Honours probably approximately even. England will certainly have hoped for better, and had Cook held on to his chance at slip with Samuels in his 30s everything might have been very different. But then, he didn’t. Tomorrow’s play will start 15 minutes early, at 2.45pm BST, and we’ll be back with live coverage from two at the very latest. Thanks for sharing the last few hours with me. Bye!
West Indies close on 188 for five, a better position than they ought to have. Samuels fine 94 not out.
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) April 21, 2015
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STUMPS
And that is the end of the day. Almost certainly (the umpires are still in the middle, but the covers are coming on so they’re going to have to move soon).
70th over: West Indies 188-5 (Samuels 94, Ramdin 6)
Ali bowls short, and Samuels thumps it to backward square leg for four. And at the end of the over, the fielders and one batsman leave the field. The umpires and the other batsman stay in the middle.
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69th over: West Indies 184-5 (Samuels 89, Ramdin 5)
Jonathan Trott does some bowling, for the first time (in Tests, anyway) since he bowled Brad Haddin at the Oval in 2013. He concedes two singles, the second of which is the 400th off his bowling in Test cricket. After which, the light meter comes out. We’re supposed to be getting 10 more overs today, but it seems unlikely. Steve Davis announces that it’s spin only from now on.
68th over: West Indies 182-5 (Samuels 89, Ramdin 5)
Stokes bowls, and yields two singles, with the light rapidly fading (though it’s hard to tell on the telly, what with all those clever buttons they’ve got). “Two of the great things about Eddie Hemmings were, first, he allowed commentators to boast of an entire team who had scored first-class centuries (maybe even Test centuries) following his improbable innings as a night watchman against Australia, and, second, he offered hope to the Timothy Spalls of this world that even they might achieve sporting immortality,” writes John Starbuck. Great things indeed.
67th over: West Indies 180-5 (Samuels 88, Ramdin 4)
Ramdin, who sends the ball spinning over short leg, but it lands safe and didn’t, in the end, come off his bat anyway. Moments later, Samuels thunders the ball through cover for four.
66th over: West Indies 174-5 (Samuels 83, Ramdin 4)
“I love watching Kapil Dev’s four sixes,” writes John Culley, as Stokes works through another maiden, “partly because it was eventually a great England win (not Englands best era), but also for bowler Eddie Hemmings’ body language. With his ‘tash and quirky delivery he looks like Captain Mainwaring in Dad’s Army as a scheme falls apart. A very fine cricketer though, 1500 first class wickets and playing for England when over 40.” Always liked Eddie Hemmings, though I honestly can’t remember if it was the tache or the cricket that won be over.
65th over: West Indies 174-5 (Samuels 83, Ramdin 4)
Ali bowls, Samuels grabs a single. Chris Bourne, John Starbuck, Bob Wolstenholme and Rupert Bates are all among those to nominate Garfield Sobers …
64th over: West Indies 173-5 (Samuels 82, Ramdin 4)
The first maiden for a little while, bowled by the still impressive Stokes. “For England cricket fans of a certain vintage it has to be David Gower nicking off to slip after another lazy waft to a ball outside off,” suggests Stewart Graham. “More famous even than his sublime cover drive.”I suppose there’s also the Gatting reverse sweep, for fans of a similar vintage.
63rd over: West Indies 173-5 (Samuels 82, Ramdin 4)
Mighty Mo comes on, and his first delivery befuddles Ramdin, who misses the ball but his swish at it distracts Buttler to such an extend that he does too, and the bowler’s take a leg bye. This brings Samuels onto strike, and he swiftly cracks a fine shot through midwicket, and then steps back to send another past point, both reaching the rope.
62nd over: West Indies 164-5 (Samuels 74, Ramdin 4)
Samuels gets four runs, in two instalments, the last couple after Stokes fields a shot, spins and throws at the stumps at the batsman’s end, missing and donating a couple of overthrows. Stokes and Samuels don’t seem to be particularly pally.
Any of Sir Viv's exaggerated forward defensives. Arrogant beyond belief! Just as bad/worse for the bowler as being smashed! @Simon_Burnton
— Roger Willis (@rogerhwillis) April 21, 2015
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61st over: West Indies 160-5 (Samuels 70, Ramdin 4)
Ramdin came in during the 54th over and scored his first run in the 61st, but he only faced 11 balls in that time, so efficiently was Samuels hogging the limelight. Anyway, he gets a chance to shine and thumps Broad down the ground for four. That’s the scoring done, for this over, Broad continuing to bowl too short too often.
