Devon Smith scored a half-century as West Indies ended day four on 98-2 needing to survive 90 overs to draw, or score another 340 runs to win
That’s all from me. John and I will be back tomorrow to see this first Test through to its denouement, so do join us then. In the meantime, here’s Alex Hales on how he’s been mucked about by England, and a World Cup that was “an embarrassment – and that is probably being generous”.
Asked whether, having been dropped four games into his one-day career last November and playing just five of 18 internationals since, he felt mucked about, Hales replied: “Honestly, yes I do. I don’t feel like I’ve had a proper crack at it yet. I played the back end of last summer against India, did OK without setting the world alight, and since then it has been the odd game, coming in, dropping out again. I think that is a fair thing to say.”
Hales, who needed to score three of England’s four highest Twenty20 scores to convince the selectors he was worthy of a one-day debut last August, has also rejected the claim made by some that his game was “worked out” by India’s bowlers during that first, brief spell in the 50-over side.
Play closes with West Indies 98-2 England need 8 wickets tomorrow! #WIvEngpic.twitter.com/gelB3qCnS2
Gary Ballance has done a little end-of-day talking:
A very good day. Pretty much perfect. It would have been nice to get a few more wickets, but it’s a flat deck now and to get two wickets this evening puts pressure on them for tomorrow.
It was only four bad knocks, but it was in a World Cup so it was disappointing. I’ve worked hard and I’m glad to put it right here. It probably looked quite scratchy but I don’t mind about that. To kick on and score runs when the team needs it is a huge boost to myself. We knew we had to get through the first hour this morning, and to get 130 overs at them is what we wanted. We’ve got a lot of overs to bowl them out on and hopefully we can do that tomorrow.
40th over: West Indies 98-2 (Smith 59, Samuels 2)
Broad bowls the day’s final over and Samuels scores its only run. England would have been hoping for some swing, and with it a clatter of wickets. They’ve found no swing, and have laboured hard for their two wickets. There’s a lot of cricket in this yet.
39th over: West Indies 97-2 (Smith 59, Samuels 1)
Joe Root bowls the day’s penultimate over, with close fielders surrounding the bat at all angles. The spinners are the only ones to have got any encouragement this afternoon, but there will be no fairytale second wicket for him here. A maiden.
38th over: West Indies 97-2 (Smith 59, Samuels 1)
Broad bowls, and the batsmen take a single each. Incidentally, we’ve got an interesting story, relating to the England cricket team, in tomorrow’s paper. The web version goes live at 10.30pm BST, in approximately 20 minutes. It’ll be worth staying up for, I promise.
37th over: West Indies 95-2 (Smith 58, Samuels 0)
There will be three more overs today. Root has the fourth-last, and there’s another edge – this one comes off Smith’s bat and goes almost to the same spot as Bravo’s. Jordan, though, had edged to his left and was wrong-footed, getting nowhere near the ball, which ran away for four.
36th over: West Indies 91-2 (Smith 54, Samuels 0)
Broad returns, and to Smith with a silly mid-off in place at the start of the over, and to Samuels with a short leg by its end. England have used all sorts of short thises and silly thats today. “I was having a glass a of whiskey and preparing myself for bed after a day with the french administration,” writes Ant. “All is well. Or was well, until you allowed yourself to announce runs from a Tredwell over. This was quite unexpected and shocking. I have poured another whiskey to brace myself, but please, in future, when you have such startling information to give, is it too much to ask that you forewarn your vulnerable public?” Many apologies.
35th over: West Indies 90-2 (Smith 53, Samuels 0)
A wicket maiden from Root, and England have some encouragement at the fag-end of a long session. Root ran off celebrating his wicket, arm aloft, like he was Alan Shearer and had just scored at Wembley, but it was all about Jordan. What a beautiful catch it was, a moment that just grows more phenomenal with repeated slow-mo viewing.
What fabulous hands Chris Jordan has! It’s a solid nick from Bravo but the ball heads fast between a static Buttler and Jordan, who throws out his right arm and plucks it from the sky, just like that.
what an astonishing catch at slip by Jordan off Root to get rid of Bravo with the close in sight. Just astounding.
I do not believe in almost 50 years I have seen better than that.
34th over: West Indies 90-1 (Bravo 32, Smith 53)
Shadows lengthen, fans start to give up on actually watching the cricket in favour of concentrating on booze and dancing. And just then, Smith edges past a diving Jordan at slip and to third man for four, and he has a half-century!
33rd over: West Indies 86-1 (Bravo 32, Smith 49)
Joe Root is the all-action hero of this innings. He’s been at slip, he’s been diving around at point, padded up at silly point, and now here he is bowling. It’s another maiden.
