Updates from the third day of play at the OvalThe Spin: sign up and get our free weekly emailAny thoughts? Email them to Rob 3.01pm BST 50th over: England 155-2 (Denly 67, Stokes 36) Marnus Labuschagne replaces Nathan Lyon, starting with an eventful over to Joe Denly. He turns a boundary off the pads, checks a drive just wide of the diving Labuschagne and finally mistimes a lofted drive that just clears the leaping Marsh at mid-off before racing away for four. 2.57pm BST 49th over: England 147-2 (lead by 216; Denly 59, Stokes 36) That’s a nice stroke from Denly, who cuts Marsh for four more. He’s 41 runs away from a maiden Test century, two days after the birth of his second child. Who writes your scripts, Joe?Meanwhile, a quick note on the Cork v Archer discussion from earlier, when I was gently belittled by John Cox. I don’t agree that Archer has had a better debut series. Cork was Man of the Match in both England victories, enabling them to draw 2-2 against a very strong West Indies side. He took a match-winning seven-for on debut at Lord’s and a hat-trick in the first over of the final day at Old Trafford. The averages are a red herring, because that was a much higher-scoring series, and so are the number of wickets taken: Cork may have played five Tests but he only bowled in seven innings (plus five overs as the Trent Bridge Test drifted towards a draw). Continue reading…
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