I’ll leave you with Simon Burnton’s report from Manchester. Goodnight!
And here’s the England captain Jos Buttler
Gus [Atkinson] has been on an upward curve very quickly, so to get him around the dressing room – making friendships with the guys and the coaching staff – is really important. His performance today was brilliant.
[Harry Brook] played brilliantly again; we know what a class player he is. There’s a lot of noise around him at the moment and all credit must go to him – he doesn’t seem affected at all, he’s no different around the group and he’s playing brilliantly well. It’s a great problem for us to have.
The New Zealand captain Tim Southee speaks
Yeah it’s not ideal but you can get results like that in this format. We were a bit off with the ball and that made it hard for the batters. We started well with the ball but Harry Brook and Jonny put us on the back foot and we weren’t able to come back from that.
We know we need to be better in all three areas. Adam Milne was exceptional with the ball and that was a lesson to the rest of us. We’ll dust ourselves and come again.
The player of the match is Jonny Bairstow, who hammered a beautifully judged 86 not out from 60 balls.
It was a great team performance tonight. To post 197 and then take 10 wickets in a T20 is some achievement.
I got a decent ball at Durham, it happens at the top of the order. There was a bit of swing early doors here. It wasn’t the easiest, but if you graft through hopefully it gets better. We know that Old Trafford can be a fantastic place to bat. The partnership between Harry [Brook] and I was a bit of a matchwinner in the end.
We haven’t actually batted that much together. We were having a chuckle, saying we were due a partnership together. Hopefully it’s the first of a few big ones!
We’ve seen the qualities Gus [Atkinson] has got for Surrey and the Oval Invincibles. He’s got raw pace, which is scary for any opposition. For him to come out and take four wickets on debut… I’m sure it’ll be a huge confidence booster for him. You can see on his face how well he handled the pressure. He took everything in his stride and I’m sure it’ll be the first of many caps for him.
"The partnership from Harry and I ended up being a match-winner in the end!" 🤝
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 1, 2023
Jonny Bairstow is awarded Player of the Match after his stunning 86 not out! pic.twitter.com/m1zxaqwcVT
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England lead 2-0 with two games to play
All that really matters is the World Cup opener between these sides at Hyderabad (tbc) on 5 October (tbc). Even so, that was another formidable performance from England. Since 2019 they haven’t been always been great in bilateral white-ball series, but they have taken New Zealand apart in the first two games.
There was a time when England debuts were a nervous, haunting experience, and that was just for those of us watching at home. It started to change in the early 2000s – Trescothick, Strauss, etc – and now nobody bats an eyelid when a promising fast bowler takes 4/20 on his international debut.
BOWLED'IM 💥
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 1, 2023
England win by 95 runs after another DOMINANT performance 🏴 pic.twitter.com/u8sunIsNw5
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ENGLAND WIN BY 95 RUNS!
WICKET! New Zealand 103 all out (Ferguson b Atkinson 0) Gus Atkinson yorks Lockie Ferguson first ball to end a very impressive debut: 2.5-0-20-4. England have battered New Zealand.
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Wicket! New Zealand 103-9 (Southee LBW b Atkinson 8)
Southee wallops his second ball for six, then walks across to his third and is out LBW. He was so far across that he was almost outside the line; almost.
Gus Atkinson has three for 20 on debut, with two balls still left in this over.
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WICKET! New Zealand 95-8 (Seifert c Buttler b Atkinson 39)
And that was the first ball of the next over. Seifert blasted Atkinson into outer space, and Buttler ran forward to take a good diving catch. England are romping to victory.
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13th over: New Zealand 95-7 (Seifert 39) That was the last ball of the over.
WICKET! New Zealand 95-7 (Milne c Ali b Rashid 2)
Adam Milne reverse sweeps Rashid towards slip, where Moeen Ali takes a marvellous reaction catch to his right. The two old mates embrace, with Moeen laughing at his own excellence. England can do little wrong tonight.
12th over: New Zealand 88-6 (Seifert 34, Milne 0) That was the last ball of the over.
WICKET! New Zealand 88-6 (Santner b Jacks 8)
Will Jacks gets his first bowl in a T20 international – and his first wicket. Santner tries to slog sweep a quicker ball and is cleaned up. Nice bowling from Jacks; England are heading for another crushing victory. And 140 was a good score after all!