60th over: West Indies 156-5 (Samuels 70, Ramdin 0)
The runs are flowing now. Stokes’ first delivery is dealt with much as the first ball of the previous over, in that it’s cracked away for four. A couple of balls (and runs) later he gets one to swing into Samuels’ pads, prompting a hearty appeal from behind the wicket. The bowler, though, was silent, and the umpire likewise, with the ball heading down leg side. And then the final delivery is edged wide of Root at gully and away for four. Samuels has scored 21 runs off the last two overs, but it’s been wild stuff, and from any given delivery he’s as likely to get out as he is to find the boundary.
“This is of course an unanswerable question,” laments Adam Roberts, “as it will very much depend on which country the person being asked is from, how old that person is and when he or she started watching. It also depends very much on prejudices and favourites. Quite often it is a series of shots as your posted clip of Sir Iron Bottom demonstrates. For me it is probably Kapil saving the follow-on with four sixes.”
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59th over: West Indies 146-5 (Samuels 60, Ramdin 0)
Samuels hits Broad’s first ball down the ground for four to complete his half-century. He celebrates with a wild swish at the ball a moment later, without moving his feet, which got nowhere near the ball. Real trash, that was. And he celebrates that by hitting through the covers for four. Eleven runs from the over.
@1980sSportsBlog @Simon_Burnton There's Gilly's "Yah!" at 3.28 https://t.co/c6LSd9NnVN. Batting's equivalent of the Ball of the Century.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) April 21, 2015
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58th over: West Indies 135-5 (Samuels 49, Ramdin 0)
Jordan continues, and there’s still a bit of movement to be had. Not that Samuels is worried: he defends or leaves the first four, and then thrashes a wide one away for four.
57th over: West Indies 130-5 (Samuels 44, Ramdin 0)
England have spent quite a lot of this session with two gullies in place, but neither of them have anything to do here, as Broad bowls a maiden to Ramdin before the players take drinks. Two nominations for this in the space of three minutes probably can’t be ignored. You can read all about it here.
@Simon_Burnton Slater's first ball of the ashes four at Brisbane. Just topping that makes me shudder
— Diggo Blick (@diggoblick) April 21, 2015
@Simon_Burnton The first ball of the 1994 Ashes series: DeFreitas to Slater, 4 runs. Changed test match batting (& broke my heart)...
— Matt Callcut (@matteoush) April 21, 2015
56th over: West Indies 130-5 (Samuels 44, Ramdin 0)
Maiden over. “Evening Simon,” writes Simon McMahon. Evening. “I don’t wish to be a pedant but by ‘famous’ do we mean ‘well-known’ or ‘best’? If it’s the former then it has to be the forward defensive, even non cricket lovers know that one. If it’s the latter then Botham’s six at Headingley – straight into the confectionary stall and out again – must be pretty close.”
55th over: West Indies 130-5 (Samuels 44, Ramdin 0)
Samuels tries to punish Broad’s first delivery, but doesn’t move his feet at all, mishits the ball and, while it went straight into the ground and was perfectly safe, he did look a bit of a chump. “I think you’re going about this best shot thing the wrong way round,” writes Robin Hazlehurst. “Surely you should choose your favourite shot and then take the greatest exponent of it. So decide that the cover drive is the best shot, then pick Ian Bell, or the hook and Viv Richards, or the forward defensive and, er, Chris Tavare. So who is the greatest exponent of every England test fan’s favourite shot, the nurdle to fine leg?”
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54th over: West Indies 129-5 (Samuels 43, Ramdin 0)
The wicket falls from the fifth delivery, and the sixth is more than decent, Ramdin doing well to leave it well alone.
@Simon_Burnton Will Broad be forcing Broad to apologise to Broad for that missed catch?
— Paul (@PaulOnBooks) April 21, 2015
WICKET! Blackwood lbw b Jordan 26 (West Indies 129-5)
And he was! It’s close, though, Hawkeye suggesting the ball would have struck the top of off stump, but half an inch higher or wider and it would have been umpire’s call. Anyway, it wasn’t.
Blackwood is out for 26, lbw to Jordan. WI 129-5. Watch live on SS2 or follow via: http://t.co/gDAcwH7T5E pic.twitter.com/7o9VIgECLO
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) April 21, 2015
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REVIEW! Is Blackwood out here?
He’s been struck on the pads, sure enough. The umpire was not convinced, but England think he was wrong.
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53rd over: West Indies 126-4 (Blackwood 24, Samuels 42)
Broad bowls, and Blackwood survives two moments of danger: there’s another edge, but this one doesn’t carry to Root at third slip. And then he hits down the ground, through the bowler’s hands and off for four. Do that to Jordan and you’ll probably be caught.
@Simon_Burnton It's a Collingwood nurdle, obviously. Can't better a Collingwood nurdle.
