21st over: India 74-2 (Gill 0, Rahul 21) Another start for Nair, another middling score. Out comes the man who just bats, bats, bats, and bats. Shubman Gill sees out four dots.
WICKET! Nair c Root b Stokes 40 (India 74-2)
A stunner from Joe Root at slip. Stokes finds Nair’s outside edge and Root leaps low to his left, his left claw doing the rest. The TV umpire checks it out but it’s safely pouched. With that, Root now has 211 catches in Test cricket, the most by a fielder in the format.
20th over: India 74-1 (Nair 40, Rahul 21) Nair picks up three off Carse, Rahul takes two. And then comes this unexpected name from Peter Salmon on the subject of fluent bowling actions.
Always thought Greg Chappell had a beautiful bowling action, more or less invented the dibbly-dobbly too. how good is this vid? And how plumb was Vic Marks when given not out the first ball of it?
19th over: India 69-1 (Nair 37, Rahul 19) Rahul leans in for a cover drive, a shot that has decorated his series so far. England get awfully excited after Stokes arrows one into Rahul’s front pad, the ball then lobbing up for a catch in the cordon. England decide to review: there’s no inside-edge on it, and the ball’s shown to be going down the leg side.
18th over: India 65-1 (Nair 37, Rahul 15) The 50 partnership comes up, but it’s a bit misleading; Rahul looks more at ease than Nair, the former my bet for a big score.
17th over: India 57-1 (Nair 29, Rahul 15) Stokes, after that injury concern yesterday, looks fine at the moment, thundering in with the ball to concede four off the over.
16th over: India 53-1 (Nair 26, Rahul 14) Nair hasn’t had it easy so far but he’s battling. He drives well against Carse, who responds with a delicious nip-backer to end the over.
Dan Johnson writes in:
In the 2006-07 ashes series my wife and I had just moved to Australia (to coincide with the cricket) and went to the Gabba, MCG and SCG (you all know the results).
We had some friends over from England in January and went to see the one-dayer at the SCG. England batted first and did pretty well, but we had to leave at change of innings as we had a restaurant booked. England then went on to win, their first actual non-rubbish performance the tour, but we missed it!
15th over: India 47-1 (Nair 21, Rahul 13) Ben Stokes thunders in to get us underway … and he has Nair caught down the leg side! The finger goes up but Nair reviews immediately – turns out it flicked his trousers.
Some lovely shouts here from Avitaj Mitra:
Of all the ones I have seen live, Shane Bond and Pollock stand out to me for different reasons. Bond for pure liquid grace and Pollock for efficiency.
As a lefty myself, a shout out to Nathan Bracken for an extremely smooth action, and he should definitely have played more than 5 tests in my opinion.
Hamish Simmers takes us back 40 years.
Further to Tom’s comment from the 8th over
I grew up in NZ. I was at Carisbrook in Dunedin for the first day of third test between NZ and PAK as a 9yo in Feb 1985.
We left around 5.30pm feeling deflated, with Pakistan on 240 for 2 and Qasim Umar 96 not out.
By the time we got home half an hour later, Hadlee had a 5-for and Pakistan were 251 for 7.
NZ went on to put on an unbeaten 50-run partnership for the last wicket in the fourth innings (Coney and Chatfield, after Cairns retired hurt) to win the match and pull off one of the greatest comebacks in cricket history.
Some more correspondence on the subject of lovely bowling actions.
Charles Tinsley writes:
There is some very grainy footage of Larwood online and it really is worth a look. Graceful and ballistic in equal measure.
Jeremy Boyce says:
speaking of effortless bowling actions, I would put Curtley and Joel in that category, 15 paces and WHAAM ! My fave fast action ever was (knock ‘is fu**ing ‘ead off) Thommo in his pomp, LOTS of effort, slingshot like Jasprit, and devastating results.
Tea
14th over: India 44-1 (Nair 18, Rahul 13) Woakes is wobbling the seam around, with Stokes jazzing up his field, multiple catching midwickets in place. A ball sneaks past Rahul’s outside edge to close the over and session.
13th over: India 42-1 (Nair 17, Rahul 12) Carse is applying some decent pressure, and he nearly creates a chance with the final delivery, the ball leaping off Nair’s glove but landing safe. The India doc is on, with Nair’s hand in a bit of bother.