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11th over: New Zealand 83-5 (Seifert 31, Santner 6) Seifert gets lucky when a leading edge off Rashid lands safely. Santner drives elegantly for four, but it’s not enough. New Zealand need 116 from 54 balls.
10th over: New Zealand 77-5 (Seifert 30, Santner 1) Carse’s pace is good, too, just shy of 90mph. I can’t remember a time when England last had so many bowlers capable of bowling above 90mph, even if the greatest of them all has had such an awful time in the last four years.
WICKET! New Zealand 74-5 (Mitchell c Buttler b Carse 0)
Daryl Mitchell goes first ball! He inside-edged a hot one from Carse through to Buttler, who threw the ball up in celebration. It was given not out on the field but England reviewed successfully. That was a jaffa from Carse: fast, lovely length and with enough movement to brush the inside edge.
A fantastic delivery from Brydon Carse and Daryl Mitchell goes for a duck ⚡ pic.twitter.com/HrVt0mzUGq
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 1, 2023
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9th over: New Zealand 72-4 (Seifert 27, Mitchell 0) The new batter is Daryl Mitchell, who took England to the cleaners in the semi-final of the 2021 T20 World Cup.
WICKET! New Zealand 72-4 (Chapman c Brook b Livingstone 15)
My word. Mark Chapman has just smashed Liam Livingstone’s first ball back over his head for a huge six, even by modern standards. New Zealand needed a big over, and this is the girl. Chapman sweeps four more, then Seifert slashes past short third man. But then…
After 16 runs off the first five balls, Chapman gets a bit too greedy and holes out to Brook at long off. Livingstone, who needs every run or wicket he can get after an iffy recent run, punches the air angrily in celebration.
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8th over: New Zealand 56-3 (Seifert 22, Chapman 4) Moeen Ali comes into the attack. The downside of T20s is that they can go flat very quickly, and this feels like a routine win for England. I suppose we’ve made that mistake in the past.
Nine from Moeen’s first over, including an important boundary off the last delivery from Seifert. New Zealand need 143 from 72 balls.
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7th over: New Zealand 47-3 (Seifert 15, Chapman 2) As with any player, Harry Brook has had some tough times this year. He was dropped during the IPL, and at the mid-point of the Ashes series many of us feared he was in Pat Cummins’ pocket for the rest of the summer. The matchwinning innings at Headingley changed everything, and since then he has been fifty shades of awesome. One thing he does extremely well, especially for a young player, is wring almost everything out of good form. That’s not as easy or obvious as it sounds.
A wicket for Adil Rashid! ✅ pic.twitter.com/1zfXgmomiC
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 1, 2023
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WICKET! New Zealand 44-3 (Phillips c Brook b Rashid 22)
Adil Rashid strikes third ball! Phillips clattered a low full toss towards long on, where Harry Brook took a beautifully judged catch with an almost offensive nonchalance. It was two-handed, above his head, with everyone in the ground worried that he might stand on the boundary sponge. Everybody in the ground bar Harry Brook, I should have said.
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6th over: New Zealand 42-2 (Seifert 14, Phillips 20) Brydon Carse comes on for Atkinson, who bowls a promising first spell of 2-0-12-1. Phillips thick edges his first ball wide of short third for four, then drives another boundary down the ground. That’s a decent end to the Powerplay for New Zealand, with 22 off the last two overs.
“England,” says Gary Naylor, “are not the only side showing some firepower tonight.”
Mitchell Marsh has become a mighty white-ball batter – in this series he’s belted 166 from 88 without being dismissed – and might also be at the start of a golden spell in Test cricket. I thought his century at Headingley in the Ashes was genuinely astonishing.
5th over: New Zealand 31-2 (Seifert 13, Phillips 10) An attempted slower ball from Sam Curran loops comically down the leg side. Seifert runs after it, Allan Border-style, but it’s so wide that he can’t get to it before it reaches Jos Buttler.
The free hit is a dot ball, though Seifert puts the next two deliveries away with a cut and a deft steer. New Zealand aren’t totally out of this; they need 168 from 90 balls.
