There is a pleasing symmetry between these events and what took place
Posted in General on 01. Sep, 2010
There is a pleasing symmetry between these events and what took place at this famous old ground half a century ago. In the 519 Tests England have played since Jim Laker took 19 for 90 against Australia they have always been reliant on more than two bowlers for their success. In 1997, Philip Tufnell and Andrew Caddick shared 19 wickets at the Oval against Australia but Devon Malcolm, with 1 for 15 in the second innings, prevented the pair from joining Laker, Tony Lock, Harmison and Panesar in an otherwise unique club.. The pair shared 19 wickets – the other was a run-out – as the home side trounced Pakistan by an innings and 120 runs in the second Test to move 1-0 up in the four-match series. Searing, hostile pace and high-quality spin. It is the combination every Test side is looking for and for three memorable days here, in the hands of Stephen Harmison and Monty Panesar, it provided England with the victory they desperately needed. Chasing 312 to win, Lancashire resumed the final day on 238 for 1 but suffered a few nervous moments courtesy of the Notts spinners Graeme Swann and David Hussey.Swann accounted for Mal Loye after the batsman had made 108 but Sutcliffe held on, adding 31 to his overnight 108 as the visitors reached 314 for 5..
Neil Carter was in his second over when Arafat gave a catch behind, while Martin-Jenkins played on to Harris off the bottom of the bat.The last wicket in Harris’ 5 for 73 was a gift when Mushtaq Ahmed heaved across the line, then Carter splattered James Lewry’s stumps.Lancashire had underlined their title credentials on Saturday after Iain Sutcliffe’s unbeaten century guided them to a five-wicket win over Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge. Too many batsmen gave their wickets away with reckless strokes.On resuming at 190 for 4, much responsibility was on Murray Goodwin to see them through but he was out straightaway, pushing forward and tickling a catch off Harris to slip.A dry, wearing surface offered some turn for the slow left-armer, but once Matt Prior had fallen to James Anyon, Sussex became marginal favourites during a seventh-wicket partnership of 42 between Robin Martin-Jenkins and Yasir Arafat.The game then swung again with with two wickets in eight balls. The South African spinner Paul Harristook five wickets in an innings for the sixth time in nine months.It was a poor effort by Sussex in a situation where they needed to graft to score a further 80 runs to reach their target of 270. They have not won in Birmingham since 1982 – their only victory there in the last 45 years – and it was as if the jinx played on their minds as they collapsed to 256 all out after losing six wickets for 66 on the final morning of the match.
Having played one more game than Lancashire, Chris Adams’ team will now start a point behind the leaders at Hove on Wednesday in a match that could decide the title.Victory was a huge boost for Warwickshire after they had slipped towards the relegation zone. Were he in charge, Panesar would be a key player when England defend the Ashes..
Sussex cannot afford to lose to Lancashire at Hove this week after falling foul of their Edgbaston curse and suffering a damaging blow to their First Division title hopes in the County Championship with a 13-run defeat by Warwickshire yesterday. Woolmer, a former England Test batsman, was massively impressed with the way the 24-year-old Northamptonshire player, a classical left-arm spinner, tore through a Pakistan side with some of the best players of spin in the world. If Stephen Harmison’s 11 wickets in Manchester, including 6 for 19 in the first innings, rightly earned the man-of-the-match accolade for the Durham fast bowler, Panesar’s 5 for 72 in the second innings was equally vital to England’s second Test victory by an innings and 120 runs. Bob Woolmer, the highly respected coach of Pakistan, declared him to be “the bee’s knees”, echoing the avalanche of approval that has flowed from cricket commentators since his match-winning performance at Old Trafford on Saturday. Yet Monty Panesar, the spin-bowling sensation of the summer, still cannot secure the unqualified approval of the man who holds the key to his career, the England coach, Duncan Fletcher.
Martin Lai and his crew, winners of Saturday’s race, had engine problems and were grateful to complete a course that again took a heavy toll.
The all-British team of Jackie Hunt and her husband Mike Shelton suffered a second successive retirement in the ARPRO Racing Dragon, but retained second place in the standings ahead of their home grand prix at Cowes next month.A distraught Hunt said: “We’ve had problems all weekend, but that’s racing.”. Paralympic contender Helena Lucas stands in to helm the Yngling for the current gold medallist Shirley Robertson, who has just had twins, with crew Annie Lush and Lucy Macgregor.Robertson’s Athens crew of Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb, competing in their own right for the 2008 place, have replaced Victoria Rawlinson with Katherine Hopson.. The British-based Ocean Dragon team extended their lead in the Powerboat P1 World Championship SuperSport class despite struggling to sixth place in the second leg of the Mediterranean Grand Prix here yesterday. The delegation from the class said it was one recall too early.