Match report and analysis
A long day, ending at seven, with the late summer sun already falling away. Advantage South Africa, who patiently gathered the runs they were offered and stored them nicely to the side. Are England missing the practise that comes with Championship cricket? It is hard to tell, as they are often rested from such games – I’m sure Ben Stokes will let us know in time. That’s it from us for today – thanks for sticking with our new system, quirks and all. Good night!
I wrote this yesterday - We seem to be stuck in a paradox wherein England’s Test players are simultaneously overworked and undercooked. One feels a degree of sympathy for Lees, but little for a set-up that allows such nonsense to develop.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) August 18, 2022
Jack Leach, who had a good day": “We are behind in the game but we’ve stuck at it really well. Trying to take wickets, it’s hard to sum up right now, but we could have got a few more. Got to keep at it. We were creating half-chances, we have to stick at it.
“I can feel Stokesy at mid-off, I feel that belief in me, and try to make the most of it. It is a mixture of things, confidence after playing enough Test cricket to learn through those games, and belief from performances.”
That felt like a mini epic – defiantly South Africa’s day but endlessly entertaining by England who threw themselves at it. After keeping things tight after that opening South African partnership, and Stokes flogging himself almost into the dust, Jensen and Maharaj took the South African lead from handy to important.
Stumps: South Africa 289-7, lead by 124 runs
77th over: South Africa 289-7 ( Jansen 41, Rabada 3) Stokes screams in for the last over of the day, but Jansen is up to it and spins to the fifth, pulling Stokes past a diving Bairstow to the rope. He ducks safely under the final bouncer and that is stumps!
76th over: South Africa 285-7 ( Jansen 37, Rabada 3) Leach wheels in for what might be the last over of the day, but in fact he’s so quick that they’ll squeeze in one more Rabada edges the last ball but it squeezes past the slip and he picks up two.
75th over: South Africa 283-7 ( Jansen 37, Rabada 1) Stokes gets his man, but not before the pendulum has swung.
Why do England look so tired @tjaldred? They've only bowled 72 overs and it's not exactly scorching. Most have had weeks to prepare for this.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) August 18, 2022
I don’t have an answer to this! Perhaps just that Test cricket is exhausting when you’re not in the groove?
WICKET! Maharaj c Potts b Stokes 41 (South Africa 282-7)
That feels a bit like a wicket bought – 41 from 49 balls and a very handy little innings, which finishes with a blind flurry at a Stokes bouncer, well caught by Potts in the eye of the falling sun.
74th over: South Africa 277-6 ( Jansen 39, Maharaj 34) Oh dear. Maharaj takes no pity on his ex-Lancashire colleague, cracking two pitch-perfect fours.
Hi Tanja,” Hi Eva!
“I am not surprised that the comments box experiment has been temporarily suspended - I always feel that OBOers are like Archers listeners: not too keen on change.I wonder how large the overlap of these two groups is...I much prefer the e-mail option, btw!”
I think the venn diagram would be interesting! What else would you put in the mix? Real ale?
73rd over: South Africa 269-6 ( Jansen 34, Maharaj 31) Stokes has had quite enough, and in the manner of an elder sibling who can’t bear to let his siblings incompetently complete a task, grabs the ball. But it doesn’t quite work out. Jansen spins him to long-off where Jimmy Anderson gives chase,and they run four. A couple more in the same direction are chased down by Stokes as there are no fielders in place in this unorthodox field. Jansen hoists six from a short one, then four more. The lead stretches to 104.
72nd over: South Africa 253-6 ( Jansen 18, Maharaj 31) When all else fails, turn to Anderson. Maharah fizzes him through the covers for four, then leans back and absolutely pancakes him over midwicket for four more. In the last four overs, South Africa have picked up 27.
71st over: South Africa 243-6 ( Jansen 18, Maharaj 21) The dam rather leaking here in the last half hour. Seven off Leach including a lanky loft by Jansen to the long-on boundary.
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70th over: South Africa 236-6 ( Jansen 14, Maharaj 18) Maharaj and Jansen rather milk Potts here, a four each as the lead creeps up to 71. A good crowd staying on to watch the last hurrah in the sun, as the rain falls outside my window.
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69th over: South Africa 227-6 ( Jansen 10, Maharaj 12) And from the pavilion end this time, with half an hour left in the day, Jack Leach. His last ball nearly squeaks through the gap between Jansen’s bat and pad.
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68th over: South Africa 226-6 ( Jansen 10, Maharaj 12) A maiden from the plucky Potts.
67th over: South Africa 220-6 ( Jansen 10, Maharaj 12) The shadow of a floodlight bisects the batter and the slips. Maharaj hits two boundaries in three balls off Broad, one an edge through the slips that has Broad down on his haunches, the other cuts a pie.
In defence of Bazball from Tim Maitland, “Before we all start writing Bazball obituaries, isn’t the state of this test match down to the toss and the enormous difference in the bowling conditions from day one to day two?
“If South Africa had batted first, they too would be struggling to avoid being put in a losing position by now.”
66th over: South Africa 216-6 ( Jansen 9, Maharaj 3) Potts ploughs on as the afternoon dips. Every run worth double.
65th over: South Africa 215-6 ( Jansen 9, Maharaj 2) Jansen edges, but there isn’t a slip so the ball drops into the shadows. Broad keeps Maharaj on his toes. The camera pans back and the crowd sprinkled in red look like fruit on a merrily-laden cherry tree. The lead creeps up to fifty.