4th over: New Zealand 20-2 (Seifert 5, Phillips 9) A classy shot from Glenn Phillips, who times Atkinson square on the off side for four. He top-scored for New Zealand on Wednesday and has started well here, taking a few low-risk singles and then punishing Atkinson when he erred slightly in length.
3rd over: New Zealand 13-2 (Seifert 4, Phillips 3) I told you 140 might be a good score.
Sam Curran gets Finn Allen with a slower delivery! ✖️
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 1, 2023
Good catch by Will Jacks! pic.twitter.com/fXr1wt9Z8u
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WICKET! New Zealand 8-2 (Allen c Jacks b Curran 3)
New Zealand haven’t learned from the England innings. Allen tries to smear a Curran slower ball towards the Northern Quarter but mistimes it miserably to mid-on, where Jacks takes a good catch over his shoulder.
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2nd over: New Zealand 8-1 (Allen 3, Seifert 2) Atkinson’s second ball was timed at 92mph and his fifth beat the new batter Tim Seifert for pace. He bowls wicket-to-wicket and has a very fast arm, so you can see why people have compared him, in style if not quite substance, to Jofra Archer.
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WICKET! New Zealand 6-1 (Conway c Livingstone b Atkinson 2)
That’ll do! Gus Atkinson strikes with his fourth ball in international cricket when Devon Conway lifts him high to deep backward square leg. Atkinson smiles a little shyly and claps his hands; that’s a helluva start to his England career.
Debut wicket for Gus Atkinson! 😍💫 pic.twitter.com/TA4L7Rpdc6
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 1, 2023
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1st over: New Zealand 3-0 (Allen 2, Conway 0) The lesson of the England innings is that this isn’t the easiest pitch on which to start, and even Finn Allen can’t get hold of Sam Curran in the first over. It’s a terrific start from Curran, full of variety; just two runs off the bat.
And now it’s time for Gus Atkinson.
Harry Brook speaks to Sky Sports
It’s generally tough to chase here. It’s a decent pitch tonight so hopefully we can get a couple of wickets early.
[Come on, how you do it?] To be honest I just try to play the ball on instinct as much as possible. Watch the ball and react. [What was either to face, pace or spin?] Probably pace, when you get used to it.
Jonny was on for a hundred and (chuckles) he was in the mood tonight. Unfortunately he didn’t get it but it was an outstanding knock.
[What’s your advice to Gus Atkinson?] Enjoy it, bowl quick and try and hit a few on the head.
And you thought life was complicated.
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20th over: England 198-4 (Bairstow 86, Buttler 13) Ferguson starts the last over excellently, deceiving Buttler on a couple of occasions. But the penultimate delivery is swung miles over wide long-on for six, and a wide takes England to 197. Another slower ball beats Buttler to end the innings, so England don’t quite reach 200.
It was a decent finish for New Zealand, with only 18 runs coming from the last 15 deliveries. But England had already reached an imposing total thanks to a spectacular partnership of 131 in 10.4 overs between Jonny Bairstow and Harry Brook. New Zealand need 199 to win.
19th over: England 185-4 (Bairstow 86, Buttler 3) Adam Milne, the pick of the New Zealand attack by a distance, ends with an excellent over. All six deliveries are either missed or mistimed, and England can only manage four singles. Milne ends with 4-0-23-0.
18th over: England 181-4 (Bairstow 84, Buttler 1) Despite taking some vicious tap, Sodhi ends with okay figures of 4-0-44-2.
So what’s a par score then? 130? 140? That’s the daft thing – despite all the entertainment, England know New Zealand have the muscle to chase anything if conditions stay like this.
WICKET! England 180-4 (Moeen Ali c Milne b Sodhi 6)
Moeen Ali slog-sweeps his first ball for six, because that’s what modern cricketers do. He tries again next ball and picks out Adam Milne, who almost drops a simple catch but grabs it at the second attempt.
I remember when a white-ball cameo from an England batter was 34 from 37 balls. These days it’s 6 off 2.
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WICKET! England 174-3 (Brook c Allen b Sodhi 67)
Brook holes out to long on to end another mini masterpiece: 67 from 36 balls with five fours and five sixes. He is an astonishing talent who is going to provide untold joy and entertainment in the next decade.
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Since his last T20/Hundred dismissal, Harry Brook has scored 211 runs off 103 balls.
