TEST MATCH BREAKFAST: ECB could sock it to Jofra Archer

Test Match Breakfast takes a look at some of the biggest issues around cricket during England’s huge first Test against India at Headingley.

Ahead of what is set to be a brilliant final day, with England needing 350 to win and the visitors requiring 10 wickets, RICHARD GIBSON discusses the all important weather forecast, Chris Woakes avoiding a rare blank and why Jofra Archer faces an ECB reprimand.

No Headingley Ashes Test feels wrong 

Like Ben Stokes, Headingley doesn’t do draws and yet the country’s best results venue is not scheduled to host an England men’s Ashes contest in 2027 or a Test match the following summer.

Forecast rain on Tuesday could contribute to the breaking of the sequence of 10 straight decisive conclusions in Leeds. The past 23 Tests here have featured just one draw, in fact, and no rival ground can live up to the quality of recent dramas, such as Stokes’ Ashes heroics against the Australians in 2019 or the Jonny Bairstow-inspired Bazball win over New Zealand three years ago.

For northern cricket fans, it makes the international match distribution for series like the 2027 Ashes all the more galling: the introduction of Southampton’s Utilita Bowl and a return of Trent Bridge to the roster means no venturing above Nottingham.

Thankfully, there will be a Test here next year against either New Zealand or Pakistan, but a gap then until 2029 as things stand, does not feel right.

Yorkshire boost to coffers 

Tickets for the fifth day’s play are available at a cost of £20 for adults and £5 for concessions.

With 3,400 sold in advance, a potential thrilling finale will still be enjoyed by another sizeable crowd if the elements play ball.

Yorkshire reported pre-match sales of 12,000 – and 14,000 all told – for a fourth day featuring contrasting hundreds from KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant.

The club will be pleased with such an outcome for days four and five given that they have been on a Monday and a Tuesday.

The unusual Friday start for this match was down to three rest days being required between it and the World Test Championship final at Lord’s in case England or India were finalists.

South Africa claimed the Test mace a third of the way into day three, but its fifth and final day was meant to be a week Monday.

Refurb plans with £60m

Yorkshire expect the first instalment of their £60million bounty for the sale of Northern Superchargers to hit their bank inside three weeks.

In addition to clearing the club’s debts, the Hundred money will be used for significant ground improvements at Headingley.

The dressing room areas in the Carnegie Pavilion are sure to be at the top of refurbishment plans with players unhappy at the cramped conditions.

Cash from the 100% buyout by Indian Premier League franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad could also be used to increase the current capacity of 18,000.

Woakes avoids blank

Chris Woakes avoided going wicketless for only the second time in a home Test when he clung on to a return chance from Karun Nair on the fourth evening.

Not since his second appearance – also against India – in Southampton back in 2014 had the Warwickshire veteran registered a blank.

His first-innings return of 24-4-103-0 was the second worst analysis of his dozen years as a Test cricketer.

ECB could sock it to Archer 

Jofra Archer faces an ECB reprimand, meanwhile, after wearing black socks during his first bowl in first-class cricket for four years.

County Championship regulations state that ‘socks must be white or light grey only,’ but Archer was clearly sporting black ones when he dismissed Durham’s Emilio Gay at Chester-le-Street on Monday in trying to prove his match readiness for an England Test return.

The 30-year-old Sussex fast bowler’s breach follows hot on the heels – pardon the pun – of India captain Shubman Gill, who faces a formal warning or a fine amounting to 20% of his match fee for donning black socks while scoring a first-innings hundred in Leeds.

Varma does no harm to chances

Sam Cook claimed two new-ball victims after being released from the first Test squad to play for Essex against Hampshire.

It provided the hosts with a fine start after posting 296 at Chelmsford, but it was Tilak Varma, one of a number of Indian players shadowing their Test team this summer so they will be acclimatised in the event of an injury-induced call-up, who stole the show.

Varma, who featured against England in Twenty20 Internationals this past winter, returns to the crease this morning two runs short of a debut century for Hampshire.

Another Indian batsman, Ishan Kishan, hit 87 in his maiden innings for Nottinghamshire against Yorkshire at Trent Bridge.