Hello Daniel Lees: “I kid ye not. Every time I leave the room to cook dinner for me and the boss, plus the kids (two separate pasta dishes....successful parents that we’re not) we take a wicket. Given my late afternoon consumption of rose wine, you can expect the remaining 4 wickets to fall before close of play. After that, I’ll just cross my legs and stay in the room, promise!”
64th over: South Africa 210-6 ( Jansen 6, Maharaj 0) A 6:3 leg-side field as Potts runs in to Maharaj, ex of Lancashire and Yorkshire. Just the one run.
63rd over: South Africa 210-6 ( Jansen 6, Maharaj 0) Somewhere in the ether someone, apologies if it was you, sent a great message about how under Stokes’ captaincy games don’t drift. I now can’t find it but it was very observant. England, inspired by their captain, clinging on with both hands to this South African innings, desperate not to let it escape out of sight. And the lead has been restricted to 45.
WICKET! Verreynne c Foakes b Broad 11 (South Africa 210-6)
Dangle, dangle: Verreynne caught in two minds in the crease, some extra bounce, and a slither of an edge. Stuart Broad’s 100th Test wicket at Lord’s!
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62nd over: South Africa 210-5 ( Jansen 6, Verreynne 11) From nowhere, Verreynne goes on the charge, slashing at Leach and skewing him ugly and wide for three. Nearly, nearly, but no cigar.
61st over: South Africa 206-5 ( Jansen 5, Verreynne 8) Did I mention the slips? England still have plenty. Four await Stuart Broad but no reward. With an hour or so to go, the lead is 41. England playing cagey, teasing cricket.
I think that the new box contraption has now been retired for the day – so feel free to email me at the usual address: tanya.aldred.freelance@theguardian.com
60th over: South Africa 202-5 ( Jansen 3, Verreynne 5) One off Leach’s over, and they pause for the final drinks break of the day.
Harry has been scratching around with a pencil. “By my (admittedly out of date) B grade in GCSE maths calculations, if Jimmy is still bowling in internationals at the beginning of next year, he’ll be closer to 60 than the age he was (21) when he first played his debut (vs. Zimbabwe, 22nd May 2003). (Quite remarkable - although it would be handy to have the version of his early self bowling this afternoon to level things up a little)
59th over: South Africa 201-5 ( Jansen 3, Verreynne 5) Time for Stokes to rest that knee and Stuart Broad to pick up the tab. The sun on his bronzed face turns him briefly into a modern day Botticelli angel. He dangles temptation but the towering Jansen resists.
“This” writes Jon D, “is a tough South Africa side and won’t fold as easily as NZ and India. It is going to come down to England’s middle order versus South Africa’s top order. I think South Africa will take it as their technique is superior to England.”
58th over: South Africa 200-5 ( Jansen 3, Verreynne 5) Verreynne cuts Leach through point and over the rope to release the tension.
57th over: South Africa 195-5 ( Jansen 2, Verreynne 1 ) Ooooff, Stokes’s leg doesn’t look pretty. It gives way in the follow through after one ball and then he limps back to his mark. A last ball no ball tests his patience but he duly turns on the thunder once more. Surely that must be it for this (magnificent) spell.
“Hello from the People’s Republic of South Yorkshire (Sheffield),” writes Nick. “England’s batting, for all the magic we’ve seen in the last four tests, still clearly has deep flaws and against a proper pace attack they’ve come up woefully short. ||I remember a few months ago McCullum said that Crawley would never be a consistent player, but he’d back him 100%. But is it even possible to have a successful career as an inconsistent test opener? There’s only so many times a team can find themselves at 20-2 and 50-4 and recover, before they eventually start getting blown away by good bowling attacks.||Already in this test we’re seeing excuses for Eng’s first innings, with commentators saying most batsmen got out to good balls. But Eng have bowled plenty of good balls and beaten the edge themselves, so why aren’t South Africa’s batsmen getting out to them quite so easily? At some point you’ve got to question their concentration as well as their techniques.”
WICKET! Van der Dussen lbw Stokes 19 (South Africa 192-5)
And the new ball does the business! Stokes slams one into VDD’s knee-roll which provokes such a jolt that he embarks on one of most hopeless reviews on record. He’s shortly on his way and Stokes is in one of his magic spells.
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56th over: South Africa 192-4 ( vd Dussen 19, Jansen 1 ) Another maiden from Leach, and after half an hour of being on top, England ask, and get, the balls changed.
55th over: South Africa 192-4 ( vd Dussen 19, Jansen 1 ) Fully distracted by my daughter reading out the Royal Family’s A level results, but can reliably say that was great ball by Stokes. His career in a nutshell – 100 percent skill, 200 percent effort.
WICKET! Erwee c Foakes b Stokes 73 (South Africa 187-4)
The enforcer does the trick! A ripsnorter straight at the neck - Erwee could do nothing but try and get out of the way, succeeding only in billowing a catch to Foakes. Stokes has a good belly laugh.
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54th over: South Africa 185-3 (Erwee 71, vd Dussen 15) A sleepy passage of play, who will blink first? Van der Dussen enlivens five dots by sweeping Leach to the rope.
“I see South Africa have fallen into our trap, “ muses Richard Morris. “We’re allowing them to bat and bat and bat and bat until late tomorrow, when we will be put in, score 100 in the last half hour before stumps, then 700 on our favoured 4th day pitch before scuttling them out on the fifth day morning for 50 odd. Amazed they’ve fallen for it.”
