James Anderson of England leaves the field after losing the second Ashes Test match against Australia on Sunday. Gareth Copley / Getty Images
James Anderson of England leaves the field after losing the second Ashes Test match against Australia on Sunday. Gareth Copley / Getty Images

England look sloppy and Australia bounce back to level Ashes Test series



When England’s openers, Alistair Cook and Adam Lyth, came to the wicket at 12.45pm local time at Lord’s on Sunday to start their second innings, they faced the intimidating prospect of having to bat for more than five sessions to save the second Test against Australia.

England did not even make it to 5pm as they collapsed in limp fashion to 103 all out to lose the match to Australia by 405 runs, the fourth biggest defeat in the team’s history.

In many ways you learn more about a side in adversity than in victory and the Australians have demonstrated over the past four days just why they have been so impressive over the past 24 months.

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Only eight days ago it was they who were sat in the dressing room digesting a defeat, deservedly beaten by England in Cardiff with a day to spare.

Yet, thanks to some excellent individual displays with bat and ball, they rebounded superbly.

It has them back on level terms in the five-match series and they have wrested the momentum away from the hosts.

The most crushing thing for Cook and England’s back room to digest is how easily the side folded in their rearguard action.

The pitch was still in good shape for batting, with little assistance being offered to the bowlers, either with pace or spin.

Australia had batted untroubled in the morning session as they added 146 to their overnight score to reach 254 for two before Michael Clarke made the declaration.

The two wickets to fall had come from Australia going after the spin of Moeen Ali, not any demons in the wicket.

Saving the match, given the length of time remaining and at least 150 overs – was always going to be nigh on impossible.

But that batting-friendly wicket gave England a chance to at least make the Australians work hard for it, frustrate them and make them come back today to finish off the job.

Losing this Test is not the end of the world – it is 1-1 with three Tests to go – but this was a chance to match the fight and spirit of the Australians.

Instead they achieved the opposite. They could only muster 37 overs at the crease in a shambolic effort, which was best summed up by Ben Stokes’s embarrassing run out as he failed to ground his bat, despite being in his ground, when Mitchell Johnson’s throw from mid-on hit the wicket.

It was sloppy cricket that had no right to be anywhere near a Test cricket match and it was a symbol of England effectively waving the white flag.

It is easy to put all the blame on poor England batting – and it certainly was – but that does a disservice to a superb effort with the ball from Australia’s attack.

On a flat track they dismissed England twice for an overall score of 415, compared to Australia’s total from their two innings of 820 for 10.

The pitch offered little in the way of pace, but Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Marsh all stuck at it, with Nathan Lyon supporting well as the spin option.

All four fast bowlers pitched the ball up and kept a consistent line, which built pressure on the England batsmen and led to mistakes.

Many of England’s batsmen threw away their wickets with poor shot selection yesterday, but the Australian pressure created the circumstances for them to do that and it was fitting that all the tourists’ bowlers were rewarded with wickets because this was a team effort.

The Australian team has shown its response to defeat, now England has to regroup and respond in the third Test at Edgbaston, which starts on July 29.

There is much for Cook to ponder. Too many of the top order are out of form and the bowling attack, Stuart Broad apart, looked toothless.

Lord’s does not have to define this series for England. They are still in control of their fate, but to use that they must show they can do what Australia have done by retaining their belief and bouncing back.

gcaygill@thenational.ae

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UAE squad to face Ireland

Ahmed Raza (captain), Chirag Suri (vice-captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmad, Zawar Farid, CP Rizwaan, Aryan Lakra, Karthik Meiyappan, Alishan Sharafu, Basil Hameed, Kashif Daud, Adithya Shetty, Vriitya Aravind

TO A LAND UNKNOWN

Director: Mahdi Fleifel

Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa

Rating: 4.5/5

Profile of RentSher

Started: October 2015 in India, November 2016 in UAE

Founders: Harsh Dhand; Vaibhav and Purvashi Doshi

Based: Bangalore, India and Dubai, UAE

Sector: Online rental marketplace

Size: 40 employees

Investment: $2 million

Last-16 Europa League fixtures

Wednesday (Kick-offs UAE)