32nd over: West Indies 86-1 (Bravo 32, Smith 49)
Tredwell bowls. You’ll never guess what happens. Smith celebrates a 10th over in the 40s, having faced 32 balls in that time.
31st over: West Indies 86-1 (Bravo 32, Smith 49)
The good news is that West Indies aren’t scoring, allowing England to focus on wicket-taking without fretting about possibly mistiming their declaration. The bad news is that England can focus on wicket-taking all they like, they still haven’t looked much like taking any since tea.
30th over: West Indies 85-1 (Bravo 32, Smith 48)
Tredwell bowls, and someone scores runs! Four of the little blighters! Bravo it is, who boshes the fourth ball in the air but perfectly safely through cover. Incredible scenes.
29th over: West Indies 81-1 (Bravo 28, Smith 48)
Ooooh! A mildly forced ooh, but still, we take all our ooh opportunities right now. Smith tries to cut, you see, and missed the ball by a smidgeon. The sixth over since the drinks break, and they’ve brought six runs.
28th over: West Indies 79-1 (Bravo 27, Smith 47)
Tredwell bowls, and after a couple of deliveries Root dons helmet and settles in at silly point, but he’s not presented with any catches. Another maiden for Tredwell, who was last scored against (a single) 28 balls ago.
27th over: West Indies 79-1 (Bravo 27, Smith 47)
Smith cuts square, and Root saves runs with a fine one-handed stop as the ball bounced up past his left shoulder. A couple of singles off the over, largely down to that and other good fielding.
26th over: West Indies 77-1 (Bravo 26, Smith 46)
Bravo steps back to work some room to cut the ball, misses it completely and is exceedingly fortunate to see it fly an inch wide of off stump, after which many English heads are in English hands. Another Tredwell maiden.
25th over: West Indies 77-1 (Bravo 26, Smith 46)
Smith’s last Test half-century was in 2010 (sure, he didn’t play between 2011 and 2014, but still). He’s four runs away from another now, after snatching two from that last Stokes over.
24th over: West Indies 75-1 (Bravo 26, Smith 44)
During the drinks break, Broad, Anderson and Jordan get together for a bit of a bowlers’ union chinwag. Tredwell isn’t invited, but it’s he who gets things going again as we head into the day’s final hour or so. It’s a maiden – his six overs so far have cost six runs, and 50% of them have been scoreless.
23rd over: West Indies 75-1 (Bravo 26, Smith 44)
Stokes bowls, and Smith waits for the fifth ball, which gives him too much width and is cut away for four. Still, no no balls, which is something. And the players will now have a bit of a drink. Someone slip Anderson some spinach.
22nd over: West Indies 71-1 (Bravo 26, Smith 40)
The bowlers aren’t getting much assistance here, but hat tip to the batsmen, who aren’t giving them the slightest scrap of encouragement and are still scoring when given the opportunity.
21st over: West Indies 68-1 (Bravo 26, Smith 37)
Tredwell looks the most likely to provide a breakthrough for England, at least until they manage to work on the ball enough to possibly coax some reverse swing out of it. And to be fair, Tredwell doesn’t look a lot like providing a breakthrough. Still, a maiden.
20th over: West Indies 68-1 (Bravo 26, Smith 37)
Broad continues, with only one slip now in place, along with a short leg and gully. Bravo grabs a single, before Smith cuts the last ball for four.
19th over: West Indies 63-1 (Bravo 25, Smith 33)
Tredwell’s back. “Loving it there, Tredders!” a team-mate yells, approvingly. There’s a thrilling moment when it seems the ball might have flicked Smith’s bat, but then Buttler doesn’t hold it, and it probably didn’t flick his bat anyway. Bravo gets a single.
18th over: West Indies 62-1 (Bravo 24, Smith 33)
Broad bowls and Smith cuts venomously, where the ball is well fielded by Stokes. No matter – the next ball is hooked to midwicket for four. You know the sense of swelling excitement you get, watching Test cricket, when the fielding side is pushing and probing and a wicket feels imminent? That is not the sense anyone has right now.
17th over: West Indies 56-1 (Bravo 24, Smith 27)
Another over, another nice cover drive from Bravo, though Anderson fields this one before it reaches the rope. And then another edge, which carries about two yards before landing nowhere near anybody. “We’re doing the right things here!” shouts someone, from near the wicket. “Come on! CJ!” England are doing fine, but the wicket is flattening and there is little hint of a breakthrough.
16th over: West Indies 52-1 (Bravo 20, Smith 27)
Anderson’s given up, and Broad replaces him. Bravo welcomes him by nailing a cover drive that zips away for four.