12th over: India 42-1 (Nair 17, Rahul 12) Archer gets a breather, with Woakes returning. Stokes puts himself at a catching cover, making Rahul think twice about his luscious drives. Tidy from the seamer as he stays full to produce a maiden.
Kandukuru Nagarjun asks:
Watching his (deceptively) effortless pace, I began to think about cricket’s great, fast bowling actions. Of the ones I’ve watched, the silkiest (besides Archer) would be: Holding, Donald, Lillee, Starc... and Reon King. Who are other OBOers’ favourites?
11th over: India 42-1 (Nair 17, Rahul 12) Carse pummels the middle of the pitch – he’s definitely more of a change-bowler than a new-ball exponent. The Durham quick gets one to leap past Nair’s outside edge.
Updated
10th over: India 41-1 (Nair 17, Rahul 11) Nair pops the ball up with a drive, but it’s too wide to be a caught-and-bowled opportunity. Rahul is far more comfortable, driving along the carpet to get off strike. Archer has rhythm but needs protection, too. Interesting to see if Stokes turns to him for a sixth over …
Ian Batch writes in:
Regards Tom Davies email – My friend Greg went out to South Africa to watch England play. On the day Stokes went crazy and hit 200+ my mate decided to miss that days play to go up Table Mountain instead. I’m sure he had a lovely time etc but missed one of the great Stokes innings.
9th over: India 39-1 (Nair 16, Rahul 10) Carse replaces Woakes, and the Durham quick finds a bit of nip away from the right-hander. Some wonderful replays pop up of Archer celebrating his wicket – he had a big old bear hug with Shoaib Bashir, who was as pumped as the quick.
8th over: India 37-1 (Nair 15, Rahul 9) Gorgeous from Archer as he gets the ball to zip past Nair’s outside edge. The batter responds well later in the over, punching to the long-off rope for four. Stokes, at leg slip, is nearly in play as Nair gloves one to the fine-leg boundary. Another tidy drive follows.
Our very own Tom Davies writes in:
Greetings from my day off in a chargrilled grandstand at Lord’s, where the water queues are three times longer than the beer ones. I was stuck in one when Archer got Jaisval just now. Which got me to thinking, what champagne moments have readers been present at but missed due to being stuck on the concourse. There must be people who were in the loo during Flintoff’s magic over at Edgbaston in 2005 for example.
PS the over rates in this Test are an insult to the paying public
7th over: India 27-1 (Nair 5, Rahul 9) Rahul pulls away for four and even when he edges to the cordon, soft hands keep the ball low. He already has a Lord’s ton to his name and knows exactly how to go about it in these conditions.
Colum Fordham writes:
The joy of watching Jofra Archer run up to bowl for England in a test match transcends even the thrill of witnessing the marvellously tigerish batsmanship of Jamie Smith. And to see him snaffle Jaiswal’s wicket is, for me, the highlight of the test thus far. Poetry in motion.
6th over: India 23-1 (Nair 5, Rahul 5) Archer loses his line for the first time, going down the leg side to Rahul. There is a leg slip in position as Rahul, with great skill, deftly drops Archer into the off side to steal a single. A bouncer fizzes through to Nair, who goes all Matrix with his duck. India’s No 3 squirts the ball behind point for two.
5th over: India 20-1 (Nair 3, Rahul 4) Woakes, as brilliant as he is, isn’t the event at the moment. Three off the over as we return to Archer, the headliner.
The OBO’s reach is wide. Kevin Rodgers writes in:
Up in Juoksengi Sweden (pop: 255) on the Arctic circle following Guardian OBO. Perfect blue skies, 24 degrees and - if the locals knew the first thing about the game - a great place for a village cricket match. Unlikely, to happen if I’m honest.
4th over: India 17-1 (Nair 2, Rahul 2) Rahul bunts Archer to get off strike immediately. The quick is getting some very healthy bounce, his third ball clocking in at 91mph. But he’s never been solely about pace. What made him so brilliant in 2019 was the control that came with it, and he maintains a disciplined line outside off to keep Nair quiet.
3rd over: India 16-1 (Nair 2, Rahul 1) Still got goosebumps from that Archer over. Woakes, after a tricky beginning, gets the ball to jag away from Nair, who got starts at Edgbaston. Another jaffa follows moments later, Woakes having found his line with two right-handers now at the crease.
