Andy Bull on Matt Potts:
That’s it for today’s coverage. I’ll leave you with Ali Martin’s report from Edgbaston - goodnight!
In other news
Close of play
73rd over: India 338-7 (Jadeja 83, Shami 0) Jadeja flicks Potts classily through midwicket for another boundary, and then gets four bonus runs after a loose throw from the fielder in the covers.
That’s the end of another highly eventful day of Test cricket. England started well, reducing India to 98 for five, but then Rishabh Pant ran towards the danger, and just kept running. His astonishing 146 from 111 balls, with terrific support from Ravindra Jadeja, made it India’s day after they were put into bat by Ben Stokes.
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72nd over: India 329-7 (Jadeja 74, Shami 0) The game has inevitably slowed down since Pant’s dismissal, with only eight runs in the last five overs. Both teams look happy to call it a draw and start again tomorrow.
71st over: India 328-7 (Jadeja 73, Shami 0) Jadeja is dropped by Billings, sort of. It was a tough one-handed chance down the leg side off the bowling Potts. It was given as runs but I’m not sure Jadeja hit it, so I guess he would have reviewed it had Billings taken the catch.
70th over: India 325-7 (Jadeja 70, Shami 0) Shami survives an appeal for a catch down the leg side, but the bowler Stokes decides to review. He is confident it’s out ... and he’s wrong. Replays show the ball missed both the glove and the bat.
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69th over: India 324-7 (Jadeja 69, Shami 0) With Pant gone, it’s safe for Potts to return to the attack. Jadeja turns down a single, which is slightly surprising with three wickets still remaining, but he’s happy to take one later in the over.
Shami has two balls to survive, and does.
68th over: India 323-7 (Jadeja 68, Shami 0)
WICKET! India 323-7 (Thakur c Billings b Stokes 1)
Ben Stokes is rewarded for bowling two more no-balls! The final delivery of his latest eight-ball over is a nasty lifter that Thakur gloves through to Sam Billings. That was a brilliant delivery from Stokes - I think he bent his back as a form of self-flagellation for all those no-balls.
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67.5 overs: India 323-6 (Jadeja 68, Thakur 1) Nothing much is happening. It’s as if there’s an unspoken timeout while both sides process that Rishabh Pant innings.
Pant is in a league of his own.
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) July 1, 2022
The most entertaining cricketer in the world, this is a special one. pic.twitter.com/PgGTjgxUd9
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67th over: India 321-6 (Jadeja 68, Thakur 1)
WICKET! India 320-6 (Pant c Crawley b Root 146)
The end of an astonishing innings. Pant, who had thumped the previous delivery for six, had an almighty heave at a wider, flighted delivery from Root and edged it to Crawley at slip. That’s really clever bowling from Root, and Pant drags himself reluctantly from the field. He has played almost unbelievably well, smashing 146 from only 111 balls.
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66th over: India 314-5 (Pant 140, Jadeja 68) Another no-ball from Stokes, his eighth in seven overs today. England look thoroughly cheesed off with life, the universe and even Bazball.
65th over: India 310-5 (Pant 138, Jadeja 67) A brilliant shot from Jadeja, who back cuts Root wide of short third man for four. Under normal circumstances we’d be raving about the calm authority of his innings; the reason we’re not is that Rishabh Pant is on one.
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64th over: India 304-5 (Pant 138, Jadeja 61) Jadeja pulls Stokes for four to bring up the 200 partnership. The last eight overs have gone for - yikes - 74 runs.
63rd over: India 299-5 (Pant 138, Jadeja 56) Joe Root replaces Jack Leach, who has been brutalised by Rishabh Pant. But Pant looks unstoppable at the moment - he smears Root over cover for four and then hooks a surprise bouncer over short fine leg for another boundary. Pant has 138 not out from 105 balls, and apparently this is Test cricket now.
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62nd over: India 289-5 (Pant 129, Jadeja 55) Has Brendon McCullum taken England as far as he can?
61st over: India 286-5 (Pant 128, Jadeja 54) Pant hits Leach for 20 in four balls! I said TWENTY IN FOUR BALLS!
- A pull for four
- A mighty drive over long-on for six
- Four bonus runs after a silly throw from Crawley
- A huge one-handed six over long-on!
We can moan about Leach and England all we like, and I bet Twitter is a laugh riot just now, but this is awesome from Pant. He has 128 from 99 balls!
Leach’s figures, since you asked, are 9-0-71-0.
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60th over: India 264-5 (Pant 107, Jadeja 53) Stokes has decided to go into enforcer mode. He starts with a no-ball, which isn’t ideal, and bowls another later in the over. Ramming it in halfway down the pitch is tough enough without having two extra balls every over.
A mildly soul-destroying over ends with Stokes spearing four byes down the leg side. England look a bit lost.
Simply awesome @RishabhPant17!
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) July 1, 2022
Well done.👏
Crucial innings by @imjadeja. Rotated the strike well and played some amazing shots.#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/9ACuhVlGTT
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59th over: India 258-5 (Pant 107, Jadeja 53) Pant flicks Leach through square leg for four, a stunning bit of timing and placement, though he’s beaten outside off stump by the next delivery. For a second it looked like a dropped catch by Billings, but replays showed there was no edge.