15th over: West Indies 47-1 (Bravo 15, Smith 27)
Jordan bowls the ball across Smith, who swishes and mishes. There’s another lbw appeal as well, but it’s a rubbish one, the ball pitching outside the line. No wickets, then, but no runs either.
easy to seduced into the idea that the game is foremost a vehicle to get jimmy to a record.
14th over: West Indies 47-1 (Bravo 15, Smith 27)
Anderson’s long walk to history gets longer and longer. Smith edges, but along the ground all the way, and between the slips and the gully for four, and then pushes the ball through cover, with an absolute lack of violence, and gets three. The final ball is full and straight and hits Bravo in his pad – there’s a loud appeal, a shake of the head from Billy Bowden, and no review, everyone having spotted, or heard, the inside edge.
13th over: West Indies 40-1 (Bravo 15, Smith 20)
Nice timing from Smith, who doesn’t move his feet or and indeed doesn’t need to before flicking the ball off his ankles through midwicket for four, and then pokes a wide ball square for a couple, and flicks off his pads to midwicket again for three. The target is now less than 400 away.
Think Stokes more skiddy bowling might be more effective than Jordan
12th over: West Indies 31-1 (Bravo 15, Smith 11)
Anderson’s toil continues, with scant sign of swing, despite the cloud and the wind. Bravo works the ball off his hip to square leg for a couple, and that’s yer lot, runwise.
not much swing for jimmy. trying to vary angle instead
11th over: West Indies 29-1 (Bravo 13, Smith 11)
Jordan replaces Tredwell, and Bravo hits him down the ground for three. The bowlers seems to take a great deal of time between deliveries, strolling in a leisurely manner back to the start of his run-up, like he’s out for a walk on Hampstead Heath on a Sunday morning.
10th over: West Indies 26-1 (Bravo 10, Smith 11)
Smith raises his bat and allows Anderson’s penultimate delivery, angled into him from round the wicket, to pass through to Buttler, but it only just misses off stump on its way.
9th over: West Indies 24-1 (Bravo 10, Smith 9)
Smith drives for three, and the other five balls are all dots. A very emphatic lack of hurry emanating from all parties at the moment – England have time and runs to play with, and West Indies have their eye on nothing but still being out there, with wickets in hand, in a day’s time.
8th over: West Indies 21-1 (Bravo 10, Smith 6)
Anderson slams the ball into Smith’s pads and provokes a big appeal. On TMS Swann says “I think that’s going to be given out!” but it isn’t, and there’s no review, and it looked high.
A huge LBW shout by @jimmy9. Not out!! Only a matter of time before he gets a wicket to equal the record!
7th over: West Indies 17-1 (Bravo 7, Smith 5)
Tredwell wasn’t just an almost-tea, might-as-well throw-of-the-dice, because here he is, back again afterwards. “I live in Guadeloupe, the next island down from Antigua, and can report that it’s a beautiful afternoon,” writes Barney Jeffries. “This probably doesn’t have much bearing on the match, and I think the wind’s blowing in the wrong direction anyway. Really, I just wanted to make the point that I’m living in the Caribbean. Did I mention it’s a beautiful afternoon?” Harumph.
6th over: West Indies 15-1 (Bravo 7, Smith 3)
Anderson bowls. Three slips, gully and Root at short leg gully who, had he been a standard, common-or-garden short leg would surely have caught Bravo when he nervously fended the ball up into the air, but as it is didn’t. Then Bravo goes for the drive, which takes a thick edge and flies wide of a diving Jordan at gully and away for four.
Hello again!
So, without pausing to locate a bush, let alone beat around one, the players are back out and we are roaring towards cricket at breakneck pace.
West Indies 9-1. England are looking good. Simon Burnton will be joining you after tea to talk you through the procession to 65-3 by the close …
5th over: West Indies 9-1 (Bravo 1, Smith 3) A bit of tricky Tredders before tea. “Why not Tredders?” chirrups Buttler from behind the stumps. He gets a couple to grip and bounce up towards the shoulder of Smith’s bat, then another to rip past the outside edge. And that’s tea.
4th over: West Indies 9-1 (Bravo 1, Smith 3) They’ll probably squeeze this over and one more in before tea. Broad clonks Bravo on the shoulder with another well-directed bouncer. And it’s a maiden.
3rd over: West Indies 9-1 (Bravo 1, Smith 3) The batsmen take turns working single, much to Anderson’s chagrin. He requests a fielder moved out of the catching cordon and into a run-saving. Cook says: ‘You’re havin’ a giraffe’, or words to that effect.
