Match report
And here’s Ali Martin’s report.
A thumping win for England to get Harry Brook’s reign off to a perfect start.
More triumphs like this and the comparisons with Eoin Morgan’s team will really gather pace.
Long way to go til then.
Ciao all. Have a lovely evening (at the Cabaret, no doubt)
While we wait for the report to land from Birmingham, let’s have a word from Stuart Broad on Sky Sports:
It was a good bowling performance, I do not think it was anything magical or special.
The batsmen won this game with 400 runs on the board, then the plans became quite simple.
From a West Indies point of view, anytime your number 11 is top scorer, you know you have had a bad day.
“Evening Dan. Willkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome to Harry Brook’s England. Happy to see you, bleibe, reste, stay! May as well end with a Cabaret reference, eh?”
That’s from Simon McMahon.
I’m still at a loss.
Fitting to hear from Eoin Morgan. A few have pointed out that Brook’s first game in charge has similarities with Morgan’s 10 years ago. That story ended with a World Cup win. Just saying.
A pretty seamless day and a dominant performance. [Harry] Brook will have way tougher days than today, but to build a template moving forward, this is as good as you get.
Before a ball was bowled today, Brook wanted more runs, more dominance from his batters, he got 400 runs, and then each and every bowler looked to take wickets.
That allowed him to impart some of the expressive side of his captaincy with aggressive fields. He will sit back, for a short period of time, very content.
Final word goes to the winning captain, Harry Brook:
That was a pretty phenomenal performance from the boys. I just said the same thing I’ve been saying to the press.
As a batting unit I want us to put their best balls under pressure and score big runs. As a bowling unit I want us to work towards modes of dismissals with partners. As a fielding unit I want us to be 100% committed and chase the ball hard.
[Makes cricket really is that simple]
I’m not concerned that no one went big because we got 400 runs. Four of us got 50 plus scores so it was a pretty complete performance.
The tempo of our innings was pretty spot on.
There was a lot of energy on the ball. [Mahmood] got the rewards he deserved.
It’s nice to get the series underway in good fashion.
Next up, Shai Hope, who still has a smile on his face:
This was an experience for me. We didn’t get off to a good start with the new ball. Then we were playing catch up.
Sometimes you have to back your skills. They were striking at eight at one point and let it slip towards the back end trying to keep them under 350. We have some assessing to do before the next game.
It’s about executing when it matters but it’ll take time. We have some inexperienced bowlers but this is international cricket.
We have the quality. We’ve shown in the last couple of months that we have the batting. We didn’t start well either with the bat. Playing catch up was difficult.
Now for the post match presentation, kicking off with the player of the match.
Who else but Jacob Bethell who hammered 82 off 53 balls:
It’s pretty special to play here [his home ground] for the first time with England. To cap it off with a win is special.
I enjoy batting in the middle order. Today was a pretty easy situation to come in. We were pretty on top so just had to not give my wicket away and build with Jos.
I back myself once I’m in to hit a lot of balls to the boundary, so I don’t mind [absorbing some dots early on].
[On playing in the IPL] I found it really beneficial. I feel I’m a better play having played in India.
England win by 238 runs
Harry Brook’s reign gets off the a perfect start. Runs galore, wickets spread about, fantastic fielding including five catches from the man himself; maybe this skippering business isn’t so hard after all.
West Indies were poor, it has to be said. But England were ruthless in a game that’ll have echoes of Eoin Morgan’s start 10 years ago.
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WICKET! Jospeh b Rashid 12 (West Indies bowled out for 162)
England win by 238 runs! At last Rashid lands a googly in the right spot and beats the forward press of Joseph. He knocks back his off stump and secures England’s second largest win in ODI cricket.
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26th over: West Indies 162-9 (Joseph 12, Seales 29) This partnership of 38 for the 10th wicket is the highest of the innings. Cricket can be a strange sport sometimes. Carse is into the attack once more but he’s getting the same tap as the rest. A short ball is mowed down to a vavant mid-on for four by Seales.
One for the stattos among us, delivered by TerryM in Tucson:
“Nine down and all out caught. How frequent are all batsmen in a 50-over match all out caught?”
My guess is that it’s happened loads of times. But you never know. Maybe this is rare?
25th over: West Indies 156-9 (Joseph 11, Seales 24) Rashid is now going at 10 an over! Bizarre final partnership of this match. Seales goes 6, 6, 4 against with slog sweeps from three consecutive balls.
24th over: West Indies 139-9 (Joseph 11, Seales 7) The tailenders won’t go down without a fight. Joseph whips a couple off Overton and then pulls hard behind square for four. Handy stuff.
23rd over: West Indies 133-9 (Joseph 5, Seales 7) After I called him England’s best white ball bowler, and one reader went one better and called him England’s best white ball player, Rashid hasn’t quite delivered. A looper floater is clobbered over cow corner for six by Seales. The rest of the over is all over the place. I suppose even GOATs have off days.
22nd over: West Indies 124-9 (Joseph 3, Seales 0) Clever bowling from Overton. Short, short, short, short and then a fuller slower one to bag the wicket. He’ll be pleased with that, showing some nous to go with his grunt.
WICKET! Motie c Brook b Overton 18 (West Indies 124-9)
History for Harry Brook! It’s the first time a captain has taken five catches in ODI cricket, and he’s done in his first game at the wheel! Top bowling from Overton who landed four short balls before getting delivering a fuller one with all the pace off. Motie couldn’t help himself but was through the shot before the ball reached him. The skier into the off-side was safely pouched and England are one away from a thumping win.
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21st over: West Indies 123-8 (Motie 18, Joseph 2) Motie can play! And against Rashid no less. First he belts a drive for four through the covers. Then he slaps a cross-bat six down the ground. And just to show his range, he sweeps fine for another four. Get him up the order!
