365 Sporting Days

Unusually for me I was at Trent Bridge with a group of people, mostly Kent fans, we were joined by Paul Calland and his son Dan on Day 2.  Paul plays and coaches rugby league so we had lots to talk about and Dan, was amazing!  At 8 years old he sat and scored for most of the day, properly!  It was refreshing to see, he knew his cricket too!

I was hoping to see wickets fall on Day 2 – the only problem was we saw rather too many!   England had the best possible start to Day 2 as Jimmy Anderson took the wicket of Philander, a great catch by Liam Dawson it was with the 5th ball of the day!  England were getting into the tail, but Philander had scored a very destructive 54.

Keshav Maharaj joined Morris, what a nightmare to come out to face Anderson with a fairly fresh ball and good bowling conditions, he lasted a mere 5 balls before edging to Joe Root from the bolting of Anderson.  South Africa were 317 for 8.

Morne Morkel never looks comfortable with a bat in his hands, but that didn’t stop him scoring 2 fours, he outstayed Morris who was caught and Bowled by Anderson, it was Jimmy’s morning.   Olivier wasn’t to have the chance to show his batting skills, Morkel became Anderson’s fifth wicket as he was caught by Bairstow for 8.  South Africa were all out for 335.

That didn’t seem to be too much of a disaster for England, well, that was until England batted!  I’m going to do something similar here to the way I started Day 1, there is very little to say that’s good about this innings from England.

Joe Root again played a captain’s innings with 78 from 76 balls Bairstow made 45 and Gary Ballance 27.

So of the mighty 205 that England made 2 batters and a wicketkeeper/batter scored 150 runs.  That left 55 for the remaining 8!  I would say that was a woeful performance but I am going to have to mention the second innings when writing up Day 3, just to finish things off, so probably can’t go that strong.

Dan was quietly pleased however, he’s a fan of the beards, Moeen and Amla that is! He wanted to see Amla bat and he got his wish as Anderson started as he’d finished, despatching Kuhn for 8 as he was caught by Root, seeing South Africa on 18 for 1.

Dean Elgar and Amla batted out the day, with Elgar making the lions share of the runs, they finished the day on 75 for 1, a lead of 205.

The wickets were shared around with Morkel taking 2 for 45, Philander 2 for 48, Morris 3 for 38 and the pick of the bowlers Maharaj 3 for 21. One thing I note from the photos I take of bowlers is that they spend a lot of their lives fully up in the air!  It’s no wonder it takes a toll on their bodies.

A quick word for Trent Bridge before I contemplate Day 3, huge credit must go to the ground for the range of food on offer, including fairly healthy choices, as well as a cuppa for £1.30.  It’s good to go to a test and not be ripped off.  I was sat in Row A of the middle tier of the Radcliffe Stand, the view was excellent, even if the walk down to my seat was slightly scary!