Lords

Kranti Gaud takes five wickets and makes history, before Smriti Mandhana frustrates England with an unbeaten 69 as India close on 154-1, giving them a lead of 269, with the tourists in complete control of the one-off Test at stumps on day two at Lord’s.

DAY REPORT: England toil as India take control on day two

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England host India in a women’s Test at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground – the first of such a kind at the venue.

Lord’s will finally host a women’s Test, 142 years since staging its first such men’s match, when England face India in a four-day game at the “Home of Cricket” starting on Friday.

“It just boggles my mind that it is just the first (women’s) Test match here at Lord’s,” said India coach Amol Muzumdar.

“It is a great occasion, and we are looking forward to it.”

The match takes place just more than 50 years since the first women’s match of any kind at the renowned London venue, with England beating Australia by eight wickets in a one-day international on August 4, 1976.

England’s captain at Lord’s that day was the late Rachael Heyhoe Flint, a pioneering figure in a women’s game where players were still wearing skirts rather than white or coloured trousers, as they do now.

Heyhoe Flint, who died in 2017, now has a gate named after her at Lord’s.

But in 1976, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the owners of Lord’s, were still decades away from admitting women as members, with the thought of females walking directly through the Long Room of the pavilion before taking the field a distant dream.

England’s No 5 that day, Megan Lear, compared the experience to the moon landing, telling The Guardian: “On that day in 1976, to walk on to the hallowed turf at Lord’s, it was like one small step for us women cricketers, but one giant leap towards the future of women’s cricket.”

It is a sign of how things have changed from those amateur days that a Test between two professional sides will also be England’s second fixture at Lord’s in less than a week, following Sunday’s defeat by Australia in the women’s T20 World Cup final – a match that attracted a capacity crowd.

Nine of England’s World Cup squad are included for the Test, including captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, who is “hoping to play” despite a nagging calf injury.

‘History in the making’

“We’ve always known this has been on the calendar,” said England coach Charlotte Edwards.

“A lot of our players have been doing Test match prep throughout the T20s, so we’re really looking forward to it,” added Edwards, England’s captain when they won the 2009 Women’s T20 World Cup final at Lord’s.

“It’s a historic Test match for us as a group and for the Indian team, and we can’t wait to play in front of a lot of people again over the next four days.”

Teenage England spinner Tilly Corteen-Colman is well aware of the importance of the occasion.

“I remember speaking to Lottie (Edwards) about when she used to play here and they weren’t allowed in the Long Room,” said the 18-year-old.

“The first women’s Test at Lord’s is history in the making, so to be involved would be incredible. It would mean the absolute world.”

As well as a breakthrough, the game will also mark England batter Tammy Beaumont’s farewell to international cricket.

Beaumont has made 260 appearances for England since her debut 17 years ago, and she was the first English woman to score a double century in a Test – 208 against Australia at Trent Bridge in 2023.

“When I fell in love with playing cricket as a young girl, I barely knew that playing cricket for England was an option,” said Beaumont.

The 35-year-old, who will continue to play domestic cricket, added: “Our first ever women’s Test at Lord’s feels like the perfect occasion to sign off on a career that I could never have dreamt would be as special as it has been.”

Born in the Midlands – her football team is Derby County – Dean learned cricket at Havant Cricket Club in Hampshire, where her father Steven played after a fine Minor Counties career through the 1980s and 90s.

Windsor, three years older, coached Dean in junior cricket before they progressed through the Havant boys’ sides and into the Hampshire and Southern Vipers first XIs.

“There are cricket badgers that love watching the game who vocalise about it. She is a silent badger,” Windsor says. “She watches a lot of cricket but not in your face.”

An England age-group regular, Dean made her county debut for Hampshire aged 15, where her first seasons crossed over with the final years of England coach Charlotte Edwards’ illustrious playing career.

“The thing that stands her in such good stead is she reads cricket really well,” added Windsor.

“That is why we see her as a leader now. She always seemed to be cricket-smart.”

Dean and Edwards first met when Dean was a “very shy” 10-year-old but when she made her England debut in 2021, it was Edwards, by then Vipers coach, who was invited to present the 20-year-old with her first cap.

