preparations

England’s 175 was some way short of the 244 average first-innings total in ODIs at Hamilton.

Indeed it was over a hundred runs adrift of the average winning score – 287 – when batting first at the ground.

Given so few runs to play with, England’s bowlers needed to marry incisiveness with control.

Archer brought them both during 10 overs of top-class fast bowling across two spells as he put down a marker in his first outing of the winter.

The 30-year-old set the tone early with a full delivery in his first over that had Young trapped plumb in front.

New Zealand’s batters were then hopping about the crease, as Archer showed his teeth with some rasping short balls.

Archer’s pace was up there as well. He averaged 87.4mph across his two spells with his fastest delivery of the day clocked at 90.2mph.

The Barbados-born quick bowler’s two other wickets owed a little more to fortune – Ravindra hooking him to Adil Rashid in the deep and Bracewell feathering one off his pads into the gloves of wicketkeeper Jos Buttler.

Yet they had been earned by spells of pressure. Archer’s 51 dot balls were the most he has bowled in an ODI when he has sent down 10 overs.

Archer’s injury problems and careful management over the past few years have been well documented.

But the fact he seems willing to throw himself about in the field – diving to stop balls on the boundary at fine leg – shows there are no scars.

There will be no holding back this winter.

England coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes will have excitedly taken note. So too, with a little more trepidation, will Australia.

June 9 (UPI) — Preparations are still underway for a military parade Saturday in Washington, D.C., celebrating the Army’s 250th anniversary.

The event is projected to cost $45 million and possibly higher because of possible road damage that could happen because of heavy military equipment.

Construction workers this week have been erecting a stage along Constitution Avenue near the White House. Steel plates have been embedded in the asphalt to protect damage from 140,000-pound Abrams tanks.

Saturday also is Flag Day and President Donald Trump‘s 79th birthday.

The parade will run from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., followed by the Army Golden Knights’ parachute demonstration and a concert at the Ellipse. A fireworks show will occur at 9:45 p.m., the U.S. Army said.

All of the activities are free. Registration for the festival and parade is available through America250’s event registration portal.

The parade will include 6,600 soldiers, 150 vehicles and 50 aircraft going from the Pentagon to the Washington Monument. Around 200,000 spectators are expected to watch the parade, including Army personnel wearing uniforms representing every U.S. conflict dating back to the Revolutionary War.

About 1,800 Soldiers from III Armored Corps in Fort Cavazos will participate.

This week, vehicles have been arriving by train from Texas.

“The Army’s 250th birthday is a once-in-a-lifetime event,” Col. Kamil Sztalkoper, a spokesperson for the III Armored Corps, said earlier this week as one of the trains left Fort Cavazos, Texas. “This is a chance to see our soldiers, our leaders and the world-class force on full display in our nation’s capital. We look forward to being a part of history.”

A list and photos of military equipment is available on the Army website.

The parade starts at 23rd Street and Constitution Avenue North and travels down Constitution Avenue along the National Mall, ending at 15th Street and Constitution Avenue Northwest, the U.S. Army said.

WTOP reported there will be several road closures.

D.C. officials have expressed concern about potential road damage from the vehicles, including 60-ton tanks.

Army has installed thick steel plates at key turns but straightaway on Constitution Avenue remain unprotected.

Mayor Muriel Bowser said potential damage could cost millions but the Army has pledged to cover the costs.

During his first presidency, President Trump asked the Pentagon to organize a military parade in the capital after he watched the French Bastille Day military parade in France in 2017. But Pentagon personnel convinced him then not to move forward with plans.

Instead in 2019, he celebrated Independence Day with a speech at the Lincoln Memorial with military planes’ flyovers. Two Bradley fighting vehicles also were at the Lincoln Memorial.

“I think it’s time for us to celebrate a little bit,” Trump said Monday. “You know we’ve had a lot of victories.”

The White House estimates the parade will cost between $25 million and $45 million.

Besides the parade, concert and fireworks, there will be a fitness competition at 9:30 a.m. and a festival beginning at 11 a.m. that includes an NFL kids zone and military demonstrations, along with other activities.

Flights to and from Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Va., will be suspended for 90 minutes during the military parade.

June 9 (UPI) — Preparations are underway for a military parade Saturday in Washington, D.C., celebrating the Army’s 250th anniversary that is projected to cost $45 million and possibly higher because of possible road damage.

Construction workers are erecting a stage along Constitution Avenue near the White House. Steel plates have been embedded in the asphalt to protect damage from 140,000-pound Abrams tanks.

Saturday also is Flag Day and President Donald Trump‘s 79th birthday.

