Rain frustrates England Lions in Worcester

29 June 2017 06:09

South Africa's only Test warm-up, and Liam Plunkett's bid for an England recall, fell victim to the weather at New Road, with only 20 overs possible on day one.

This three-day tune-up against England Lions is all the Proteas have to prepare themselves for the Investec Series, which starts at Lord's next Thursday, while Plunkett was hoping to take advantage of fitness concerns in the England attack in front of national selector James Whitaker.

Both parties left frustrated as bad light and persistent drizzle restricted the teams to spells of 14 and six overs before the close came.

South Africa posted 58 for one, Dean Elgar nicking a beauty from Sussex's raw but rapid prospect George Garton before Heino Kuhn (30no) and Hashim Amla (16no) came together.

Left-armer Garton overcame early nerves to justify his elevation after just six first-class outings, while Tom Helm also acquitted himself well across two brief spells but neither are close to the senior radar yet.

Plunkett has not played Test cricket for three years and has largely been type-cast as a white-ball specialist by England in recent times, but has the stature to rival the likes of Toby Roland-Jones and Steven Finn in the forthcoming selection debate.

Chris Woakes and Jake Ball are both ruled out of the Lord's opener, while Stuart Broad's ongoing foot problem is being monitored by Nottinghamshire and England. If there is a chance for Plunkett to elbow his way back into contention, particularly given his limited opportunities at Yorkshire this season, an eye-catching showing in Worcester will be it.

Coming on first change, after ceding new ball duties to the fresh-paced pairing of Helm and Garton, nine and 12 years his juniors, he looked fit and sharp.

He managed six overs, half of which were maidens, and delivered with pace and occasional menace.

Eight of the 14 runs he did concede came off Kuhn's outside edge and there was a loud, persuasive appeal for caught behind against the same batsman when he appeared to make contact with an intended leave.

The next ball was a bouncer, which sailed over the head of both batsman and wicket-keeper for four byes, and when Helm followed suit with some short stuff of his own the umpires decided to lead the players off under murky skies.

Source: PA