17th over: England 170-2 (Bairstow 84, Brook 63) Well, how else would you reach a half-century? Southee drops short and is smashed straight back over his head for six by Brook. That brings up a 31-ball fifty. I’m running out of superlatives to describe Harry Brook, even though I haven’t actually been using superlatives.
Southee’s having a rough day as captain, an even rougher one as a bowler. Brook pulls a full toss for four then wastes a slower ball into the crowd. Southee ends with 4-0-48-1.
16th over: England 153-2 (Bairstow 84, Brook 46) Ferguson follows Brook, who is still good enough to glide the ball past short third man for four. As well as the timing, the power, the confidence and everything else, his placement is phenomenal.
That boundary brings up the hundred partnership in about five minutes. And it was a no-ball, which means a free hit – though Brook can only cloth a pull for two. No matter: he meets the next delivery with a devastating, fast-handed cover drive for four more.
It’s been an innings of two halves: 48 for two in the first eight overs, 105 for none in the next eight. This is England?
Just Harry Brook and Jonny Bairstow launching the ball into the crowd 🚀6️⃣ pic.twitter.com/Otqn8AT1Ft
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 1, 2023
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15th over: England 140-2 (Bairstow 83, Brook 36) It feels a long time ago that Adam Milne was beating Bairstow with inswinger after inswinger; it was about an hour. He returns and restores a bit of order with a canny over – no boundaries, though England still pilfer eight runs. They’ve got 140, they might as well declare.
“I have one solution to the selectorial conundrum you pose,” says Brian Withington. “You pick the squad one at a time and don’t change your mind about your first pick, which must be Harry Brook. Everybody else is discardable, including Roy and Malan. If Buttler really wants to keep them and bring in Ben Stokes then he needs to step down and ask Stokes to captain as well. We won’t miss his keeping.”
14th over: England 132-2 (Bairstow 79, Brook 32) Bairstow scored 26 from his first 28 balls; since then he’s made 45 from 18 51 from 19, including another slog-sweep for six off Sodhi’s first ball.
When Bairstow pulls fractionally short of deep square-leg, Brook reverse-sweeps for a one-bounce for four. Old Trafford is being royally entertained by two of Yorkshire’s finest. The last six overs have gone for 84.
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13th over: England 118-2 (Bairstow 71, Brook 26) Bairstow is going into overdrive, as he did against Australia on this ground during the Ashes. He launches Southee’s first three balls for 16: six over square leg, four to midwicket, majestic six down the ground.
Brook continues the carnage by picking a wide slower ball and pinging it into the crowd at cow corner. Six more, and that’s 23 from the over. So much for 140 being a competitive score!
T20 is a different game when #HarryBrook comes in. He makes the boring middle overs more fun than the Powerplay
— Tim de Lisle (@TimdeLisle) September 1, 2023
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12th over: England 95-2 (Bairstow 54, Brook 20) Bairstow hoicks Santner’s first ball for four – or maybe six, it’s very hard to tell. The third umpire is taking a while to decide. If it’s six, it will bring up Bairstow’s fifty.
It’s four, so Bairstow backs away to blast the next ball through extra cover for another. That brings up an increasingly emphatic half-century from 40 balls. The value of an in-form Bairstow at the World Cup would be enormous.
Later in the over Brook reverse sweeps for two despite being totally duped by Santner, and it would have been four but for a fine stop from Chapman. Santner ends a classy spell with harsh figures of 4-0-36-1.
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11th over: England 81-2 (Bairstow 44, Brook 17) England are flying now. Bairstow pulls Ferguson’s first ball round the corner for four, which makes it 30 from the last 12 deliveries. Ferguson pulls things back really well thereafter, conceding only one off the last five balls and beating Brook to end the over. It’s topsy-turvy stuff.
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10th over: England 76-2 (Bairstow 39, Brook 17) Erm, Harry Brook might well be a genius. He has just driven Sodhi for successive inside-out sixes, both shots of outrageous skill, intent and certainty. Sod it, I can’t resist a statgasm. Since England announced their World Cup squad, Brook has scored 211 runs from 111 balls with an average of 105.5 and a strike-rate of 190.
I still don’t know how you get him in the World Cup squad, never mind the team, but I wish they could.
