I’ll leave you with Ali Martin’s report from Headingley. Thanks for your company, see you in the morning. Big first hour!
Simon Burnton soaks up the Headingley atmosphere
Though a pleasant breeze took the edge off it, at lunch the biggest queues were for the water refill stations, and by tea the bars were virtually deserted but heaven help anyone who wanted an ice cream. A previously rather flat atmosphere perked up soon afterwards, potentially assisted by copious quantities of soft serve. Flake? Not us, pal.
Stumps
85th over: India 359-3 (Gill 127, Pant 65) Pant whirls Woakes for six, straight over the man at deep square-leg. Last over the day? Whatevs. To nick a line from our old friend Lawrence Booth, he’s flaying for the close.
That’s the last boundary of a spectacular day for India, who raced to 359/3 after being put in by Ben Stokes this morning. Shubman Gill would have bowled too, but he was glad to be batting as the flatness of the pitch revealed itself. Gill made a charming 127 not out, his first Test hundred outside Asia in his first game as captain, after Yashasvi Jaiswal’s stylish 101 set the tone.
Only Ben Stokes and to an extent Shoaib Bashir did themselves justice with the ball. If England want to get anything out of this game, they may have to change their policy on draws.
84th over: India 351-3 (Gill 127, Pant 57) A really good maiden from Carse, especially so late in the day, includes successive deliveries that beat Gill outside off stump. Time for one more over.
83rd over: India 351-3 (Gill 127, Pant 57) Urgh, I’m sorry, the picture keeps cutting out. Looks like a quiet over from Woakes.
82nd over: India 350-3 (Gill 126, Pant 57) Brydon Carse gets the Rishabh Pant treatment as well. After Gill edges a boundary, Pant charges Carse and whirls a violent one-bounce for to wide long-on.
There are some oohs in the crowd when Brook drops a swooping catch to his right, but replays confirm that the ball missed the edge and hit Pant on the hip.
81st over: India 338-3 (Gill 119, Pant 53) A nice, quiet start with the second new ball. Pant tries to slog-sweep Woakes’ second ball and somehow toe-ends it wide of mid-on for four. That could easily have gone to hand. An eventful over concludes with Pant missing a trademark fall-forward sweep. England go up for caught behind and LBW to no avail; Stokes rightly decides not to review.
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80th over: India 331-3 (Gill 118, Pant 49) Sorry, we’ve had a few technical problems, but we’re back just in time for the second new ball.
78th over: India 324-3 (Gill 113, Pant 46) Bashir bowls his 20th over, all in one spell. He isn’t getting as much action on the ball as earlier in the day, though he continues to give England a degree of control.
77th over: India 322-3 (Gill 112, Pant 45) It took a while, but it’s time for the famous England Short-Ball Ploy™. Tongue has men scattered everywhere on the leg side, so India know what’s coming. Gill and Pant pull two singles each, though Pant’s second was completely mistimed as he jumped inside the line. Not quite a moral victory for Tongue, but a moral something. A moral winning draw?
76th over: India 318-3 (Gill 110, Pant 43) An errant delivery from Bashir curves onto Pant’s pads and runs away for four leg-byes. India are putting the foot down in the final hour: they’ve scored 40 from the last five overs, 28 from the last three.
Shubman Gill makes a century on his captaincy debut!
75th over: India 312-3 (Gill 109, Pant 42) There it is! Gill laces Tongue to the cover boundary to bring up a majestic hundred, his first in Tests outside Asia and the first of many as captain. His beans were going a bit in the nineties but that aside it’s been an immaculate performance: 140 balls, 14 fours.
Gill yells with delight, takes over his helmet and bows to the Indian balcony. Heaven help world cricket if the captaincy empowers him with the bat as it did Virat Kohli.
Oof, Gill has a moment of fortune off the last ball of the over, top-edging a pull that just clears Bashir at long leg and goes for six. Bashir was a few yards in from the rope, although I’m not sure it affected his chances of a catch.
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74th over: India 300-3 (Gill 98, Pant 41) Pant laps Bashir very fine for four, a shot of rare skill. After the scalpel comes the sledgehammer, a violent straight six next ball. That brings up the 300 for India, with power to add. England have officially entered a world of pain.
“Pant’s clearly not on fire today,” says Brian Withington, “but is it a case of a gentle simmer threatening to come to the boil, or a long slow sous-vide today that gets heated up violently tomorrow?”
You’re asking me to partake in a cooking metaphor? Have you seen my fridge?
73rd over: India 290-3 (Gill 98, Pant 31) Gill edges Tongue wide of slip for four, then looks for a sharp single to Stokes at mid-on. Pant sends him back, BECAUSE IT’S BEN STOKES, MAN, and Gill has to dive to make his ground.
Even Shubman Gill, who been a study in elegant serenity all day, is susceptible to the nervous nineties. But he’s almost through to the other side.
“This is all going swimmingly for India,” writes Mike Jakeman. “think the under-appreciated thing about this side is just how deep the batting goes. If one or two have a lean trot, they can bring in the likes of Dhruv Jurel. Very Australia 1994 vibes.
“Which suggests a long series for England’s bowlers and to an outlandish prediction, which is that we’ll see Liam Dawson in whites before the end of the series, especially if England’s batting is struggling against Bumrah…”
While you may well be right, England’s lower-middle-order batting looks the least of their worries right now.
72nd over: India 284-3 (Gill 93, Pant 30) Bashir drops fractionally short, which allows Pant to rock back and pull lustily for four. Then he miscues a straight drive that lands short of Carse, running round from straight long-off, and then Gill survives a big LBW shout after missing a sweep. Possibly outside the line, possibly bouncing over.
Correction: definitely outside the line. But another nice piece of bowling from Bashir.
And here’s a preview of our weekend coverage
71st over: India 278-3 (Gill 92, Pant 25) Tongue replaces Woakes and is flicked for a single by Pant, who now has 25 from 59 balls and 21 from the last 57. What is this, 1989?