53rd over: South Africa 181-3 (Erwee 71, vd Dussen 11) A smart bit of fielding by Pope at short leg denies Erwee a run that would have prevented a maiden. As it is, Stokes’ six balls of henchman short stuff do the business and keep the scoreboard from ticking over.
52nd over: South Africa 181-3 (Erwee 71, vd Dussen 11) The run of maidens comes to an end but South Africa aren’t in a hurry and Erwee plays Leach with hesitation, almost knocking the ball onto his own stumps.
SA playing Bazball better than England: they've reached 165 in almost the same time (45.5 overs to England's 45), but lost only three wickets to England's 10.
— Lawrence Booth (@the_topspin) August 18, 2022
51st over: South Africa 178-3 (Erwee 68, vd Dussen 11) And a Stokes maiden – that’s the ticket, England.
50th over: South Africa 178-3 (Erwee 68, vd Dussen 11) A Leach maiden.
Hi Tanya,” Hello Shelia! “How sustainable do you think Bazball going to be moving forward? This high-octane, steal-it-at-the end drama seems to be functional on players’ form during that day or series. Can form win a team test series consistently.
I think a lot of it depends on the aura. If opposition teams think you can chase anything, and you think the same, the impossible becomes possible. As soon as you lose the aura, the concept pops pretty quickly. But it is definitely fun while it lasts!
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49th over: South Africa 178-3 (Erwee 68, vd Dussen 11) Ben Stokes shrugs on the bowling mantle and his first ball nearly does the business as van der Dussen inside-edges, misses the stumps, and Foakes, and picks up a boundary.
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48th over: South Africa 174-3 (Erwee 68, vd Dussen 7) Erwee top edges a reverse-sweep off Leach over the slips for three, and vd Dussen bookends the over with three more. A small nesting of egg and bacon blazers watches from the stand while Chris Martin from Coldplay talks to Isa Guha. He seems not to have aged in the last 20 years.
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47th over: South Africa 168-3 (Erwee 65, vd Dussen 4) Five dots from Anderson and a shimmy to fine leg which brings three.
“Currently at Peppa Pig world,” taps Rich into the new interface with impressive fortitude.||”With 50minutes of play left (here), I fancy England’s chances of bowling SA out before the end of the day, are better than mine for avoiding small people melting down in the gift shop.”
Hope you can get away with a Peppa pencil and notebook.
46th over: South Africa 165-3 (Erwee 62, vd Dussen 4) scores level Nicely bowled by Leach, who has a spring in his step right now. He continues to bowl with loop, the one flatter delivery is thumped through the covers by van der Dussen. I do, incidentally love this England kit with the red lettering and the red ribbon round umpire Illingworth’s hat.
WICKET! Markram c Foakes b Leach 16 (South Africa 160-3)
Leach’s first ball after tea! A spaghetti edge as Markram pushes forward and Foakes gathers as effortlessly as wafting away a fly. Tossed up and Markram couldn’t resist.
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45th over: South Africa 160-2 (Erwee 62, Markram 16) Anderson picks up after tea with Lord’s bathed in late summer sunshine, shirt sleeves in the pavilion, T-shirts in the stands – which have spaces now. Erwee picks up a couple and that’s the over.
The players are out after tea, the shadow from the pavilion now encroaching onto the pitch by 6-8 foot. This is a key session for England now – they need to fork fast through this South African innings before they settle in for the evening. Let’s see what Jack Leach can do after those promising early overs.
No fast bowler has taken more wickets than Kagiso Rabada since his debut. By the time the next FTP cycle is completed he will be 32. It's an absolute travesty that an potential all-time great will not get the opportunity to play the amount of Test matches he deserves. pic.twitter.com/TdIaotIL0x
— Sam 🏏⚽️🏈 (@sammy5456) August 18, 2022
Tea: South Africa 158-2, seven runs behind England.
44th over: South Africa 158-2 (Erwee 60, Markram 16) A screamer from Leach, fizzing off the pitch, into the gloves of Foakes, who nips off the bails. Markram’s foot is safely parked, but a nice little marker just before tea. Markram, who picked up another four from the over, picks up his bat and heads towards the dressing room. That’s tea at Lord’s and tea here in Manchester. Back in five with a cuppa.
43rd over: South Africa 154-2 (Erwee 60, Markram 1) On TMS, Alastair Cook comments that Erwee and Markram are “big strong lads” and they certainly don’t seem intimidated by Jimmy Anderson and his sharp bowling and matching trim. Markram stoops to drive – slamming him through the covers for four, before being beaten by a beauty a couple of balls later.
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42nd over: South Africa 149-2 (Erwee 60, Markram 7) Leach gets his first bowl of the afternoon and cranks out a maiden for his efforts.
41st over: South Africa 149-2 (Erwee 60, Markram 7) Ah! I now have a deluge of comments – too many to count – so apologies that you’ve been ignored. A tight over from Anderson – just the single, as Phil Sawyer ponders over the afternoon.
“Good afternoon, Tanya. At the moment I’m wondering what to make for tea and whether I can get someone else to finish this contract for me. Well the box did say ‘Send us your thoughts’. It didn’t specify about what.”
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40th over: South Africa 148-2 (Erwee 59, Markram 7) Markram isn’t hanging around doing nothing until his buttery tea cake arrives, kisses Potts through the covers for a tasty boundary.
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39th over: South Africa 143-2 (Erwee 58, Markram 3) “I’d already sent you a message on the message thing, which said “Hi Tanya, So, does this message thing actually work?” emails Tim Maitland.