2nd over: India 13-1 (Nair 0, Rahul 0) Archer greets Karun Nair with a 93mph bouncer, the line wide and safe for the right-hander to leave. He’s back.
WICKET! Jaiswal c Brook b Archer 13 (India 13-1)
After four years away, Jofra Archer returns. And it takes him just three deliveries to strike! With the seam angled to the slip cordon, he gets enough movement to catch Jaiswal’s outside edge, with Brook gobbling up at second slip. Archer is pumped, full of joy and release. What a beautiful, beautiful moment.
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1st over: India 13-0 (Jaiswal 13, Rahul 0) Yashasvi Jaiswal cuts the first ball, dabs the third and glances the fourth: four, four, four. What a star he is.
“Dearest Tim.” It can only be Mac Millings. “Inspired – if that’s the right word – by Brian Withington, please allow me to present my All-Time Paul Simon’s Greatest Hits XI. It looks like 10, but there’s a two-for-one bonus in there…
Mrs. Tim Robinson
The Moxon
The Only Living Jason Roy in New York
The Sound of Ballance
Abdullah Shafeecker Street
Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shubman Gill
Key and Hollioake Down By the Schoolyard
50 Ways to Leave Tendulkar
Slip Haddin Away
W.G. Graceland
On that note, it’s time for me to hand over. Thanks for your company, correspondence and song lyrics. To describe Jofra’s comeback, here’s the talented Taha Hashim.
Updated
It’s going to be Chris Woakes to open the bowling from the Nursery end. His Test bowling average at Lord’s is about 13. Mind you, he used to be good at batting here too.
A good spot from Paul Vickers. “Five bowled and five caught behind,” he says. “When was the last time that no fielders were involved in a wicket? Glorified ball-fetchers the lot of ’em!”
Our third and final lyric rewrite comes from Tom Wein, with acknowledgments to Pete Townshend.
Ever since I was a young boy, I’ve watched the red Dukes ball
From Durham to the Rose Bowl, I must’ve watched ‘em all
But I ain’t seen nothing like him, he’s better than Zak Crawl
That wicketkeeping Jamie sure plays a mean Bazball.
Is that a good score? It’s a lot more than anyone else has made in a red-ball first innings at Lord’s this season. But we will only know how good it is when Shubman Gill is out, and maybe not even then.
Wicket! Carse b Siraj 56 (England 387 all out)
Siraj has the last word, spotting Carse’s shimmy across to the off side and spearing in a fine yorker. So England finish with 387, which is a lot more than they looked like getting when three wickets fell at the start of the day.
Jasprit Bumrah, who took all those wickets and returned after lunch to claim his five-for, leads the Indians off the field, raising the ball to the crowd with a big smile. The honours board would have been incomplete without him.
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112th over: England 382-9 (Carse 56, Bashir 1) Bumrah hands over to Akash Deep. He bowls a maiden to Bashir, but the score goes up by two. How come? It’s because the powers that be have swiftly recognised that Carse did hit a six in the last over. So this is not going to be the Bazball innings that didn’t include a six.
Fifty to Carse!
111th over: England 380-9 (Carse 54, Bashir 1) Carse, facing Siraj, decides to throw caution to the wind. He skews the first ball high into the leg side, where Akash Deep gets round well but can’t lay a finger on it: that’s two. He wallops the second ball, a slower one I think, for a straight six – no, the ump has wrongly signalled four, but it’s still enough to take Carse to his first Test fifty. He squirts the third ball into the covers and comes back for a risky two as the fielder (Akash Deep again) aims for the wrong end. And then he’s dropped by Jurel behind the wicket. It’s all happening.
Updated
110th over: England 370-9 (Carse 45, Bashir 0) Shoaib Bashir, after being kept waiting by that nonsense, does well to survive three balls from Bumrah.
It’s been at least a quarter of an hour since we had a delay, but Shubman Gill is now doing something about that. He’s lying flat on his tummy, getting some treatment from the physio. It’s not clear why this isn’t happening in the dressing-room.
