He was already out, having scored a rapid-fire 86 in conditions that should have suited Sri Lanka after they had won the toss, his innings having laid the foundation for England’s impressive 221 for 3 from just 44.1 overs possible on the opening day of the third and final Test. Given the scoreline – and storyline – with Ollie Pope making a defiant run-a-ball 103 not out, Duckett felt spectators had got their money’s worth.
“I think they saw quite a good day’s cricket in the short amount of time there was,” Duckett reflected at the end of a day which had included an earlier stoppage for bad light, which lasted nearly three hours through the middle of the day, and the another just before 6pm that sparked the angry reaction in the stands and ultimately led to stumps being called half an hour later.
“That’s living in England and playing cricket in England, they’re the conditions. It’s very easy to sit there as a supporter and want to see more cricket but if it does get really dark and more dangerous, we’re the ones out there playing. I did make a joke saying if they wanted to bowl double spinners before lunch they could do. They weren’t conditions for that. Both sides did it at Old Trafford, went double spin, but when the lights were on and the ball was nipping around a bit, the umpires were taking us off and we’re going to have to go with their rules.”
The earlier interruption seemed particularly contentious with conditions not appearing vastly different to those that greeted an on-time start. It did become darker and the faintest mist gave way to a light rain shower while the players were off for the first time but in an afternoon session that ran from 3.10pm to 5.10pm the light was as good as it had been all day. As the gloom threatened to return, it signalled the beginning of the end.
Duckett said the batters weren’t consulted ahead of either stoppage, with the umpires directing the players from the field, and while he gave no indication that he wanted to go off for the first – on the contrary he highlighted having to “start again” afterwards – he was resigned to having to abide by their decision.
“I’m sure if it was that same Aussie attack last summer, bowling in those conditions, you’d probably want get off the field,” Duckett added. “It does have a big impact when those lights are on and they’re fully on and the ball starts swinging and nipping around a bit more. To be honest, it’s got nothing to do us. You don’t really get the option any more. If the umpires take you off you’ve got to go with their decision.”
Sri Lanka had opted for a pace-heavy attack, dropping spinner Prabath Jayasuriya, and clearly missed a trick by failing to take early wickets under overcast skies and following heavy rain through the early hours of the morning.
“What we did wrong is we didn’t get the good areas because there was a lot going on in the mind, ‘oh this is the best day of swing bowling,’ and that chance of taking wickets and sometimes trying to calm them down, excitement levels, it’s sometimes too much,” he said. “So far I think we’ve been doing really good with the new ball, the bowlers, but today I would say they got carried away with the expectations. When you have high expectations, then you go down very quickly because there are bowlers looking at each other, [saying] ‘oh my God, that was the best opportunity, missed it!’
“A little bit of disappointment but there’s still a lot in this game so we have to show our character tomorrow morning, the bowlers will rest and come up with something better than this. We got it wrong in the morning with excitement, overexcitement, I would say.”
Lahiru Kumara conceded 81 runs in 12.1 overs for his two wickets, while Asitha Fernando went wicketless for 58 runs from 14 and Vishwa Fernando ended the day with 0 for 29 from seven. Milan Rathnayake was the other wicket-taker with 1 for 34.
Valkerie Baynes is a general editor, women’s cricket, at ESPNcricinfo
