Duckett hits ton as England-Ireland ODI abandoned

Ben Duckett made an unbeaten century but England were denied the chance to post a mammoth total against Ireland as the third one-day international was abandoned because of rain.

The umpires decided at 15:21 no further play would be possible.

England captain Zak Crawley and opener Phil Salt had earlier hit fifties.

The first ODI of the series at Headingley was washed out without a ball being bowled, meaning England's 48-run win at Trent Bridge in the second match has given them a 1-0 series win.

It was a little surprising to see the match, England's final international of the summer, called off so abruptly, given just over half an hour had elapsed between the players going off and the decision to abandon the match.

Strong wind hampered the efforts of groundstaff to cover the square and the bowlers' run-ups but water is understood to have got under the covers and on the pitch.

By 15:40, the ground itself was bathed in sunshine and the forecast for the remainder of the day was good but the umpires determined conditions would not improve sufficiently at a non-Test match ground to enable play to recommence.

Crawley, England's skipper for the three-match series, said the decision to abandon the match so quickly "caught everyone by surprise".

He said: "It's a shame it ended like that, it was all so sudden. Obviously a lot of rain fell in not a long space of time.

"I think it caught us all by surprise when they came in to shake our hands. I went on the outfield just now and that was soaking wet, I think it was all unfit."

Ireland skipper Paul Stirling added: "I don't think we expected it to end the game. It's our last game for the next few months so we wanted to get out there."

Five out of the last six ODIs at Bristol have been abandoned and Gloucestershire chief executive Will Brown defended the speed with which the county's groundstaff had got the covers on.

He said: ""It is just gutting. We've had our fair share of rain offs such as in World Cups and you wonder if we give it a bit longer maybe it can dry out, but it is what it is.

"The umpires and the match ref know what they are doing, the groundstaff are working their backsides off to get it right.

"The covers were heavy and wet and they were trying to move them in tough conditions. It was blowing a gale which makes it a lot harder to move. I think they did and admirable job in difficult circumstances."

Duckett presses his claims

England have already named their 15-man squad for next month's World Cup in India and none of those players were involved in this match.

However, selector Luke Wright indicated that rather than select travelling reserves for the tournament a number of players will be asked to remain on standby.

Duckett's maiden one-day hundred will have done his cause to be called up in the event of injury no harm, as he produced a mature knock which included 12 fours and two sixes.

A high-octane start from openers Phil Salt (61) and Will Jacks (39) saw England reach 50 off 3.3 overs - the fastest by any team in the first innings of a men's ODI match set the tempo.

Duckett could have been swept away by the momentum when he arrived at the ninth over with England already on 104-2, but there was no sense of recklessness with his approach as he retained focus to build an innings.

"Ducky's always the same, very chilled and plays a similar game to how he does in Tests. It felt quite similar," added Crawley.

"When the openers were going, it looked like a belter but when I went out there with Ducky, it didn't feel immensely easy at the start, a bit two-paced. We were just trying to rebuild and then suddenly we got the momentum again."

Duckett brought up his century up with a six off spinner George Dockrell over long-off in an innings and had looked primed to help England challenge the 498 they posted against the Netherlands in Amstelveen in June 2022 before the rain ended things prematurely.

Nevertheless, the left-hander's versatility to bat in a number of positions in the top-order, as well as his ability to play spin in the subcontinent as a confident sweeper and reverse sweeper of the ball, will strongly work in his favour should he be required in India.