20th over: West Indies 107-8 (Motie 4, Joseph 1) Motie leans into a cover drive that could well be the shot of the innings. Overton will be annoyed at that. He’s found success banging it in short, as he did in this over to bag his second of the evening.
The West Indies’ lowest ever score against England in ODIs is 127.
Not that it mattered. They still won the game by two wickets back in 1981.
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WICKET! Forde c Mahmood b Overton 1 (West Indies 102-8)
Overton gets another with a short ball! They’re falling fast now. Overton bangs it in, Forde goes after it but can only splice it down to deep third where Mahmood takes it clean. Will they even reach 25 overs?
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19th over: West Indies 102-7 (Forde 1, Motie 0) Rashid is on the board. Earlier I called him England’s greatest ever white ball bowler.
Tom Hopkins thinks I’m not heaping enough praise on the man:
“Hi Daniel. I might go you one better and posit Rashid as England’s greatest ever white ball player? Thinking of our most successful side, I think only Morgan (in a different way) comes close in terms of irreplaceability.”
WICKET! Jangoo c Brook b Rashid 14 (West Indies 102-7)
That’s a fourth for Brook! Not Rashid’s best ball, but this short one kept a smidge low which meant Jangoo couldn’t generate enough lift with his pull shot. It was hit relatively hard but not hard enough to beat the diving Brook who is now one away from a fielding five-for. England’s fielding has been perfect.
18th over: West Indies 100-6 (Jangoo 12, Forde 1) Overton has another as the West Indies continue their disappointing slump. New batter Ford isn’t going to hang about. He’s charging his second ball and slogging at everything sent down his way. What do you reckon? All out by the 25th over?
WICKET! Chase c Jacks b Overton 9 (West Indies 97-6)
The trap works! That’s pretty poor it has to be said from Chase. This whole innings has been poor from the tourists but England have been ruthless. After taking Chase surprise with a short ball that lifted, Overton dug it in again. Chase goes after it but hoiks it straight to Jacks in the deep on the leg side. The ball dipped on the fielder just as it got to him, but they don’t drop those at this level.
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17th over: West Indies 97-5 (Jangoo 11, Chase 9) Adil Rashid enters the scene. Out of the frying pan and into the fryer as far as the Windies are concerned. Though it’s not the tidiest over from England’s greatest ever white ball bowler (no, who else then?). Six runs – all in singles – from that one as he struggled on a consistent line with a couple of half-trackers chucked down as well.
16th over: West Indies 90-5 (Jangoo 8, Chase 6) Overton is back. His finger is clearly bothering him as he’s grimacing after every ball, but he’s managed to send down six balls. Well, seven with the wide. There’s a half appeal for a strangle down the leg side but it clipped Chase’s thigh pad.
15th over: West Indies 85-5 (Jangoo 4, Chase 5) West Indies’ Test skipper, Roston Chase, clobbers Bethell’s final ball for four. It deserved it, that rank half-tracker. But it’s a successful set from England’s new boy wonder, removing Andrew thanks to a diving catch by Brook in the covers.
Do we know if Andy Flintoff (not that one) and Tim Smith are in fact the same person?
Who are they? Apparently two different readers who are on the same page.
Here’s Andy:
“Hi Daniel, To borrow an old (and possibly hackneyed) phrase, the West Indies had two hopes: Shai Hope and no hope, and now Shai Hope has gone, the end looks inevitable.”
Here’s Tim:
“Daniel, We are running out of options in the nominative determinism stakes for the W.Indies. Carty did not cart (enough); Hope is out, and so it is up to Chase to lead them home, I guess.”
I don’t want to come across as if I’m discouraging this sort of behaviour. Please, keep it coming.
WICKET! Andrew c Brook b Bethell 8 (West Indies 79-5)
Oooooh, they’re halfway thee-eere! It looked soft, and perhaps it was, but that’s a sharp catch from the skipper at extra cover. Bethell gave it some air and some width and Andrew took the bait. His drive was fluffed to Brook’s left where he took a clean grab on the dive.
14th over: West Indies 78-4 (Andrew 8, Jangoo 3) Mahmood continues, and why not? I’d be tempted to just bowl him through. He’s on the money, challenging the stumps of Jangoo from both sides of the wicket. One wide in that otherwise perfect over. Duckett at leg gully was briefly in the game, but Jangoo’s flick came off the glove so didn’t have the legs to reach him.
West Indies are in a deep, deep hole.
13th over: West Indies 77-4 (Andrew 8, Jangoo 3) Bethell’s back and young Jengoo hoists him high and long for six over wide long-on. That’s some shot. It won’t matter much in the end I wouldn’t think, but that’s a pretty handy opening boundary. I wonder how many other teenagers notched their first ODI boundary with a six.
While you ponder that and the players have a drink, why not have a think about this mail from Seth Levine:
Am I alone in thinking Saqib Mahmood has been under-selected for England? His first class figures (87 wickets at near enough 32) aren’t bad and against Stokes’ and McCullen’s main metric (he looks like a wicket-taker against good batsmen), he must be worth more than the 2 tests he’s so far been given (over 3 years ago). Weird he isn’t more in the conversation.
He’s been brilliant today, no doubt. But he does average 31.97 from 34 first-class matches. And though he’s quick-ish, he’s not rapid. I’d be surprised if he adds to his Test tally. What say the rest of you?
12th over: West Indies 70-4 (Andrew 2, Jangoo 2) Mahmood keeps picking up wickets from bad shots or great fielding, but he absolutely deserves every one. He’s been magnificent, thwacking a hard length and real pace with a bit of zip. The new man is the left-handed Amir Jangoo who is welcomed to the crease with a leg gully and two filders catching in front of square on the leg side. It’s funky but he’s not bothered and he spoons a pull for two to get off the mark. There’s an lbw appeal that was pretty close on ball tracker, but it was scooting past the off stump. An eventful over brings England closer to what now looks like an inevitable victory.