Happily, we have an email to entertain us. “Addressing Ian Sargeant’s question in the 102nd over regarding a rubber ring change,” says Adam Horridge, “unfortunately leads to the answer that his daughter can now request a replacement father, with several candidates being brought to the side of the pool.
“I’m flying in from Switzerland for day 4 and have been crossing all fingers that things won’t be wrapped up too quickly. The flurry of wickets earlier was causing some serious squeaky Bumrah time.”
Updated
Wicket! Archer b Bumrah 4 (England 370-9)
Top of off, yet again. And Bumrah is on the honours board!
Updated
109th over: England 369-8 (Carse 44, Archer 4) Siraj seems fired up by the sight of Jofra, not that it takes much. He beats the outside edge, then beats the inside edge with a sharp nip-backer that may leave Jofra with a bruise on his thigh.
Meanwhile Brian Withington has started something. Here’s Peter Higginson, with a nod to a songwriter who is almost as great as Paul Simon.
How many ropes must a ball fly over
Before you call young Smith a man?
How many times must the lads score 500
Against India and Pakistan?
And how many times must this team excite us
Before we stop criticising them?
The answer my friend
Is bowling like the wind.
The answer is
Bowling like the wind!
108th over: England 369-8 (Carse 44, Archer 4) Carse is now the senior partner, a role that suits him. Facing Bumrah, he too plays a thick edge for four, jabs down on a yorker for four more, goes to his highest Test score, and adds two with yet another thick edge.
Updated
107th over: England 359-8 (Carse 34, Archer 4) Archer reopens his account by getting a thick edge that goes for four. He was trying to play no stroke.
Siraj should have had Smith caught at slip for five. Instead he has him caught behind for 51. And here is Jofra Archer, getting a big hand as he returns to the scene of his two great triumphs in 2019 – terrorising the Aussies in an Ashes Test, and holding his nerve to bowl the Super Over in the World Cup final.
WICKET! Smith c sub (Jurel) b Siraj 51 (England 355-8)
This time he does get a nick!
Updated
106th over: England 354-7 (Smith 51, Carse 33) It’s a maiden from Bumrah, who goes past Smith’s outside edge.
The players are back out there. The ball – the third one of the day – is in the hands of Jasprit Bumrah.
An email comes in from Brian Withington. “Inspired by your preambling reference to one of my favourite lyricists,” he writes, “may I offer a verse of ‘Ben and the Bazball’.
It was a slow day and the sun was beating
On the punters inside Lord’s ground
There was a tight fight, a smattering of boundaries
The distant followers of OBO glued to the radio
These are the days of Bazzie and Stokesie
This is the long distance haul
The way the camera follows play in slo-mo
The way we look to hit ball
The way we look to a distant congregation
That’s dying in a corner without Sky
These are the days of miracle and wonder
So don’t cry, Rob Key, don’t cry.
Dying in a corner without Sky ... that’s inspired.
A lunchtime treat
Tom Shaw, who has a day job photographing the England team, has been having a busman’s holiday, taking pictures of grassroots cricket. He has made them into a book, A Portrait of Cricket, from which The Guardian has taken this photo essay. It begins, naturally, with a lost ball.
Lunch: England bounce back after Bumrah's blitz
105th over: England 353-7 (Smith 51, Carse 33) Reddy continues and Smith drives his first ball for four. Some batters wield the rapier, others the cudgel: Smith is half and half, both elegant and murderous. He adds a clip for a single to move to yet another fifty. Dinesh Karthik, his fellow keeper, is full of praise: “What a player he is turning out to be.”
Meanwhile another keeper, Dhruv Jurel, gets a sore finger as the last ball scoots through low. DK may have to spring into action, like Bob Taylor in 1986.
And that’s lunch, with England winning the last hour after the first was dominated by Jasprit Bumrah. Smith and Carse have added 82. Bazball is back, Bumrah is king, Lord’s is Red for Ruth, and Test cricket is once again showing its fabulous tendency to ebb and flow.
104th over: England 345-7 (Smith 45, Carse 32) And here’s Jasprit, looking for an honours board before lunch. Smith, as so often today, takes a single off the first ball of the over. Carse drives the second for four, belting it past cover.
A graphic shows Bumrah’s lengths today: 75pc good, 13pc full, 6pc short, 3pc bouncer. That only adds up to 97: maybe the other 3 per cent went down as sheer magic.