“I think we have our answer, don’t you?” Ahem, with a tweak here and there I’m sure all will be well. Anyway, it’s not the sort of problem Jimmy Anderson has, as he eases into a new spell and his fifth decade of bowling. SA gather a few singles as tea approaches.
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38th over: South Africa 140-2 (Erwee 56, Markram 2) Four slips await Markram, but he picks up a couple almost straight away. Smart bowling from Potts, nigglingly accurate and the wicket v deserved.
WICKET! Petersen c Bairstow b Potts 24 (South Africa 138-2)
The breakthrough! Petersen jabs and Bairstow swallows a smart catch at second slip. Potts clenches both fists and smiles.
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37th over: South Africa 138-1 (Erwee 56, Petersen 24)
35th over: South Africa 136-1 (Erwee 54, Petersen 24) We get a close up of a bottle or organic Prosecco being opened onto the Lord’s lawn. I think Potts could do with a little pick-me-up: a gentle frown crosses his brow as he muscles through another over, a good un, tempting Petersen into a stroke off the last ball.
34th over: South Africa 134-1 (Erwee 54, Petersen 22) South Africa nearly gift England a wicket with a hopeless quick single. It would have been curtains if Broad had hit in his follow through, but he didn’t and the ball skews off for three overthrows. An irritated looking Broad stalks away.
33rd over: South Africa 130-1 (Erwee 51, Petersen 21) A half volley drifts down from Potts and Petersen pounces, pinging it through the covers. Otherwise tight stuff from Potts.
Could someone possibly send a message on the new system as I’m not sure if I’m receiving them or not?
Fifty for Erwee!
33rd over: South Africa 124-1 (Erwee 51, Petersen 15) And a dash of a drive through the covers brings up Erwee’s fifty, which is warmly applauded on the South African balcony. Just his fifth Test and he already looks like the kind of irritating opener England might dream of, were Bazball not the vogue. The deficit drops to just 41.
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32nd over: South Africa 117-1 (Erwee 47, Petersen 13) Erwee edges towards his half century – a pokey single to hand the rest of the over to Petersen, who picks up a couple more. An accurate over from Potts. McCullum watches from the balcony in what I initially thought was a pair of fishnet stockings, but turns out to be the lattice work on the bottom of his trainers. I must get those new glasses.
“The cricket team have been playing completely against the grain of prevailing misery gripping the country thus far this summer, so it’s good they’ve reverted to historical form!” James, they aim to please.
31st over: South Africa 117-1 (Erwee 46, Petersen 13) Petersen gets a thick edge which flies where gully might have been and makes its merry way down to the rope. Broad, bandanared, looks mildly irritated, to a background crowd predominately red to celebrate Ruth Strauss day.
30th over: South Africa 108-1 (Erwee 42, Petersen 8) Thanks Tim! I look forward immensely to the new thoughts box though on my screen I’ve hit a rip in the timeline where the 28th over endlessly repeats itself. Anyway, here comes the energetic Potts, with the bright eyes of a bushy tailed new bank clerk. This and that happens and South Africa add three to the score.
29th over: South Africa 105-1 (Erwee 39, Petersen 8) When England have been good, they’ve often been too goos. Anderson produces another peach now, an inswinger that somehow misses the outside edge as a rather puzzled Petersen tries to work out other to play it or not. It’s a maiden to Anderson, who now has one for 19 off 11 overs of master-craftsmanship.
That’s drinks, with SA still well on top. Time for me to pass the baton to the inimitable Tanya Aldred. Thanks for your company and your thoughts on the game and the controversial new thoughts box.
28th over: South Africa 105-1 (Erwee 39, Petersen 8) Thrifty from Stokes too – after going for 12 off his first two overs, he has allowed just a single from the last two. The sun is out, the sky is blue, the hats are on and they’re mostly #RedForRuth. The Strauss boys, Sam and Luca, were on Sky earlier, talking about the campaign, and showing oodles of emotional intelligence. They’re a credit to both their parents.
27th over: South Africa 104-1 (Erwee 39, Petersen 7) Erwee, facing Anderson, picks up yet another two, though for a change it’s with the pull. After that, Jimmy remembers he’s Jimmy and reels off five dots.
26th over: South Africa 102-1 (Erwee 37, Petersen 7) Stokes, bowling to Petersen, manages to get the plug in – until a strangled appeal for LBW ends up with four leg-byes. That brings up South Africa’s hundred. They’ve ridden their luck to carve out a strong position.
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25th over: South Africa 98-1 (Erwee 37, Petersen 7) Even Anderson is going for a few runs now. A two and a single to Petersen, who has set off as if playing in The Hundred, and another couple to Erwee, who hasn’t, but is chugging along nicely.
Jammy Anderson
— Ali Martin (@Cricket_Ali) August 18, 2022
24th over: South Africa 93-1 (Erwee 35, Petersen 4) Stokes was limping during that over from Anderson, after a chase in the field, but the wicket seems to have revived him. He runs in hard and draws yet another edge from Erwee, which, like too many other edges today, sneaks away for four.
“If South Africa trounce England here,” wonders Kim Thonger, “would Churchill, were he still with us, look back upon this match as the end of Bazball, or the beginning of the end of Bazball, or the end of the beginning of Bazball?” Ha.
23rd over: South Africa 89-1 (Erwee 31, Petersen 4) Keegan Petersen gets off the mark in a manner that another KP would recognise, with a handsome flick through square leg for four. But England have their breakthrough – one they badly needed.