2nd over: West Indies 7-1 (Bravo 0, Smith 2) A fine over from Broad. While Anderson has his eyes on top spot, his partner in crime edges up closer to the top six in the all-time list.
This is great bowling from Broad. Brathwaite punches down the ground for a couple, then flicks into the leg for two more. But Broad sends down a very useful bouncer, neck high, and Brathwaite fends helplessly to the man at short leg.
1st over: West Indies 3-0 (Brathwaite 1, Smith 2) Brathwaite gets off the mark immediately, flicking a loosener off his hop for one, and Smith does likewise, though with a couple steered past square leg. From the penultimate ball of the over Smith inside-edges rather uncertainly onto his pad, but he survives. One down, 139 to go for the West Indies. Still two to go for Anderson.
Jimmy Anderson paces out his run for what could be a record breaking spell. Two wickets required. Bit of this perhaps …
England are in The Huddle.
Some showers over to the east
Jimmy Anderson to Beefy: "Get ready for a broken f*****g record."
A musical interlude:
The timing of the declaration means that we’ll have the standard 10 minute break between innings and then a mini-session for England’s quicks to get stuck in before tea.
And with that England have declared. They’ll have to hope that those slightly pointless 10 or 15 minutes won’t prove costly. I have funny feeling that they won’t in the end, but we’ll see. West Indies will need to chase down 438 to win.
People often call for declarations earlier than they should, but this is pretty much wasted time for England. Roach returns and Buttler swipes at everything, picking up two down the ground that brings up the 50 partnership from 40 balls. Jordan is bowled, but the replays (which eat up a bit more time) show it’s a no ball from Roach. Then Jordan picks out Bravo in the deep.
85th over: England 327-6 (Buttler 55, Jordan 12) Lead by 431 Holder has reverted to World Cup mode here, firing in yorkers in an attempt to slow the scoring. A flat-batted softball swipe from Buttler whistles to wide midwicket for four more. Then we get DOUBLE REVIEW ACTION! First the West Indies appeal for a caught behind as Buttler looks to thwack to leg (there’s about a foot of air between bat and ball) and the very next ball Buttler reviews as he’s given out lbw. It’s an absolute shocker from umpire Davis – pitching outside leg and missing leg. That’s enough surely. But Stuart Broad is still padded up
84th over: England 321-6 (Buttler 50, Jordan 11) Lead by 425 Hello again all. A cheese-and-tomato-sandwich-fuelled John Ashdown returning to take you through to tea. Get in touch:email john.ashdown@theguardian.com or tweet @John_Ashdown. England are swinging and swinging hard now. They have enough runs on the board, really, but they want more. Buttler clubs a vicious six down the ground off Benn, then scuttles through for a single that takes him to his third Test 50. The standard TV-applause-shot shows the England balcony, where Stuart Broad is padded up. Really? Anyway, Jordan clubs a huge six into the stands at cow corner.
83rd over: England 306-6 (Buttler 43, Jordan 3)
A small bag of singles, thanks in large part to a fine wide yorker from Holder, who spotted Buttler giving himself room for something explosive, and expertly denied him any. Less expert is the no-ball that contributes to Buttler being reprieved when he mishits a pull shot straight to midwicket (the fielder, Devon Smith, also contributes, by inexplicably dropping it).
82nd over: England 299-6 (Buttler 40, Jordan 0)
Buttler charges Benn and sends the ball wheeling way over long on and into the top tier of the stand for six, in the process carrying England’s lead beyond 400. It currently sits at 403. Now, Holder prepares for another over. Time for a cuppa.
81st over: England 292-6 (Buttler 33, Jordan 0)
West Indies take another absolute age between overs, even though as we’ve established Holder’s run-up is very much marked already. The bowler also takes a little while before each delivery just thinking through his options, in the process removing all sense of momentum from the game. England grab a couple of singles and a leg bye.
80th over: England 289-6 (Buttler 31, Jordan 0)
The batsmen cross with the ball in the air, allowing Buttler to bottom-edge the ball for a couple (he could have run three, and Jordan was keen on running another only to be sent back), and then mid-air-reverse-sweep a no-ball full-toss for four, and then take a single off the last to keep the strike. The lead is 393.
Ballance goes down on one knee to hoist the ball over midwicket, but the ball holds up in the wind and is caught in the deep.