WICKET! Hope c Carse b Mahmood 25 (West Indies 66-4)
STUNNER IN THE DEEP! Think Ben ‘You-Cannot-Do-That’ Stokes in the opening game of the 2019 World Cup and you’ll have some idea of what Carse has just pulled off. Mahmood banged it in short and Hope got on the hook. Carse, down at deep backward square leg, got caught under the ball and had to back peddle. He still wasn’t there and had to leap while sticking a hand out. He clung on with the ball a little behind him. A proper screamer.
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11th over: West Indies 66-3 (Hope 25, Andrew 2) All, ahem, Hope, lies with the Windie’s skipper. He pounces on some rare dross from Carse and lashes a cut shot over cover-point for four. Carse finds that hard length but Hope gets two and then a single to keep the strike. Good wheels from Carse, nudging it around 86 mph.
Readers, take note. This is how you start an email:
Hello Daniel, and congratulations on topping the OBO bill with Rob Smyth as your support act.
Rob as my ‘support act’. Not a chance. But I’m very open to flattery, even if it’s wildly untrue.
There’s more, though, to Tim Sanders’ message:
Rob mentioned the ‘irresistible parallels with the last time England had a white-ball reset a decade ago’. It’s notable that the three top-scorers in that 408 for 9 against New Zealand, are also the survivors from that XI still in the team today. Buttler (129), Root (104) made centuries. The third is the all-round magnificent Adil Rashid, who made 69, and at one point was matching Buttler stroke for stroke.
Sometimes the narrative arcs beautifully.
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10th over: West Indies 58-3 (Hope 18, Andrew 1) Brilliant from Mahmood. For the fourth and fifth time in five overs he finds the inside edge of a wafting bat. The first time gave Hope a single and the second gave Hope four down to fine leg. Between that Carty plopped a catch to Brook at mid-off and 18-year-old Jewel Andrew collected a single from his first ball in ODI cricket.
After the first powerplay of this second innings, England are absolutely cruising.
WICKET! Carty c Brook b Mahmood 22 (West Indies 53-3)
Another soft one but it’s no less than Mahmood deserves! He’s been brilliant. Back into the attack and changing ends after Overton’s broken digit, he’s hammering a tough length on a tight line. Carty tries to force the issue off the back foot but that’s not the ball to be pulling. Rather than pivot and work it to the leg side, he scoops it to Brook at mid-off who snaffles the sitter.
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John Starbuck has more Cabaret yarns for those of you who’ve been following this thread from the first innings.
Can’t claim to be in on the joke, but I’m here to please:
9th over: West Indies 52-2 (Carty 22, Hope 12) Carse continues and keeps it nice and full. Brook saves three runs with some athletic fielding at mid-off, keeping Hope’s bunt down to one. Carty, after getting bogged down for three balls, goes in search of a boundary off the last delivery and scoops one high into the leg side. Mahmood circles it but can’t get there and the batters come back for two.
8th over: West Indies 49-2 (Carty 20, Hope 12) Bethell is tidy after replacing Overton, but for the second over in a row, Carty hits a boundary off the final ball. A bit of air from Bethell gives him enough time to clear the front leg and heave it up and over the infield towards midwicket.
Overton has broken his finger! He’s into the attack and his second ball is bunted back at him by Carty. He stuck out a big right hand but met the hard nut with his dangling pinky finger. As soon as it made contact he was running at full tilt straight off the ground and up the stairs. He knew immediately that something wasn’t right. Bethell will finish the over.
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7th over: West Indies 44-2 (Carty 16, Hope 11) Mahmood finds a probing length so Carty decides to knock him off it with some aggression. One is plonked down the ground for two but a pull shot is creamed through midwicket for four. They’re going at over 6 but they need to be touching 8.
Brook has kept the leg gully for both bowlers but they’ve not tested the batters with short stuff.
Well, apart from one Mahmood bumper that hit Greaves’ helmet and almost brought them a wicket.
Might want to bang a few more halfway down. It’s a great wicket. They’ll get reward for their efforts if they bend their back.
6th over: West Indies 38-2 (Carty 10, Hope 11) Hope is up and running. He’s off the mark with a dab through the covers for two and then picks up two boundaries, first with a thick outside edge and then with a perfectly timed push down the ground. A single into the covers keeps him on strike before Carty scampers one to mid-off. A little loose from Carse there. He lost his length throughout that over.
5th over: West Indies 26-2 (Carty 9, Hope 0) Mahmood is getting it to zip through but Carty is meeting him with soft hands and playing it right under his eyes. He gets four with nothing more than a steer that finds the gap between cover and point and then drops a single behind square on the off side. Looks a player. He’ll need to go big and deep if he wants to be on the winning team.
4th over: West Indies 17-2 (Carty 1, Hope 0) Another top set from Carse who is nailing an impeccable length around a fifth stump line. A thick edge was worth four for King who flashed at some width. Then King collected three off his pads. Carse tightened up thereafter and unfurled a jaffa to remove the opener. How do the Windies recover from here?
WICKET! King c Buttler b Carse 10 (West Indies 17-2)
My word that’s a peach! Angled in to the right hander, shaping away off the deck from a great length, not sure King could have done anything else other than hang his bat out and hope he missed it. He didn’t. A lovely sounding snick is followed by Buttler’s cheers and England have another.
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My favourite South Africanism is “picking up stompies”, after the Afrikaans slang word for cigarette butts. It refers to joining conversations that didn’t include you from the start. Like smoking someone else’s already smoked ciggie.