“Hello mate, happy start to the summer,” says Max Williams. “Bazball has its pros and cons but the lack of fatalism both short and long term is such a gift. Yeah today’s been tough but you still think they can win the match. And if they lose the match you’d still back them to win the series. I dunno if it will survive 0-2 in Australia but let’s cherish it will we can.”
I fear we may move in different circles as I’ve seen plenty of fatalism – not just today but since the middle of the last India tour. And when I’m the most optimistic person in the room, you know there’s a problem.
Simon Burnton’s first piece of the day has landed
70th over: India 277-3 (Gill 92, Pant 24) Bashir continues after drinks. A whip from Pant is well fielded at midwicket; then Crawley hurls the ball a bit too close to Pant’s face. Not sure what that was about.
“I don’t believe you’re old enough to have seen Slasher Mackay,” says Steve Nicholson. “I never did, and I’m 70. But I can tell you that Surrey had a slow-scoring batter in the 1960s called Mike Willett, and from time to time someone in the crowd would shout out (no group chanting in those days) ‘Willett Won’t ‘it’.”
He did when he scored a century in 80 minutes against Middlesex in 1964! I should know – I was there.
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Drinks
69th over: India 275-3 (Gill 90, Pant 24) Woakes beats Pant with a good-length outswinger from around the wicket. Things are starting to happen. Pant guides four to third man, then offers no stroke to a booming inswinger that whooshes past off stump.
68th over: India 271-3 (Gill 90, Pant 20) Pant skips down to Bashir, is completely beaten in the flight and adjusts to push the ball defensively on the off side. Lovely bowling.
Pant has a bigger let-off later in the over when he heaves an ungainly pull-sweep high in the air. It teases Crawley, running back from midwicket, before landing safely.
For much of the winter Bashir looked a lost soul. That certainly hasn’t been the case today and you could argue he has been England’s second-best bowler after Stokes.
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67th over: India 266-3 (Gill 89, Pant 16) Woakes bowls an outswinger to Gill that goes a long way after passing the bat and squirms under the diving Smith for a bye. Another extra comes in the form of a Woakes no-ball, a fairly big one by his standards. But he is getting the old ball to swing, so it might be worth England trying a short spell from Harry Brook Brydon Carse at the other end.
66th over: India 262-3 (Gill 89, Pant 14) Still an hour and a half to play tonight, so England will have the option to take the new ball at some stage. For now Bashir is doing a good job with the old, although it is slightly surprising that India haven’t attacked him more often. After another quiet over, Bashir’s figures of 14-4-39-0.
65th over: India 259-3 (Gill 87, Pant 13) Woakes replaces Stokes after a creative, vigorous spell of 7-0-22-1. He starts with a grim old loosener that is cut effortlessly for four by Gill. Stokes aside, England’s seamers have bowled too many four balls all day.
64th over: India 253-3 (Gill 82, Pant 12) Pant, channelling his inner Slasher Mackay, plays out a maiden from Bashir. Since smearing his second ball for four, Pant has played with almost exaggerated restraint: he’s scored 8 from his last 32 balls.
63rd over: India 253-3 (Gill 82, Pant 12) Stokes, into his seventh over, bowls a rare poor ball that is touched off the hip for four by Gill. He’s 18 runs away from you-know-what.
All five of Gill’s Test centuries have been scored in Asia so it’ll be a cracking story if he changes that narrative on his first day as Indian captain.
62nd over: India 247-3 (Gill 78, Pant 11) Bashir tries his luck around the wicket to the right-handed Gill, an angle of attack that has often served Nathan Lyon well. After a few sighters, Gill surprises everyone by swiping a brusque boundary over midwicket. Shot! That’s his first boundary in 10 overs.
61st over: India 243-3 (Gill 74, Pant 11) One more over (and the rest) for Stokes, who draws Gill forward with a good delivery that zips through to Smith. Gill might have been hiding his bat, I’m not sure it was a genuine play-and-miss.
One from the over, the sixth of this spell. Careful now, Ben.
60th over: India 242-3 (Gill 73, Pant 11) Bashir starts to straighten his line to Pant, who defends one delivery and then knocks a single behind square on the leg side.
India are happy to stockpile singles for the time being, usually two or three an over.
59th over: India 239-3 (Gill 71, Pant 10) Pant offers no stroke to a big inswinger from Stokes that bounces just over the stumps. It was a safe leave on length but a lovely delivery. There’s more swing later in the over, and Chris Woakes is starting to get loose. This might be a chance for England.
Stokes puts his hands to his head when Gill gets a thick inside edge off middle stump. It’s been such a good spell from Stokes: 5-0-15-1 as I type.
58th over: India 236-3 (Gill 69, Pant 9) Shoaib Bashir continues to tease Rishabh Pant by tossing the ball up, and Pant continues to shoulder arms at anything that isn’t straight. At some stage the urge to yahoo one into the crowd will kick in, but for now Pant is a model of restraint.
“Re: 54th over,” says Richard O’Hagan. “I remember the good old days, when the OBO readers just used to stalk one another rather than the commentators. Now we’re all scattered around the country – and in some cases the globe. Actually, maybe that is why people now stalk the commentators.”
News to me.
57th over: India 234-3 (Gill 68, Pant 8) Stokes almost dupes Pant with an extravagant, loopy slower ball, not unlike the Merv Hughes classic to Chris Broad on this ground in 1989. Pant did well to spot the flight of the ball and crouch to keep it out.
Pant evades a zingy, well-directed bouncer later in the over. This is excellent from Stokes, who is in make-things-happen mode. But England will have to be careful he doesn’t overdo it; that was the fourth over of this spell and his tenth of the day.
56th over: India 231-3 (Gill 67, Pant 6) Brook saves runs, probably four, with a diving stop in the covers when Gill slaps Bashir inside out. He’s two-thirds of the way to becoming the fifth Indian batsman to make a century on their captaincy debut. I’d need to check but I think the five are Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar and Virat Kohli.