79th over: England 281-5 (Ballance 122, Buttler 24)
West Indies are in no hurry whatsoever, and we’re treated to almost the entirety of Pharell Williams’ Happy between overs, while Holder marks out his run-up, checks it, remarks it, etc and so forth. Buttler hits down the ground again, though this time he’s careful to go along the ground, and nowhere near Ballance, and he gets a four for his efforts. There are, additionally, some ones and twos. Here’s a little Twitter reaction to Ballance’s century:
Ton for Gary Ballance .. Proper Test Match player... #WIvEng#FromYorkshire
Yes Gary!!
Well played Gaz. Good decision by S Benn to sledge him early on from behind the wicket yesterday evening........ #WIvEng
78th over: England 272-5 (Ballance 118, Buttler 19)
Benn continues, with another new ball about to be offered and a healthy amount of cloud cover overheard, and the batsmen each snaffles a single.
77th over: England 269-5 (Ballance 116, Buttler 18)
Samuels’ first delivery is smashed over long on by Ballance for six and then, a few singles later, Buttler has a go at smashing the ball too. He hits it well enough, but straight at his team-mate, who takes it, twisting sideways, in the meat of his upper arm. After a physio comes on and sprays the affected area with magic pain-removal spray, he’s fine to continue. As he recovers, there’s a bit of aggressive chat between him and a couple of fielders.
76th over: England 258-5 (Ballance 108, Buttler 15)
Another reverse sweep from Ballance, and it zips away for four. In all England take seven runs from Benn’s over, making it the most expensive since lunch and suggesting that, Ballance’s personal milestone having been passed, England might be attempting to shift gears.
75th over: England 251-5 (Ballance 106, Buttler 10)
Buttler reverse sweeps nicely for four, and then drives close to the fielder at midwicket, who gets a hand to the ball, diving low to his left, but doesn’t even come close to catching it. England’s second-innings total is hoisted above 251, and their lead above 350 (it’s currently 355, to be precise).
74th over: England 245-5 (Ballance 105, Buttler 5)
Ballance patiently waits for his opportunity, with the field set close to stop easy singles, and then seizes upon Benn’s third delivery, shuffling forward and driving down the ground for four. He punches the air with all the venom of a man who really, really wanted to punch the air.
73rd over: England 239-5 (Ballance 99, Buttler 5)
Ballance takes four balls to move one run nearer his hundred, and then it’s via an edge into the air, well wide of slip. Then next two balls also go for one each, and Ballance is now one short of his hundred. Will he become the 90th Test batsman to be dismissed on 99?
72nd over: England 236-5 (Ballance 97, Buttler 4)
Ballance paddle-sweeps fine and runs two, while the single slip sprints all the way to the rope to cut it off, and then snaffles a single for good measure, to leave himself one decent heave from a century.
71st over: England 233-5 (Ballance 95, Buttler 4)
Ballance taps the ball to cover and sets off on a single, tight enough that Buttler would have been out by a distance had the fielder hit the stumps. He didn’t, though, and Buttler is free to tickle the ball fine and take a – leisurely – two.
70th over: England 229-5 (Ballance 94, Buttler 1)
Stokes having demonstrated the downside of immediate post-interval attempted acceleration, Ballance determinedly avoids the same trap. Maiden over.
69th over: England 229-5 (Ballance 94, Buttler 1)
The second session begins as the first session ended, with spin at both ends. Buttler has avoided a pair, and England’s lead is stretched, slightly, to 333.
68th over: England 226-5 (Ballance 92, Buttler 0)
Benn gets the afternoon under way, and after Stokes takes two to square leg, he’s sent on his way. In comes Buttler, who could be the perfect man for these circumstances, but not if he repeats the form that brought him a 22-ball, half-hour duck in the first innings.
Four balls into the session Stokes runs down the wicket, tries to hoist the ball down the ground, misses it completely and is stumped. West Indies don’t even celebrate.
The players are coming back out, and we’re on the very verge of enjoying some cricket. We’re teetering on a cricketing precipice, so we are.
Hello world!
I must admit to missing the entire first session due to my enforced attendance at a speeding awareness course, having been caught driving a little faster than is traditionally considered acceptable. Happily, I am now more aware than ever of the tradeoffs between speed and safety. England need to get their own equations right – how many runs do they still need, and how long are they willing to take to get them? With six wickets in hand and a 328-run lead in the bank, you’d expect a speedy acceleration to 400-odd – Nasser Hussain on Sky just suggested that 450 would be reasonable – and if there are any wickets left a declaration with at least a full session of this fourth day remaining to try to make some inroads into West Indies’ second innings. Time will tell, though, and not much of it.
England 224-4. They lead by 328 after a healthy 108 runs from the session. The estimable Simon Burnton will be your guide for the first hour after the break.
