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England Test Career
It might be the furthest thing from an original story idea that it's possible to come up with for Cricket Captain, but without fail, I embark on an England Test career, and this is no different. Except it is, because you're thrown right in at the deep end from the very start. 2023, of course, sees England host the Ashes against Australia as they look to reclaim the famous urn for the first time since 2015, before travelling to India in the winter for a hugely challenging 5-test series away from home - somewhere England haven't won since 2012-2013. The long-term picture is relatively straightforward - we want to win the World Test Championship and return to the top of the Test Rankings - we sit 4th as I take the reigns.
The selection issues I face at the beginning are nothing new. We have a dilemma with the opening batters, with Zak Crawley's place under question, and the bowling attack is also up for debate, with Broad and Anderson very much in the twilight of their careers but approaching 600 and 700 Test wicket landmarks respectively. How will these individuals fare at the beginning of the County Championship season? There are, after all, at least six rounds of matches before the solitary Test match against Ireland.
It is against this backdrop that I named my first squad for the Ireland Test, with just the one game to prepare myself for the Ashes. Out went Zak Crawley after a poor start to the domestic season, with Ben Compton replacing him - a First Class average of 51 to his name at this point. I also named Chris Woakes in the squad ahead of Mark Wood and Matthew Potts - the former having not played a red-ball match yet having gone to the IPL, and the latter averaging 48 with the ball in the first few weeks of the season. Compton would start the match, but Woakes would make up the numbers.
England vs Ireland
1st June 2023
North London
England won the toss and elected to bat first.
Having prepared a relatively seam-friendly pitch and elected to bat, it proved to be an inauspicious start to Test cricket for Ben Compton. He'd already nicked one through a gap in the slip cordon for four when he was comprehensively bowled by Hand, himself on debut for Ireland, reducing England to 22-2 - Duckett having already gone. Pope and Root steadied the ship as you'd expect, both making half-centuries, but Craig Young removed both along with Brook as wickets fell at regular intervals. The bowling attack eventually ran out of steam and under the cover of glorious sunshine, Stokes and Bairstow added 239 for the 6th wicket - Stokes finishing on 157 and Bairstow 129. Eventually, having batted for a day and a half, England declared on 502-9.
But if they thought Ireland would roll over and fall to an innings defeat, they were badly mistaken. Paul Stirling was very much in the mood, and counter-attacked superbly. After seeing off the new ball, Stuart Broad went for 13 from his opening over and his misery was compounded when he caught Stirling off his own bowling, only for the umpire to signal a no-ball! The veteran opener made him pay, firing a magnificent 145 and guiding the visitors to 453, essentially rendering the match a one-innings shoot-out over Days 4 & 5. George Dockrell also produced a noteworthy performance as he batted tremendously with the lower order, eventually falling for 99 - heartbreakingly close to etching his name on to the Honours Board.
Having reached the close on Day 3 on 70-1 - Duckett again falling to the new ball - England held a lead of 119, and although the pitch was offering plenty to seamers and spinners alike, Day 4 saw England pile on the runs. Joe Root was the star of the show, making a century, but Brook (90) and Pope (83) also contributed significantly to the run-fest, looking in excellent touch ahead of the Ashes. When Root fell with about an hour of Day 4 to go, it prompted a declaration with the score 388-5 after 92 overs, leaving Ireland the unlikely target of 438 from just over a day's worth of Test cricket.
It was a show of faith in England's bowling attack, but as in the first innings, Ireland batted resolutely, aided by a couple of dropped catches by Bairstow - McCollum and Balbirnie the beneficiaries. Ollie Robinson bowled reasonably well for the most part, and indeed was responsible for removing Stirling in the penultimate over of Day 4 as Ireland reached the close on 31-1. It looked highly likely that England would wrap up victory on Day 5, but Ireland have a long tail - batting down to nine - and McBrine in particular proved obdurate. England became increasingly frustrated - despite Ireland being six wickets down at tea, try as they might, the quality of Anderson, Broad, Robinson and Leach proved not enough - McBrine (71*) and Tector (60*) steered Ireland to an improbable draw!
A hugely disappointing result for England and we head into the Ashes with more questions to answer, especially around our bowling attack - we couldn't take wicket in the evening session of Day 5 when faced with Ireland's lower order, which isn't a promising sign ahead of the biggest series in Test cricket!