55th over: India 229-3 (Gill 65, Pant 6) Stokes is bowling an excellent length, just full of good. For all the understandable talk about the centurions, Stokes’ performance with the ball was the big plus for England when they played Zimbabwe. He hasn’t looked this sharp since the summer of 2022.
Three singles from the over.
54th over: India 226-3 (Gill 64, Pant 5) Bashir tosses up three tempters to Pant, all of which ignores. One doesn’t miss off stump by that much but it was ultimately a safe leave.
“Think I’ve just walked past Simon Burnton on the Headingley concourse and wish I’d said hi,” says Ed Bannister. “Hopefully he’ll see this instead! If I see James Wallace I’ll try and talk to him about The National and Graham Thorpe.”
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53rd over: India 226-3 (Gill 63, Pant 5) Laughable cricket from Rishabh Pant, who charges his second ball and smears it back over Stokes’ head for four. Stokes bursts out laughing at the audacity and says something to Pant. I’m 99.94 per cent it was a friendly chat. But in 2025, who knows anything.
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Ben Stokes has bowled Yashasvi Jaiswal with a beauty. It was angled in from round the wicket and straightened sharply to rattle the off stump as Jaiswal pushed down the wrong line. Yeah, that’s a serious delivery.
Jaiswal receives a fine hand on his way off, and quite right too: he made a sparkling 101 from 159 balls, with 14 fours and a six. Dukes ball my derriere.
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WICKET! India 221-3 (Jaiswal b Stokes 101)
If you want a thing done well…
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52nd over: India 221-2 (Jaiswal 101, Gill 63) A wide delivery from Bashir is cut easily for four by Gill. For now India are happy to wait for the bad ball, but they will surely go after Bashir at some stage. This will be a long session, two and a half hours, and England could be entering a world of pain.
“From about 11:27 onwards I’ve been thinking of Headingley 89,” writes Steve Pye. “I don’t like thinking about Headingley 89. Also, on days like this, I do wonder how edgy Nass must be in the Sky commentary box, sitting there and pondering how long it will be before the banter begins.”
It’s interesting that Nasser’s decision at Brisbane is cited quite so often. Australia’s 492 in that first innings is only the 65th highest score in a Test by a team who were put into bat. And it might be 66th by tomorrow night.
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The players are ready to resume. Shoaib Bashir will continue to Shubman Gill with a slip and leg slip.
Teatime emails
Taha Hashim “You’re not alone - I’ve spent this entire innings thinking about Ollie Robinson.”
Krishnamoorthy V “I do not mind any number of centuries so long as there is an even contest and a result in each of the Test matches. Not 940/7 dec vs 850 all out kind of games.”
Amitabh “England vs India: where every toss feels like a win, every session feels like a twist, and Jaiswal’s century feels like the future arriving in style.”
Teatime reading
Tea
A near perfect session for India, who scored 118 at 4.63 per over without losing a wicket. Yashasvi Jaiswal made a thrilling fifth Test hundred - the bad news for England is that the first four were all daddies – while the new captain Shubman Gill was at his graceful best in reaching 58 not out.
England don’t do rain-unaffected draws, which means the upcoming evening session is a biggie. They need at least three wickets, and if eight come along by 5pm then that’s just tickedyboo.
51st over: India 215-2 (Jaiswal 100, Gill 58) Ben Stokes brings himself on just before tea. He knows England have been here before – New Zealand were 405/4 at Trent Bridge in 2022 and lost – but he’ll also know they have been loose with the ball.
When it rains, it pours. Jaiswal feels for a good delivery and edges it on the bounce to slip, where the diving Brook seems to make a good partial stop… only for the ball to roll into the helmet sitting behind Jamie Smith. That means five bonus runs to India. The batters ran a single but they hadn’t crossed before it hit the helmet.
A good over from Stokes ends with another soft-handed edge well short of second slip. That’s tea.
“Forget Nasser at Brisbane,” says Richard O’Hagan. “This is Ponting at Edgbaston territory, having a bowl on a flat track when your best quick is out injured.”
Ollie Robinson’s injured?
50th over: India 209-2 (Jaiswal 100, Gill 57) A maiden from Bashir to Jaiswal. That’s already Jaiswal’s third Test hundred against England, the same as Keith Miller, Rishabh Pant, Vijay Manjrekar, Kim Hughes, Kumar Sangakkara, David Warner, Everton Weekes…
Oh, and Jaiswal turned the first two centuries into doubles.
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Jaiswal reaches a marvellous century!
49th over: India 209-2 (Jaiswal 100, Gill 57) England have two slips and a leg slip for Jaiswal. Carse switches round the wicket… and he shouldn’t have bothered. He can’t find the right line and Jaiswal hits him for successive boundaries through point and extra cover.
That takes him to 99, and he dabs a quick single off the next ball to reach a fabulous hundred! He roars with delight, punches the air and to hell with any pain. He has scored a century in his first Test in England, just as he did in Australia in the winter. He’s one of the best young openers we’ve seen in decades.
Oh, the numbers: 144 balls, 16 fours, one six.
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48.2 overs: India 200-2 (Jaiswal 91, Gill 57) Carse starts his over with a rank bad ball that Jaiswal cuts for four. That brings up India’s 200 and moves Jaiswal into the nineties. But he is really struggling and I’m not he’ll make it to tea, which is still 15 minutes away. The physio is coming on again.
“Any chance of England finding some bowling down the back of the sofa?” writes Ed Wilson. “I’ve somehow blagged tickets for Lord’s AND Old Trafford – not sure the wife has realised yet – it would be nice to see something other than Indian centuries…”
There’s a decent chance you’ll see Jofra. And some Indian centuries!