— R. Marr (@RolloTreadway) April 21, 2015
52nd over: West Indies 122-4 (Blackwood 20, Samuels 42)
Jordan bowls a wide. Samuels chases it and nearly reaches it, but can’t quite. The TV cameras show a couple of goats eating shrubs on a nearby hillside. “Good heavens!” cries David Gower, “supper!” It’s impossible not to picture his butler hearing those words, leaping from his chair, fetching his spear and heading off. One of those goats will be slow-roasting within 15 minutes.
51st over: West Indies 121-4 (Blackwood 20, Samuels 42)
Anderson bowls. This is a maiden over. And yes, I suppose my suggestion also fails on a technicality, but then four shots can’t count either. Check the rulebook.
@Simon_Burnton Pietersen's switch-hit wasn't in Test cricket though! How about Kapil Dev's four sixes to save the follow-on?
— Mike Morris (@MD_Morris) April 21, 2015
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50th over: West Indies 121-4 (Blackwood 20, Samuels 42)
Ballance, stuck at long leg with his pads still on during a break from silly-point duties, dives at the deep fine leg boundary to save a couple of runs.
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49th over: West Indies 119-4 (Blackwood 20, Samuels 40)
Anderson, with a man at silly point, bangs the first couple of balls in short in the hope that Blackwood will fend one up in the air. Instead he leans back and flicks one over the slips for four, and that’s the end of the short stuff.
48th over: West Indies 115-4 (Blackwood 16, Samuels 40)
Jordan’s final delivery is a stinker, short and wide and clattered past point for four. Another famous shot suggestion, from David Melody: “A play and a miss – Bradman’s against Eric Hollies, bowled for a duck in his last test innings?!” I don’t think a miss can possibly be cricket’s most famous shot.
47th over: West Indies 109-4 (Blackwood 16, Samuels 34)
“‘It’s the Ashes! It’s the Ashes!!’ – Denis Compton, The Oval, 1953,” proposes Alex Brown, “or is the commentary rather than the shot?” Yes, I’d say that’s all about the commentary. What about the first Pietersen switch-hit?
46th over: West Indies 108-4 (Blackwood 16, Samuels 33)
Dropped! Jordan bowls, Samuels goes for the drive and edges it just to the right of Cook at first slip. It wasn’t the easiest of chances, but it was probably the second easiest of chances. Down it went!
@Simon_Burnton famous shot? Hoggard's cover drive at Trent bridge in 05
— Gm ptapt+ (@Grippo77) April 21, 2015
@1980sSportsBlog @Simon_Burnton Hoggy's
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) April 21, 2015
Two votes (out of two cast) can’t be ignored …
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45th over: West Indies 107-4 (Blackwood 16, Samuels 32)
Anderson is still finding some movement, but it’s of a different order to that he conjured at the start of the day. A leg bye is added to the home side’s score.
44th over: West Indies 106-4 (Blackwood 16, Samuels 32)
Chris Jordan bowls the first of 36 – count ‘em – scheduled overs this session. Blackwood hits between two gullies for four. Here’s an intriguing question I was asked earlier. I don’t know the answer, though I think I can rule out anything played today.
My 8-year-old son just asked me what I thought was the most famous shot in the history of Test cricket! A cracking question. @Simon_Burnton
— Steve Pye (@1980sSportsBlog) April 21, 2015
Updated
Hello again! So we’re heading into a bumper evening session, which will continue until it’s too dark to see anything, essentially. Welcome!
TEA
West Indies 102-4. A good battle between bat and ball out there. Simon will be back to guide you through an elongated final session in about 15 minutes.
43rd over: West Indies 102-4 (Blackwood 12, Samuels 32) Ali will bowl the final over before tea. Samuels scampers a single, then Blackwood does likewise to bring up the West Indies 100. Samuels unleashes a thunking drive to collect two more. And that’s your lot.
42nd over: West Indies 98-4 (Blackwood 11, Samuels 29) Blackwood, looking in decent nick (as well he might after Antigua), punches one wide of the slips for four more. And from the next he gets cut in half by a cracker – it seamed and swing late, coming back past the inside edge and missing the stumps by a whisker. Next up he has a big waft outside off, connecting only with Grenadan air. Stokes gives him a sarcastic clap of encouragement. Fine over.
41st over: West Indies 93-4 (Blackwood 7, Samuels 28) There’s a huge shout as Samuels is thwocked on the pad by Ali. The umpire says no. But England opt for a REVIEW. Might be bouncing over, might be sliding down. And Hawkeye shows the ball clipping the top of leg stump, but not by enough. It was a very good shout, though. And Samuels again takes a single from the last, the only run of the over, to pinch the strike.
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40th over: West Indies 92-4 (Blackwood 7, Samuels 27) Stokes continues to bend his back. Samuels keeps his powder dry … but only for so long. He has a bit of a heave at the fifth ball, squirting a thick outside edge away past backward point for four, then pinching the strike from the last.
