCullum rather than catching it at gully.
 Monty Panesar was only given four overs but made the crucial breakthrough, bowling McCullum on 97. A poor shot from McCullum who clearly thought he'd get his hundred out of the way quickly before building something impressive. Second time he's been out in the nineties at Lord's. We gave him a standing ovation when he walked off anyway, but would have been nice if he got to three figures.
Naturally Panesar went into his usual impression of a puppy on speed after taking the wicket, which remains endearing. Less so is his increasingly theatrical appeals for balls that are clearly missing the stumps or, in one case, hit the bat. Panesar clearly thinks that he should go down the Warne route of trying to con wickets out of umpires (either that or he has a very poor judgment of what leg-before is) but it is not worth doing. Warne was too good a bowler for such histrionics and so is Panesar. There is a fine line between ebullience and being a tosser, and he is in danger of crossing it.
Left the ground after the match to see ladies from Spearmint Rhino, the lap-dancing club, handing out flyers, which seemed counter-intuitive. As my friend Charles said to me: "Are middle-aged men clutching picnic baskets and umbrellas really their target audience?" Perhaps they thought that McCullum's run-a-ball innings had given some of the crowd the horn?
Oh well, tomorrow is another day. Sadly I won't be at Lord's but will instead by covering Essex v Kent at Chelmsford.
 And so the Test summer begins tomorrow with the first day of England v New Zealand, take 2. Mike Atherton makes his Test debut in the Lord's press box for The Times, flanked by Richard Hobson and Simon Barnes, while your blogger, just a feeble amoeba alongside such titans of journalism, has paid for his ticket and will be in his customary spot in the Tavern stand. Any readers of this blog who are also planning to be there, and who spot me during the lunchtime exodus from stand to bar, are welcome to grab my shoulder and slur "Ere, aintcha wotsisname off the thingummyblog" and I will happily stand you a beer.
The fragrant Clare Skinner at Lord's tells me that there are still 2,000 tickets available for tomorrow's play, priced at £65 and £60 (£20 for juniors), which go on sale from 9am at the North Gate.
The first Test at Lord's is always special and not just because MCC maintain an enlightened policy towards the importation of your own beer and wine. The place just smells and sounds right, from the well-spoken chap who says "Good morning and welcome to Lord's" over the PA at 10.45, to the ding of the pavilion bell at 10.55 and then at 11am the first pop of a champagne cork. Here are six other things I want to happen tomorrow:
1) If New Zealand bat first, I don't want to see Daniel Vettori come out to bat until at least lunchtime and preferably well after tea.
2) That the corporate section of the Grandstand, which always empties on the stroke of lunch, is full again by 3pm, otherwise MCC should ban those businessmen from being allowed to buy tickets for next summer's Ashes Test. What is the point of going to the cricket and not watching?
3) That Brendon McCullum plays a patient, watchful innings (well, until he gets to double figures, then let him go berserk and make a hundred off 50 balls).
4) That no England fast bowlers break down in their pre-match warm-up. Having taken the odd step of announcing that Matthew Hoggard was surplus to requirements two days before the toss, it would be rough on the poor lad, who has probably planned a weekend of DIY and walking the dogs, to ask if he wouldn't mind playing after all.
5) That the reheated Strauss/Cook opening partnership flourishes, making a double hundred together and going on to become the Hobbs and Sutcliffe or Taylor and Slater of their day, culminating in a string of big partnerships together next summer, rather than the scratching, shuffling, edging and missing monster that they were when they last played together.
6) That it doesn't rain.
 Eighty-three years ago, when Jack Hobbs was trying and struggling to match WG Grace's record of first-class hundreds, there was a famous London newspaper headline saying simply "Hobbs fails again". I could be wrong, but I think it was after he had made a fifty. Hobbs took a month to get the historic hundred, with expectation building to fever pitch, and when it eventually came at Taunton there was immense relief, especially as he had been 91 not out overnight.
Will we have the same frenzied anticipation for Mark Ramprakash's historic 100th hundred (read this for more background)? Today was his first chance to advance from 99 to 100 but he nicked James Tomlinson behind and will have to wait at least another 24 hours for his next chance. No doubt Ramprakash will get there at some point and probably very soon.
Speculation in one press box last week was that Paul Sheldon, the Surrey chief executive, had told Ramprakash that he had to get the historic ton at the Oval otherwise he wouldn't get a benefit dinner this year. "Not true, but a very good line," was Sheldon's response when I put it to him.
Apologies for having a couple of days off but I was away at the rowing World Cup (read all about Britain's success here) and then yesterday was getting painfully sunburnt on a golf course.
This morning we recorded the first of our summer cricket podcasts, which you should be able to access on the cricket homepage soon. It features Shane Bond and Mike Atherton as well as yours truly, Mark Chapman and, our new regular panellist, Andy Zaltzman. Some may remember Andy from our Bodyline video diaries last year when he was an uncanny likeness for Douglas Jardine. That is if Jardine really was a slightly tubby Jewish-looking fellow with manic hair. Anyway, go and enjoy.
One of the things we discuss is the priority for Test matches in the days of Twenty20. It seems that series are becoming shorter and shorter, with only two Tests scheduled between England and India this winter. The Ashes is sacrosanct (so far) as a five-Test series, although it wasn't so long ago that we played six, but some of the more juicy series, such as India v Australia or England v South Africa really should be five matches long. If the IPL organisers get their way and have a dedicated window in the calendar for their tournament, that will only mean shorter Test series.
John Stern, the editor of The Wisden Cricketer, tackles this issue in an interesting piece for Cricinfo. Why not arrange the calendar so we play a longer series home and away, John argues. His starting point is that England have just come off the back of a 2-1 series win in New Zealand, having been 1-0 down, and the two teams now start again at level. Why not start this England leg of the series 2-1, with three to play?
Australia and South Africa have sort of done this, with back-to-back home and away series in 2005-06, but instead of them being two three-match series, it would have been interesting to have seen them as one six-match series. That said, I think the Ashes needs a year or so's break between episodes just to allow us to all calm down and then build ourselves up again. Anyway, what do you think?
Breaking news: Andrew Flintoff won't play in the first or second Test against New Zealand as he has injured his left side playing for Lancashire. The all-rounder felt some discomfort after the game against Durham, in which he had match figures of seven for 42 but recorded two ducks, and has been withdrawn from the selectors' consideration on medical advice.
Flintoff went for a scan after the game last night and was ruled out of the first Test, which starts on Thursday at Lord's, and the second. He may be considered for the final Test of the New Zealand series and for the later battles against South Africa if he responds well to treatment. The strain is not connected to the surgery he received over the winter on his troublesome left ankle.
Flintoff said: "Obviously I'm bitterly disappointed to be unavailable for Test selection due to this injury as I'm really enjoying my cricket with Lancashire and feel my bowling has been improving with each match. I've put in a lot of hard work to get to this point after ankle surgery last year and I know I can overcome what isn't a significant injury."
It makes the selectors job a bit easier. The panel met at Trent Bridge during the week to discuss their XI for Lord's, which will be announced by Geoff Miller, the national selector, at 9.30am on Sunday. The main dilemmas are whether to play James Anderson or Matthew Hoggard as a third fast bowler behind Stuart Broad and Ryan Sidebottom and whether to play Paul Collingwood, whose form for Durham has been dire this season, or to include an out-and-out batsman in Owais Shah or a batsman who can bowl a bit, such as Ravi Bopara or Luke Wright. Both were underbowled in the first innings of the England Lions match against New Zealand that is being played at the Rose Bowl, but Wright made a hundred while Bopara is the leading middle-order run-scorer in county cricket this season.
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