48th over: India 196-2 (Jaiswal 87, Gill 57) Jaiswal continues but he’s wringing his hand between deliveries. Bashir should try a couple of moon balls, the equivalent of a football team peppering an injured goalkeeper. Or just give him a single and let Carse do his worst at the other end.
Bashir ends another good over with a big-spinning delivery that Gill leaves. Given the context, individual and collective, I think he’s started really well.
“On the subject of drinks bottles, let’s all hope that the charming marketing wonks at Ryanair never get their mitts on a cricket ground sponsorship deal,” says Jeremy Boyce. “Imagine that: NO drinks allowed to be brought in (only overpriced stuff available in the ground), pay extra to bring your backpack in, limit on backpack size, pay extra to reserve a seat where you actually want to sit, pay extra to gain early entry....”
Not been to a Blast game lately?
“If Roses Match naming rights are allowed to transcend cricket, how about the Bleasdale/Bennett?” writes Anthony Baxter. “The teams could compete for the Shavings, a vintage pencil sharpener reputed to be full of charred pencil swarf.”
47.2 overs: India 195-2 (Jaiswal 86, Gill 57) There’s a break in play while Jaiswal receives treatment. It looks like he might have cramp in his right hand or forearm.
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47th over: India 195-2 (Jaiswal 86, Gill 57) Gill mistimes a pull off Carse, who has probably been England’s most threatening bowler today. Not that the competition is volcanic. I wonder what let it go, Smyth, it’s over Ollie Robinson is up to this afternoon. Still England’s best bowler for mine.
A maiden from Carse, his fourth in 13 overs. That’s as many as the other bowlers between them.
46th over: India 195-2 (Jaiswal 86, Gill 57) Everyone hold their nerve, we’ve been How’s Jimmy bowling these days here before in the Bazball era and I just don’t know what’s going off out there it has often ended in a Send ‘em home! thrilling run-chase.
Bashir continues with an in-out field, slip and leg slip for Jaiswal. He averaged 90-odd against Bashir in last year’s series, a statistic that comes to mind as he spanks a disdainful boundary back over Bashir’s head. That brings up a brilliant century partnership between the present and future of Indian cricket: Jaiswal (23) and Gill (25). England wish we were talking about their score rather than their age.
“Not sure,” writes James Wallace in reply to Smylers’ query in the 43rd over, “ but I did see a bloke decanting a bottle of white wine on the way in. That’s the only intel I have.”
45th over: India 188-2 (Jaiswal 80, Gill 56) Carse replaces Tongue (11-0-45-0) and is encouraged through mid-on for three by Gill. He produces a jaffa later in the over that ends up in the gloves of Jamie Smith. England appeal for something, anything, everything, but there’s no edge and it was too high for LBW. The umpire Chris Gaffaney pointed towards the stumps, and for a second the Sky commentators thought Gill might have bowled. Turns out Gaffaney was just asking to see whether the bails had been disturbed.
44th over: India 183-2 (Jaiswal 79, Gill 52) England’s decision to bowl looks a bit of a stinker, though Shubman Gill would have done the same. One person knew: your friend and mine, Tim de Lisle, sent me an email at 11.10am along the lines of, ‘Has Stokes done a Nasser at Brisbane?’
Bashir continues his encouraging start – accurate, seductive flight – with a modern rarity: a maiden from a spinner to Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Fifty for Gill on captaincy debut!
43rd over: India 183-2 (Jaiswal 79, Gill 52) Shubman Gill pulls Tongue well in front of square for four to reach a silken half-century from 56 balls. New captains tend to start well with the bat; few had done it as elegantly as Gill today.
“Please could somebody at Headingley confirm if gate staff are enforcing the ‘No plastic drink bottles if the seal has been broken’ rule?” asks Smylers. “In this weather, it seems cruel to confiscate drinks from fans who felt they needed to hydrate on their way to the ground or while queuing outside, and so opened their drink before making it through the gates. Asking for somebody who’s got tickets for this weekend.”
Jim is there so hopefully he’ll tell us, although given his, a-hem, social intent he may have put all electronic devices for the forseeable.
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42nd over: India 172-2 (Jaiswal 78, Gill 47) A thick edge from Gill off Bashir runs away for four more. That was a good bit of bowling, but England are haemorrhaging boundaries: 28 fours and a six in 42 overs.
That six from Jaiswal was his 27th in Tests against England; he’s already only seven short of Viv Richards’ all-time record.
41st over: India 172-2 (Jaiswal 78, Gill 42) My Sky feed has just gone down. Great stuff. And you thought England’s bowlers started the series badly.
I don’t you think you/I/we have missed much, just a single to Gill from Tongu- ah, scratch that, Jaiswal has slapped Tongue’s last ball over point for six.
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40th over: India 165-2 (Jaiswal 72, Gill 41) Cheers Jim, afternoon everyone. I’ve arrived just in time for Shoaib Bashir’s first over of the day; this already feels like an important spell in the context of the game.
Jaiswal slashes his first ball behind square for four. But that aside it’s a promising start from Bashir, with some nice drop and a couple of balls that turn noticeably.
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39th over: India 159-2 (Jaiswal 67, Gill 40) Tongue bends his back and bangs in an over of short stuff to Jaiswal. It slows the scoring but looks hard yakka. Might be time for some spin soon?
Would you look at that, it is most definitely time for Rob Smyth to slip into the OBO hot seat to guide you through the rest of the day.
Thanks for your company, that was lots of fun. I’m off to seek out that ice cold shandy…
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38th over: India 158-2 (Jaiswal 66, Gill 40) It’s getting sticky out there for England, in more ways than one. Woakes leaks three boundaries to Jaiswal, driven, punched and cut. The ball has gone soft and the pitch has gone flat.
Here’s Romeo trying to lighten the mood. Trying…
“Hi Jimbo, I was disappointed to see in the Cricketers’ Who’s Who 2025 that Brydon Carse’s nickname is Cheesy. I was rather hoping it would be Carsey.”
It’s the way he tells ‘em.