England 1st: 502-9 dec (B. Stokes 157, J. Bairstow 129, J. Root 65; C. Young 4-138, F. Hand 2-94, C. Campher 1-30)
Ireland 1st: 453 (P. Stirling 145, G. Dockrell 99, A. McBrine 43; J. Root 2-17, O. Robinson 2-65, J. Anderson 2-80)
England 2nd: 388-5 dec (J. Root 114, H. Brook 90, O. Pope 83; C. Young 3-138, A. McBrine 1-80, F. Hand 1-91)
Ireland 2nd: 252-6 (A. McBrine 71*, H. Tector 60*, J. McCollum 54; S. Broad 2-46, J. Leach 2-52, O. Robinson 1-51)
MATCH DRAWN
Man of the Match: Joe Root
The selection issues I face at the beginning are nothing new. We have a dilemma with the opening batters, with Zak Crawley's place under question, and the bowling attack is also up for debate, with Broad and Anderson very much in the twilight of their careers but approaching 600 and 700 Test wicket landmarks respectively. How will these individuals fare at the beginning of the County Championship season? There are, after all, at least six rounds of matches before the solitary Test match against Ireland.
It is against this backdrop that I named my first squad for the Ireland Test, with just the one game to prepare myself for the Ashes. Out went Zak Crawley after a poor start to the domestic season, with Ben Compton replacing him - a First Class average of 51 to his name at this point. I also named Chris Woakes in the squad ahead of Mark Wood and Matthew Potts - the former having not played a red-ball match yet having gone to the IPL, and the latter averaging 48 with the ball in the first few weeks of the season. Compton would start the match, but Woakes would make up the numbers.
England vs Ireland
1st June 2023
North London
England won the toss and elected to bat first.
Having prepared a relatively seam-friendly pitch and elected to bat, it proved to be an inauspicious start to Test cricket for Ben Compton. He'd already nicked one through a gap in the slip cordon for four when he was comprehensively bowled by Hand, himself on debut for Ireland, reducing England to 22-2 - Duckett having already gone. Pope and Root steadied the ship as you'd expect, both making half-centuries, but Craig Young removed both along with Brook as wickets fell at regular intervals. The bowling attack eventually ran out of steam and under the cover of glorious sunshine, Stokes and Bairstow added 239 for the 6th wicket - Stokes finishing on 157 and Bairstow 129. Eventually, having batted for a day and a half, England declared on 502-9.
But if they thought Ireland would roll over and fall to an innings defeat, they were badly mistaken. Paul Stirling was very much in the mood, and counter-attacked superbly. After seeing off the new ball, Stuart Broad went for 13 from his opening over and his misery was compounded when he caught Stirling off his own bowling, only for the umpire to signal a no-ball! The veteran opener made him pay, firing a magnificent 145 and guiding the visitors to 453, essentially rendering the match a one-innings shoot-out over Days 4 & 5. George Dockrell also produced a noteworthy performance as he batted tremendously with the lower order, eventually falling for 99 - heartbreakingly close to etching his name on to the Honours Board.
Having reached the close on Day 3 on 70-1 - Duckett again falling to the new ball - England held a lead of 119, and although the pitch was offering plenty to seamers and spinners alike, Day 4 saw England pile on the runs. Joe Root was the star of the show, making a century, but Brook (90) and Pope (83) also contributed significantly to the run-fest, looking in excellent touch ahead of the Ashes. When Root fell with about an hour of Day 4 to go, it prompted a declaration with the score 388-5 after 92 overs, leaving Ireland the unlikely target of 438 from just over a day's worth of Test cricket.
It was a show of faith in England's bowling attack, but as in the first innings, Ireland batted resolutely, aided by a couple of dropped catches by Bairstow - McCollum and Balbirnie the beneficiaries. Ollie Robinson bowled reasonably well for the most part, and indeed was responsible for removing Stirling in the penultimate over of Day 4 as Ireland reached the close on 31-1. It looked highly likely that England would wrap up victory on Day 5, but Ireland have a long tail - batting down to nine - and McBrine in particular proved obdurate. England became increasingly frustrated - despite Ireland being six wickets down at tea, try as they might, the quality of Anderson, Broad, Robinson and Leach proved not enough - McBrine (71*) and Tector (60*) steered Ireland to an improbable draw!
A hugely disappointing result for England and we head into the Ashes with more questions to answer, especially around our bowling attack - we couldn't take wicket in the evening session of Day 5 when faced with Ireland's lower order, which isn't a promising sign ahead of the biggest series in Test cricket!
England 1st: 502-9 dec (B. Stokes 157, J. Bairstow 129, J. Root 65; C. Young 4-138, F. Hand 2-94, C. Campher 1-30)
Ireland 1st: 453 (P. Stirling 145, G. Dockrell 99, A. McBrine 43; J. Root 2-17, O. Robinson 2-65, J. Anderson 2-80)
England 2nd: 388-5 dec (J. Root 114, H. Brook 90, O. Pope 83; C. Young 3-138, A. McBrine 1-80, F. Hand 1-91)
Ireland 2nd: 252-6 (A. McBrine 71*, H. Tector 60*, J. McCollum 54; S. Broad 2-46, J. Leach 2-52, O. Robinson 1-51)
MATCH DRAWN
Man of the Match: Joe Root