Why am I telling you this? Because I’ve just received a mail from Paul Lakin about Cabaret and I don’t have a clue what it’s about. So, at the risk of picking up a stompie, here’s the mail in full. Hope it makes sense:
Belatedly catching up on the OBO and the Cabaret chat. If Brian Withington (24th over) is worried about modern UK mirroring the Tomorrow Belongs To Me scene, he should check out the brilliant (but chilling) Spitting Image spoof. It was broadcast just after voting closed in the 1987 General Election and I still remember watching it in trepidation. (Well I was actually watching it in Reading, but you know what I mean…)
3rd over: West Indies 8-1 (King 3, Carty 0) Mahmood deserved a bit of luck after bowling a luckless top over first up. Caught at mid-off isn’t a classic fast bowler’s wicket but he earned that. The new man Carty is in good nick so his team will be hoping he can them out of this.
WICKET! Greaves c Brook b Mahmood 4 (West Indies 8-1)
How soft is that!? Greaves leaned forward to a fullish ball from Mahmood and simply spooned the simplest of catches to Brook at mid-off. Calling that tame doesn’t capture how meek it was. Brook’s skippership (that’s a word, right?) is thrumming along quite nicely.
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2nd over: West Indies 8-0 (King 3, Greaves 4) Carse opens from the other end and starts with a wide but follows that up with six dot balls. He held a fifth stump line to King who either picked the cover fielder or wafted and missed entirely. Neat bowling that.
“Hello Daniel,” well howdy Andrew Benton. “Cricket is a bowlers’ game - England’s batting was smart, sensible and measured, let’s hope that their bowling will be, too.”
I’m guessing (hoping) that your tongue is causing a dent in your cheek.
1st over: West Indies 7-0 (King 3, Greaves 4) That’s a great over from Mahmood though he went wicketless and coughed up seven. All the runs were off inside edges down to fine leg, and though he saw the umpire’s finger go up, after bumping Greaves and Buttler taking the ‘catch’ behind the stumps, a review showed it clipped helmet not glove or bat.
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Mahmood will take the new ball. Still questions over the white ball bowlers. With a monster on the board, time for a few to shine.
If Windies win, so will England.
Don’t believe me, believe OBO regular John Starbuck:
I’m hoping the Windies win this one as it would benefit the entire series and thus cricket itself. It would be a notable achievemnt and well worth while. England can only improve by facing a winning side.
If you thought it was a tough act to follow England and Jacob Bethell, I’m on after the brilliant Rob Smyth!
But like the Windies batters I’ll face my job with my chest out and as much optimism as I can muster.
Get in touch with an encouraging email if you like.
Do you reckon the tourists can pull this off? I’d be staggered if they do. Then again, this could be the run chase of their lives. This could be the OBO of my life. The world is full of endless possibilities. Let’s be having it!
Daniel Gallan will be here for the runchase, which begins in 10 or 15 minutes. Thanks for your company and emails, goodnight.
There are irresistible parallels with the last time England had a white-ball reset a decade ago. On that occasion they made 408 for 9 against New Zealand in their first ODI after a shambolic World Cup. We shouldn’t carried away, but nor should we should we ignore the fact they’ve pumped 400. South Africa, 2027: IT’S ONLY JOLLY WELL COMING HOME!
It was very much a team effort from England, with the top seven all scoring at least 39. Jacob Bethell top-scored with a I’m already struggling to find the right adjectives and he’s 21 years old with 82 from 53 balls, Harry Brook played some memorable strokes in his 58 and Jamie Smith (37 from 24 balls and Will Jacks (39 from 24) looked good in their new roles.
I say it was a team effort, and it was, but my brain only has room for Jacob Bethell right now. He’s amazing.
England post 400 in an ODI for the sixth time
50th over: England 400-8 (Carse 3, Rashid 2) The last ball of the innings flies away for four – which takes England’s total to exactly. The last time they scored 400+ was against the Netherlands three years ago in Eoin Morgan’s final series; all five previous 400+ scores were under Morgan’s captaincy.
“I’m surprised you’re not familiar with Cabaret given how it has a soundtrack perfectly suited for cricket,” says David Wall. “There’s the lament of the struggling batter ‘Maybe this time’, the pleading ballad of the selector trying to convince other sceptical panel members of the merits of their favourite ‘If you could see her (through my eyes)‘, and the anthem of the IPL-auction-pick ‘Money, Money’. There’s probably some link between ‘Two Ladies’ and post-match celebrations there as well but not on a family OBO.”
If only the poster in my local Blockbusters has been the proper one.
CABARET
STARRING JOEL GREY AND ALYSON REED
BOOK BY JOE MASTEROFF
BASED ON THE PLAY BY JOHN VAN DRUTEN
HAS A SOUNDTRACK PERFECTLY SUITED FOR CRICKET
WICKET! England 393-8 (Bethell c Hope b Seales 82)
Jacob Bethell’s charming knock ends when he chases a wide one and gets a thin edge through to the keeper. Bethell top-scored with 82 from 53 balls, including eight fours, five sixes and – how’s this for a gear change – 44 off the last 15 deliveries.
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49th over: England 393-7 (Bethell 82, Carse 2) Alzarri Joseph has Carse swinging and missing to end a frequently excellent spell of bowling, far better than figures of 10-0-69-2 suggest.
One over to go, seven needed for England to score 400 in an ODI for the first time under a captain not called Eoin.
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WICKET! England 391-7 (Overton c Chase b Joseph 1)
Roston Chase takes his second magnificent catch of the day. This was even better than the first. Overton flat-batted Joseph miles in the air, back over his head. Chase charged back from mid-off, kept his eye on the ball and swooped forward to take a two-handed catch at full stretch. The standard of modern fielding is mind-blowing.
48th over: England 391-6 (Bethell 82, Overton 1) Beth, our beautiful baby Beth, moves into the eighties with a stylish back cut for four off Greaves. That is consistently one of his best strokes.