39th over: West Indies 87-4 (Blackwood 7, Samuels 22) Ali rattles through another over. Blackwood dances down the track to the last … but only to prop forward and smother the spin. Another maiden.
38th over: West Indies 87-4 (Blackwood 7, Samuels 22) Stokes holds his neck and upper body at a certain angle when arriving at the crease. It’s been bugging me for ages exactly what it reminds me of. And it’s just struck me:
Yep, it’s exactly the angle that the dilophosaurus has with its head after meeting Dennis Nedry in Jurassic Park (1min 57sec) in the clip. Obviously. A maiden.
37th over: West Indies 87-4 (Blackwood 7, Samuels 22) Ali has switched ends here. His first is dragged down and Samuels leaps on the chance to free his arms, cutting away the simplest boundary he’ll score today. He tickles the next away to leg to add another to the tally and Blackwood clips the last away for two more.
36th over: West Indies 80-4 (Blackwood 5, Samuels 17) Stokes’s turn to send down a maiden, this one at Blackwood.
35th over: West Indies 80-4 (Blackwood 5, Samuels 17) “The Medicated Ball-Sponge is a bit of a mouthful,” notes John Starbuck. “Why not The Swab or The Mop? ‘The Mop has just been knocked over.’ Much snappier, eh?” Broad sends down another maiden at Samuels as the sky fills in and things begin to look decidedly gloomy in St George’s.
34th over: West Indies 80-4 (Blackwood 5, Samuels 17) So Stokes, showing no after-effects of that injury earlier, takes a key wicket with his second ball. And he didn’t overstep! Here’s Mike Selvey on his no-ball problem:
Anyone who has read the piece I did the other day about Ben Stokes no-balling might be interested to know that I spoke to Steve Davis about it last night. He said the umpires no longer call tight no-balls in case they are shown to be wrong knowing that if a wicket falls it will be checked anyway. We both agree this is wrong, and unhelpful to a bowler who might think he is OK, but a product of the scrutiny they are under. He also says they do (or at least he does) talk to the bowlers and let them know they might be getting a bit tight on the line. But he also said that Stokes is very inconsistent in that regard.
Blackwood drives sumptuously down the ground (and on the ground) for four.
WICKET! Chanderpaul c Ali b Stokes 1 (West Indies 74-4)
Trouble now! Stokes brings Chanderpaul onto the front foot, and the batsman makes a mistake. It’s only a push but the ball slides off the face and finds Moeen Ali diving forward at point.
Updated
33rd over: West Indies 73-3 (Chanderpaul 1, Samuels 15) Broad and the slip cordon roar an appeal as Samuels is slapped on the pad, but it might be too high and it’s definitely too missing-the-leg-stump-by-a-foot. The last Samuels times through the covers for three. But West Indies aren’t going anywhere fast at the moment.
32nd over: West Indies 70-3 (Chanderpaul 1, Samuels 12) Marlon Samuels moves into double figures by glancing Ali to fine leg for a couple. He’s just struggling for control at the minute.
Mo getting some turn. Needs some overs to get a proper rhythm.
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) April 21, 2015
31st over: West Indies 67-3 (Chanderpaul 1, Samuels 9) Chanderpaul is a kind of ball-sponge – he just soaks up deliveries, drawing the sting from the bowler. So a medicated ball-sponge perhaps. Sure it’s not quite as pithy a nickname as The Wall or the Little Master, but I reckon The Medicated Ball-Sponge is one that’ll stand the test of time. Broad goes through a maiden at … The Medicated Ball-Sponge.
30th over: West Indies 67-3 (Chanderpaul 1, Samuels 9) Chanderpaul gets off the mark with a guide past backward point off Ali. There is plenty of turn for him – Samuels has a bit of a hoik at one that rips past his pads on the leg side and fails to make contact.
29th over: West Indies 65-3 (Chanderpaul 0, Samuels 9) That was an ugly little shot from Bravo, a shame as he’d been batting well. So Shiv Chanderpaul arrives at the crease, bringing with him several day’s worth of food rations and a copy of War and Peace.
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WICKET! Bravo c Cook b Broad 35 (West Indies 65-3)
Broad offers Bravo a full wide one and Bravo smacks him gleefully through the covers for four. He shouldn’t mind that too much, as at least he got Bravo driving, but he’s gone back over the wicket in any case. And – what do I know? – it’s done the trick! Bravo plays a nothing shot at one just short of a length and angled across his body, ending up flicking an edge through to the captain at slip.
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28th over: West Indies 60-2 (Bravo 31, Samuels 7) Thanks Simon. Hello again. Well, that was a scary moment. Whenever a player slides like that memories of Simon Jones come flooding back. Instantly you fear the worst, but Stokes seems OK though he’s stretching the hip muscle between overs. Moeen Ali returns and finds a bit of grip in the pitch. Two from the over.
