LONDON: England captain Joe Root defended his side’s batsmen ahead of the Ashes after Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad spared their blushes by skittling Ireland out for just 38 to complete a crushing Test match win at Lord’s.
The hosts had been bowled out for 85 in their first innings on Wednesday but, with nightwatchman Jack Leach making a career-best 92 second-time around, they were able to set Ireland a target of 182 on Friday.
Ireland then collapsed in a mere 15.4 overs, with Woakes taking a Test-best 6-17 and fellow seamer Broad 4-19 as England won by 143 runs.
A match scheduled for four days rather than the usual five allocated for a Test was all over before lunch on the third.
England’s top-order problems remain a worry ahead of next week’s first Test against Australia in Birmingham, with the Ashes-holding tourists looking to win a series away to their arch-rivals for the first time in 19 years.
But Root insisted a “substandard” pitch prepared by Irish groundsman Karl McDermott, in his first season at Lord’s, was to blame for their batting woes in England’s first match at the ‘home of cricket’ since they won the World Cup there 12 days earlier.
“First innings, last innings... when you are getting scores like that it tells a story in itself,” said Root.
With doubts over Australia’s batting as well, the Ashes could come down to which side can give their attack enough runs to play with.
“Australia will be thinking, ‘it’s doing a bit in England’,” said Root with a smile.
“It’s hard for anyone to read too much into these very extreme conditions but I’m sure the bowlers will like the look of the surfaces here and it’s bubbling up nicely for a very entertaining first game.”
Root was one of five players in the England side that beat Ireland — Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and Woakes were the others — who had also played in the World Cup final.
Fellow World Cup-winners Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes were rested from the Ireland game but they all now face a frantic Ashes schedule of five Tests in just over six weeks.
“You have to suck it up and get on with it,” said Root. “It’s a hard slog for guys to play all five of these games and be at the top of their game.”
Meanwhile England coach Trevor Bayliss questioned his side’s attitude.
“For matches like this we have to take a good hard look at ourselves,” he said. “We have no problems getting up for games against Australia and India.
“Do we take the foot off for matches like this? Are we able to get in the mood to compete and be ruthless?“
Ireland have yet to win any of their three Tests following previous defeats by Pakistan and Afghanistan.
But this was arguably the most painful given their fine start, with veteran paceman Tim Murtagh taking 5-13 on his Middlesex home ground in England’s first innings.
Ireland’s second innings, however, was the lowest by any Test side since 1955.
“We’re pretty gutted,” said Ireland captain William Porterfield. “We had the chance to win it. That shows you how much it hurts.”
Nevertheless, the opening batsman added: “That first couple of hours is going to stay with players and Irish fans for a long time.
“To take 10 wickets in the first session of a Lord’s Test was an unbelievable effort and for Tim Murtagh to get up on the honors board is never going to be taken away from him.”
Ireland’s next Test is not until February, away to Sri Lanka in Galle, and they don’t yet know when they will play England in the format again.
“We’d love to play games like this every week in front of a full house at Lord’s,” said Porterfield.
“Every game we’ve played we have put ourselves in a position to win the game and so a few more games like this will potentially put us over the line.”
England captain Root relieved as Ireland pitch battle ends in victory
England captain Root relieved as Ireland pitch battle ends in victory
- “It’s hard for anyone to read too much into these very extreme condition,” says England captain
Nabucco Al-Maury has second crack at glory on Saudi Cup weekend
- French challenger aiming to go one better in the $1.5m Group 1 Al-Mneefah Cup
RIYADH: French raider Nabucco Al-Maury (FR) returns to Riyadh on Feb. 13 hoping to go one better than last year when finishing runner-up to RB Kingmaker (US) in the $1.5-million group one Al-Mneefah Cup, presented by the Ministry of Culture.
Trained in 2025 by Hamad Al-Jehani, the 6-year-old son of Assy (QA) joined the yard of Xavier Thomas-Demeaulte in Mont-de-Marsan last spring where he has continued to thrive.
Although he has not managed to reach the top step of the podium in the last couple of seasons, he has remained consistent. His last run in the group one The President Cup in December in Abu Dhabi, behind local champion HM Alchahine (FR), was particularly eye-catching.
“That was a really good performance,” said the French handler, who will also saddle the mare Lacaro du Croate (FR) in the 2,100-meter turf race.
“I didn’t train Nabucco Al-Maury when he came to Riyadh last year. He arrived in my yard in the spring, and we have progressively worked our way to the top.
“He has improved with each of his runs. His second place behind HM Alchahine was very good. We beat RB Kingmaker quite easily, which we hadn’t done before, so that was a great result.”
The Helal & Tahnon Alalawi-trained RB Kingmaker (US) will again feature amongst his opponents in the Al-Mneefah Cup. “I know that he is in it,” said the trainer.
“We beat him quite easily in Abu Dhabi, but he probably needed that race and we know he runs well in Riyadh.
“Maybe he will transform himself there. And I know that there is the very good mare of Alban de Mieulle, RB Mary Lylah (US), in the field, so we shall see.”
The only French-based trainer with runners in the two events for Purebred Arabians this year, he is also looking forward to saddling the 5-year-old mare Lacaro du Croate in the Al-Mneefah.
A winner of the group one Criterium des Pouliches – Wathba Stallions at La Teste in France last July, she has just made her seasonal reappearance in a conditions race at Pau where she finished second to dual Triple Crown champion Al-Ghadeer (FR).
“It was a good performance,” added the trainer. “She only saw Al-Ghadeer’s behind but that was to be expected. He did his job, she did hers. In fact, she did what we asked her to do.”
With exceptionally heavy rainfalls continuing across the southwest of France, their trainer decided last week to take both contenders to the Pau racecourse for a final blow-out.
“It’s just terrible how much rain we have had. Last weekend I was supposed to go away but then decided, no, I’m taking my horsebox and I’m going to drive to Pau to work them properly.
“Luckily, the jockeys were great and went along with my plan. They enjoyed a good gallop and are in good order.”
While Nabucco Al-Maury and Lacaro du Croate had to brave the difficult weather in France, Moshrif (FR), who is Thomas-Demeaulte’s runner in the $2 million group one Obaiya Arabian Classic, presented by Al-Hammadi Hospitals, has enjoyed the ambient temperatures in Riyadh.
“He has been in Riyadh for a while,” said the trainer. “We took him there for the prep race on Jan. 9, where he finished fifth. I hadn’t worked him a lot since he won his race in Morocco last year, so he wasn’t 100 percent fit yet, but it was still a good performance.”
The 8-year-old is a regular in Riyadh where he was the runner-up to the great Tilal Al-Khalediah in the 2024 running of the Al-Mneefah Cup, but this time he will tackle top-class opposition on dirt.
“He proved when ran in January that he can handle the dirt. He has been in Riyadh since that last run and I went out there 10 days ago to see how he was. He is in good form and I was very happy with him,” added Thomas-Demeaulte.