67th over: England 224-4 (Ballance 92, Stokes 33) Ballance chops away for a couple to take him into the nervous 90s. And Stokes rocks back from the last, punching a single away to end a very satisfactory session for the tourists.
66th over: England 220-4 (Ballance 89, Stokes 32) Barney there, you’ll notice, with the single thumbs up. Presumably he was super excited to meet Hadders. Benn twirls away but lunch is on the agenda for the batsmen now.
65th over: England 218-4 (Ballance 88, Stokes 32) Haddaway’s What Is Love blasts out over the Tannoy between overs. Ah, Haddaway. I can’t remember why I know this, but his first tweet, since deleted, was “Haddaway” in the style of “Ed Balls”. And he’s great mates with your very own Barney Ronay …
64th over: England 216-4 (Ballance 86, Stokes 32) Benn returns for another twirl. Stokes punches down the ground for a single that takes this pair to a fifty partnership. It’s taken just 70 balls.
63rd over: England 214-4 (Ballance 84, Stokes 31) Samuels rattles through another over, during which I may or may not have made an emergency hay-fever-induced tissue run.
62nd over: England 213-4 (Ballance 84, Stokes 30) Yes, yes, thank you everyone. I meant half an hour until lunch, not tea. Though it’ll be time for my tea, which is probably what is dominating my thoughts (a cheese-and-tomato sandwich, since you ask). Ballance, beginning to feed off the energy that Stokes has brought out to the midde, slaps Taylor away for a flat-batted four through the covers.
61st over: England 205-4 (Ballance 78, Stokes 28) Ballance pokes Samuels through Benn at short-ish cover for a couple, and Stokes follows that up with another drive for two more at the end of the over. England’s lead is 309.
60th over: England 200-4 (Ballance 75, Stokes 26) With half an hour until tea Jerome Taylor comes back for a blast. Stokes punches down the ground, and this time Chanderpaul makes a fine diving stop from mid off to prevent a boundary. And the over ends with a thunkingly good cover drive – albeit off a half-volley – from Stokes that rushes away for four. That brings up the England 200 and takes Stokes to 26 from 29 balls.
59th over: England 194-4 (Ballance 74, Stokes 21) Marlon Samuels and his dibbly-dobblers into the attack. Stokes gets out the reverse-sweep once more, but this time can’t make contact, with the ball plopping into the hands of slip via his upper arm. One from the over.
58th over: England 193-4 (Ballance 74, Stokes 20) Holder strays too full and too leg-side, and Stokes whips him away for a couple more. He clearly wants to get on with it, though Stokes is one of those cricketers who you feel would still want to get on with it when 23-4 on the opening morning. And to emphasise the point, he plays a risky, wristy cut from the fourth ball of the over and is a touch fortunate to see the ball fly at hip height through the gap in the slips and away to the boundary for four.
57th over: England 184-4 (Ballance 74, Stokes 11) A paddle sweep from Stokes brings him a couple more, and a well controlled thunk to deep square leg gives him a single.
56th over: England 181-4 (Ballance 74, Stokes 8) There’s been a definite upping of the tempo from England. Ballance cuts Holder hard for two, but then beats the man on the fence with his next effort. Holder responds with a beauty that jags across the batsman and beats a groping outside edge.
“Regarding inappropriate appeals,” begins Samuel Andrew. “Many years ago whilst playing village cricket in the shadow of the Quantocks, my team was in the field bowling. After the facing batsman was hit on the pad, a shout of “HOWZAT” came from one player, fielding at square leg. To our surprise and delight the ump triggered the batsman out! Much to the batsman’s utter contempt. The batsman displayed his disgust by stamping down every single boundary marking on his way to the pavilion before getting on his moped and riding off shouting profanities, still in his batting pads. Ah the joys of division fiveWest Somerset cricket!”
55th over: England 175-4 (Ballance 68, Stokes 8) Stokes reverse-sweeps Benn confidently for four – quite a shot to get off the mark. And from the last ball of the over he unfurls the shot again – four more!
Elsewhere, a bit of news coming from the ICC board meeting in Dubai on the future of cricket in the United States:
Following a report on recent correspondence and discussions between the ICC and the USA Cricket Association (USACA), the ICC Board decided that it was not satisfied that USACA is compliant with all of its obligations under the ICC membership criteria and constitution.
It was decided that there was a significant amount of further work that needed to be carried out in order to complete a full and proper assessment. In support of this, a Task Force headed by the ICC Chief Executive David Richardson will travel to the USA to meet relevant stakeholders in USA cricket in order to prepare a comprehensive report for further consideration by the ICC Executive Committee and ICC Board at its next meeting.