Wicket!! Elgar b Anderson 47 (SA 85-1)
Got him! And Anderson’s first wicket as a 40-something is a total fluke. He bowls an innocuous delivery that strikes Elgar on the thigh pad and trickles onto the base of the middle and leg stumps. Smiles all round, except from Elgar.
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22nd over: South Africa 84-0 (Elgar 47, Erwee 30) After using his first option, Stokes now tries his third – himself. He’s been bowling hard in the nets since retiring from ODIs, trying to straighten his dicky knee, but you wouldn’t know it from this over, which goes for eight – two more fours to Elgar, one punched past the bowler, the other steered through the covers.
“Actually Tim,” says Jeremy Boyce from the 13th over, “it gets better. I was working for the famous Collis King World Cup final, England v Windies, but further round, on the Ground Stand, upper tier. There were 3 of us on the gate, and my 2 more experienced colleagues showed me how to accept ‘cash’ payments to grant access. This was mainly granted to Windies fans, who usually presented themselves carrying slabs of Red Stripe, the entry ‘price’ was 6 cans. At the same time, my friend Martin was working in the Long Room bar and showed me the ‘round the back’ employees’ entrance so he could fuel me with free pints if and when needed. Between the Stripe and the Bitter, plus the cricket (this is a cricket story, right?) I was having a great day, which got even better when I went upstairs to hang out with the Windies fans, watch the action, and be handed a reggae cigarette. It could only have been bettered if I’d been able to do pitch boundary duties, where they gave you an armband to wear that said Grass Patrol.”
21st over: South Africa 75-0 (Elgar 39, Erwee 30) And here is Anderson, still bidding to join Graham Gooch on his perch as the most prolific 40-something England seamer of the past 50 years (with one wicket). He starts this spell with a juicy great jaffa, swinging away late, far too good for Elgar, who gives a rueful smile of acknowledgment. But again Elgar shovels a couple. He and Erwee have done very well since lunch at cashing in when they can.
20th over: South Africa 73-0 (Elgar 37, Erwee 30) Matthew Potts, who got so much right against New Zealand, is now getting it all wrong. He keeps straying onto the pads, giving Elgar a big fat freebie, duly Cheffed away for four, and then conceding four leg-byes. His six overs have gone for 36, whereas Anderson’s six cost only five.
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19th over: South Africa 64-0 (Elgar 32, Erwee 30) Sky’s stats people revealed a few minutes ago that England’s seamers average 25 against right-handers since lockdown, and 34 against left-handers. That might be very different if they’d gone back to 2019, when Broad had David Warner on toast. He beats Elgar now with a Warner special, angled in and jagging away, but Elgar just shrugs it off and helps himself to a cover push for three. Stokes is now in a tight corner. Does he bring back Anderson, try Leach for the first over of spin in the match, or send for himself?
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18th over: South Africa 61-0 (Elgar 29, Erwee 30) Yes, it’s official: South Africa have taken up Bazball. Potts dishes up some uncharacteristically mediocre stuff and both openers tuck in – a cut for four by Elgar, a steer for three by Elgar, and a whip for four by Erwee. That’s 34 off six overs since lunch. We need to know what these batters chose from the mouthwatering Lord’s menu.
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17th over: South Africa 50-0 (Elgar 22, Erwee 26) Another edge brings up the fifty as Erwee, facing Broad, keeps it down and picks up two more. The first 27 came off 12 overs, the last 23 off only five: maybe Elgar does believe in attacking cricket after all.
16th over: South Africa 48-0 (Elgar 22, Erwee 24) Sarel Erwee has done the hard part and is beginning to enjoy the slightly easier part. He sees a full one from Potts, risks a straight drive and reaps his reward with his third boundary.
“I doubt you can do anything whatever about this,” says Steph Cooper, “but the latest changes to the Guardian’s format are really disappointing.
“1. The pinned entry at the top of the blog is ridiculous, pointless. and makes the blog harder to follow. 2. I don’t know what was wrong with simply linking to the blog writer’s email as happened in the past. 3. We’re currently not able to comment BTL because comment hasn’t yet been enabled. Hopefully this at least you will be able to fix. Thanks for all your work on these live blogs, it is much appreciated.”
Thank you! And your estimate of my powers is spot-on, except that I can’t switch on comments BTL. To be fair, we never have them on the OBO.
15th over: South Africa 43-0 (Elgar 22, Erwee 19) Elgar gets one on the pads from Broad and does what Test openers do, tucking it away for four. Are you Alastair Cook in disguise? Broad strikes back, drawing a nick, but it’s thick enough to go for four. This game is already in danger of slipping through Ben Stokes’s fingers.
14th over: South Africa 35-0 (Elgar 14, Erwee 19) Potts continues from the Nursery end and beats Erwee with the in-ducker, jagging past the inside edge. Erwee’s riposte is a square drive for four, his best shot yet. He likes it so much, he immediately tries it again with less success – uppish and squirted to backward point for two. The gods seem to be on South Africa’s side today.
13th over: South Africa 29-0 (Elgar 14, Erwee 13) No drama yet, which is just how Dean Elgar likes it. He keeps Broad out and plays a square push for two.
