Scyld Berry

Rawalpindi was the 500th Test I’ve covered. Nice symmetry as my first England tour began here in 1977. In a warmup game England scored 64 for nine then, this time they made 112, so things are looking up.

Greetings from Rawalpindi. My first England tour began here in 1977 and tomorrow will be my 500th Test: a series decider, on a turner, and nobody knows the outcome. Such is the continuing fascination of Test cricket!

After Josh Baker’s distressingly sudden death - I saw him play a fortnight ago - I can but recommend, for some small solace, reading Cardus’s essay on another left-arm spinner who died in early season Roy Kilner. And I saw Ben Stokes hit Josh for 34 in an over and he did not hide

Today I think I have become the first person to cover or watch live 500 England cricket Tests. If anybody got there before me please say

I’m putting down Josh Hull to become the first England leftarm pace bowler to take 100 Test wickets, and Daniel Hogg to take 150 plus if he stays fit.

James Anderson will be waking up this morning a bit stiff and sad, and glad, but whatever the mixture of emotions he will long be the lord of Lord’s. Nobody in Test cricket has achieved more there.

England prepared for the last 50-over World Cup by playing the Hundred. So, by an extension of the same logic, they should be preparing for this 20-over World Cup by playing tape-ball Test matches.

Never mind the figures of 4-0-26-0 - a couple of no-balls and a couple of fours down the legside against Lancashire’s left handed openers - Ben Stokes’s first spell of this season had pace and bounce. More importantly perhaps, he has moved quickly to either side when fielding.

He is warming up in Blackpool, bowling off a longish run, and hitting the mitts with a loud thwack. England’s Test captain Ben Stokes is back - and no sign of any bandage around his knees.

And now Ollie Pope has got out driving at Craig Miles and caught by Rob Yates at sole slip for 44.

Ollie Pope, against Warwickshire at the Oval, has steadily reached 40 - his highest score since his masterpiece of 196 in India.

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A thought for a relatively quiet day. Finest cricket commentator in the world atm: Vic Marks on the Somerset live stream. A perfect balance of whatever it takes for the job.

A major argument in favour of five-day Tests: this England team is ideally suited to four-day Tests, and everyone can see that their Bazball style is not quite right and it needs tinkering to be ideal for the five-day genre.

Mike Procter RIP was one of the finest people ever to play cricket, as a human being as well as a world-class allrounder.

The ICC should have taken a stand on behalf of Test cricket and de-classified NZ v SA after the latter selected a second XI.

Footprints is a brilliant new anthology of the published and unpublished writings by the late David Foot. Has anybody written so many fine words on so many subjects, including cricket of course?

England have played better cricket than Australia - and they have played worse cricket than Australia, who have been pretty steady throughout. And thus it goes on at the Oval....

Here’s a very nice thing - me in @Sunday_Post’s Meet the Author this week talking about my favourite Scottish castles, taxidermy, and my real-life explorer namesake. Thanks for having me!

Do read this new report and its recommendations if you are at all interested in the democratisation of English cricket.