England's footballers swapped out their primary sport to play cricket during training for their last 16 match against Slovakia on Sunday (June 30), with Kieran Trippier demonstrating an exemplary slip catch to dismiss Aaron Ramsdale.
Despite England's exit from the T20 World Cup yesterday (June 27), their footballing counterparts are still in the hunt to bring home a trophy in the next few weeks. They finished top of their group and now face a knockout clash against Slovakia to advance to the quarters. It's the easier side of the draw, though it's unclear quite how many Full Members they'll need to beat to make it to the final.
However, they still made time for cricket during their training session in Germany, presumably to keep one foot in on the third XI selection WhatsApp groups should they have a couple of unexpectedly free Saturdays on their hands after this weekend.
The first thing we see is Ramsdale in his batting stance, and this looks OK. A few bat taps, he shapes up alright. Declan Rice with the ball is... less good. He beeds to get some more power into his action, bowling off a couple of stiff steps with a plastic ball. He's nursing a niggle though, so we'll chalk it up to that.
Anyway, sometimes it's the bad deliveries that get wickets. Seeing the ball drop short, Ramsdale’s eyes light up, and he backs away from his stumps to have a swing. You can picture Gareth Southgate shaking his head off-screen, instructing Ramsdale to go safety-first next time. Had he middled it, the ball would have been sent to Berlin. But the sound of plastic on plastic is an unmistakable splice rather than a clean whack, and the keeper-batter completely lost his shape. He's looking towards mid-wicket, and the ball's looping up behind square on the off-side.
In fact, its headed towards Trippier at a wide first slip, but looks like it might just drop short. Instead, the right-back/left-back is willing to put his body on the line for the pride involved in a Friday mid-afternoon knockabout and dives towards the ground, his arms outstretched.
He just manages to scoop his hands under the ball before falling on the grass - another bit of useful game practice - rolling over and clutching the ball above the turf. Even as the elbows hit the ground, the ball stays in. Trippier can be forgiven for not throwing the ball up in the air in celebration - he just looks stunned that he’s held on.
Captain Harry Kane is quick to dish out the praise for his under-fire defender, instantly at his side to embrace him. However, in potential breaking injury news, Trippier told Kane that he slipped while trying to take the catch, and subsequently limps away after the celebrations. Maybe the England management will have to ban cricket from football training sessions in future. Either way, it’s something for Southgate to take into consideration ahead of selecting his next starting XI.
Ramsdale looks a bit too happy for a batter whose just been dismissed, but then maybe that's just the way he plays, and the intent to score was there, which is more than can be said for most of England's Group C showings. He does volley in a sledge at the limping Trippier - going all Keegan to say, “I would have loved it if you dropped it though".
And that's that. If they do want some tips, Matthew Mott's got some time on his hands now.
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