A royal visit and Clarke's intuition
ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the first day at Lord's
George Dobell and Jarrod Kimber at Lord's
18-Jul-2013
Her Majesty The Queen meets Alastair Cook • AFP
Visit of the day
The start of the Test was delayed for 15 minutes so that Her Majesty The Queen could be introduced to the players of both sides on the outfield in front of the pavilion. As Greg Baum pointed out on twitter, she did appear to be wearing batting inners. Perhaps she had come to watch Kevin Pietersen bat for, shortly after his dismissal, she left having watched about an hour's cricket. Just after she had met the players, the honour of ringing the Lord's bell was given to Steve Waugh.
The start of the Test was delayed for 15 minutes so that Her Majesty The Queen could be introduced to the players of both sides on the outfield in front of the pavilion. As Greg Baum pointed out on twitter, she did appear to be wearing batting inners. Perhaps she had come to watch Kevin Pietersen bat for, shortly after his dismissal, she left having watched about an hour's cricket. Just after she had met the players, the honour of ringing the Lord's bell was given to Steve Waugh.
Change of the day
Shane Watson, whose bowling can sometimes be described as benign, was brought on to bowl the fifth over the day. It could have been so James Pattinson could change ends, which did happen eventually, or because tactically, Michael Clarke is more cunning than HAL 9000. What resulted from this fifth over was eight runs and the wicket of Alastair Cook. It was the sort of dream moment for Watson, one over of effort, the captain and best batsman out, and then back into the slips to have a rest.
Shane Watson, whose bowling can sometimes be described as benign, was brought on to bowl the fifth over the day. It could have been so James Pattinson could change ends, which did happen eventually, or because tactically, Michael Clarke is more cunning than HAL 9000. What resulted from this fifth over was eight runs and the wicket of Alastair Cook. It was the sort of dream moment for Watson, one over of effort, the captain and best batsman out, and then back into the slips to have a rest.
Simultaneous contact of the day
When Ryan Harris whirred down a ball towards the stumps of Joe Root, the batsman was fractionally late on his drive back down the ground, the ball clattering into pad and bat. Harris's appeal was vehement and Kumar Dharmasena's finger was raised, compelling Root to wander down the pitch and consult Jonathan Trott. After a delay he motioned for a review, and replays showed the ball meeting bat and pad at almost exactly the same time. It was another instance of a review going on a marginal call and another of the third umpire not having enough concrete evidence to overturn the original verdict. So Root had to go and Harris celebrated his first Test wicket in England.
When Ryan Harris whirred down a ball towards the stumps of Joe Root, the batsman was fractionally late on his drive back down the ground, the ball clattering into pad and bat. Harris's appeal was vehement and Kumar Dharmasena's finger was raised, compelling Root to wander down the pitch and consult Jonathan Trott. After a delay he motioned for a review, and replays showed the ball meeting bat and pad at almost exactly the same time. It was another instance of a review going on a marginal call and another of the third umpire not having enough concrete evidence to overturn the original verdict. So Root had to go and Harris celebrated his first Test wicket in England.
Gift of the day
Jonathan Trott was progressing smoothly. He had just completed his half-century - his eighth score over 50 at Lord's in eight Tests on the ground - and, efficient off his legs and driving sweetly, had helped rebuild the England innings. While he had experienced a couple of uncomfortable moments against the short ball, he looked to have weathered that storm and appeared set for a big score. But then, as so often of late, an error of judgement saw him paddle a short ball from the deserving Ryan Harris almost directly to the man on the square leg boundary. It was a soft end to an innings that promised much and will have left Trott feeling that he failed to capitalise on his good form and the effort he had put into to reaching fifty. Trott has now been dismissed between 27 and 76 in 10 of his last 12 Test innings.
Jonathan Trott was progressing smoothly. He had just completed his half-century - his eighth score over 50 at Lord's in eight Tests on the ground - and, efficient off his legs and driving sweetly, had helped rebuild the England innings. While he had experienced a couple of uncomfortable moments against the short ball, he looked to have weathered that storm and appeared set for a big score. But then, as so often of late, an error of judgement saw him paddle a short ball from the deserving Ryan Harris almost directly to the man on the square leg boundary. It was a soft end to an innings that promised much and will have left Trott feeling that he failed to capitalise on his good form and the effort he had put into to reaching fifty. Trott has now been dismissed between 27 and 76 in 10 of his last 12 Test innings.
Reprieve of the day
Jonny Bairstow was on 21 when he was clean bowled, missing a straight one from Peter Siddle. But umpire Kumar Dharmasena suspected that Siddle may have overstepped and requested that the TV umpire, Tony Hill, check. Replays showed that, by the narrowest of margins, Siddle had no part of his foot behind the line and Bairstow was recalled. Had he been out, England would have been 171 for 5 and his Test career, with six dismissals bowled in 14 completed innings and only one half-century in his last 10 innings, might have been in jeopardy. He went on to make 67.
Jonny Bairstow was on 21 when he was clean bowled, missing a straight one from Peter Siddle. But umpire Kumar Dharmasena suspected that Siddle may have overstepped and requested that the TV umpire, Tony Hill, check. Replays showed that, by the narrowest of margins, Siddle had no part of his foot behind the line and Bairstow was recalled. Had he been out, England would have been 171 for 5 and his Test career, with six dismissals bowled in 14 completed innings and only one half-century in his last 10 innings, might have been in jeopardy. He went on to make 67.