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37th over: India 145-2 (Jaiswal 53, Gill 39) Tongue has tightened up his line after a scrappy spell earlier. He’s zoning in on the top of off stump and moving the ball back in to the right handed Gill.
Julian Menz’s Bucolometer is seemingly off the charts:
“Hi James and readers from around the world… We are sat around in the garden enjoying Midsummer here in Sweden (not THAT one, I have yet to bash an elderly person’s head in with a wooden mallet, and Midsommar was actually filmed in Hungary).
We are eating pickled mackerel with potatoes, chopped red onions, and sour cream. My daughter is moaning about how pappa gets to spend more time on his phone (following the OBO) than she does, and the grandparents are passive-aggressive about the fact that I have TMS on in the background.
If this was a Sunday, the Kinks might have written about it.”
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36th over: India 142-2 (Jaiswal 51, Gill 39) Gill drives Woakes for four more through cover. He looks in fine fettle, worryingly for England.
35th over: India 135-2 (Jaiswal 50, Gill 33) Fifty up for Jaiswal! His first Test knock on English soils and he’s been as impressive as ever. Compact when he needs to be and swashbuckling-ly expansive when he doesn’t. He lifts his bat subtly to the appreciative crowd. Plenty more to get…
Oooft. Shubman Gill plays his trademark back-foot punch square of the wicket. Just for two on this occasion but lovely to see it in the flesh. Be still my beating…
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34th over: India 132-2 (Jaiswal 49, Gill 31) “Regal” purrs Ravi Shastri like an E-Type Jag in the fast lane of the M1 after Gill on drives Woakes’ final ball for four.
33rd over: India 128-2 (Jaiswal 49, Gill 27) “Dear Jimbo, much chatter about the Anderson/Tendulkar trophy, following Crowe/Thorpe, Richards/Botham.
But surely cricket’s greatest rivalry needs to be recognised with a new cup? What names should be honoured for the clash between Lancashire and Yorkshire?”
Sweet Baby Tim Sowula getting the debate going. Must be a quiet passage of play. Do they have to be cricketers? My old man is from Wigan… and my ma is from Huddersfield. The Wallace Trophy. There you go. Sorted.
Tongue replaces Carse. Field set for some short stuff. Starts with a full toss. Double bluff didnae work.
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32nd over: India 124-2 (Jaiswal 46, Gill 26) Gill edges Woakes between slip and gully to pick up four in streaky fashion. Nothing streaky about the next shot though! Gill takes a couple of steps out to Woakes and drives imperiously through cover. There’s that MRF sponsored blade once more. Ahem. Shot! More lovely batting, Woakes goes too full and is clipped away off the pads for four more. Gill is into his groove now.
31st over: India 112-2 (Jaiswal 46, Gill 14) It feels ‘nick-y’ out there according to Stuart Broad on the Sky comms. Carse is thundering in, sweat dripping off his tattooed forearms. Two no-balls in a row as Carse struggles with his run up and oversteps. One of them was a speared in yorker that Jaiswal did well to keep out, not that it would have mattered.
30th over: India 107-2 (Jaiswal 45, Gill 12) The new India captain is using an MRF stickered blade. The tyre behmoth’s torch being passed on from Tendulkar to Kohli and now Gill*. Woakes continues with a leg slip in place. Just two runs to Jaiswal through cover.
*Not a paid promotion. But can be…
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29th over: India 105-2 (Jaiswal 43, Gill 12) Gill guides Carse for a couple through point. The big burly bowler is too full and wide with the next ball and Gill just leans on it to get four over the rapid square. Hundred up for India, those wickets will still be annoying them.
28th over: India 98-2 (Jaiswal 42, Gill 6) Woakes back into the attack after the break. He’s over the wicket. Three slips and a gully in place. Maiden. On a postage stamp is the Wizard. Is that good English? I don’t know. I know I had chow mein for lunch, sans fork. In 30 degree heat.
27th over: India 98-2 (Jaiswal 42, Gill 6) Gill plinks to midwicket and calls a risky run… Ollie Pope swoops and has a shy at the stump – MISSES! Gill was out if he hit, that was not a good run. Early nerves from India’s new skipper. No one was backing up the throw so four overthrows are added to India’s score. That would have been some start after the break, could even have blown fork-gate out of the water.
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26th over: India 93-2 (Jaiswal 41, Gill 1) Stokes polishes off the three balls remaining in the over. His opposite number, Shubman Gill, shoulders arms to a length ball and then gets off the mark with a drop and run into the covers. The clouds have rolled over Headingley, can it be so muggy it doesn’t swing?
25th over: India 91-1 (Jaiswal 41, Sudharsan 0) Sai Sudharsan arrives on Test debut. Close! Carse goes full and scuds one into the debutant’s front pad as he offers a tentative forward defence. It was going over, but not by much.
We interrupt this OBO to tell you that there was distinct lack of forks in the media centre lunch room. I know that’s the sort of detail you are after. Nearly the entire lunchbreak had passed before, inexplicably, two gleaming forks were ceremoniously wheeled in. It sounds like a joke/metaphor for this morning’s first session but is actually true. I had to eat my chow mein with Jeremy Coney’s crutch. Definitely true. Anyway, the players are back on the field. I suppose you want that sort of detail too do you?
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Lunchtime Reading:
And for those of you after the TMS overseas link, William Hargreaves has got you covered. Ta Bill.
Lunch - India 92-2
For the best part of two hours India were bossing the start of this game. One brings two as the old adage goes, Ben Stokes leads his men off for some well deserved scran with a skip in his stride. India’s new captain, Shubman Gill, will be at the crease after the break. Righto, to the buffet!
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WICKET! Sai Sudharsan c Smith b Stokes 0 (India 92-2)
A strangle! Stokes plays on the debutant’s nerves and desire to get bat on ball, a leg slip in place and a leg side trap set. Sudharsan flicks at one but doesn’t connect, he doesn’t learn his lesson though and gets a tickle on the next! England are cock-a-hoop with that, from nowhere they’ve got two wickets and a gruelling morning session is now about honours even.
