It was a day of queues at Trent Bridge. At lunch, the greats were at book signings, people were queuing for Brian Lara’s autograph; at afternoon tea, people were queuing in front of the ice cream van; and there were queues all over the pub – undeniably, in the English test The match was pretty standard – and the batsmen lined up aggressively.
Not every hitter likes it though. The sun was shining brightly over Nottingham, the pitch looked rolling well and the outfield was as green as Robin Hood’s tights, trimmed to ensure the ball’s path was virtually friction-free. But West Indies captain Craig Brathwaite, the only Test centurion in the first five, won the toss and elected to bowl first.
Bazball was born in this land two years ago when Ben Stokes did the same thing against New Zealand and Jonny Bairstow completely neutralized A target of 299 runs in the fourth innings. Riding on the strength of Ollie Pope’s 121 and then Stokes’ 69, England posted a total of 416 in 88.3 overs.
Ben Duckett was the first to explicitly point out this possibility. After Zach Crawley conceded the third ball, the left-hander responded with a string of boundaries – including four in the first over from Jaden Sears – and even started talking about Gilbert Jesso Pugh set the record for fastest Test century (76 balls) by an Englishman. That was until Duckett dismissed Shamar Joseph and was bowled out for 71 off 59 balls.
Instead, it was Pope who reached triple digits, which was actually what the conditions required. The England vice-captain wasn’t always at his best, missing out on his half-century and then at lunch. But given some lingering and undeniable doubts over his suitability for the No. 3 spot, the right-hander’s sixth Test century and also his first since a lofty 196 in Hyderabad in January The first century is a welcome return.
The same goes for Stokes, who made his first half-century in 11 Test innings before the second new ball, holed out on part-time spin as Kavem Hodge tried to cash in . Stokes is not alone in this, with Joe Root (14), Harry Brook (36) and Jamie Smith (36) all dying separately designer. Less culpable was Chris Woakes, who scored a useful 37 in his 50th Test match before being dismissed by Seales, the second new ball, and had a Chance of slipping.
It was a tough game for West Indies, who, although they bowled well and delivered some punches in the late stages, didn’t quite support Brathwaite’s bowling calls along the way. . The 46-year-old Pope’s first life was difficult. The ball was passed from the center to Alik Atanadze in the backcourt. But the second ball, which was bowled by Jason Holder when he slipped after a chance to raise his fingers to chest height, was a wicket.
Both are expensive, and some of the ground deployments are a bit shoddy at times. The pressure of England’s aggressive intentions could only be relieved here.
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Perhaps the biggest frustration besides the fall – four in total by the end – was that Shamar Joseph, despite holding back Duckett’s early attack, was unable to score in his second consecutive Test match. Left the field clutching his left hamstring. Possibly the biggest plus for the visitors was the departure of Kevin Sinclair from the bench after Gudakesh Motie fell ill overnight. On a day when Brathwaite’s opening bowler bowled a single, the off-spinner posted 73 runs in 22 deliveries, providing control and threat to the skipper.
Sinclair is also a bit of a showman, and after lunch the latest sell-out crowd was treated to a brilliant somersault celebration as Brooke tamely swept the top blade across the oar. Sinclair told the BBC earlier this year that perfect jumping was a way of avoiding trouble when Berbice and Brooke were growing up, and their early back-foot six could be the viral clip of the day and he may be expected to flip Well done, but it’s not.