The parade will run from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., followed by the Army Golden Knights’ parachute demonstration and a concert at the Ellipse. A fireworks show will occur at 9:45 p.m., the U.S. Army said.

All of the activities are free. Registration for the festival and parade is available through America250’s event registration portal.

The parade will include 6,600 soldiers, 150 vehicles and 50 aircraft going from the Pentagon to the Washington Monument. Around 200,000 spectators are expected to watch the parade, including Army personnel wearing uniforms representing every U.S. conflict dating back to the Revolutionary War.

About 1,800 Soldiers from III Armored Corps in Fort Cavazos will participate.

Vehicles have been arriving by train from Texas.

“The Army’s 250th birthday is a once-in-a-lifetime event,” Col. Kamil Sztalkoper, a spokesperson for the III Armored Corps, said as one of the trains left Fort Cavazos, Texas. “This is a chance to see our soldiers, our leaders and the world-class force on full display in our nation’s capital. We look forward to being a part of history.”

A list and photos of military equipment is available on the Army website.

The parade starts at 23rd Street and Constitution Avenue North and travels down Constitution Avenue along the National Mall, ending at 15th Street and Constitution Avenue Northwest, the U.S. Army said.

WTOP reported there will be several road closures.

D.C. officials have expressed concern about potential road damage from the vehicles, including 60-ton tanks.

Army has installed thick steel plates at key turns but straightaway on Constitution Avenue remain unprotected.

Mayor Muriel Bowser said potential damage could cost millions but the Army has pledged to cover the costs.

During his first presidency, President Trump asked the Pentagon to organize a military parade in the capital after he watched the French Bastille Day military parade in France in 2017. But Pentagon personnel convinced him then not to move forward with plans.

Instead in 2019, he celebrated Independence Day with a speech at the Lincoln Memorial with military planes’ flyovers. Two Bradley fighting vehicles also were at the Lincoln Memorial.

“I think it’s time for us to celebrate a little bit,” Trump said Monday. “You know we’ve had a lot of victories.”

The White House estimates the parade will cost between $25 million and $45 million.

Besides the parade, concert and fireworks, there will be a fitness competition at 9:30 a.m. and a festival beginning at 11 a.m. that includes an NFL kids zone and military demonstrations, along with other activities.

Flights to and from Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Va., will be suspended for 90 minutes during the military parade.

SEOUL, May 14 (UPI) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised combined tactical drills of special operations forces and stressed “full preparations for war,” state media reported Wednesday.

Kim watched tactical drill demonstrations and a joint fire strike demonstration by tank units at an undisclosed location on Tuesday, Korean Central News Agency reported.

“Making full preparations for war is the most crucial task,” Kim said, according to KCNA.

The North’s combat training has evolved “in keeping with the developing patterns and changing trend of modern warfare, strengthening the integral system of organizing, judging and reviewing training, and putting main stress on the actual war drills,” he said.

North Korean troops have gained real-world combat experience on the battlefield in Russia, where they have been sent to aid Moscow in its war against Ukraine.

Pyongyang has deployed around 15,000 troops to Russia, Seoul’s spy agency said recently. Some 600 of the soldiers have been killed and another 4,100 injured, the National Intelligence Service told lawmakers in a briefing on April 30.

North Korea acknowledged sending the troops for the first time last month, claiming they helped recapture lost territory in Kursk Province from Ukrainian forces.

“Our involvement in the war was justifiable,” Kim said during a visit to the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang on Friday in honor of Moscow’s Victory Day holiday.

“If [Ukraine] had not committed a heinous crime of encroaching upon the Russian territory, the invaders could have avoided the fate of becoming dead souls, hit by our swords and spears,” he said, according to a KCNA report.

In addition to troops, Seoul and Washington accuse North Korea of supplying artillery and missiles to Russia. A launch of short-range ballistic missiles and long-range artillery last week may have been a test of weapons systems meant for export to Russia, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

In exchange, North Korea is believed to be receiving much-needed financial support and advanced military technology for its own weapons programs.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon warned that North Korea may have up to 50 intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads by 2035.

“North Korea has successfully tested ballistic missiles with sufficient range to reach the entire Homeland,” the Defense Intelligence Agency said in a report on current and future missile threats to the United States.

The agency defined an ICBM as “a ground-based missile with a range exceeding 5,500 km (3,417 miles) that flies on a ballistic trajectory and is typically armed with a nuclear warhead or warheads.”

Pyongyang is projected to increase its arsenal to 50 ICBMs from its current inventory of 10 or fewer, the DIA report said. China, Russia and Iran were also included in the threat assessment.