54th over: England 167-4 (Ballance 68, Stokes 0) Holder goes wide, wider, wider at Ballance as he looks to tempt an ill-judged cut. From the fifth he finds a bottom edge that drops a good two yards short of Ramdin. A maiden.
“Being a slow bowler, I have time to formulate quite lengthy appeals while we wait for the ball to arrive at the batsman’s end,” writes George Browne. “If I have appealed for the ball before and received a negative response from the umpire, and the subsequent delivery strikes the pad again I have been known to enquire: ‘WhatAboutThatOneThenUmps,MustaBeenClose?’”
53rd over: England 167-4 (Ballance 68, Stokes 0) Ballance punches Benn down the ground for a single, with just a moment of hesitation from Stokes stirring a bit of interest from the fielding team. Stokes has a huge hoik at the last … and is slapped on the pad. Benn asks Ramdin to review … and he does. “Outside the line,” umpire Davis tells an imploring Benn. And he’s dead right. Benn though, even once the review decision comes through, can’t really believe it.
52nd over: England 166-4 (Ballance 67, Stokes 0) Root was just a touch late on that from Holder – not sure if that was a bit of an effort ball from the bowler, who has a tendency to float things up (his action has just been beautifully deconstructed by Ian Bishop on commentary).
This is out of nowhere! Root plays a defensive prod from his tippy-toes, but the ball rolls off the face and skitters back onto the stumps.
51st over: England 165-3 (Ballance 66, Root 59) Benn causes a bit of uncertainty again, but Ballance releases the shackles by smiting him over wide midwicket for six! That was a mighty slog-sweep. England looking to push the game forward here.
“To add to your conversation concerning the inappropriate use of slang in the workplace, I am a mid-30s professional person with a young child and an increasingly responsible job in central London,” writes Andrew. “Despite all of this, when people ask me how I am I still regularly find it necessary to respond with ‘Wicked’ or ‘Awesome’, in what I hope is an ironic tone. Given my age and situation, I can’t be sure that is conveyed. In any case, I’m yet to be sacked.” Wicked? Ah, dude…
50th over: England 157-3 (Ballance 59, Root 58) Root drives a Holder full toss away for a single, Ballance rocks back to punch a cut away for one more, and Root adds one more from the last with a casual pull.
“Re over 46,” begins Duncan Wilkes. “I played league cricket in Yorkshire with a guy from St Lucia who appealed by shouting ‘PAH!’ very loudly, usually for LBW and often from square leg. It took us a couple of games to realise he was appealing and that we needed to explain this to umpires. In the end we all took to appealing this way – may have been why we were relegated that year.”
49th over: England 154-3 (Ballance 58, Root 56) A beauty from Benn tempts Root into the drive and finds the outside edge. The ball floats agonisingly wide of the diving Devon Smith at slip and trickles away for four. He beats Ballance’s outside edge with one that goes straight on, but the turn he’s getting might please England as much as it pleases the West Indies. Tredders will be rubbing his hands at the prospect of adding to the four wickets he took in the first innings.
48th over: England 149-3 (Ballance 58, Root 51) It’s a double change, with Jason Holder replacing Roach. He’s too is wide to Ballance, but too wide on this occasion. The batsman watches five balls through to Ramdin, then blocks out the last.
@John_Ashdown I once heard Jimmy Adams go for the full "How is that Mr Umpire?" in the most laid back tone imaginable. It was not out, obvs
47th over: England 149-3 (Ballance 58, Root 51) With the pacemen looking a little toothless, Sulieman Benn enters the attack. He finds a bit of turn but then drags one down, which allows Root to pull firmly out to midwicket for the single that takes him to his 50. He doesn’t look super excited but it has been a totes impressive knock.
“I recently started a new job, and developed an alarming habit of accepting new tasks with a ‘Cool!’-and-two-thumbs-up combo, before realising what I’d done silently cringing on my way out of my boss’ office,” writes Michael Chilcott. “I have thankfully kicked the habit now, though I did often wonder if it came across just desperately uncool (in an Austin Powers way) or, more dangerously, deeply sarcastic. I am still in my job so hopefully not the latter.”
46th over: England 146-3 (Ballance 57, Root 49) As Lord Selve emails to point out, one actual player who could fit into a West Indies Presidents/Prime Minister XI is Nixon Alexei McNamara McLean. Ballance takes a single off Roach, and from the last Root survives a pretty optimistic appeal, one notable for Roach’s use of the word “umpire” in his shout. “OWZATUMPI-YA?” is a great appeal and one that needs to be used more widely.
