Graham Thorpe remembered by England amid the joy and sorrow of fifth Test | Simon Burnton
Friday morning at the Oval, and the ground reverberates to a unique but not unfamiliar sound, the baritone rumble of thousands of pained groans.It was prompted by replays on the ground’s big screens of a particular kind of delivery with a very specific outcome, on this occasion bowled by Akash Deep.The ball flicked off the inside of Ben Duckett’s thigh before crashing remorselessly into, well, the next part of his anatomy that it reached, and with agonising results.The game was paused for several minutes while the pain subsided and the opener regained his composure (the blow certainly didn’t make him at all cautious, and by the end of that one over Duckett had survived a review for lbw, skipped down the track and missed completely with a wild swing, seen a leading edge drop short of gully and reverse-scooped for six).On Thursday evening a very different sound had been heard, Chris Woakes’ cries of pain after he landed awkwardly on his left shoulder having flicked a ball back from the boundary edge, close to the press box at the Vauxhall End.
News following a scan overnight was not good, confirming a complicated dislocation,The bowler’s route to recovery is expected to take several months to navigate, thereby ruling him out of a different journey, to Australia for the Ashes,At 36 Woakes is the oldest member of England’s squad, and has reached an age when few injuries are not complicated,Among another full house at the Oval on Friday many hundreds were sporting a white headband, being sold to raise money for the mental health charity Mind and in memory of the former Surrey and England batter Graham Thorpe on what would have been his 56th birthday,A player who brought such joy to so many followers of cricket, on this ground more than any other, he took his own life almost exactly a year ago.
In 2003 Thorpe scored 124 against South Africa in his final Test here, a knock he described as “the finest innings I’ve ever played, by a long way”.Many of the more mature members of this crowd will also have stood to applaud him to the crease, ending an absence from the England team of more than a year, and again the next day to applaud him off it.A few weeks later Thorpe was interviewed by the Guardian’s Donald McRae.“When I look at the context and circumstances surrounding that knock, I’m really proud,” he said.“It was a sweet, sweet day.
” But he also spoke about “plenty of times when I’ve just said: ‘Shit, this game’s tearing me apart.’”Cricket is not normally the kind of thing that is described as a guilty pleasure.It shares little with the likes of Emily in Paris, the latest novel off the Lee Child production line, Saturday Night by Whigfield or Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food.But while this was a glorious, compelling day of Test cricket, very much the sporting equivalent of an already delicious ice cream into which people seemed unnecessarily determined to add a variety of swirls, cookies, chews and chunks, it was impossible to watch it without being conscious of all the context it carried.Of the players past and present who were not here.
Of why we were wearing those headbands.Not long before lunch Deep dismissed Duckett and sent him on his way with a few choice words, delivered with a superficially friendly arm around his shoulder.After it Joe Root had an exchange with Prasidh Krishna – who was playing with the added pressure of being a peripheral part of this team, returning to it after missing the last two games – as a result of which the bowler was spoken to by Kumar Dharmasena, which in turn led to a series of animated conversations between the Sri Lankan umpire and a variety of Indian players, KL Rahul foremost among them.It was hard not to think back to Shubman Gill’s justification for his own terse encounter with Duckett and Zak Crawley at Lord’s a few weeks ago: “It didn’t just come out of nowhere and we had no intention of doing it whatsoever, but you are playing a game, you are playing to win and there are a lot of emotions involved.Sometimes the emotions come out of nowhere.
”Sign up to The SpinSubscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week’s actionafter newsletter promotionAnd here we sit, in our charity headbands, watching these humans peel away their layers, expose themselves, entertain us.Despite the irritating intervention of rain after tea this was in many ways, measured by bang and by buck, as good a day as we have had this summer.But it was one that combined the sweet and the bitter.A day of great entertainment delivered with an undercurrent of great emotion, of memories that warm us and also those that chill, of pleasure and of guilt.
Rosorange: is the latest wine trend here to stay? | Hannah Crosbie on drinks
I’m often asked what the next big thing is in wine. How am I supposed to know? After all, the joy of “the next big thing” is that it seemingly pops up as if from nowhere, and then it’s suddenly absolutely everywhere. Whether or not it then sticks around is anyone’s guess, though.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link
Rachel Roddy’s recipe for Sardinian crispbread lasagne | A kitchen in Rome
The process of making Sardinian pane carasau is similarly hypnotic to pitta: a disc of durum wheat dough is baked on a hot surface until it puffs up into an almost-ball. The reason for this puffing is the contrast between the rapidly drying surface of the dough and the evaporating water within the dough. The water turns into steam, causing the centre to balloon and the two layers to separate, creating a pocket and making the whole thing look a bit like an inflated whoopee cushion.In order to make pane carasau, which in Sardinia is a domestic, artisan and industrial art, the puffed-up dough is swiftly separated into two thin discs with a sharp knife, then the discs are returned – possibly folded in half or quarters – to the oven to dry and toast for a second time according to the maker’s taste. Fortunately for us, there are hundreds of makers and the whole point of pane carasau, also known as carta di musica (music paper bread), is that it is brilliantly transportable and enduring: it lasts and lasts, which is why it’s one of my favourite things to have in the cupboard
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The Chinese chain has opened two outlets in New York City. Will its ‘coffee to go’ business model, apple fizzy americanos and coconut lattes see off its biggest rival?Name: Luckin.Age: Seven – it was founded in October 2017.Appearance: 20,000 locations and counting.Locations doing what? Serving coffee
How to transform leftover baked potato into a summery Italian feast | Waste not
I’m rolling these gnocchi out of yesterday’s leftover baked potato and feeling rather chuffed with myself, because when you’re able to cut out a step from a normally scratch-cook dish such as gnocchi, it makes life easier. Crisp up the leftover potato skins in a pan with sea salt to enjoy as a snack, or freeze them for making loaded potato skins (recipe coming next week).A great way to make extra-flavourful fluffy pillows of gnocchi is to make them with leftover baked potato. Baking the potatoes instead of boiling them reduces their moisture content, meaning less flour is required, which in turn results in a lighter, less pasty gnocchi. Leftover baked potato also saves about an hour of prep time
Melon salad and Georgian-style grilled vegetables: Alice Zaslavsky’s recipes for barbecue-friendly sides
Adjapsandal is one of my favourite Georgian go-tos, no matter the season. Its more traditional form is broody and stewy, designed to burble away on a winter stove a bit like ratatouille, but with more fresh herbs. In summer, while the barbecue’s on and veg dishes of this kind are va-va-voom, it makes sense to just chuck them on the barbie instead and perhaps team with a spicy shortcut adjika paste using a jar of roast peppers. And, second, a very adaptable carpaccio for any firm fruit in your fridge or fruit bowl: melons, stone fruit – heck, even pineapple! The key is to use a sharp knife and slice against the grain for the best mouthfeel, much as you might sashimi.Piquillo peppers work best here, if you can find them, but you can use the ones from the deli counter, too, though maybe add a splash more red-wine vinegar to balance the acidity, tasting as you go
Air fryer, slushie maker, food processor, two blenders … is my Ninja kitchen appliance habit out of control?
Almost unknown a decade ago, Ninja sold nearly $3bn worth of products last year – and a good chunk of them were to me. Are we getting value for money?I have a problem. It has spanned many years, cost me hundreds of pounds and earned the derision – and concern – of friends and family. Don’t worry: it isn’t anything sordid but it does give me an absurd number of ways to cook chicken or use up a bag of potatoes.My poison is Ninja appliances
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