How has he hit that second one for six 🤯🤯🤯#ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/1JOHPOHyDz
— England's Barmy Army 🏴🎺 (@TheBarmyArmy) September 1, 2023
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9th over: England 60-2 (Bairstow 37, Brook 4) Bairstow crashes Santner through extra cover for four, then monsters a slogsweep into the crowd. He mistimed a couple of shots, duped by Santner’s mischievous changes of pace, but those boundaries make it England’s best over in a while.
8th over: England 48-2 (Bairstow 26, Brook 3) Ish Sodhi, playing his 100th T20 international, comes on. Never mind 140; a score of 120 might be enough if dew isn’t a factor when England bowl. Brook survives an LBW appeal – missing leg – and then drives one to long-on. That’s the first of four singles in the over. England are 9/2 in the last three overs.
7th over: England 44-2 (Bairstow 24, Brook 1) I was going to introduce Harry Brook with a statgasm or two, but after Dawid Malan’s innings I think I’ll refrain. He gets off the mark with a push down the ground for a single. Batting looks pretty awkward out there.
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WICKET! England 43-2 (Malan b Santner 0)
Malan goes for 0 from 4 balls, and he missed the lot of them. Santner – who’d already had a stumping review against Bairstow earlier in the over – slowed it down to beat Malan’s attempted slap on the inside and hit the top of middle stump.
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6th over: England 40-1 (Bairstow 21, Malan 0) Dawid Malan has the highest T20 average in England men’s history (min: 10 innings). More improtantly, his average of 50.45 when England win is second only to Kevin Peter Pietersen.
As I research and type the above, Malan is beaten outside off stump by each of his first three deliveries from Southee. Hard to be sure but the early impressions are that 140 would be a competitive score.
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WICKET! England 40-1 (Jacks c Chapman b Southee 19)
At one end or another, a wicket was coming. Jacks clunks a pull to mid-on to end a scruffy if useful innings of 19 from 11 balls, and here comes Dawid Malan.
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5th over: England 39-0 (Bairstow 20, Jacks 19) Milne off, Ferguson on. Jacks smears him between mid-on and midwicket for four, then inside-edges a similar shot just wide of leg stump for four more.
England aren’t middling too many, yet they are making good progress. Jacks ends what was a pretty good over from Ferguson by clouting six over midwicket. It went very high but kept travelling until it plopped into the crowd. Fifteen from the over, a minor travesty.
4th over: England 24-0 (Bairstow 19, Jacks 5) The left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner is on very early, a nod to the dry Old Trafford pitch. There’s a bit of spin, nothing too dramatic, and Bairstow punishes a short ball with a pull for four. He’s monopolising the strike, having faced 19 of the 24 deliveries so far.
3rd over: England 18-0 (Bairstow 14, Jacks 4) A fractionally short delivery from Milne is savaged over midwicket for four by Bairstow. Milne continues to trouble him with the inducker, even if the movement isn’t as extravagant as it was in the first over.
This is a really important set of games for Bairstow, whose already enormous importance to England’s 50-over team has increased given the relative struggles of Jason Roy since the last World Cup.
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2nd over: England 12-0 (Bairstow 8, Jacks 4) Southee doesn’t get as much swing as Milne, which is a bit of surprise, and Bairstow thumps him back over his head for four. A top-edged pull lands safely for a couple, and then Bairstow has to protect his stumps after knocking the ball into the ground.
“Can we dream about Harry Brook sneaking into the World Cup squad,” says Brendan Large. “Much as I appreciate the whole ‘hie time will come’ comments, he is clearly ready now and could make the difference in a knock-out game that (for example) Livingstone might struggle to do in India with the ball moving sideways off the track.”
I’d argue Livingstone is a red herring. They need six bowlers in the team and have decided, reasonably I think, that a reserve opener is more likely to be needed than a reserve middle-order batter, so that means there is only room for two of Brook, Stokes and Buttler. The alternative argument is that Brook could open but that is, well a different argument, and one we probably don’t have time for during a T20. A nice boring pre-Bazball Test, perhaps. That said, I do think history will have an itchy chin when it considers Harry Brook’s omission from the 2023 World Cup.
1st over: England 5-0 (Bairstow 1, Jacks 4) Adam Milne’s first ball is a big inswinger which widens the eyes of Jonny Bairstow. His second cuts Bairstow in half and is superbly stopped down the leg side by Seifert. Hello, this could be interesting.