West Indies are behind on the over rate so they can only have four men outside the circle for the last two overs.
WICKET! England 385-6 (Jacks c Hope b Greaves 39)
Another one bites the dust in England’s danger zone between 37 and 60. Jacks top-edges a very short slower ball through to Hope to end a really promising knock of 39 from 24 balls. We know he can hit; it looks like he can death-hit as well.
Forde's over smashed for 24
47th over: England 379-5 (Bethell 73, Jacks 39) Will Jacks comes to the party in spectacular style, muscling Forde for a six and four fours – all on the leg side. There was plenty of finesse to go with the power, particularly in the way he bisected the men at cow corner and long-on off the third delivery.
Two wides, both attempted yorkers from around the wicket, make it 24 from the over. Told you 400 was on.
There has been a pattern to the middle-order innings today: bat carefully for around 15 balls, then cook. Root aside, they haven’t had a cruising speed.
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46th over: England 355-5 (Bethell 73, Jacks 14) Bethell reaches well wide of off stump to thump Seales between extra cover and mid-off, a perfectly placed stroke. He follows that with the most beautiful drive over mid-off for six, then a reverse ramp for four. Off a no-ball, which means a free hit, but Seales averts further damage with a wide yorker. Even so, that over disappeared for 19.
In 2005, a skunk-haired gentleman called Kevin Pietersen bulldozed his way into England’s Ashes XI through his white-ball performances. We’re not there yet with Bethell - and he might be in the Test team anyway - but his strokeplay in the last 15 minutes has been pretty undeniable. Bethell is, without exaggeration, one of the greatest 21-year-old cricketers England have ever had.
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The camera cuts to Rishi Sunak and Clive Lloyd having a laugh and a joke in the stands. “Well well well,” says Mark Butcher on Sky. “Couple of leaders there – one of them a great one.”
Jacob Bethell races to 43-ball fifty
45th over: England 336-5 (Bethell 59, Jacks 14) Bethell, playing his first game for England on his home ground, swishes Joseph to fine leg for four to reach a lovely fifty. He rode his luck early on but has outlasted Joseph and now he’s winning their duel; a mighty pull for six makes that abundantly clear.
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44th over: England 322-5 (Bethell 48, Jacks 12) Jacks is essentially the new Liam Livingstone, a potentially destructive hitter and handy spin bowler, and unless he has an Audi you’d expect him to be given time to learn such a different role.
Bethell is still learning cricket full stop, though you wouldn’t know it from watching him play. He races from 38 to 48 in the space of two deliveries from Forde: slap through the covers for four, pull over long-on for six.
43rd over: England 307-5 (Bethell 36, Jacks 10) The impressive Alzarri Joseph returns to the attack. In his previous spell he beat Bethell for pace with the short ball at least four times. Bethell is undeterred and pulls a flat six that clear the man on the fence at backward square leg. We don’t really talk about Bethell’s steel but in his short international career I can barely recall him taking a backward step.
Even with that six it’s a good over from Alzarri – until he spears the last ball onto Jacks’ pads and is put away to fine leg.
42nd over: England 293-5 (Bethell 26, Jacks 4) Even at this late stage, a wicket has an impact on the intent of the batting team. No big shots are played in Greaves’ penultimate over, which yields five low-risk singles.
That entry about England potentially scoring 400 has aged well.
41st over: England 288-5 (Bethell 26, Jacks 1) Will Jacks, in a very different role at No7, is the new batter.
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England’s top five batters have all fallen between 37 and 60. That’s a first in any form of international cricket, men’s or women’s.
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WICKET! England 287-5 (Buttler c Forde b Seales 37)
Another England batter sticks two fingers up at Magnus Magnusson. Buttler is the fifth man to start but not finish – he has just hoicked a slower short ball to cow corner. Clever bowling from Seales, who has been very expensive but has also dismissed the two boys of 2019.
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40th over: England 283-4 (Buttler 33, Bethell 26) Greaves stalls the England charge with a superb over that includes two dot balls to Buttler and three to Bethell.
Despite that, England still have an outside chance of making 400. Since you asked, they’ve done so five times in men’s ODIs, all under Eoin Morgan: New Zealand 2015, Pakistan 2016, Australia 2018, West Indies 2019 and Netherlands 2022.
Given Harry Brook’s remit – in short, MEGA, although really it should be MEWBSGA – there would be a nice symbolism in them doing it today.
39th over: England 282-4 (Buttler 32, Bethell 26) Bethell follows Buttler in hitting 10 from two balls. Gudakesh Motie is his victim, a lofted reverse sweep for four followed by a lusty orthodox sweep into the crowd at cow corner. Anyone fancy a Beth Burger?
The Spin
Incidentally, thanks very much for both your emails about yesterday’s Spin. I’ll reply individually when I can, probably tomorrow as I need to type up my barely decipherable notes.
38th over: England 270-4 (Buttler 30, Bethell 16) England have hit only three boundaries in six-and-a-half overs since the fall of Brook, and two of those were false strokes.
Can we change that to the past tense please? Buttler has hit Greaves for 10 in two balls, a languid drive over mid-off for six followed by a tennis swat to the same area. That first shot deserves a Buttler Burger of its own.
Talking of sharp lift, is there anybody reading who was a regular at Surrey in the mid-to-late 1980s? If so, please please please drop me a line at rob.smyth.casual@theguardian.com
37th over: England 257-4 (Buttler 19, Bethell 15) Alzarri Joseph ends a fabulous over, the best of the innings, with a sharp lifter outside off stump that beats Bethell.
36.5 overs: England 257-4 (Buttler 19, Bethell 15) Joseph whacks Bethell in the gut with a lovely bouncer that beats him for pace. The follow-up is a slower off-cutter that squares Bethell and takes an edge that falls well short of the keeper Hope.
