1st Test ENG V WIN

Day 1

England 348/3 (90 ov)
Windies

The game was not transformed by all the hullaballoo about the unusual format. No matter what time it starts class will out. So it was that Joe Root cruised to his 13th Test century against a friendly West Indies attack with Alastair Cook dutifully following in his captain’s wake with his 31st hundred. Their efforts ensured that the England players went to bed last night – soon after the close of play one assumes – in charge of the game. When the floodlights were turned off England were 348 for three.

Root and Cook have played long enough not to be apologetic about taking runs from one of the weaker bowling line-ups on the Test circuit. They ruthlessly sensed their opportunity to make hay in the afternoon sunshine. Root reached his century just before “tea” was taken at 6.40pm, Cook calmly registered his after the interval under the floodlights against the old pink ball, which was showing little inclination to misbehave.

They seldom missed a ball on a brown, benign pitch that cried out for the presence of a specialist spinner. Instead, the tourists were persuaded by all the talk of the seamer-friendly pink ball in the twilight rather than trusting their eyes out in the middle just before the toss. So Devendra Bishoo, the leg-spinner, was omitted and the West Indies opted for four pace bowlers and an occasional off-spinner. That has a familiar ring to it. But the pace bowlers are not that quick and not that accurate. And the pitch was sluggish.

After the challenges of Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada this was light relief. Great batsmen – Martin Crowe is my primary source – fear not being able to score much more than the possibility of the unplayable delivery. There were always plenty of run-scoring opportunities. Root and Cook saw their chance in the manner of Ken Barrington and John Edrich many years ago, though neither of those great run-makers possessed the elegance or the determination to dominate exhibited by Root. There was, however, one great cricketer, present at Edgbaston to help celebrate the 50th Test here, whom Root begins to resemble: Ted Dexter.

Root may not appear quite so haughty and imperious at the crease and he crouches more in his stance but his bat is just as straight when playing the classical backward defensive, which sometimes extends into the back-foot drive. Like Dexter, he wants to attack with a rare purity of stroke. For some, such a comparison might seem premature or presumptuous. It is true that Dexter and Barrington had to cope with Wes Hall, Garry Sobers and Charlie Griffith, while Edrich just caught Andy Roberts and a young Michael Holding and Wayne Daniel. Although Kemar Roach bowled well the current West Indies attack is nowhere near as threatening, but from an England perspective there was a wonderful inevitability about the way Root and Cook acquired their runs.

That did not extend to the new boys at the top of the order. For Mark Stoneman and Tom Westley it must have been a day of huge exasperation as they sat in the pavilion watching their seniors go about their business. Stoneman and Westley acquired extremely polished eights.

The first ball Stoneman faced in Test cricket was a wide from Roach, which sped towards the startled hands of Kraigg Brathwaite at second slip. Then he received two half-volleys that were crisply struck to the cover boundary and to square leg. Test cricket? No problem. England were 10 for none after Roach’s over, apparently their most productive first over in a Test match this century. For a second perhaps Stoneman could contemplate the Gabba in November.

However, Roach’s second over was rather more impressive, in particular its first ball. This one appeared to swing a little into the left-handed Stoneman; then, after hitting the pitch, it deviated slightly towards the slip cordon before brushing the off-stump. It was a terrific delivery and Stoneman did not appear to do much wrong. In that sense alone it was a good dismissal for him.

Westley’s innings was longer and it also contained two exquisite boundaries. However, he was more culpable for his dismissal in Miguel Cummins’s first over. Like Stoneman and Jennings, Westley bats on off-stump – or even outside it. This is because he favours the clip through the leg-side; this is fine and productive provided he hits the ball. But on this occasion he missed what seemed to be a straight delivery. Unaccountably, Marais Erasmus declined to raise his finger but the DRS system came to his rescue.

Initially, Cook scored faster than normal on a day when the boundary count was unusually high. Most Test sides remember to avoid Cook’s legs but he was given too many opportunities, gratefully received, to clip the ball through the on-side. So he enhanced his excellent record against the West Indies; he was on his way to his fourteenth half-century against them in 31 knocks.

Root overtook him in the second session when this pair advanced with massive assurance. A sparse notebook reveals that Cook missed a ball from Roach on 72 but – correctly – the fielding side declined to review for lbw. As ever Root explored the gaps at third man deftly while unfurling just about every orthodox shot in the book. Dexter, looking on, must have been impressed.

Eventually, just as the sun was setting and with the new ball imminent Root was bowled through the gate by Roach for 136, hardly the ideal time for Dawid Malan to display his Test credentials. Yet he bedded in against a weary attack with some panache and was unbeaten on 28 at the close; Cook has 153.

West Indies had been overly dependent on Roach as Alzarri Joseph offered too many easy runs. Skipper Jason Holder trundled in nobly like Angus Fraser on an uninspired day but then, ominously for the tourists, left the field in the middle of an over.