This is a nice tale. “You’re not wrong,” says Jeremy Boyce, “about the lunches at Lord’s. Many moons ago I had a job there stewarding Test matches, Cup finals, one-dayers.... Not much pay but you could watch most of the cricket once everyone was sat down. A couple of times i worked on the entrance to the private boxes in the Mound Stand, where lunches were served in dining rooms just off the boxes. The customers never finished, probably didn’t eat half, it’s only 40 minutes, not a 2 hour restaurant job. Once they had re-taken their seats for the afternoon the catering staff used to invite us up to enjoy finishing it all off, and I can confirm, it was, as they say, top scram!
“Looking forward to a feast of batting this afternoon, or will Jimmy magic something out of the pitch with all his 40 years’ wisdom and experience?”
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It’s going to be Stuart Broad, switching to the Pavilion end, where the slope should accentuate his natural movement away from these two left-handers.
Lunch! SA's openers survive
12th over: South Africa 27-0 (Elgar 12, Erwee 13) Potts, bowling to Erwee, is too far outside off, and even bowls a wide, which is quite an achievement in Test cricket. So the openers make it through to the feast that famously awaits the players at Lord’s. The morning belongs to South Africa, who made things happen in the first hour (four for 49) and made hardly anything happen in the second (27 for none). Jimmy Anderson was good with the ball, but he and Stuart Broad haven’t played for over a month, so there was some rust. They should be sharper after lunch. See you in half an hour.
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11th over: South Africa 26-0 (Elgar 12, Erwee 13) Stokes is itching to make something happen before the break. He see the field he has set for Anderson – four slips and a gully – and decides it’s not attacking enough, so he brings in a sixth catcher at short cover. He does this without consulting Anderson, who is walking back to his mark, and is understandably put out. The consequence is that nothing happens. Elgar plays out another maiden, and Anderson has 6-2-5-0.
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10th over: South Africa 26-0 (Elgar 12, Erwee 13) Just when Broad was bowling better, Ben Stokes takes him off – perhaps to change ends, or just to give the admirable Potts a go before lunch. The ploy nearly works as Potts lures Elgar into a crooked poke and a thick nick, but Crawley at second slip can only tip it over the bar as it flies over his head (and he is tall). Before that Potts tried to york Erwee, who responded well and played his first scoring shot in the V.
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9th over: South Africa 18-0 (Elgar 7, Erwee 10) Erwee, facing Anderson, goes into double figures with another unconvincing stroke, a thick inside edge. But he survives, which is all that is being asked of him with ten minutes to go till lunch. On this evidence he may be a champion nurdler.
Elgar saved by a review!
8th over: South Africa 17-0 (Elgar 7, Erwee 9) Broad jags one back, cuts Elgar in half, hears a nick, convinces the ump it’s caught behind – but Elgar reviews straight away and the replay shows that it only flicked the pad. That could bring LBW into play, and it is straight enough, just too high. So Broad misses out on his 100th wicket at Lord’s, but like his partner, he’s warming to the task here.
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Genius with ball in hand..Congrats @kgrabada!! What a special achievement.. #ENGvsSA
— Morne Morkel (@mornemorkel65) August 18, 2022
7th over: South Africa 16-0 (Elgar 7, Erwee 8) Hang on, Jimmy’s found his mojo. He produces the ball of the morning, leaving Elgar so sharply that there’s no chance of an edge, and then rattles the pads with the one that comes back in. The only run from the over was a Harrow drive by Erwee that could easily have hit his leg stump. The fella aged 40 now has figures of 4-1-4-0.
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6th over: South Africa 15-0 (Elgar 7, Erwee 7) Broad to Erwee, and this is a maiden. A graphic shows that England’s seamers have found more swing than South Africa’s and have bowled a fuller length. But they haven’t, as yet, been as threatening.
“Hello,” says Michael Avery. “I’m sure you mean well but it would be great if this box could be unpinned. I just want to read the OBO and check up on how badly England are doing. Thanks a million.” That may be above my pay grade.
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5th over: South Africa 15-0 (Elgar 7, Erwee 7) Erwee bides his time against Anderson, seeing off five dots before shovelling to deep square for two. Matthew Potts, running round to field, ends up taking a huge divot out of the turf, but he seems too be fine. Happens all the time in Durham.
“Is Ian Bell still in the ground?” asks Tricycle. “Just wondering, y’know...” Ha. Ollie Pope’s innings did ring a Bell.
4th over: South Africa 13-0 (Elgar 7, Erwee 5) Erwee, facing Broad, opens his account at the bank of England with a tuck for four. Broad fights back, moving the ball enough to find a leading edge, whereupon Erwee produces a retort too, pushing into the covers for a single to nick the strike. His name may look like Er-wee! but it seems to be pronounced Er-veer. Or Er-via, as in Via Dolorosa.
3rd over: South Africa 8-0 (Elgar 7, Erwee 0) Anderson would love a full over at Erwee, but a leg-bye gets in the way. Still, this is a maiden as both batters are watchful. In a Guardian exclusive, I can reveal that the South Africans are not playing Bazball.
2nd over: South Africa 7-0 (Elgar 7, Erwee 0) At the other end it’s Stuart Broad, who is (whisper it) a bit lucky to be in the team now that Ollie Robinson is fit and firing. Broad’s Test bowling average this summer is 38, whereas Anderson’s is 18 and Potts’s is 26. In his first over here Broad pitches it up without finding the movement he’s looking for, so Elgar helps himself to a push for four through mid-on and another one for two past cover.
“The new messaging format caught me off-guard this morning,” says Tom. “A bit like when Twitter or Facebook suddenly change their layout. I hope it’s not due to journalists receiving unpleasant trolling and abuse to their work emails.” Don’t think so – thankfully, 99 per cent of you guys are far too good for that.