This is a fine spell from Joseph, who has no luck when a very sharp bumper hits Bethell on the helmet and flies away for four leg-byes. That means a break in play while Bethell is assessed for concussion.
Actually those four runs have been given to Bethell. He certainly thought the ball brushed his glove before hitting the helmet; nothing on UltraEdge but the umpire agreed.
36th over: England 252-4 (Buttler 18, Bethell 11) Chase wheels through another useful over for West Indies, the third in a row without a boundary. You’d expect something to give pretty soon.
35th over: England 247-4 (Buttler 1, Bethell 9) Bethell, usually so deadly on the pull, cloths one off Joseph that lands safely on the leg side. Joseph roughed Jordan Cox up with the short ball in the winter and has a way of making it really zip off the pitch. Later in the over Bethell shapes to cut and then thinks better of it.
34th over: England 242-4 (Buttler 13, Bethell 6) Chase returns with a tight over that goes for only a couple. Like Brook, Buttler and Bethell are giving themselves 15 balls or so to get their eye in. England will still be eyeing 350+, maybe 400.
33rd over: England 240-4 (Buttler 12, Bethell 5) Alzarri Joseph, back into the attack, is worked nicely off the hip for four by Jacob Bethell. Buttler’s first boundary is more fortuitous, an inside edge wide of leg stump when he is surprised by some extra bounce. Is it me or does Alzarri pretty much always bowl better than his figures (in this case 5-0-29-1) suggest.
“This chap Forde worries me,” says Richard O’Hagan. “He looked in good nick against Ireland. My club side, the legendary Penn Street CC, played against him a few years ago and the only way we could get him out was to deploy our own Steve Smith, a man whose bowling action makes Paul Adams’ look normal. Mark my words, England will come to rue not picking Dan Lawrence for this series.
32nd over: England 231-4 (Buttler 8, Bethell 0) Every wicket forces England into a partial reset. But some of the good work is undone when the captain Hope concedes four overthrows in an attempt to run out Buttler.
31st over: England 221-4 (Buttler 3, Bethell 0) Duckett, Root and Brook have all fallen between 57 and 60. It’s the first time in ODI history that three players have been dismissed in that particular window. I’d need to check but I think Pakistan’s match against West Indies at the 1975 World Cup was the closest before today.
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WICKET! England 221-4 (Brook c Carty b Seales 58)
Another very timely wicket for the West Indies. Brook hit two more boundaries off Seales but then slammed a cut that was well taken by Carty at deep point. As Mike Atherton says on Sky, Brook almost hit it too well.
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Brook races to half-century
30th over: England 210-3 (Brook 50, Buttler 3) A no-ball from Forde means a free hit for Brook, who backs away like Peter Such and lashes a boundary over the tight off-side field. The second part wasn’t like Peter Such.
Nor was that, a fast-handed hook into the crowd at fine leg. A single takes Brook to a stylish fifty from 41 balls, with three sixes and three fours. It’s been a two-paced innings: 13 from the first 18 balls, 37 from the next 23. He is so much fun to watch.
29th over: England 197-3 (Brook 38, Buttler 1) Buttler, who is in form after an excellent IPL, pushes his second ball for as single to get off the mark. A quiet over, three from it.
28th over: England 194-3 (Brook 36, Buttler 0) A fortuitous boundary for Brook who charges the new bowler Forde and edges a cut between the keeper and short third.
27th over: England 188-3 (Brook 31, Buttler 0) That was the last ball of the over.
WICKET! England 188-3 (Root c Hope b Seales 57)
Jayden Seales strikes in the first over of a new spell! It started poorly, with a freebie to Root, but ended with a wide, full-length tempter that Root snicked through to the keeper. He goes for 57 from 65 balls; next up is Jos Buttler.
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26th over: England 178-2 (Root 51, Brook 26) Brook, on 13 from 19 balls, signals a gear change by running down the pitch to launch Greaves over mid-off for six. That’s a beautiful shot, even if it comes at a cost: the Sky commentators Mark Butcher and Eoin Morgan start discussing how he “breaks his wrists” at the point of contact, and now I’m pretty sure both my wrists are going to crumble before the end of this sentence.
Yeah, about that gear change. Two balls later Brook falls onto his right knee and ramps Greaves for six more. In the commentary box, Morgan immediately to Rishabh Pant’s signature shot. Brook, in the space of one over, has lifted his strike rate from 72 to 113.
Fifty for Joe Root
25th over: England 162-2 (Root 50, Brook 13) Motie sees Brook and drags the ball down in the hope of stumping. Brook has plenty of time to adjust his feet and wave the ball into the off side for a single. Later in the over a cut from Root brings up a low-risk, almost no-risk half-century from 60 balls. He plays this kind of innings so often that he really should register the trademark.
24th over: England 157-2 (Root 47, Brook 11) “I’m guessing Simon McMahon (3rd over) is channelling the Emcee in the 1973 Cabaret film played superbly by Joel Grey, who won a Best Supporting Oscar for his chilling portrayal,” says Brian Withington, outing me as the uneducated commoner I am. “It’s a role also played on stage by the likes of Eddie Redmayne more recently.
“He uses the said words in his introduction to the KitKat Club punters in his entertainingly ironic manner. However the scene I always recall is in the Biergarten where a single boy starts singing Tomorrow Belongs To Me in a pure voice before the camera pans down and you realise his ‘affiliation’, and then gradually the whole crowd joins in. Obviously it could never happen here …”
23rd over: England 152-2 (Root 44, Brook 9) England continue to deal in singles when Motie is bowling. He has struggled for wickets of late bur remains a reliably thrifty bowler. Since Motie’s debut in 2022, his ODI economy rate of 4.37 is behind only one other bowler among the top 10 teams. Yes of course it’s Jasprit Bumrah.