103rd over: England 340-7 (Smith 44, Carse 28) Akash Deep drifts onto the pads, allowing Smith to take an easy two and a single. His batting average in this series is now 200. Take that, Shubman!
102nd over: England 337-7 (Smith 41, Carse 28) Again, no dramas from Reddy.
“Greetings Tim,” says Ian Sargeant. “Lying here sweltering on a Paphos sunbed, I’m flitting between TMS and the classic 80s album New Gold Dream in my ears, whilst my eyes are on the OBO.
“I’m afraid my stomach no longer goes through my daughter’s rubber ring. Does this mean I can get a new one?”
Updated
101st over: England 334-7 (Smith 38, Carse 27) Akash Deep continues and Carse goes for the big heave. He does connect this time, but can only chip into no-man’s-land at deepish midwicket. Akash Deep responds with a warning shot, a bouncer that swings after passing over Carse’s shoulder and goes for four byes, giving the sub keeper, Dhruv Jurel, no chance.
Carse then adds insult to injury with a drive for four. This partnership has rushed to 63 off 13.4 overs. Bazball is back!
100th over: England 324-7 (Smith 38, Carse 21) Jadeja is taken off as Gill turns to Nitish Kumar Reddy, who produced a sensational first over yesterday, dismissing both openers and having Ollie Pope dropped first ball. No such drama today. Carse sees a wide one and flays it for four.
99th over: England 318-7 (Smith 38, Carse 16) Two more singles off Akash Deep’s first four balls … and then India complain about the ball again. Out comes the box. Tick-tock goes the clock. Shubman Gill suddenly looks more cheerful. In 90 minutes this morning, we’ve had 16 overs.
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98th over: England 316-7 (Smith 37, Carse 15) Another minute and a half, another over from Jadeja. Two singles from it. This pitch looks like turning into a slow turner: Root may be needed as a bowler too.
Updated
97th over: England 314-7 (Smith 36, Carse 14) Yes, here’s Akash Deep, who apparently uses both bits of his name, so it’s not right to call him Deep, or even Akash. He keeps it tighter than he did yesterday, restricting each batter to a single, even though Carse tries another of his occasional extravagances.
Updated
96th over: England 312-7 (Smith 35, Carse 14) Now we do get a bowling change, at the other end – Ravindra Jadeja replacing Akash Deep, who may be about to change ends. Jadeja, who is a lovely man but no friend of the live-blogging community, races through his over as usual.
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95th over: England 311-7 (Smith 35, Carse 13) Siraj is asked to continue, which seems a bit harsh. Where’s Reddy when you need him? The batters help themselves to four more singles.
“Fridays are supposed to be light duties, aren’t they?” said an email, a while ago. “I’m in a Teams meeting scheduled to finish at 11.30. Though I was told up front that ‘it shouldn’t go that long’. Ten minutes guys. Stop waffling, the cricket’s on!”
The signature goes like this. “Dan (surname withheld in case any one from (company name withheld) is lurking here))“. Give that man a pay rise.
Drinks: India win the first hour
94th over: England 307-7 (Smith 33, Carse 11) Bumrah gets a breather! He hands over to Akash Deep, who hasn’t been able to recapture the magic of Edgbaston and was quietly demoted when the new ball was taken last night. The batters milk him for five singles, and that’s drinks.
England, thanks to Jamie Smith, have been themselves again – but Bumrah has been way too good for them, bowling Root and Stokes and needing only one ball to get rid of Woakes. It’s been electric.
Updated
93rd over: England 302-7 (Smith 30, Carse 9) Faced with a slow pitch, Smith continues to cruise along in the fast lane. He guides Siraj for two past gully, tucks him off his hip for two more, and clips one that keeps low for a single. His 30 has come off just 29 balls with five fours. Carse is then cut in half, prompting an appeal, but it’s too high for LBW and he hasn’t got a nick.
92nd over: England 297-7 (Smith 25, Carse 9) Bumrah continues, looking for that fifth wicket. Smith is taking guard on off stump, setting himself to keep out the good ball, but when he gets a bad one, a half-volley on middle-and-leg, he has time to adjust, do a little dance step and clip it for four. Carse, by contrast, sees a full toss and can’t get it past mid-on – and he’s no mug with the bat.