27th over: West Indies 58-2 (Bravo 29, Samuels 7)
Broad continues, and Samuels gets a single from the first delivery. While fielding it, Stokes goes down hard and apparently painfully, and stays down. Thoughts immediately turn to Simon Jones, his knee having taken the impact when he went to ground, but when he starts moving his hands don’t clutch his knee but his thigh. While he’s being treated the players take drinks, cunningly saving a little time, and by the time it’s all over Stokes is back on his feet and still on the field. At which, I’m off for a bit – John Ashdown will return to take you through to tea. Bye for now!
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26th over: West Indies 55-2 (Bravo 26, Samuels 7)
Jordan bowls a no ball, and Samuels scores a run. This has been a startlingly dull opening to the session, featuring as it has both very few runs and very few useful deliveries.
Any chance of bowling somewhere near those three sticks of wood, fellas?
— John Etheridge (@JohnSunCricket) April 21, 2015
25th over: West Indies 52-2 (Bravo 26, Samuels 5)
“Am I the only one who is a bit worried about Buttler’s keeping?” asks Krishnan Patel, as Broad returns. “The guy isn’t convincing enough with the gloves and hasn’t exactly dragged the team out of adversities with the bat either. I get that he’s an exciting batsman but the way things are going, he’s got dropped-Steve-Smith-at-a-crucial-juncture-costing-us-the-Ashes written all over him.” His handling has looked a little uncertain of late, and that potential certainly exists, but I’m still with him – there may have been hints of potential howlers, but there haven’t been many actual howlers.
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24th over: West Indies 50-2 (Bravo 24, Samuels 5)
After the fourth delivery of the over, there’s a loud outbreak of cheering in the stands. Pictures so some schoolkids waving inflatable plastic noisemaking devices, but don’t explain why they chose that particular moment to wield them. Samuels edges Jordan’s final delivery just wide of gully and away to third man for four.
23rd over: West Indies 45-2 (Bravo 23, Samuels 1)
Anderson bowls just down the leg side and Bravo swishes at it as it passes his buttock. It’s precisely what the leg slip’s there for, but the batsman misses the ball. Samuels has faced 28 balls, 45% of Bravo’s 62, and scored one run, 4% of Bravo’s 23.
22nd over: West Indies 44-2 (Bravo 22, Samuels 1)
The leg slip that nearly brought Smith’s wicket in the first session is back in place. The only problem with the plan is that the one English fielder likely to take the kind of catch dropped by Ballance then is Jordan, and he’s bowling.
21st over: West Indies 43-2 (Bravo 21, Samuels 1)
Anderson bowls another stonker, similar to the one that brought him his wicket, although it started wider so didn’t threaten the wicket, and could be (and was) safely left. Another maiden.
20th over: West Indies 43-2 (Bravo 21, Samuels 1)
Bravo gets a single from Jordan’s first delivery and Samuels does the same from his last, the batsman taking 21 balls to get off the mark.
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19th over: West Indies 41-2 (Bravo 20, Samuels 0)
If I got a penny every time a commentator lamented that England’s bowlers really should pitch it up a bit, I’d be, well, not exactly wealthy, but certainly less exasperated every time I hear a commentator lament that England’s bowlers really should pitch it up a bit. It is perplexing, though, that having spent the first Test labouring in unhelpful conditions, England find ideal swing potential and don’t try to maximise it. Anyway, Bravo gets a single, and Samuels is still letting lunch settle.
Brilliant bowler that he is if Anderson had pitched it up more he would have 3-30 rather than 1-11.
— simon hughes (@theanalyst) April 21, 2015
18th over: West Indies 40-2 (Bravo 19, Samuels 0)
The first scoreboard action since lunch are byes, and there are four of them, Jordan sending the ball across Samuels and way down leg side. Buttler dived over the ball, which was bouncing at the time, and after that there was no stopping it.
17th over: West Indies 36-2 (Bravo 19, Samuels 0)
I don’t know what they had for lunch, but it seems to have settled heavy in West Indies’ stomachs, such is their aversion to post-prandial running. Anderson bowls a maiden too, to the left-handed Bravo.
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16th over: West Indies 36-2 (Bravo 19, Samuels 0)
A maiden from Jordan. Love this picture Imran Khan tweeted a few minutes ago. More cricketers – and people in general – should superimpose cheesy wavy photographs of themselves onto pictures of places they visit, I think. It can only improve global happiness.
Want to thank the people of Karachi for standing with PTI to end politics of fear. pic.twitter.com/jflbf1nWnB
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 21, 2015
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The players are back out, Jordan with the ball in his clutches. Game on!
Hello world!