22nd over: England 148-2 (Root 42, Brook 7) Brook batted majestically as stand-in captain against Australia last summer, ending the series with scores of 110* (94), 87 (58) and 72 (52) in consecutive games.
He’s taking some time to get his eye in here, which makes sense with almost 30 overs still to bowl. That and Root’s natural tempo – 42 from 51 balls today – has enabled West Indies to keep England to 24 from six overs since drinks.
21st over: England 145-2 (Root 41, Brook 6) Another tight over from Motie, who has yet to concede a boundary after four overs. It all looks pretty innocuous on TV but the subtle variations make him a very slippery customer.
20th over: England 140-2 (Root 39, Brook 2) Harry Brook (c) is the new batter.
WICKET! England 137-2 (Duckett c Chase b Greaves 60)
Duckett has gone! Justin Greaves takes the wicket but he owes both Roston Chase, who took a storming catch, and Gudakesh Motie for drying things up at the end. Duckett, boundaryless for 23 balls, was starting to get restless and flashed a fullish delivery towards backward point. Chase leapt to take a beautiful one-handed catch, reminiscent of Roger Harper in his pomp. Ain’t no bigger compliment.
It was still a fine innings from Duckett, 60 off 48 balls with seven fours and a six.
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19th over: England 137-1 (Duckett 60, Root 38) Duckett is starting to get frustrated by Motie’s accuracy. One shot bounces short of mid-off; another, on the run, isn’t timed properly and goes to long-on for a single.
18th over: England 132-1 (Duckett 57, Root 36) Greaves is timed beautifully through mid-off for four by Root, who then survives an LBW appeal after walking across his stumps. West Indies only have one review left and they are right not to use it – the ball was going down the leg side.
17th over: England 126-1 (Duckett 56, Root 32) Motie is bowling around the wicket to Duckett, trying to cramp him for room. He manages that with a couple of dot balls, then adds two more to Root later in the over.
Drinks: England race to 124-1
16th over: England 124-1 (Duckett 55, Root 31) Justin Greaves also comes into the attack. His first over, the last before drinks, goes for only five.
West Indies have managed to stop the boundaries, with none in the last 23 balls. Now they need a wicket.
15th over: England 119-1 (Duckett 52, Root 29) At the best of times, the left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie is a key man for West Indies in white-ball cricket. These are not the best of times. He starts with a decent over that is milked for six, no boundaries.
Fifty for Duckett
14th over: England 113-1 (Duckett 50, Root 25) No boundaries in Chase’s fourth over but England still manage to milk seven runs, including a smack for two that brings up an excellent 34-ball fifty from Ben Duckett. This is Duckett’s 12th ODI since he was promoted up the order against last summer. In that time he has made 618 runs at 62 with a strike rate of 115.
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13th over: England 106-1 (Duckett 47, Root 21) Alzarri starts his fourth over with a rank bad ball that Root flicks behind square for four. That brings up England’s 100 from only 12.1 overs. They’re on course for a biggie.
12th over: England 98-1 (Duckett 46, Root 15) Root reverse sweeps Chase mischievously for four to move into double figures. He’ll be 36 during the 2027 World Cup so it makes sense for England to work on the assumption he’ll bat No3 in that tournament – while still looking at alternatives when Root is rested from bilateral series.
11th over: England 91-1 (Duckett 45, Root 9) Duckett swishes and misses at Alzarri Joseph, who so far has been the best bowler by a Proclaimers song.
“It’s definitely not news anymore that Duckett is doing it again,” says Luke Dealtry. “Are we getting to a point where Ben Duckett is an all-format cricketer we should speak of in the same breath as Joe Root, Ben Stokes and YJB? He’s certainly our best all-round opener since Marcus Trescothick (who am I forgetting?). I think due to his more low-key and lengthy journey to get to this point, people haven’t really caught on yet.”
I wouldn’t put him in that company yet – he’s not at Root’s level and hasn’t yet played as many matchwinning innings as Stokes and Bairstow. Yet yet yet.
I like the Trescothick comparison. Both make batting look easy and Duckett’s record is reminiscent of Trescothick in 2005, when he was the unsung hero of England’s Ashes win with lots of tone-setting innings between 25 and 90. I still worry slightly about the bounce in Australia but in this form you’d trust Duckett to find a way.
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10th over: England 90-1 (Duckett 44, Root 8) Duckett, reaching a long way outside off stump, top-edges a sweep that lands fractionally short of Andrew near deep square leg.
Chase then bowls a no-ball. He’s an offspinner FHS! Root pings the free hit over backward square for his first boundary. That’s the end of an excellent Powerplay for England.
“Tom Van der Gucht’s email over brought back a long forgotten memory (no, me neither…) of a Jamie Oliver show where he knocked up one of his own ‘Botham Burgers’,” says Mark Lewis. “Surely the only other example of a cricket-related eponymous foodstuff?”
What about the ‘Tim’ David Sandwich?
9th over: England 81-1 (Duckett 42, Root 2) A tight over from Joseph is loosened when Duckett ramps the last ball over everyone for four, prompting even Alzarri to smile.
Duckett is playing beautifully, but I’m not sure that’s news any more.
8th over: England 75-1 (Duckett 37, Root 1) Roston Chase, West Indies’ new Test captain, comes into the attack. It’s brave bowling spin to Ben Duckett in the Powerplay; he saunters down the track to thump six over midwicket. A two and three singles make it a good over for England.
“Morning Rob (it’s 8.30am here in Ottawa),” says Eddy Nason. “Loath though I would be to lose him, Ed Barnard at Warwickshire has been piling up runs and wickets the last few seasons and has a handy partnership-breaking habit with the ball.”
