A series that started just three weeks ago amid sweaters, stormclouds and a flood of wickets at Lord’s is reaching boiling point at Trent Bridge. Or at least the people watching it are, the action on the opening day of the concluding Test having been much less fiery than the weather in which it was played.
The ground’s preparations for these conditions seemed a little lukewarm. Cooldown rooms were created for overheating supporters, though it was not clear how anyone would find out about them. A small pop-up shop entertainingly labelled “Thirst Slip” was set up under the Bridgford Road Stand, which offered “provisions to make you way cooler”. It was a limited range, consisting in its entirety of baseball caps, battery-powered fans and cartons of water, an array that carried a fair whiff of afterthought. As a result Thirst Slip attracted few customers, making its reception the only thing about it, and indeed the day, that could be described as frosty. It also meant that the principal challenge facing the person staffing it was the pursuit of their own patch of shade, which for much of the day involved sitting on a cupboard.