There was not much solace to be taken except that in their first day-night match Holder’s side conceded 579 for three against Pakistan in Dubai. So far England have only 348.


Day 2

England 514-8 dec
Windies 44-1
Windies trail by 470 runs

The great players tend to play in the same way whatever the situation. Hence anyone meandering into Edgbaston on Friday afternoon when the electronic scoreboard was dutifully satisfying some sponsor rather than showing the relevant numbers would have had no real idea about the state of the game.

Alastair Cook was still batting – in exactly the same vein as 24 hours earlier – trotting his singles from the latest flick to the leg-side, a mild concession to advancing years as he strove to keep enough fuel in the tank (to borrow a phrase from his early mentor, Graham Gooch) on his way to another monumental score. Perhaps the absence of many close fielders was a giveaway that England were doing quite well.

Then the electronic numbers returned and Cook was seen to be beyond 200 for the fourth time in his England career. A major first innings total was guaranteed in a contest that was in danger of becoming increasingly anodyne regardless of the start time or the colour of the ball.

In the Hollies Stand all was subdued in the sporadic sunshine at least until five o’clock. Maybe its occupants were hung over; perhaps they were pondering whether batting would be quite so straightforward when the West Indies eventually had their turn; or they may just have been saving their energy for their twilight sing-song.

Cook, of course, was magnificently relentless – rather than relentlessly magnificent in an England innings, which was eventually closed at 514-8. He cut and he clipped and he never surprised us. Once again this is a feature of great batsmen in their maturity. They have a method and they stick to it. So Cook played every ball on its merits on his way to 243, an innings that was always admirable but seldom mesmerising.

It may be that Cook is still gleaning the benefits of not being captain, while Joe Root is sampling that spike in the right direction, which new captains often experience, a happy set of circumstances that sages from Andrew Strauss downwards hope will last at least until the second week in January.

There was more curiosity about how Dawid Malan would play. Here he had a wonderful opportunity to make himself undroppable though there was always the hint as his innings progressed that Malan himself was a little too aware of this. Beginning the day on 28 not out he resumed scratchily. Yet he is one of those innately elegant left-handers and soon there were reminders of that. There was an emphatic flick to the square leg-boundary and then a cover drive off Alzarri Joseph that had everyone purring. That was the most beautiful cover drive by a batsman in an England shirt since – well, let’s think – since Moeen Ali batting in the last Test match.

Next Malan popped an off-break from Roston Chase over mid-off and he was starting to look at ease. Maybe the imminent arrival of the lunch-break undermined him. He pushed forward with exaggerated care to another Chase delivery in the last over before the interval and the ball gently took the outside edge before landing in the hands of Jermaine Blackwood at slip. What a waste. Yet by then Malan had accrued 65 runs, comfortably his Test best and a score of some significance. But how much?

On a wet afternoon the next generation of Duckworth Lewises might care to devise a new index, which establishes the value of 65 against a weary West Indies side on a flat track at Edgbaston in 2017. Is that 65 worth more than a 40 in Adelaide or a 35 in Perth this December or a 31 in Chittagong last November? Whatever the computation it was clear that Malan, having batted serenely enough, had squandered a chance to deliver the score that would dictate his whereabouts this winter.

We know where Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali will be come October. All three arrived at the crease with expectations high in the stands. Pyrotechnics were on the cards but they never materialised.

Stokes bristled, hit the field with massive authority several times and then he opted to play the reverse sweep to Chase and the ball looped gently to slip. There were groans from the Hollies Stand since Stokes might have provided a welcome counterpoint to Cook.

Nor did Bairstow ignite. He mustered 18 busily, scampering that first run rapidly in a manner that may have been causing Cook the odd alarm. Then an inside edge against the persevering Jason Holder dribbled on to his stumps. Not to worry. There was still Moeen and his silky cover drives to come. Once again there was disappointment all round since Moeen was out immediately for an ugly duck. An ambitious larrup against Chase spooned to cover. Thus Moeen’s raucous reception was quickly followed by a sad, silent exit. At least he could note that the odd ball was turning.

Meanwhile, Cook leant on his bat at the non-striker’s end, disguising any concern effectively. And then contrary to all expectation he was out.

Once again Chase was the bowler as Cook, on 243, sought to work the ball on the on side. He missed it and this must also have surprised Umpire Erasmus, who kept his finger down. The review prompted him to raise it. It was a dismissal to hasten the progress of the game since Root declared immediately.

Then the clouds rolled in; the lights came on and batting was, indeed, a different proposition. In his second over Jimmy Anderson found the outside edge of Kraigg Brathwaite’s bat with a beauty and the Hollies Stand found its voice – “Oh Jimmy, Jimmy …”

They scented wickets but there were no more as Kieran Powell, dropped in the gully on two by Stokes off Stuart Broad, and Kyle Hope batted impressively through the 13 overs that were possible before the rain descended.


