He was already out, and his quick 86 in conditions that would have been suitable after Sri Lanka had won the title, laid the foundation for England’s impressive 221 for 3 in a possible 44.1 overs on the opening day of the third and final Test. Given the scoreline and the storyline, which included a defiant 103 by Ollie Pope, Duckett felt the crowds had gotten their money’s worth.
Duckett reflected on a day that was interrupted by bad light, lasted nearly three hours until midday and sparked an angry reaction from the crowd just before 6pm, leading to stumps being called after half an hour: “I thought they played some pretty good cricket in that short space of time.”
“That’s what it’s like to live in England and play cricket in England. That’s the way it is. It’s very easy as a supporter to sit back and watch more cricket but when it gets really dark and it gets more dangerous we go out and play. I joked before lunch that if you wanted to bowl a double spinner you could. It wasn’t the way it was. Both teams did it at Old Trafford, double-spinned, but when the lights came on and the ball spun a bit the umpires stopped us and we’d have to play by their rules.”
The previous break seemed particularly controversial, and conditions were not all that different from when the race started on time. It had darkened and a faint mist had turned to light rain while the players were first resting, but the afternoon session, which ran from 3:10 p.m. to 5:10 p.m., was as light as it had been all day. As darkness threatened to return, it signalled the beginning of the end.
Duckett said he did not consult with the batters because the umpires had ordered players off the field before the two stoppages, and that he never expressed any desire to go to bat for the first time, but rather stressed that he had to “start over” afterward, and realized he had no choice but to abide by the umpires’ decision.
“If it was the Australian attack last summer, bowling in those conditions, you probably want to get out of the pitch,” Duckett added. “When those lights come on and they’re fully on and the ball starts swinging and squeaking a little bit more, it has a big impact. To be honest, it’s got nothing to do with us. You don’t have a choice anymore. If the umpire takes you out, you have to abide by the umpire’s decision.”
Sri Lanka opted for a quick attack, with spinner Prabhas Jayasuriya out, and clearly erred as they failed to get any wickets early on due to overcast skies and heavy rain till early morning.
“What we did wrong was we didn’t find a good area. There was a lot of thinking in our heads, ‘Oh, today is the best day for swing bowling’ and the level of excitement of getting a wicket and trying to calm them down sometimes gets too much,” he said. “I think we’ve done really well with the new ball and bowlers so far, but today I would say they got carried away with expectations. When expectations are high, they come down very quickly because the bowlers look at each other and say, ‘Oh my God, this was the best opportunity, we missed it!’
“It’s a bit disappointing but there’s still a lot to this game so we have to show our character tomorrow morning. The bowlers will rest up and come up with something better than this. I would say we made a mistake by getting excited, over-excited in the morning.”
Lahiru Kumara conceded 81 runs in 12.1 overs with two wickets, Ashita Fernando lost his wicket for 58 runs off 14, and Vishwa Fernando finished the day with 0 for 29 off 7. Milan Ratnayake was the other wicket-taker with 1 for 34.
Valkerie Baynes is the Women’s Cricket Editor-in-Chief at ESPNcricinfo.