Does he not open in the One Day Cup? I guess he knows what he’s doing at No7 and is definitely worth a look if England Lions ever start playing 50-over games again. Having a proper seamer at No7 would be ideal.
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7th over: England 64-1 (Duckett 27, Root 0) That was the last ball of the over, and the end of a promising cameo from Smith: 37 from 24 balls.
WICKET! England 64-1 (Smith c King b A Joseph 37)
Brandon King takes a superb catch to break the opening partnership. Jamie Smith smashed a pull off the new bowler Alzarri Joseph towards midwicket, where King got hit head out of the way, reversed his hands and took a sizzling two-handed catch.
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6th over: England 59-0 (Smith 37, Duckett 22) By his high standards, Jayden Seales is all over the place. Smith hits successive boundaries with a back cut and a clip over midwicket, both from really poor deliveries. You still have to put them away and Smith is doing that with a flourish: 37 from 21 balls with seven fours.
5th over: England 46-0 (Smith 27, Duckett 19) England’s new opening partnership are playing nicely. Smith gets those hands high to drive Forde over mid-off for four and drive another boundary through the covers. The second shot was beautifully timed.
Smith has 27 from 16 balls, Duckett 19 from 14.
4th over: England 34-0 (Smith 15, Duckett 19) Seales overpitches twice to Duckett and is punished with efficient flicks to the midwicket boundary. Ben Duckett, 30 years old and totally at peace with his game, is an increasingly remarkable player. I’m not sure there has ever been an England opener quite like him.
“Can’t help but feel England’s team looks a tad lop-sided,” says James Brough. “Seven front line batsmen and then batting down to Adil Rashid at no 10 - all well and good. But the bowling looks a bit optimistic. Three seamers, of whom Overton has not yet convinced at international level, and Rashid. But then you have to cobble together 10 overs from Root, Jacks and Bethell. If just one frontline bowler has an off day, I think we could have problems.”
I’d agree with that, but at this stage – even allowing for the rankings table – I think it’s good to play around with the XI. When Australia won the World Cup in 2023 they had four bowlers (better than England’s, I realise) plus Maxwell, Head and Marsh. No7 is such an important position and at the moment we don’t really have anybody, so the team will be slightly unbalanced either way.
Ben Duckett leaves the ball again!
3rd over: England 24-0 (Smith 14, Duckett 10) The ball after crashing Forde to the point boundary, Duckett offers no stroke for the second time in the innings. I just don’t know what’s going off out there.
“It may be a new dawn and a new day, but are you feeling good, Rob?” says Simon McMahon. “The OBO is a like a KitKat Club for sports fans. Leave your troubles outside. So, life is disappointing? Forget it. In here, life is beautiful. The cricket is beautiful. Even the live bloggers are beautiful!”
I want to whether this is a reference to a recent speech, Simon. But given the repetition of the word ‘beautiful’, I’m slightly scared.
2nd over: England 17-0 (Smith 13, Duckett 4) Jayden Seales starts with a very low full toss, possibly accidental, that hits Smith on the foot as he whips across the line. West Indies go up for LBW but it would have missed leg stump.
Smith is dropped two balls later, a very tough diving chance to Greaves at second slip, and then there’s an LBW review when he misses a clip across the line. It looks a poor review to the naked eye, and even worse on UltraEdge. Missing leg by a distance.
An eventful over ends with successive boundaries for Smith, a flowing extra cover drive and a wristy clip through mid-on. Lovely stuff. It’ll take time to get used to such an unfamiliar position, but Smith has everything you need to be a seriously good ODI opener.
“Exciting times,” says Tom Van der Gucht. “I’m a big fan of Brook and live in the village he hails from where the local butchers (Spauls) makes a speciality sausage called the Burley Banger. That feels like a suitable nickname for our new captain. He seems like one of the good guys – I’m pretty sure I spotted him a few weeks ago in the village nets doing some throw downs for a local lad.”
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1st over: England 5-0 (Smith 1, Duckett 4) Ben Duckett leaves his first ball, a Halley’s Comet moment that elicits chuckles from Nasser Hussain and Eoin Morgan chuckling in the Sky box. He’s then beaten either side of a typical punch through extra cover for four.
Matt Forde, a tricky little nibbler who should do well in English conditions, will open the bowling.
Team news
West Indies are without Sherfane Rutherford and Romario Shepherd, who are still at the IPL. The teenager Jewel Andrew is a last-minute replacement for Evin Lewis, who took a blow in training just before the toss.
England Smith, Duckett, Root, Brook (c), Buttler (wk), Bethell, Jacks, J Overton, Carse, Rashid, Mahmood.
West Indies King, Greaves, Carty, Hope (c/wk), Jangoo, Chase, Andrew, Forde, A Joseph Motie, Seales.
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Ali Martin’s series preview
West Indies win the toss and bowl
It’s a very windy afternoon in Birmingham; Harry Brook isn’t asked what he’s have done.
England named their team yesterday, with Jamie Smith getting first crack as Ben Duckett’s opening partner. Will Jacks at No7 is an interesting choice. It feels odd to see him so low but England desperately need a reliable death-hitter so it’s worth a try.
England XI Duckett, Smith, Root, Brook (c), Buttler (wk), Bethell, Jacks, J Overton, Carse, Rashid, Mahmood.
Preamble
It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day. Harry Brook’s reign as England’s white-ball captain begins with a three-match ODI series against West Indies, starting today at Edgbaston. The start of a new era is inevitably the main focus, but we shouldn’t lose sight of the C-word: context.
England’s one-day form has been sufficiently miserable that they are eighth in the ICC rankings, three points above West Indies. Only the top eight will qualify automatically for the next World cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia at the end of 2027.
There’s still a fair way to go – the cutoff point is March of that year – but England need to get their white balls in a row sooner rather than later. Today would be a perfect time to start.
The match starts at 1pm.
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