Day 3

England 514/8d
West Indies 168 & 137 (45.4 ov, f/o)
England won by an innings and 209 runs

The end was swift, cacophonous and melodramatic. On a day when 19 wickets fell, all of them West Indian, England sped to victory by an innings and 209 runs; Stuart Broad became the second highest wicket-taker among Englishmen, overtaking Sir Ian Botham, as Joe Root’s team earned themselves a couple days off, during which the pace bowlers will be keen to emphasise that rotation really is not such a good idea. They all want to bowl against these tourists. So from an English perspective there is much to celebrate.

Moreover the zeal with which Warwickshire CCC have overseen this country’s first day-night Test cannot be faulted. In some ways it has been a triumph. The stands have been filled with an alacrity that is only rivalled when the Australians are in town; on Saturday another 23,000 came along. Warwickshire have delivered an excellent pitch; there have been cheerful stewards in abundance and a warm welcome has been extended everywhere. To use the (relatively) modern vernacular: they have controlled their controllables rather well.

You are right to sense a “but” coming along. Warwickshire cannot be held responsible for the chilliness or dampness of the weather or the decision of many punters to go home early on the first night – there was also an early exodus on Saturday, despite the imminence of victory. It is not really their fault that the Hollies Stand gradually becomes a venue for those who, in another life, would like to be in a Neil Diamond/ Tom Jones tribute act. However the biggest “but” relates to the necessity for there to be a gripping, unpredictable contest on view for any sporting occasion to be deemed a success, no matter what time of day it starts. And here at Edgbaston there has not been a meaningful contest.

Resuming on 44 for one, the West Indies were bowled out for 168 in their first innings and 137 in their second on a surface that possessed very few demons on the first two days and not that many more on the third. In fact, the first wicket to fall on day three, that of Kyle Hope, came about because a delivery from Jimmy Anderson did misbehave. Unexpected bounce surprised Hope and the ball looped gently from the shoulder of his bat into the hands of Ben Stokes in the gully.

However the next dismissal was self-inflicted and set the pattern for the day. Kieran Powell had batted excellently before the rain on Friday night but here he pushed the ball to mid-on and set off for an ill-conceived single. He had not hit the ball as hard as he thought and Anderson swooped. The throw hit the stumps with Powell a long way from home.

Anderson hit the stumps again soon after, this time as a bowler, and Roston Chase was the victim. The West Indies had slumped to 47 for four and thereafter it was just a case of how much damage limitation was possible for a side that were lamentably out of their depth.

Jermaine Blackwood, the spirited, gifted and quirky little right-hander from Jamaica, whose maiden Test century was against England two years ago, was the solitary batsman to resist in that first innings, which he did with some style. Sound defence was eagerly punctuated with a few exotic strokes, including the first two sixes of the match, off Moeen Ali and a rather more startled Broad. Blackwood would finish unbeaten on 79.

Soon West Indies were in a hopeless situation when Kyle’s younger brother, Shai, was bowled by Toby Roland-Jones, who soon had Shane Dowrich lbw – it must have been out since Marais Erasmus raised his finger without reference to the third umpire. Jason Holder stayed with Blackwood longer than most but an alert piece of wicketkeeping accounted for him. Jonny Bairstow caught the delivery from Moeen and, unlike just about everyone else on the pitch, he had spied or heard a tiny nick, which was confirmed by the review system. Two wickets from Broad, another run-out and West Indies were coming out for another go.

They could not do any better. Powell edged the first ball he received from Anderson to first slip and then Roland-Jones retained the happy knack of picking up wickets even though he seemed to be posing no great threat. One of his virtues, beyond his perseverance, is that he is not frightened to bowl a relatively full length. Soon Kyle Hope flicked and missed and was lbw. Then Shai, caught at second slip by Joe Root, became Stokes’s first victim of the match.

The contest between the fancy-dressers in the Hollies Stand and the stewards over whether they could get their big white rubber ball back (they did eventually) was now more riveting than the one between the bat and the pink ball out in the middle.

For a while Kraigg Brathwaite lived up to his reputation as the most adhesive batsman in the West Indies side. As he did so the Keystone Cops in the crowd linked hands with the Fred Flintstones in a conga; so too did the Donald Trumps and a large band of Mexicans. But there were no good omens for West Indies. Just before “tea” at 7.10pm another review, inspired again by Bairstow, found Brathwaite to be lbw to Moeen.

After that interval the wickets just kept coming; Blackwood was neatly stumped by Bairstow off Moeen; then the magic returned for Broad with two wickets, Chase and Holder, in two balls bringing him level with Botham. The dismissal of Dowrich took him to 384. No, he would not like to have a rest at Headingley later this week, when we will have to reset our alarm clocks.