Such a quick ascent denied Dean, now the youngster of the teams, the chance to captain sides, as she had done coming through the Hampshire and England academy ranks.

Before this summer her only real experience in charge was two seasons in The Hundred with London Spirit, when an injury ruled out former England captain Heather Knight. She was preferred over Australia’s Beth Mooney and current New Zealand skipper Melie Kerr – two far more experienced players.

“My sense was Charlie was well respected within the group,” says Trevor Griffin, then Spirit’s coach. “She had a connection.

“It was always going to be a step up but the main thing for me was the curiosity she has around the game, she understood how to play it, she understood the format and the connection within the playing group.”

Speaking to Alison Mitchell, former England player Phil Tufnell says the Lord’s pitch was “not a good look'” for Test cricket as he, alongside former England captain Michael Vaughan, criticise the surface used for the first Test between England and New Zealand.

READ MORE: England begin Ashes rebuild with win over NZ

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England took less than a session on the fourth day of the first Test against New Zealand to begin their post-Ashes rebuild with a much-needed victory.

In their first Test since their 4-1 defeat in Australia, England exploited the devilishly difficult batting conditions on a poor Lord’s pitch to beat the tourists by 115 runs and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

From 55-5 overnight in their chase of 254, New Zealand’s disappointing week was complete when they were hustled out for 138, thanks chiefly to Gus Atkinson’s 5-30.

After Saturday’s third day was almost entirely lost to rain, England required only seven deliveries on an overcast Sunday to resume their wicket-taking -Josh Tongue getting one to skid into the prone pads of Tom Blundell.

With the ball moving up and down, and side to side, Glenn Phillips began an overdue New Zealand counter-attack.

Phillips and Devon Conway added 53 for the seventh wicket, helped by Harry Brook putting down Conway at second slip.

But after England captain Ben Stokes induced a miscue from Conway, the end came quickly.

Nathan Smith edged behind, Kyle Jamieson clipped to mid-wicket and last man Matt Henry was bowled, all by Atkinson, giving the Surrey man yet another place on the Lord’s honours board.

The rapid, seam-dominated nature of this match followed a recent trend of matches involving England. Two of the Ashes Tests were done in two days, while this was the first Test in this country without a single delivery of spin bowled by either team since 1988.

The hope is the surface for the second Test at The Oval, beginning on 17 June, produces a more satisfactory contest.

For so long, it looked as though Robinson would never play for England again, certainly under this regime.

England explained his exile on grounds of conditioning, on a tendency to lose pace or hobble out of matches altogether. His skills were not in doubt – Robinson averaged less than 23 with the ball in his 20 previous Tests.

Humbled in Australia and in need of an attack leader, England returned to the 32-year-old. Robinson has benefitted from being given the captaincy at Sussex and admitted he has matured. If England had him bowling like this in Australia, how different might the Ashes have been?

Bowling the second over of the innings, Robinson found movement down the Lord’s slope, into left-hander Conway. After two balls, captain Stokes posted a short leg and Conway instantly played all around a full ball. Robinson roared with delight, while Conway was disgruntled to see the review showing the ball clipping leg stump.

Robinson’s length was immaculate. Facing his second ball, Williamson failed to get far enough forward, looping the catch to debutant Emilio Gay at short leg. Ravindra, another left-hander, was pinned by another nip-backer. The noise was deafening.

At 2-3, New Zealand were in disarray. Captain Tom Latham could have been run out by Stokes before he was lbw, getting only half-forward to Atkinson. Robinson showed his full array of skills to find seam movement up the slope, bowling Mitchell, who offered no shot.

When the pacey Tongue castled Tom Blundell, New Zealand were in danger of being dismissed before the close. Glenn Phillips’ unbeaten 31, supported by Nathan Smith, somehow got them through without further loss.

England’s Emilio Gay falls for eight on Test debut as he’s caught off the bowling of Kyle Jamieson with the home side 16-1 on the first morning of the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s.

FOLLOW LIVE: England v New Zealand 1st Test

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Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has described the five permanent members of the UN Security Council as “Lords of War.” He called on them to stop acting like “emperors” and waging war on poorer countries.