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WICKET! KL Rahul c Root b Carse 42 (India 91-1)
A flat footed drive from KL Rahul is snaffled by Joe Root in the cordon! The edge went quickly but Root hung on well with both hands. England needed that and in truth were gifted it by Rahul who will be livid that he gave it away on the stroke of lunch.
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24th over: India 91-0 (Jaiswal 41, KL Rahul 42) Too full from Stokes, Jaiswal slaps through the covers for four more. We might have one more before lunch.
23rd over: India 87-0 (Jaiswal 37, KL Rahul 42) Carse beats the edge of Jaiswal and the ball flicks the pad roll on the way through. England appeal but they know it wasn’t wood. Ollie Pope saves four with a leaping stop at backward point. Rahul is in princely touch, another four through the covers and England’s morning gets ever more chastening.
22nd over: India 82-0 (Jaiswal 36, KL Rahul 38) Oh that is so good by KL Rahul. Stokes goes full and offers a smidge of width, Rahul gets down on one knee and drives through cover with hold-the-pose panache. Headingley lets out a collective purr.
21st over: India 77-0 (Jaiswal 36, KL Rahul 34) Carse sends down a full bunger that is duly dispatched for four by Jaiswal wide of point. Carse struggles with the change of ends and spears four wides down the leg side.
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20th over: India 68-0 (Jaiswal 31, KL Rahul 34) Stokes finds Rahul’s edge but it flies high and safe over the cordon for four. Again! Rahul flays at a wider ball and the top edge clears gully and thuds into the boundary hoardings. Stokes takes a conventional slip out and into leg slip. England will be desperate to get a wicket before lunch.
19th over: India 58-0 (Jaiswal 30, KL Rahul 25) Tongue has been loose today. Like a fishwife with some juicy gossip and a pinny-full of sardines. Me neither. He sprays one way wide of Jaiswal albeit at 90mph. That’s a waste of energy son, even I can tell you that.
18th over: India 55-0 (Jaiswal 29, KL Rahul 24) Stokes with three slips in place. He gives the openers nowt. Just a leg-bye off the over.
Some excellent trolling from Down Under courtesy of John Dean:
“Tuning in to see this relatively inexperienced attack. The least intimating England home bowling I can recall in my watching days. Silver linings? Australia’s top-order mess (obvious to anyone bar George Bailey for the last few years) had me a bit worried ahead of the Ashes but I feel much safer right about now. Move the series forward.”
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17th over: India 54-0 (Jaiswal 29, KL Rahul 24) Cheeky! Jaiswal attempts an up periscope ramp to Tongue but doesn’t connect. It was a late decision, shows how confident he’s feeling though. Gulp.
“Almost Christmas-like excitement of a Headingley Test, blue-ish skies and the promise of some unbroken weather for the next few days” writes Alexander Menary.
“I hope you have packed some spare linen as that press box is likely to be even hotter tomorrow (!). I’m bringing my 6 and 10-year olds on Saturday for their first taste of test cricket as a surprise, so if you haven’t yet expired I’m sure we could send a cold one your way in order to ease things along. I am also doing my thing to promote text cricket by leaving TMS on in my office whilst I’m elsewhere in the building…”
More than one linen shirt? I’m not Sylvio Berlusconi.
Oh I like the idea of a press box drink service. Any other OBOers in the ground today and feeling generous? I’ll take an ice cold shandy. Keep it professional. Fourth floor of the pavilion. The green angular building. I’ll check the lift in, shall we say, 15 minutes? Cheers.
16th over: India 52-0 (Jaiswal 28, KL Rahul 23) Stokes has the ball on a string but can’t provide the breakthrough yet. Just ran for some water and got a cheeky wink from Jezza Coney. Bliss it was in that dawn to be alive.
Rahul throws the kitchen sink and DeLonghi kettle at a wide one but doesn’t connect. It’s hazy at Headingley. And hot. Maftin. Did I mention that?
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15th over: India 52-0 (Jaiswal 28, KL Rahul 23) The players return from drinks and Phil Rawlinson is spittin’ feathers:
“Where’s Leo Bajert? I’m sat at home in Sydney too, I’ll get Leo a beer.”
Make it happen lads.
Tongue is pongoed through the off side by KL Rahul. The Notts man is too full once more and driven for three down the ground. Stokes has seen enough and wants a slice of the action himself, the England captain is coming on for a bowl.
14th over: India 44-0 (Jaiswal 27, KL Rahul 16) The first hour of the series belongs to India as KL Rahul scorches another cover drive off Woakes for four. Time for a drink and a delve into the OBO mailbag.
Rob is tuning in from sunny Finsbury Park:
“Morning James. It was a long winter but today marks the first real day of summer. Test cricket I adore you. The first battles of the next seven huge months already taking shape in this mornings session.
To mark the battles ahead and their Brixton residency, maybe we could have us v them by LCD soundsystem?”
Consider it done Rob. The players are having a well deserved slurp of something luminous and electrolyte-y.
13th over: India 40-0 (Jaiswal 27, KL Rahul 12) Tongue continues. There’s a vociferous appeal as Jaiswal misses a straight one but it looked to be shaping down the leg side. England fancy it though and send it upstairs. Gah. It pitched outside leg so is a complete non starter. Not England’s best review and they duly lose one. A sign of jitters perhaps and the need to get Jaiswal before he does some real damage. Case in point, the opener drives a full ball imperiously to the fence at long on.
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12th over: India 36-0 (Jaiswal 23, KL Rahul 12) Bosh! Ravi Shastri emits a sonic boom on the tv commentary as KL Rahul unfurls a cover drive of such pristine beauty it’ll be hard to beat all Test long.