45th over: England 145-3 (Ballance 56, Root 49) Shot of the day so far from Joe Root, who unfurls a full-cream double-chocolate cover drive that oozes to the boundary leaving a trail of pure pleasure in its wake. And he repeats the trick a couple of balls later. Glorious stuff.
“Although I agree with the overall unacceptability of ‘super excited’,” begins Lewis Draper, “I suspect I would not be critical of, say, Blowers using it ( although shortened to ‘Supers’ … my dear old thing ).” Supers? As in “Are you looking forward to a piece of birthday cake?” “Yes, I’m supers”? Yikes. That’s a little too close to saying “Amaze” rather than “Amazing” (which I have heard people do in this very building).
44th over: England 137-3 (Ballance 56, Root 41) Roach looks to tempt Ballance outside off – deliveries that scream “go on, have a drive, you know you want to…” as they fly through to Ramdin. From the fifth Ballance is tempted into a shot … but it’s an authoritative square drive that zips away to the point boundary for four.
43rd over: England 133-3 (Ballance 52, Root 41) Taylor pins Root back with some very tight stuff outside off – he’s found a great length here. And it’s so good he keeps Root to a maiden.
“I, on a daily basis, use the words ‘Coolio’ and ‘Rad’,” admits Harry Phillips. “The latter I employ ironically, the former embarassingly not, though I do often cringe afterwards. I can’t seem to stop. Any advice?” I’m a “Coolio” user too, for my sins. Perhaps try not saying anything and instead going for a thumbs-up gesture instead of “Coolio” and a double-thumbs up instead of “Rad”? Though, I’m not entirely convinced that would be an improvement to be honest.
42nd over: England 133-3 (Ballance 52, Root 41) Root leans into a full Roach delivery and again guides him through midwicket for three. He’s such a good Test batsman now – if you were ripping up the England XI and starting from scratch I think you’d put Root at No5 before pen touched paper anywhere else. Two balls later Ballance brings up a hard-earned half-century with a thunking drive through the covers for four. It’s been a bit of a battle – it’s taken him 125 balls – but he’s still there.
41st over: England 126-3 (Ballance 48, Root 38) A miserable misfield at mid-on from Chanderpaul, the old knees not quite what they were, means Root can turn one into three.
General opinion seems to be all one way on this issue “Never is it acceptable for someone to utter ‘super excited’,” writes Sean Duffy, “and I’m hoping you responded with the mandatory ‘cool your jets, man’.”
40th over: England 123-3 (Ballance 48, Root 35) Kemar Roach takes the ball at the other end. Root, looking busy, flicks him confidently wide of midwicket for a couple then dabs behind square on the off for a single.
“Is your ‘super-excited’ friend a character in an 80s/90s American high school film, possibly alongside Molly Ringwald or Alicia Silverstone?” wonders David Hopkins. “If so then they are entitled to use that phrase. If not then it’s unacceptable.” I tend to agree, though I feel I’m in a glass house here – I have been known to use both “awesomeballs” and “cool beans” on occasion, for which I can only apologise.
39th over: England 120-3 (Ballance 48, Root 32) Taylor, who bowled beautifully last night, quickly finds his groove outside off. From the last, though, he strays a touch too wide and Ballance is able to cut sweetly behind square for four.
“Want to play a game?” begins Elliott Carr-Barnsley. “You can make a convincingly named fake West Indies XI made entirely of first and surnames of Prime Ministers and US presidents. It actually doesn’t matter what order, it works every way. Theodore Margaret or Thatcher Roosevelt for instance.” Hmm. Though Major Kennedy sounds a bit more early 90s WWF wrestler, who had a brief stint as Intercontinental champion.
Out come the players. A few cotton ball clouds hover around the centre of Antigua. Jerome Taylor is about to steam in …
In other news, a friend of mine has just used the phrase “super excited”. Is this acceptable? Please advise.
Showery morning and prospect of some for next two days, thundery ones tomorrow. But start to time here.
The overnight situation: England lead by 220, with Gary Ballance unbeaten on 44 and Joe Root with him on 32. Getting their foot down is the order of the day – the plan surely has to be taking that lead up to 400+ by tea-time and sticking the hosts back in this evening.
Morning/afternoon/evening all. Bad news early on – we have rain all over the forecast. Sunshine and showers by the looks of it, but we could be in for a few delays, though it’s looking pretty fine now.
That, if you’ll forgive me, reminds me of a report on London’s weather that I read this morning. Essentially, yesterday was hot and sunny, today it’s mild and sunny. A spokesman from the Met Office (or similar) said it was “a real reversal of fortune” for the south-east. I quite like the idea of weather reporting being delivered in the style of a football manager …
Continue reading...