In the commentary box, they’re talking about the replacement ball. “You can just hear the sound off the bat,” says Stuart Broad. “It’s softer.” He’s such a good commentator, not least because he listens.
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91st over: England 291-7 (Smith 20, Carse 8) Smith, who can make batting look so simple, punches Siraj past cover for four. And then the Indians ask for a change of ball. They cannot be serious. It’s only ten overs old and it’s been causing havoc.
The ball is changed, and Shubman Gill still ends up wagging his finger at umpire Sharfuddoula. I just don’t know what’s going off out there.
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90th over: England 282-7 (Smith 12, Carse 7) Carse, who shows no fear, cuts Bumrah for four and squirts him for three more. Bumrah retorts with a length ball that jags away the slope, too good for even Smith to get a nick.
89th over: England 274-7 (Smith 11, Carse 0) So the gifted Smith finds himself with the tail again. He takes a single off Siraj’s fifth ball, leaving only the last one to Carse – who dances down the track and misses. The ball dribbles away for two byes.
Meanwhile the emails are piling up. I’m afraid I haven’t had time to read most of them, but here’s one from Simon Dennis. “Given that Bumrah is going through England like a dose of salts,” he says, “please may I trademark ‘JasBall’?
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88th over: England 271-7 (Smith 10, Carse 0) Brydon Carse faces the hat-trick ball … and plays a solid forward defence. Bumrah, who already has a Test hat-trick, is probably more bothered about the honours board. One more wicket and he will be there. Carse almost obliges as he plays at thin air.
Wicket! Woakes c sub (Jurel) b Bumrah 0 (England 271-7)
Woakes wafts, there’s a snick, but the umpire’s finger stays down. India review and UltraEdge shows a nick. Bumrah’s on a hat-trick!
Updated
Boom, boom, Bumrah! Root departs shaking his head. It was an inside edge, crashing into middle stump. To be fair, he nearly got out that way a couple of times yesterday.
WICKET! Root b Bumrah 104 (England 271-6)
He got the world No 1 … and now he’s got the world No 2.
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87th over: England 271-5 (Root 104, Smith 10) If Smith stays in for a while, England’s run rate will be transformed. Facing Siraj, he strokes an uppish square drive for four. And then he’s dropped! Another flash, a thick edge, and KL Rahul at second slip can’t sort his hands out in time to cling on. Smith celebrates with another four, driven along the ground.
86th over: England 261-5 (Root 103, Smith 1) If Stokes hadn’t taken that hare-brained single, he wouldn’t have been facing Bumrah then. Still, he did show a lot of fight: 44 is good going when you’re out of form.
He hands over to Jamie Smith, who is bang in form, and gets off the mark with a clip off his toes.
Yesterday, bowling to Harry Brook, the world No.1, Bumrah took out the top of off stump. Now, bowling to Ben Stokes, the England captain, he’s done the very same thing. Except that one is a right-hander, the other left. Bumrah’s not just a superstar, he’s a surgeon.
WICKET! Stokes b Bumrah 44 (England 260-5)
Bumrah’s done it again.
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85th over: England 256-4 (Root 103, Stokes 40) From the Nursery end it’s Mohammed Siraj, who spent yesterday compiling one of the best none-fors you’ll ever see. He keeps Stokes quiet for five balls, then lures him into a ludicrous single. Jaiswal, at short cover, gathers the ball smoothly, throws off-balance and just misses the single stump.
84th over: England 255-4 (Root 103, Stokes 39) After the four, Root plays out five dots. It was a lovely moment. The ground rose to him, red hats and baseball caps glowing in the sunshine. He clenched his first as he set off for the run. It still means a lot to him.
A hundred to Joe Root!
A loose shot! But he gets away with it, as his waft at a wide ball goes past gully. Root gets four, goes to 103 not out, collects his 37th Test century and puts his name on the Lord’s honours board for the eighth time.
Updated
It’s Root to face Bumrah. On 99!
“Stokes looked a lot better this morning,” Nasser Hussain says. “He was out early with Mark Wood and bowling – bowling quickly.”
Lord’s is a picture, sprinkled with scarlet as it goes Red for Ruth. Ben Stokes and Joe Root stand on the outfield, doing some stretches, while Jerusalem rings out. They shall not cease from mental fight.
