The first match of this summer’s second Test series presented an intriguing contrast with the corresponding fixture against West Indies last month. England won them both, romping to victory at Lord’s in their first home game of the year by an innings and 114 runs after an hour’s play on the third day, while on Saturday at Old Trafford Joe Root scored the runs that sealed success against Sri Lanka, by a five‑wicket margin, at the very end of the fourth day.
Jimmy Anderson’s retirement meant the game at Lord’s was imbued inevitably with a nostalgic sentimentality, but the final moments at Old Trafford were lent a sepia hue only by the setting sun. For all that England were carried across the finish line by a man playing his 144th game, this felt like a forward-facing team, led for the first time by the 26-year-old Ollie Pope and with the man of the match award collected by Jamie Smith, the 24-year-old Surrey wicketkeeper who has played so thrillingly in his inaugural Test summer.