“I also like the anonymity it gives... Some of my early OBO comments from the mid-noughties potentially contradict the professional image I now try to present.” Ha.
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1st over: South Africa 1-0 (Elgar 1, Erwee 0) Anderson gets some movement straight away, coming around the wicket to the left-handed Dean Elgar, finding bounce as well as outswing. When he brings one back in, Ben Foakes pulls off a fine diving take but it’s off the pad. Elgar plays tip-and-run, dabbing into the covers. For Sarel Erwee, Anderson comes over the wicket but his radar goes wrong for once and the ball drifts down the leg side, untouched.
You can probably guess who’s going to bowl the first over.
Well bowled South Africa. But 165 isn’t quite the abyss England were staring into at 55 for four. Without Ollie Pope’s punchy 73, they would have been bundled out in double figures. The ball was swinging, if anything, too much for Rabada this morning, so let’s see what Jimmy Anderson has up his sleeve.
Only one Test wicket has been taken by a 40-something English seamer in the past 50 years: Michael Slater at Brisbane in 1994, c Gatting b Gooch, for 176. If Jimmy’s next victim has 176 to his name, this game will be a goner.
Wicket! Anderson LBW b Rabada 0 (England 165 all out)
Rabada has five! Anderson, facing his first ball, misses an inswinger on leg stump and reviews because he might as well, but it’s plumb. Rabada leads the South Africans off and holds up the ball to the crowd. He fully deserves his place on the honours board.
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45th over: England 164-9 (Potts 5, Anderson 0) Jack Leach, who will always be celebrated for making 1 not out off 17 balls, is now the kind of guy who makes 15 off 17.
And here comes a man in his 40s – Sir James Anderson. The crowd, many of whom are a lot older than that, give him a warm welcome.
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Wicket! Leach b Jansen 15 (England 164-9)
Castled! Jansen angles the ball in at middle-and-leg, swings it away and hits the top of off. Leach can be flattered that it took that good a ball to get rid of him.
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43rd over: England 160-8 (Potts 4, Leach 12) Rabada to Potts: more of the same – a swing (from both of them) and a miss. Rabada picks up a maiden: he now has 18-3-51-4.
“Please tell me,” says Michael Lynes, “this is a joke: ‘All champagne corks popped into the boundary will be collected by underprivileged children during breaks.’” It is a joke.
42nd over: England 160-8 (Potts 4, Leach 12) A little victory for the England tail: they’ve seen off Nortje, whose chances of making the honours board are now looking slim. On comes Marco Jansen, who is taller but also slower. Jack Leach celebrates with a controlled slash over the slips for four and a confident cover shovel for four more.
“Hi Tim,” says an old friend of the OBO. “What’s with the send us your thoughts panels? Is this something just imposed by the Guardian’s legal people? If so, there really ought to be a reason given for this sudden requirement. Or are OBO writers getting too many emails to cope with them all? Yours frequently, John Starbuck.”
It’s an experiment involving all the live blogs. You and I are just the guinea pigs!
41st over: England 152-8 (Potts 4, Leach 4) Rabada continues, mostly wobbling the ball about on fourth stump, far too good to draw an edge from Potts, but the one straight delivery is well handled with a shove to midwicket for two.
40th over: England 150-8 (Potts 2, Leach 4) We’ve had a few slogs, now we need a proper tail-end squirt through the slips for four. And here is Jack Leach to provide it. He gets off the mark and brings up the 150. Not bad after being 55 for four.
“The OBO is my absolute favourite,” says Trevor. “I read it as it is witty and a way of being at the ground when you can’t be at the ground.” Thanks! (Trade secret: I’m not at the ground either.)
39th over: England 146-8 (Potts 2, Leach 0) That was a bit brainless from Broad, who had just remembered that it is possible to move over to the off side and push to leg, which brought him two. Still, 15 is about par from him these days.
“Morning Tim, morning everyone,” says Andrew. “I’m just trying this new-fangled comment box option. Do you prefer this to being emailed?”
I couldn’t possibly comment.
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Wicket! Broad c Elgar b Rabada 15 (England 145-8)
Broad steps away to Rabada, so far that he does well to reach the ball – and can only give some gentle catching practice to gully. Live by the sword, die by the sword.
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38th over: England 143-7 (Broad 13, Potts 2) After being given four for weaving at that bouncer, Broad is in the mood. He steps back to leg and hits Nortje for four with a rasping cross-court forehand. Then he bunts him past mid-on for three. Nortje is the Brett Lee de nos jours – he comes bearing runs as well as wickets.
Potts, joining in the fun, slices a drive over cover for two. And England have their highest first-innings total in a Test at Lord’s in 2022.
37th over: England 134-7 (Broad 6, Potts 0) Here’s Matthew Potts, who already seems like a senior player after four Tests. Rabada greets him with a yorker which he does well to jab down on. Then there’s a big outswinger, too wide to tempt Potts to his doom. But that’s another fine over from Rabada, who now has all of England’s top three in the bag.
Wicket! Pope b Rabada 73 (England 134-7)
Played on! Pope again goes after a wide one, and this time it’s fatal as he gets an inside edge onto his stumps. Live by the sword, die by the sword.
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36th over: England 134-6 (Pope 73, Broad 6) Purposeful as ever, Pope on-drives Nortje for two. Dean Elgar, either being pragmatic or blinking first, sends a cover sweeper out, so Pope’s next square drive yields only a single. Nortje gives Broad a bouncer, a real steepler, which goes for four byes – no, four runs. Not sure even Broad is tall enough to hit that one.