The last word for now goes to Steve Hudson. “Stokes has copped it recently for the failings of Bazball (wickets thrown away needlessly when a more careful approach might be better) and now he’s copping it when England score at three an over. He can’t win, can he?
“Personally, I’ve loved watching since Ben‘n’Baz took over (and, having watched since 1975, I’ve watched a lot of Proper Cricket), and now that they are seeming to be willing to refine their approach and be more cautious when appropriate, I like it even more. Carry on boys, you’re doing fine! (although we need to talk about Zach...)“
And now a word from our Scots correspondent. “If it was hard going for England at Lord’s yesterday,” writes Simon McMahon, “try being a Scotland fan. In the T20 World Cup qualifiers they endured a washout against Guernsey on Sunday, beat the Netherlands on Tuesday, suffered a shock defeat to Italy on Wednesday, and are currently 60-5 at the halfway stage against Jersey, and staring elimination in the face. Top two qualify, at the moment that’s looking like Jersey and Italy, who’d have thought?
“Shame for Scotland, but India v Jersey at Eden Gardens would be quite something.”
“Would 320 all out not be a good score,” says James Davey, “on a surface where the highest previous 1st innings score this season is 260?
“The problem England may have is that they called the toss wrong, for a second Test in a row. Everything about Lord’s this season screams ‘bowl first’ and India may well now have the best of the batting conditions in this match. I certainly hope Stokes didn’t succumb to external pressure to bat first. The cheer that went up when it turned out we were batting was wrong-headed in my view.”
“How do you solve a problem like Zak Crawley?” wonders Ben Heywood. “Apparently, Crawley averages 40.50 against bowling over 87mph but only 27.88 against 74-83mph (BBC stat, so I assume it’s true), so even though his place appears ever more precarious based on runs scored in this series, I reckon he’d actually be a reasonable pick against Cummins, Hazelwood and Starc, and would score well down under.
”But…but…does that mean he has to be picked now? Keaton Jennings had a similar fate as a horses for courses opener on sub-continental dust-bowls, and watching Crawley’s jitters yesterday made me wonder if – heresy I know – Sibley or Hameed might not be better choices against this Indian side?
”Just leaving that out there, also in the reverse hope that he smokes a Jessop-baiting century next innings.”
“I think you’re being a touch harsh on the revival of slow cricket,” says Martin Wright. “Personally, I enjoy a good attritional game. Tuning in now and again on a working day is like listening to news from the front as the battle slowly unfurls. A slow pace allows you to keep in touch with events – ‘Ooh, look, the cavalry have advanced another 100 yards...’. With Bazball, you barely had time to catch your breath before the cavalry had routed the French, raced over the hill and invaded Belgium.”
The first email of the day comes from our old friend Krish Krishnamoorthy. “The trick that Ben Stokes and his Bazball have played on the general public,” Krish reckons, “is to make them write requiems for a decent score of 250 on day 1. They may still go on to score 500+ and bowl out India for 200 and enforce the follow-on – all during the day.” True! But they may also lose two wickets to the new ball and struggle to reach 320.
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The pen is mightier than the sopor
Slow cricket can be hard to watch and even harder to write about. But Andy Bull has been on fine form all series and this piece is both stylish and wise.
Preamble
Morning everyone and welcome to the second day of this historical re-enactment. After spending three years trying to make Test cricket exciting, with a fair amount of success, England have suddenly given up and gone back to the 1950s.
Yesterday was the 56th time they had scored 200 in an innings under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, and by far the slowest. They pottered along at 3.02 runs an over. (Even at Ranchi early last year, when Ben Foakes was still on board, they managed 3.36.) And the slowest scorer of all was the captain, who faced 102 balls and hit only three of them for four. Even if he is fit for the next Test, Stokes may have to drop himself for slow scoring.
Perhaps it was the heat. As Paul Simon almost sang, it was a slow day, and the sun was beating on the punters by the side of the field. Perhaps it was the effect of Shubman Gill, who has so spooked England that they now want to play like him. Perhaps it was the return of Jasprit Bumrah, who has the same effect Queen Elizabeth II used to have on her visits to Lord’s – making everyone try too hard to behave properly.
The forecast today is for more of the same. I just hope it doesn’t apply to the batting.
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