11th over: India 32-0 (Jaiswal 23, KL Rahul 8) Josh Tongue is summoned for his first bowl in the Test. Hello Gruesome! Jaiswal pings a half volley back past him and all along the baize for four. Tongue’s first over is a bit scruffy, starts with a full toss and and then gets away with a wide one as Jaiswal crunches a rasping cut straight to the man at point.
10th over: India 27-0 (Jaiswal 19, KL Rahul 8) Carse gets one to lift sharply and it thwacks Jaiswal in the intercostals. Don’t rub it. Don’t rub it.
“Morning, James!” Hello to you Duncan Bonnett. “Slightly chilly Johannesburg, but blue skies nonetheless. Surely your ‘Lacquer chat!’ should be ‘Lekker chat!’ in honour of the all-conquering Proteas? Just a thought.”
I stand corrected (said the man in the orthopaedic shoes)
9th over: India 26-0 (Jaiswal 19, KL Rahul 7) Woakes beats Jaiswal with a beauty that seams away late. Another maiden peeled off.
“Bravo on your opening post.” Too kind Leo Bajert.
“I’m sitting in a pub on Sydney where nobody cares and I want to run through a wall.”
Too hot for that sort of thing I reckon. Just go to the bar, get me one. It’s about 1000 degrees in the Headingley press box. I’ll be like Dean Jones in Chennai by mid afternoon at this rate. “Let’s get ourselves a Home Counties fella out here etc etc.”
8th over: India 26-0 (Jaiswal 19, KL Rahul 7) Carse stitches together a maiden, he’s ramping up his speeds too. Bling bouncing on his muscular chest a la DK Lillee.
7th over: India 26-0 (Jaiswal 19, KL Rahul 7) KL Rahul squirts a couple off the inside edge through square leg. The outfield is sun soaked and warp speed. Jaiswal is pinned on the pad but the appeal is muted as it was heading down leg.
Lacquer chat! The coating has come off the ball and it is now starting to hoop a little. Stand by your beds.
6th over: India 23-0 (Jaiswal 19, KL Rahul 4) Two boundaries off the over as Jaiswal slashes Carse through the off side either side of point. Not hugely convincing but they were there to be hit. “A good toss to lose” says Ravi Shastri. England will be getting twitch for a strike soon.
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5th over: India 15-0 (Jaiswal 11, KL Rahul 4) Woakes probes away at Jaiswal. The ball is carrying through nicely off the biscuit coloured surface. More Nice than custard cream at the moment. Just a single off the over as the tv coverage shows the footage of Jaiswal getting out lbw to Woakes in one of the Lions games last week. Fair to say the young opener wasn’t happy with the decision even though it looked like it was knocking out leg stump, he practically had to be prised away from the crease. He’ll be even more annoyed should he miss out today in these conditions. Woakes will be looking to recreate the dismissal, pinning on the pad as the batter falls away. I’m looking for some water and a coffee. It all counts.
4th over: India 14-0 (Jaiswal 10, KL Rahul 4) Carse induces a tentative poke from Kl Rahul and the meaty edge flirts away for a four to deep third.
Good morning to Guy Hornsby:
“Morning James, the first morning of a blockbuster series in the English Test summer is always carrying that frisson of nerves and excitement. I can’t wait to watch it unfold, and today is a rare time to do that with my twin Dave, who’s over from Melbourne for a few weeks. I think the two attacks will be the key: England’s callow attack will need everyone to step up and Woakes to weave his magic, while India’s will be about supporting their world beating attack leader. This first Test is anyone’s, I think.”
3rd over: India 10-0 (Jaiswal 10, KL Rahul 0) Shot! Jaiswal plays a delicious high elbowed drive that pings through the covers for four. Woakes won’t mind that but it did look ominously solid. The batter collects two more into the off side to make it to double figures.
Headingley filling up nicely, the first few days are sold out. My three brothers are in the stands partaking of the local produce. The eldest texts to say he thinks Josh Tongue’s trousers are too short. That makes me think of my Glaswegian friend Jack who used to call this phenomenon ‘Budgies’. As in - “Has your budgie died? Why else are yer troosers at half mast?” It’s a bit of fun.
2nd over: India 4-0 (Jaiswal 4, KL Rahul 0) Brydon Carse to have his first bowl in a Test in England. He starts well too, there’s decent movement from his first ball and it jags off the pitch and past KL Rahul’s blade. These two openers are so dangerous and so lovely to watch once they get it. England will want some early scalps after inserting India. Carse starts with a maiden and is heartily applauded by players and fans alike.
1st over: India 4-0 (Jaiswal 4, KL Rahul 0) Chris Woakes to start with the new ball for England. Here he comes… and he’s right on the moolah to Jaiswal. The young opener is forward and plays a textbook forward defence.
There’s some bounce and movement on show for Woakes. He whistles a few past Jaiswal who opts to leave alone outside off stump. Plenty of cooing from the four strong cordon. Jaiswal plays with soft hands to a ball that leaves him late, the ball flies between fourth slip and backward point and away for four. That’s the first over of this ding-dong five match series done with. How was it for you?
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The players are wearing black armbands because of the tragic plane crash in India last week. There’s also a minutes silence before the anthems are then belted out. Puff flash puff flash BANG! There’s then a succession of fireworks. Eight grand that cost. Play is imminent. Thanks for all your emails. Keep ‘em coming.
Here come the players! It really is perfect conditions for cricket. Flags fluttering gently in the Yorkshire breeze.
Well of course it scans Simon Ambrose:
“Have actually just read this out with “sunscreen” on in the background and it works! How long did you take on it?
Settling into the test with my “just done his GCSEs” son. He doesn’t get how a game can last 5 days. Welcome to school son.”
Ali Martin has got the skinny on teams bowling first at Headingley. Of course he does:
The weather at Headingley is set to be red hot and sets up a tricky toss. The old saying in these parts is to look up, not down – ie bat under clear skies, bowl under cloud cover – but there will surely be a temptation to go the other way. In recent times, the pitch has tended to improve as the match has progressed, with the past six Tests here won by the side that has bowled first.”
