Notes on day 2

Just a random look at the second day of cricket at Lord's

Ollie Robinson

Would love to be talking about his bowling. And while I have little to say on this, there is one thing. Those who don't like politics in sport hate writers like me talking mentioning it. And what I have said since I started is that you can't take politics out of sport. 

Racism is a part of sport. Ollie Robinson hasn't proved that, he's just shown it again. In writing about racism in sport, you are talking about the game itself—the players on the field, their experience, and why some of them disappear. A young guy in the UK tweeting that publicly says something about cricket, and the society he grew up in. They're related.

Robinson's tweet wasn't to a random person either; it was to his step-father, Paul Farbrace, a former England assistant coach and long-term coach in English cricket. This is part of the game. I am glad - and may be slightly surprised - that so many people have talked about it. 

Length 

I have spent a very long time looking at England's lengths in this matc…