Well it was worth sitting through any amount of rain to see the delivery that did for Kraigg Brathwaite, an absolute beauty from Anderson. ’Tis but a shame he couldn’t repeat it. Meanwhile, this is a very recent picture from the only webcam I can find in Grenada, which suggests it’s cloudy and choppy but not actually raining:
LUNCH
West Indies 36-2. England’s mini-session you’d have to say. If the rain stays away, Simon Burnton will be your guide to the afternoon action. If the rain doesn’t stay away, Simon Burnton will be your guide to the afternoon rain.
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15th over: West Indies 36-2 (Bravo 19, Samuels 0) Replays show the noises we heard when Smith was given out might well have been bat on ground. There seems to be a gap between bat and ball. No Hotspot or Snicko again, so the batsman opts not to review. Moeen Ali comes on for the obligatory over before lunch. Bravo slams a full toss through midwicket for four, then cuts firmly square of the wicket for four more.
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14th over: West Indies 28-2 (Bravo 11, Samuels 0) Jordan deserved that – it was an excellent over.
sharp chance Smith to Ballance at legslip. Just been placed there. But he edges to Buttler three balls later, who almost drops it too. 28-2
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) April 21, 2015
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WICKET! Smith c Buttler b Jordan 15 (West Indies 28-2)
Bravo flicks Jordan just wide of the man at leg slip for a single, but next up Smith sends one almost right at him. Ballance has to dive to his left, and the ball was travelling, but he’ll be disappointed not to hold on. That’s an escape. Smith celebrates the reprieve with a on drive for two. Conditions are obviously favourable but this is about as well as I’ve seen Jordan bowl. And now he’s got a wicket! It’s full outside off, tempting Smith into the drive and he can only edge through to Buttler. Cue silence in the stands.
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13th over: West Indies 25-1 (Bravo 10, Smith 13) Anderson continues into his seventh over. He goes back over the wicket and loses his line a touch – the batsmen nudge into the leg side for a series of singles.
12th over: West Indies 22-1 (Bravo 8, Smith 12) Chris Jordan replaces Broad at the River End. He finds plenty of movement too, although Smith is able to flick away to leg for a single to bring to an end the run of dot balls. His first four are all a little leg-side, but then he gets it right, swinging one back onto Smith’s pads. There’s a yelp of appeal, but the batsman has got a bit of bat on it I reckon. The last is pitched right up and Smith drives sweetly back down the ground for four.
11th over: West Indies 16-1 (Bravo 8, Smith 7) Anderson almost tempts Bravo into a drive from a wide one, but he’s still struggling to make the No3 play. He does, finally, at the third ball of the over, dabbing down into the gully. The fourth maiden on the bounce.
10th over: West Indies 16-1 (Bravo 8, Smith 7) Broad forces Smith to play but struggles to discomfort the batsman. Another maiden.
9th over: West Indies 16-1 (Bravo 8, Smith 7) Bravo leaves alone outside off as Anderson looks to angle the ball in then move it away. The fourth is a beauty – persuading the batsman to leave but brushing past off-stump by a centimetre or two. Bravo didn’t have to put bat on ball at all there.
8th over: West Indies 16-1 (Bravo 8, Smith 7) Here comes the sun! Broad drags one down and is pulled away by Smith for four, bringing more cheers for the home favourite. The short leg comes out as a result. And Smith is able to play out the rest without fuss.
7th over: West Indies 12-1 (Bravo 8, Smith 3) Anderson goes round the wicket to Bravo and finds some more prodigious swing in to the left-hander. Bravo plays it brilliantly, driving sweetly through the covers for four. Two balls later he squares the batsman up with one that is angled in and jags away – the edge zips low, an inch or two short of Stokes at fourth slip.
6th over: West Indies 8-1 (Bravo 4, Smith 3) You sometimes have to feel a bit sorry for Stuart Broad – Anderson is finding damp Headingley swing, while he sends down six gun-barrel-straight efforts. He looks for the yorker and falls a touch short, so Smith drives the half-volley down the ground for a couple.
Tricky out there. And I reckon I'd have Mo bowling before lunch too. damp pitch often turns.
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) April 21, 2015
5th over: West Indies 6-1 (Bravo 4, Smith 1) Anderson, still finding plenty of movement, squares the left-handed Bravo up a little with a couple then swings one past the outside edge.
4th over: West Indies 6-1 (Bravo 4, Smith 1) Broad, quickly up to pretty much full speed, gets one to nibble away a touch of the pitch and beat Smith’s outside edge. He peppers Smith with back-of-a-length stuff outside off. The last is dabbed down rather uncertainly to gully. This is going to be a tough 45 minutes for the West Indies you sense.