35th over: England 127-6 (Pope 70, Broad 2) Pope, undaunted by that narrow escape, lunges out at a wide one from Rabada and square-drives for three. Broad gets bat on ball at last with his big mow, lofting over mid-off and taking a couple. Rabada retorts with a yorker, too good for Broad, but too swingy to trouble the stumps.
34th over: England 122-6 (Pope 67, Broad 0) As expected, it’s Anrich Nortje taking precedence over Lungi Ngidi after his fiery three-for yesterday. This time he’s too wide outside off stump and Stuart Broad has a few wafts without getting his bat in the right postcode.
Pope dropped! On 67
33rd over: England 122-6 (Pope 67, Broad 0) Pope gets the scoreboard moving second ball with a push past mid-off for two. That’s the shot Jonny Bairstow was trying to play when he was bowled for 0. Pope follows up with a hook for four, more of a help-round-the-corner, not entirely convincing but safe enough. Next he chases a wide one, pushing it to cover. Steady on, Ollie… And then he nicks a beauty to first slip, where Sarel Erwee manages to drop it – not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times! Glorious stuff.
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The players are out there and so is the sun. Ollie Pope, England’s lone star of the game so far, is ready to face the first ball from Kagiso Rabada.
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Back in the real world, Andrew Strauss and his sons Sam and Luca are on the field to mark Red For Ruth day. Andrew is in his red suit, like a dad going to a teenage party as The Joker. Sam and Luca are in red T-shirts and red bucket hats, like two kids at a festival. What he lacks in terms of hair, they more than make up with the sort of fluffy long-at-the-front look that you would have seen on the cover of Smash Hits in 1983.
“Today at Lord’s,” says Den Wise, “it’s ‘give a cork, help an urchin’ day to show solidarity with hard-working families. All champagne corks popped into the boundary will be collected by underprivileged children during breaks and sold to raise funds for the working class. So go on and remember, at Lord’s, once you pop you cannot stop!”
Oof. Yesterday we had a very middle-class protest by Doctors For Extinction Rebellion. Andy Bull writes very eloquently about it in today’s Guardian. Not a peep from The Times, as far as I could see.
“So,” says Nick, “will England manage to crack 150? To play suicidal attacking cricket with such a long tail seems a bizarre approach!”
Narrator: Most of them got out playing defensive shots.
You’re right to suggest that they may not make it to 150 – but in the last Lord’s Test, they were skittled for 141, and that worked out all right.
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“Good morning from Chiswick,” says Ed, “where the weather is looking hopeful for a full day’s cricket. Looking forward to seeing Anderson and Broad wallop it around for half an hour this morning before removing SA’s top five for diddly squat.”
Well, Broad is a walloper, and he’s just been on the telly saying this is not a pitch to “poke and prod” on, because there’ll soon be “a ball with your name on”. But I’m not so sure about Anderson – it’s been some time since he was in touch with his inner slogger.
Correction! Play is not starting at 10.30. According to a tweet from Lord’s itself, the start is at 11am BST. Apologies for misleading you. Cricket, like God, moves in mysterious ways.
The covers are off! And the commentators are wearing red for the Ruth Strauss Foundation. Teamed with black trousers, in the case of Ian Ward and Mike Atherton, while Mel Jones and Andrew Strauss go for the full scarlet suit. I have to say, it works better for her than for him – but total respect to Sir Andrew and his boys for the funds they have raised and the way they’ve turned a sad loss into something so uplifting. If you feel a donation coming on, please go here.
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Preamble: all or nothing
Morning everyone and welcome to the second day of a series that has already proved to be gripping (if also dripping). We begin today with a quiz question. What’s next in this sequence: 136, 162, 71, 106, 114?
The answer is … 0. That’s what Jonny Bairstow scored yesterday, as the purplest patch of his long Test career was rudely interrupted by a fast straight ball from Anrich Nortje. One minute you’re racking up 589 for three times out, the next you’re being escorted off the field by Daddles the duck.
Amazon’s All Or Nothing is the right title in the wrong sport. The Arsenal season covered in the latest series was neither all nor nothing – they finished fifth in the Premier League, exactly as expected – whereas almost every batter in world cricket is riding the all-or-nothing rollercoaster all the time. Directly before his 136, Bairstow made seven consecutive scores below 30. His Test average this year, when England are put in to bat, is 7.33. When England win the toss and field, it’s 121.33.
The cape Bairstow couldn’t find yesterday was being worn by Ollie Pope, who looked more like a senior player than he ever had before. He was busy but not frantic, positive but not foolhardy, carefree but not careless. He hit only four fours off 87 balls yet still managed a strike rate of 70. He resumes this morning, on 61 not out, as England’s last hope of a respectable total.
The South Africans won’t worry about Pope unless he doubles his tally. Their strike rate has been phenomenal: six wickets in 32 overs. Kagiso Rabada needs fewer balls to dismiss a batter than any bowler in history with 150 Test wickets. Marshall, Cummins, Trueman, Garner: every one a maestro, but none as good, by this yardstick, as the mighty Rabada. Yesterday he surgically removed England’s openers, then took a break and watched Nortje demolish the middle order. This morning they may well open together and have a race to a spot on the honours board.
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Play starts at 10.30am BST, weather permitting, to make up some of the time lost yesterday. Do stay with us – it’s unlikely to be dull.
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