“Luck, be a Lady tonight”, sang Sky Masterton in “Guys and Dolls”. The Lady has certainly been favouring England these last weeks. She was on their side in the World Cup final and in the Test against Ireland when on the Friday morning she provided Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes with the sort of weather they might like to take with them everywhere. After England had been thoroughly outplayed for two days, Lady Luck said “enough of that”.
Ireland have reason to be aggrieved. For two days they had shown themselves more than worthy of their elevation to Test Match status, only to be made to look like clueless novices on the third morning. Still they shouldn’t be disheartened. Other countries before them have found their first years of Test cricket to be hard-going, partly because they were given few opportunities for players to acquire experience. Looking at the history of New Zealand cricket should encourage the Irish.