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3rd over: West Indies 6-1 (Bravo 4, Smith 1) You’ll see a few replays of that delivery – it was special. If it had flown straight, Buttler would’ve had to dive to his right to take it; had the stumps not intervened the keeper would’ve been diving to his left. Bravo gets off the mark with a tickle to fine leg as the radar goes awry from the last.
WICKET! Brathwaite b Anderson 1 (West Indies 2-1)
This is a cracker from Anderson. It’s on a length a foot out off but screams in towards the batsman, hooping like a badly-thrown frisbee. Brathwaite can’t lay a thing on it – and who can blame him? – and is helpless as the ball crashes in to middle-and-leg.
Updated
2nd over: West Indies 2-0 (Brathwaite 1, Smith 1) Stuart Broad from the other end, and there are cheers for Devon Smith as he gets the home side off the mark. With his appearance here he’s the first Grenadan to appear in a Test in Grenada. And from the final ball of the over Brathwaite also gets off the mark.
1st over: West Indies 0-0 (Brathwaite 0, Smith 0) So the players are out for a second time, James Anderson is at the end of his run, and play is about to start. He finds a bit of swing – the fourth ball squaring Brathwaite up and going past the outside edge – but it’s all a bit medium pace, all those overs in Antigua perhaps taking their toll. Even so, the last ball catches the edge of Brathwaite’s push forward but drops a foot short of Bell at second slip.
A revised schedule (all times BST)
Morning 4.45pm to 5.45pm
LUNCH
Afternoon 6.25pm to 8.25pm
TEA
Evening 8.45pm to 11pm
And obviously because I suggest that we may get an early lunch, we get news of a late lunch just to spite me. They’ll start in five minutes, with an hour-long session before the break.
“Reading the OBO, listening to Football Weekly and at Grenada’s National Stadium,” writes Kevin Murphy, who is having a fine old time of it. “There hasn’t been a drop of rain here in 10 days (not during the day anyway). Now we’ll have an hour’s worth of play, then lunch at 12.45. Can’t they take an early lunch and crack on through?!”
I reckon an early lunch is on the cards now.
covers coming off but looks as if it is gathering over Bill's mum's again.
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) April 21, 2015
The umpires are out having another look and the covers are coming off.
One positive side to this rain is that Sky have had their advert for their summer coverage on repeat every 10 minutes or so. The music for it is a classic:
I’m pretty sure I nailed this last time I was at the karaoke. That and Boom Shake The Room, obviously.
There’s also play in the IPL. To my left, Daniel Harris has just yelped a BAD WORD so either something very good or very bad must be happening over here. Or, knowing the IPL, it could well be both at the same time.
While it’s raining in the Caribbean, it’s cracking flags here in the UK. Ali Martin is in Cardiff, Paul Weaver is in Hove and Richard Gibson is in Nottingham to bring you all the latest from the county championship in our county cricket live blog.
“Tredwell not ‘unlucky’,” writes Mike Selvey, our man in Grenada. “He did an excellent first innings job, but was well aware of the score. if you can improve a side, you do so and Mo is already a proven Test match cricketer with bat and ball.”
“On England’s team selection, could they realistically have done anything else?” writes Christopher Dale. “Perhaps drop Jordan for Tredwell or Rashid, but otherwise, having selected Trott, it would be nonsensical to drop after two early dismissals to good, swinging deliveries. Ditto, Cook needs runs and time in the middle. If he can recover form, Cook will be a massive asset for England.”
And off they go again! James Anderson was at the end of his run with the ball in his hand … and the rain began hammering down once more.
Out come the players, with the ground still shrouded in cloud.
That England team hasn’t exactly found favour in the OBO inbox:
“Cook and Trott fail, Tredders takes wickets, Tredders gets dropped,” writes Jonny Wilkins. “Very England.”
“If anyone else is having a bad day then perhaps they can be described as having a bit of a Tredwell,” writes Ian Copestake. “Feel for him.”
“Having a Tredwell.” I like that. It’s more of a having-a-good-day-but-getting-no-reward kind-of word. What would be the cricket equivalent of Reaganing?
Play will begin at 4pm BST. That’s around 15 minutes away.
Team news
Moeen Ali comes in for James Tredwell (who Cook confirms is fit enough to play). The West Indies do have an injury blow, though, and it’s a big one: Jerome Taylor is injured, so Shannon Gabriel comes in. Bishoo is in for Benn.
West Indies: Brathwaite, Smith, Bravo, Samuels, Chanderpaul, Blackwood, Ramdin, Holder, Gabriel, Roach, Bishoo.
England: Cook, Trott, Ballance, Bell, Root, Stokes, Ali, Buttler, Jordan, Broad, Anderson.
The toss
Cook calls heads … and that’s how it lands. England win the toss and they’re going to have a bowl.