FC Copenhagen (0) v Istanbul Basaksehir (1) 8.55pm

Shakhtar Donetsk (2) v Wolfsburg (1) 8.55pm

Inter Milan v Getafe (one leg only) 11pm

Manchester United (5) v LASK (0) 11pm 

Thursday

Bayer Leverkusen (3) v Rangers (1) 8.55pm

Sevilla v Roma  (one leg only)  8.55pm

FC Basel (3) v Eintracht Frankfurt (0) 11pm 

Wolves (1) Olympiakos (1) 11pm 

How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

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Price, base: Dhs850,000
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  • Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000 
  • Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000 
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  • Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Start-up hopes to end Japan's love affair with cash

Across most of Asia, people pay for taxi rides, restaurant meals and merchandise with smartphone-readable barcodes — except in Japan, where cash still rules. Now, as the country’s biggest web companies race to dominate the payments market, one Tokyo-based startup says it has a fighting chance to win with its QR app.

Origami had a head start when it introduced a QR-code payment service in late 2015 and has since signed up fast-food chain KFC, Tokyo’s largest cab company Nihon Kotsu and convenience store operator Lawson. The company raised $66 million in September to expand nationwide and plans to more than double its staff of about 100 employees, says founder Yoshiki Yasui.

Origami is betting that stores, which until now relied on direct mail and email newsletters, will pay for the ability to reach customers on their smartphones. For example, a hair salon using Origami’s payment app would be able to send a message to past customers with a coupon for their next haircut.

Quick Response codes, the dotted squares that can be read by smartphone cameras, were invented in the 1990s by a unit of Toyota Motor to track automotive parts. But when the Japanese pioneered digital payments almost two decades ago with contactless cards for train fares, they chose the so-called near-field communications technology. The high cost of rolling out NFC payments, convenient ATMs and a culture where lost wallets are often returned have all been cited as reasons why cash remains king in the archipelago. In China, however, QR codes dominate.

Cashless payments, which includes credit cards, accounted for just 20 per cent of total consumer spending in Japan during 2016, compared with 60 per cent in China and 89 per cent in South Korea, according to a report by the Bank of Japan.

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If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.

When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.

How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
From Zero

Artist: Linkin Park

Label: Warner Records

Number of tracks: 11

Rating: 4/5

Disclaimer

Director: Alfonso Cuaron 

Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville 

Rating: 4/5

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Electoral College Victory

Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate. 

 

Popular Vote Tally

The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.

Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Rating: 4/5
Specs

Engine: 2-litre

Transmission: Eight-speed automatic

Power: 255hp

Torque: 273Nm

Price: Dh240,000

Company profile

Name: Steppi

Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic

Launched: February 2020

Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year

Employees: Five

Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai

Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings

Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Airev
Started: September 2023
Founder: Muhammad Khalid
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: Generative AI
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
 
While you're here

Michael Young: Where is Lebanon headed?

Kareem Shaheen: I owe everything to Beirut

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Explainer: Tanween Design Programme

Non-profit arts studio Tashkeel launched this annual initiative with the intention of supporting budding designers in the UAE. This year, three talents were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the sixth creative development programme. These are architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib.

The trio have been guided by experts from the industry over the course of nine months, as they developed their own products that merge their unique styles with traditional elements of Emirati design. This includes laboratory sessions, experimental and collaborative practice, investigation of new business models and evaluation.

It is led by British contemporary design project specialist Helen Voce and mentor Kevin Badni, and offers participants access to experts from across the world, including the likes of UK designer Gareth Neal and multidisciplinary designer and entrepreneur, Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi.

The final pieces are being revealed in a worldwide limited-edition release on the first day of Downtown Designs at Dubai Design Week 2019. Tashkeel will be at stand E31 at the exhibition.

Lisa Ball-Lechgar, deputy director of Tashkeel, said: “The diversity and calibre of the applicants this year … is reflective of the dynamic change that the UAE art and design industry is witnessing, with young creators resolute in making their bold design ideas a reality.”

Match statistics

Abu Dhabi Harlequins 36 Bahrain 32

 

Harlequins

Tries: Penalty 2, Stevenson, Teasdale, Semple

Cons: Stevenson 2

Pens: Stevenson

 

Bahrain

Tries: Wallace 2, Heath, Evans, Behan

Cons: Radley 2

Pen: Radley

 

Man of the match: Craig Nutt (Harlequins)