Ali also asked me if I was ok when I took my seat, sweatily, in the press box. I think he meant with regards the Bazzing preamble rather than the linen soaked precipitation. But what else are you supposed to do on a two hour train journey?
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England captain Ben Stokes at the toss:
“We’re going to have a bowl. Headingley is generally a good cricket wicket, we have had some good games here over the years so we will look to use the early conditions and get a bit out of it.
“This has been a long time coming, it feels strange that this is only the second Test match of the year. We are all excited and ready to go and walk out together.
“Our build-up has been mixed - we have had some lads playing county cricket, some getting their bodies ready. We have had three days of preparation so we are raring to go.
“We have the usual suspects in the top seven. Our bowling line-up is Woakes, Carse, Tongue, Bashir and myself.”
England win the toss and choose to bowl first
Ben Stokes flies in the face of conventional wisdom as is his wont. England will bowl first under azure blue skies in Headingley. However, Shubman Gill says he would have chosen to bowl first too. Let the gamesmanship begin.
Here are the teams:
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
We knew England’s XI of course. Here’s Gill looking resplendent in his blue blazer, with news of a debutant.
“Great day, the sun is out and it looks a good batting day for us. Preparation has been amazing, I think all the boys are feeling in a good space mentally and physically. Sai Sudharsan comes in for his debut. He’s batting at No 3.”
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Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ‘22
(With apologies to Baz Lurhmann… and Baz McCullum)
Wear suncream. If I could offer you only one tip for the next few days, suncream would be it. The long term benefits of suncream have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience on the phenomenon some people call BazBall (and some people don’t.) I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of this England Test side. Seriously. You will not see a team like this again. FACT.
Trust me, in twenty years you’ll look back at Ben Stokes and his crew and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much of a shot in the arm they’ve provided to Test cricket and to your viewing pleasure. How fabulous, exciting and yes, maddening they really were.
Don’t worry about the future; Australia. The Ashes. The Urn. Or, do worry about Pat Cummins bowling one of those impossibly jagging bail trimmers to Joe Root in December but know that worrying is as effective as trying to learn Mandarin by downing Guinness. The real troubles right now are Jasprit Bumrah, stuttering and scudding, blitzing away Zak Crawley’s Teflon coating like a bullwhip power hose before the Western Terrace have even had their first sip of Tetley’s and the strains of Jerusalem are still wafting over Cardigan Lane.
Do one thing every day that scares you.
Reverse-Ramp.
Don’t be reckless with your young spinner; make him feel twelve feet tall despite his county record. Don’t bring mid-on up even when Rishabh Pant is going tonto.
Scoop.
Don’t waste your time on the naysayers, the doubters ‘the media agenda’, sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. Sometimes you’ll declare a bit prematurely, sometimes you’ll collapse in a stinking heap. The race is long, but the summer is short. Five Tests in seven weeks. You’re entertainers. No more draws. But actually, maybe the odd draw? Only if you really need to, honestly, they’re not so bad.
Remember to be where your feet are. Head to the danger. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your vice-captain at number three. Put Jacob Bethell on ice until you need him.
Stay humble.
Don’t let Ben Duckett do too much press. Maybe Yashasvi Jaiswal isn’t indebted or inspired by the way you play. Maybe he’s on his own remarkable journey. Be smart. Reign it in a bit. Learn from those mistakes, the ones that got away. Edgbaston, Wellington, The Oval. Hamilton.
Wear your bucket hats. Fine. But don’t bring back ‘The Sprinkler’.
Say a prayer for Ben Stokes’ knees. And his hamstrings. We’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Maybe this mad lot will go down in history, maybe they won’t
Maybe they’ll win the Ashes, they probably won’t
Maybe they’ll keep going until 2030, that’d be fun.
Maybe Jack Leach will come back and dive head first into another boundary hoarding? Maybe Chris Woakes will get the kudos he deserves?
Maybe Mark Wood will bowl rockets and Jofra will be back for Lord’s.
Keep your field placings funky. Your choices are half chance; so are everybody else’s.
Don’t be afraid of pensioning off your record breaking fast bowler. He was the greatest instrument you’ll ever have but maybe the time was right.
Switch bails.
But only when you really need to. (Ask Stuart)
Read the riot act, occasionally you might have to.
Understand that teammates come and go, Alex Lees, Moeen Ali, Matthew Potts, Jonny Bairstow, Will Jacks, Rehan Ahmed, Liam Livingstone, Tom Hartley. They’ve all played a part.
Remember Trent Bridge – ‘Don’t you dare try and hit one down’
Remember Rawalpindi, Hyderabad and Old Trafford before the rain.
God they were good.
Accept certain inalienable truths, Ollie Pope will start skittishly, he’ll also get a ton. Harry Brook will look a million dollars but find a way to get out in the most inexplicably ugly fashion. Stokes will try and bowl eight on the bounce when his dander is up, don’t let him do this. Jamie Smith will launch one out of the ground. Brendon McCullum will sit on a balcony with shades on and trotters up. Inscrutable. Beard tapered as if he’s leading a Cinch sponsored Armada. People will talk about golf.
Don’t expect summers like this to come around forever. Changes are needed.
Maybe you’ll be thrilled. Maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll be glued to every ball or maybe you’ll dip in and out as life intervenes. You know it’ll be there though, humming away in the background, gripping you at times, leaving you in despair at others. Maybe you’re amazed at the way you need this.
Strap in, buckle up, most of all – enjoy the ride.
But trust me on the suncream.
(Slip, Slop, Slap)
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Hello and welcome to the first Test match between England and India from Headingley. I’ve just disembarked from the iron horse at Leeds station and am on the way to the ground. Play begins at 11am and the coin will be flipped at about 10.30am. Please do get in touch if you are tuning in. It promises to be a scorcher, in more ways than one.
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