Tim Murtagh of Ireland celebrates dismissing Moeen Ali of England during day one of the Specsavers Test Match between England and Ireland at Lord's Cricket Ground on July 24, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Five of England’s World Cup-winning members endured a humongous hangover on Wednesday after lowly Ireland incredibly bowled their side out for 85 in their first innings of the one-off Test at Lord’s.
Clearly stuck in one-day mode, the home team’s batsmen proved their own worst enemies with a succession of poor shots when conditions demanded them to be more responsible.
The chief destroyer was 37-year-old Tim Murtagh, who snapped up superb figures of 5/13 with some accurate seam bowling.
In fact, there probably wasn’t a better player for the Irish to have in their weaponry as Murtagh is a Middlesex stalwart, the English county side that uses Lord’s as its home ground.
This five-wicket haul was his 14th in first class cricket at the venue.
Predictably, only three Englishmen reached double figures as Murtagh was superbly supported by Mark Adair (3/32) and Boyd Rankin (2/5).
This batting performance will be distressing to England, who commence their Ashes campaign against Australia as early as next week.
For more sport your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.