It’s officially interesting: New Zealand have reviewed for LBW against Bairstow! He played around another huge inswinger, except this one was slightly fuller and hit him on the back pad. Alex Wharf said not out, but this looks close. Replays show it would have missed leg stump.
Bairstow decides to get round the other end asap, diving desperately after playing tip and run to mid-on.
Will Jacks makes a much more confident start to his innings, crunching a full inswinger through the covers for four. Milne pulls his length back and bets Jacks on the inside. That was such a menacing first over.
Here come the players. Our man Athers says there is a slightly subcontinental feel to the pitch, hence England’s decision to bat first. They have four spinners, five if you include Dawid Malan.
“Superb stuff from Michael Atherton explaining the new tech in county cricket that feeds data to selectors and helped identify Gus Atkinson as a genuine quick – though it was pretty obvious at the Oval,” writes Gary Naylor. “That Atherton could do all that without hesitation or notes walking round the outfield shows a master broadcaster at work - best ever for me despite a well stocked cricket pantheon.”
He’d be right up there even if he wasn’t also working as the cricket correspondent of the Times most days. Imagine the concentration and ability you need to do that! Also has a lovely, dry sense of humour and an infectious cackle, and never stops looking forward. He’s pretty much flawless, isn’t he?
What will Gus Atkinson bring to the England side?
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 1, 2023
🗣️ "Pace"
🗣️ "There's lots of things that are similar to Jofra" pic.twitter.com/nasm32cklH
It’s the first email of the evening! Oh.
“Afternoon Rob,” writes Simon McMahon. “I swear I’ve just seen Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay heading into Wetherspoons in Dundee, where Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin is rumoured to be waiting to thrash out a deal to bring them to Tannadice on a season long loan. Dundee is the sunniest city in Scotland so, with the rain in Manchester never far away, it makes perfect sense, don’t you think?”
A bit of pre-match reading
Team news
Gus Atkinson was presented with his cap by his Surrey teammate Sam Curran, which might be the first time an England debutant has received his cap from somebody younger than him. His inclusion, in place of Luke Wood, is the only change from the first match. New Zealand are unchanged.
England Bairstow, Jacks, Malan, Brook, Buttler (c/wk), Ali, Livingstone, Curran, Rashid, Carse, Atkinson.
New Zealand Conway, Allen, Seifert (wk), Phillips, Chapman, Mitchell, Santner, Milne, Sodhi, Southee (c), Ferguson.
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England win the toss and bat
Jos Buttler said he wasn’t 100 per cent sure whether to bat or bowl. Gus Atkinson (25, 95mph) makes his England debut.
England win the toss and bat first in the second T20i vs New Zealand! 🏴🇳🇿 pic.twitter.com/kNO0yYr31A
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 1, 2023
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Preamble
The weather forecast for Manchester is pretty good this weekend. Cloudy but dry tonight; cloudy changing to sunny intervals by late morning tomorrow; sunny intervals changing to cloudy by late morning on Sunday. It’s summer, so we play cricket, right? Would that it were so simple.
Six weeks ago, at the height of the English summer, Old Trafford became a paddling pool. It denied everyone the most exciting end to a Test series in the history of forever, and some of us aren’t quite over it.
Life moves on, red balls turn to white, biblical downpours turn to sunny intervals changing to cloudy by late morning, and cricket is played in Manchester. Which is a longwinded way of saying: welcome to live coverage of the second T20 international between England and New Zealand at Old Trafford.
England won handsomely at Chester-le-Street on Wednesday, when Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Dawid Malan and Luke Wood (alphabetical order, Dawid, nothing more than that) all starred. We know this is a slightly odd series: it has an even number of matches (please, not another 2-2 draw), it comes barely a month before the start of a 50-over World Cup and a number of the players won’t be off to that tournament in India. It’s not quite the orgy of context and meaning that future tour planners fantasise about.
Even so, it has plenty going for it. White-ball form is pretty transferrable, so boundaries and wickets are credit in the bank for those going to the World Cup; we might see Gus Atkinson make his England debut; we’ll almost certainly see Harry Brook bat. And I hope we can all agree that, truly, there are worse ways to spend a Friday night.
The match begins at 6pm, with the toss at 5.30pm.
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