COVID 19 seems to have take over our thoughts, worldwide. Even the sporting world has been seriously affected. These last several months have been somewhat depressing, as even sports which have gotten back to business, have been without fans... A sport which seems naturally suited to play during this pandemic, is cricket, with minimal contact among the players, and spectators arrayed across the lawn, or in box seats... In the United Kingdom, in Cricket the West Indies continued their tour of England this weekend, amidst their second test. The Tour held it's first test on July 8-12 at Southampton. West Indies went 1-0 up in England for the first time since 2000 thanks to a superb 95 from Jermaine Blackwood which guided them to a target of 200 on the final day with four wickets to spare. In this weekend's second test, at Emirates Old Trafford, England is struggling to keep up. A new-ball burst by Stuart Broad has left England with sniff of victory and the chance to stay alive in their series against West Indies heading into the final day of the second Test. After Saturday's washout at Emirates Old Trafford, England awoke on Sunday morning needing to take 19 wickets in two days. For a long time it appeared they wouldn't come close as West Indies thwarted them with a confident, calm batting display as they initially set about avoiding the follow-on. Then came Broad, armed with the second new ball and a point to make. Wicketless in the series so far - after being left out of the first Test, much to his disappointment - Broad claimed three wickets for one run in 14 balls with West Indies still needing 18 runs to avoid the follow-on. Chris Woakes claimed three wickets of his own as West Indies lost their last six for 45 runs, limping past the 270-run mark to avoid following on and posting a first-innings total of 287, still 182 runs adrift. All eyes will turn to England's declaration and whether they give themselves enough time to take the second new ball late on the final day if needed. The Series, which consists of three Test Matches and two preliminary tour matches, will contest a third test match at Manchester beginning July 24th. Meanwhile, Pakistan's excellent Cricket team is currently on a tour of the Netherlands, England and Ireland. So far, five of the six matches scheduled to date have been postponed, with the sixth match , a one day international with the Netherlands, cancelled outright. Pakistan batsman Abid Ali was cleared of significant injury but will take no further part in Pakistan's opening intra-squad match, Team Green vs. Team White, after he was hit in the helmet while fielding at short leg at the Incora County Ground in Derby. Three Test Matches and three 20Twenty matches are scheduled during the month of August, along with a Tour Match with the Leicestershire squad. It is good to see some sports getting back to their normal seasons and activities. Cricket, Aussie Rules Football, and the coming American MLB Baseball seasons are welcomed warmly. This space is much less enthused with other sports, unable to finish during their regular seasons, which are cluttering the Summer with matches, whilst they should mark last season as cipher, and get on with preparing with their upcoming seasons. The NBA, as well as NHL, even the Premier Leagues of European Soccer: not so important that we need them to resume their last Spring's seasons now. As Always, Eric http://speedorex.blogspot.com/ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "omnisport" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/omnisport/454233821.2857617.1595211341276%40mail.yahoo.com.
