Alastair Cook surpassed Alec Stewart to become England’s second highest run-scorer in Tests during his gritty opening partnership with Jonathan Trott.
Cook beat Stewart’s mark of 8,463 runs and is now closing in on Graham Gooch’s record of 8,900. The captain’s return to form was a welcome relief after a long lean patch, and won him and the recalled Trott praise from England’s bowling hero earlier in the day, Stuart Broad.
“It was great to see – a bit old school – a Cook-Trott fifty partnership again,” said Broad, who took four for 61 to help dismiss West Indies for 299. “It’s been a few years but there’s some fantastic memories of those two batting together and hopefully we can see more of the same.
“It’s been quite a common theme here that the new ball has got wickets so to have got through [the session] with these two at the crease is a big bonus, they’ve looked fantastic.”
A small technical change overnight paid dividends for Broad in Grenada. He had been disappointed with his pace on the opening day and in the first Test in Antigua, and so spent Tuesday evening studying footage of his wickets over the past two years. Some deliveries were timed in excess of 90 miles per hour, a speed he has not come close to attaining recently.
“We got the message yesterday that we were not bowling enough to hit the stumps,” said Broad. “But sometimes if I try to pitch the ball up, away from my natural length, I end up putting the ball there rather than bowling it.
“My natural method is to hit the deck and use the seam with the occasional ball pitched up. When I looked at the footage, I could see that I was getting in a little too tight on the stumps which tends to mean I fall away in trying to clear my hips out of the way. So my momentum does not always go forward in a straight line.
“I noticed that almost all my wickets were taken from mid crease and that is where I have gone back. I felt my weight going forward and I was really pleased with my spell today.”