Charidee time: “I’m running a 100 mile ultramarathon in 11 days’ time to raise money for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research, having done a 50 mile ultra over the South Downs a couple of weeks ago,” writes Oli Smiddy. “Thanks to that, my toenails have gone black and are thinking about falling off, which is a strong look. However, the negative cosmetic impact on my feet will be worth it if I can raise the £1,000 I hope to. If any OBO readers would like to make a donation, they can do so at https://www.justgiving.com/osmiddyultra. Thank you!”
A new toss time: 3.40pm BST. So around 10 minutes away.
What are you up to on Monday? Nothing much? A bit of light mooching? Maybe going home after work to dip bread into anything runnier than bread?
Well, why not do something considerably better? Monday 27 April sees the latest edition of The Cricket Pitch, a cricket and comedy show with Alex Horne, Andy Zaltzman Dean Headley & more. And you can get tickets right here.
Cook and Moores go and have a look at the pitch. I wonder if the team selection has changed with this rain.
The toss will be in 15 minutes. It’s an interesting call now – given the atmospheric conditions, you’d imagine that the teams would both prefer to have a bit of a bowl, although batting last on this pitch might be an issue. We shall see.
Some suggested reading …
While we wait for the toss, why not take a look at today’s Spin from Andy Bull and Mike Selvey’s big match preview.
Some good news. The rain has stopped; the covers are off.
An email: “Re: Preamble, do you think that Trott needs to score a plethora of runs here to keep his place at the top of the order for the next match and the summer?” wonders David Wall, who knows his Three Amigos. “And do you think he knows what a plethora is? Any word on what the pitch is like in general, in contrast to Ned Niederlander are the bowlers going to need camera tricks to look as though they’re going through with any pace at all?”
hammering down now
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) April 21, 2015
A great stat from the boys at Sky: in first-class matches at this ground since 2012 146 wickerts have fallen to spin (at 14.43), while 54 have gone to seam bowlers (at 26.39). The toss, I’m afraid, has been delayed.
A rapid escalation of precipitation:
Persistent fine rain now.
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) April 21, 2015
persistent heavy rain now
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) April 21, 2015
“It’s like standing in a sauna,” reports Sir Iron Bottom from the ground. “Very uncomfortable.” Generally I’d recommend lying down in a sauna, or sitting at a push. Standing up just makes it even more socially awkward. Botham also suggests it’ll be Rashid for Tredwell rather than Ali.
It does look very grey out in Grenada, but the players are out on the field warming up. Even so the toss seems certain to be delayed.
Yes, we have rain at St George’s. Apparenltly it’s quite light at the moment, though there has been a bit overnight too.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news … so I’ll let Lord Selve tell you instead:
Big covers going on.
— mike selvey (@selvecricket) April 21, 2015
Preamble
There’s a scene in The Three Amigos (one of the top-five greatest films ever made, thereisaidit) in which the eponymous trio are searching for El Guapo’s lair and, in order to be shown the way, have to summon the Invisible Swordsman by chanting the magic words and then shooting their guns into the air. They have guns. They have the words written down in a notebook. So it should be simple. Not so: Ned Niederlander (Martin Short) and Lucky Day (Steve Martin, at the absolute peak of his powers) both manage the task without fuss, but Dusty Bottoms (Chevy Chase) sloppily shoots sideways rather than up, inadvertently killing the Invisible Swordsman and thus scuppering their search.
The point is: even the most straightforward of tasks can easily go wrong. Take this Test tour. It was supposed to be a somewhat gentle reintroduction to Test cricket for a beleaguered England side, with a flaky West Indies making obliging hosts. What perhaps wasn’t expected was a new ball pair that have raised questions about the (very different) rehabilitations of England’s openers and a dogged middle-order that, through centuries from Jermaine Blackwood in the first innings and Jason Holder in the second, denied England what should probably have been a 1-0 lead in the series.
So there’s a bit of an edge to this second Test in Grenada. Moeen Ali is expected to come in for the possibly injured James Tredwell and bat at No7, despite Tricky Tredders’ valiant efforts in Antigua, thus providing England with a ludicrously exciting six, seven and eight in the shape of Ben Stokes, Ali and Jos Buttler. I’d personally like to see Mark Wood given a chance ahead of Chris Jordan, though the rumbles coming from the Caribbean seem to suggest that is unlikely.
The signs are this is going to be another tough pitch on which to get a result, and with spin likely to play even more of a role leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo will come into the West Indies XI. England’s to-do list, though, has three key bullet points: runs for Cook and Trott, 20 wickets, and, above all, a win – something they haven’t managed away from home since Kolkata in 2012. The Amigos found their way to El Guapo in the end through different means, but who is going to be England’s German-aeroplane-delivering-firearms-to-a-Mexican-bandit? (There’s a sentence you don’t read every day.)
Play begins at 3pm BST, 10am in St George’s.
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