“Pant’s on fire,” says apostrophe expert Kristine. “No word of a lie!”
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A century for Rishabh Pant!
58th over: India 251-5 (Pant 102, Jadeja 51) Pant pulls Broad for two to reach a glorious hundred, his fifth in Tests and his third against England. It’s been another scintilliating innings from a unique player: 89 balls, 15 fours and one six.
Jadeja thick edges a fine delivery from Broad to the third-man boundary and then works a single to reach a fine half-century of his own. These two have scored 141 in the last 25 overs.
“England,” says Peter Gartner, “still have a problem taking wickets with the old ball.”
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57th over: India 241-5 (Pant 98, Jadeja 45) England, truth be told, look a little clueless at the moment. Pant carts Leach to cow corner for four to move into the nineties; then he smears Leach down the ground with such vigour as to knock himself off his feet. This is tremendous fun.
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56th over: India 230-5 (Pant 88, Jadeja 44) Broad strays onto the pads of Jadeja, with the ball running away for four leg-byes. England’s line has been a bit loose either side of tea.
“Rob Smyth returns from his Grand Tour and England fail to bag any more wickets,” says Ian Copestake. “Coincidence? I guess so. Nevertheless am doing that permanent pointing thing that American sports fans do when an official has messed up.”
I do hope you’re wearing a Maga trucker cap.
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55th over: India 226-5 (Pant 88, Jadeja 44) Jack Leach comes on to replace Matthew Potts. I suppose Ben Stokes wants to show confidence in Leach, but Root might have been the better option. Stokes has pushed mid-on back, the first sign of compromise, and Pant settles for an easy single. He has 88 from 83 balls, Jadeja 44 from 100. In different ways, they have both batted superbly.
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54th over: India 224-5 (Pant 87, Jadeja 43) Broad replaces Anderson, who has already bowled 19 overs today. A quiet over, one from it.
“Mr Starbuck (45th over) is right,” says Gary Naylor. “I was on a university governing body in the early 90s and how the old fogies around the table scoffed at a proposal to install SUPERJANET throughout the campuses. To be fair, they didn’t take long to see the wave of the future coming and I was soon staring at Cricinfo on my desktop instead of writing modules about er... e-commerce.”
I’d love to see some of the early Cricinfo pages. My first memory of it is following Ian Healy’s famous six at Port Elizabeth in 1997, but I think it was around for three or four years before that.
53rd over: India 223-5 (Pant 86, Jadeja 43) Jadeja gets in on the boundaryfest, slashing Potts over the vacant gully region. This has been a difficult spell for Potts (5-0-33-0), and it might be time to try Joe Root against the two left-handers.
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52nd over: India 216-5 (Pant 86, Jadeja 37) Pant gives Anderson the charge and clouts the ball back over his head for four. This is laughably good batting, though I’m not sure Anderson sees the funny side.
Meanwhile, this is a typically good spot from Tim de Lisle. “Under Stokes and McCullum, England have conceded six century partnerships, five of them in mid-innings (and involving a keeper).”
51st over: India 211-5 (Pant 81, Jadeja 37) Pant pings Potts through midwicket for four more. For the first time this summer Potts looks a little flustered; the last ball of the over drifts onto the pads of Jadeja and runs away for four leg-byes.
50th over: India 202-5 (Pant 76, Jadeja 37) A maiden from Anderson to Jadeja, only the sixth of the day.
“It all makes sense now,” says Yash Gupta. “James Anderson made sure the OBO was there to follow his whole career from start to finish before ending on a high note in the summer of 2082.”
49th over: India 202-5 (Pant 76, Jadeja 37) Potts beats Jadeja twice outside off stump - but he’s struggling to bowl to Pant, who hooks round the corner for four to bring up an exhilarating century partnership in just 21 overs.
Pant pulls the next delivery round the corner for four more, which means he has hit Potts for five boundaries in 13 balls since tea. Not for the first time, he’s in England’s head.
48th over: India 193-5 (Pant 68, Jadeja 36) Pant, hitherto orthodox, decides it’s time to get funky. He reverse scoops Anderson over the slips for a couple and then misses an almighty slog sweep. He almost swung himself off his feet with that stroke.
“What’s spelt pasta?” says Chris Bojke. “Alphabetti spaghetti? Honk.”
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47th over: India 191-5 (Pant 66, Jadeja 36) Pant cuts Potts for four more, an outstanding stroke from a ball that was only fractionally short. It’s a statement of the bleedin’ obvious, but England could really do with a wicket.
Pant pulls a single and then feels his left hamstring, so maybe England will have to settle for a retired hurt. We’ll keep an eye on that.
46th over: India 186-5 (Pant 61, Jadeja 36) Jadeja waves Anderson through extra cover for four, another high-class stroke. In England we are probably guilty of underrating Jadeja as a Test batter - he has a career average of 36, but in the last five years that goes up to 46. In short, he’s a very good Test No7.
45th over: India 182-5 (Pant 61, Jadeja 32) Matthew Potts starts the evening session with a lovely lifter that surprises and beats Pant’s outside edge. Pant’s response - two fours off the next three balls - might be described as emphatic. He has raced to 61 from 58 balls.
“The internet began in the 1960s, when it was the common way for research organisations to communicate with each other,” writes John Starbuck. “Then more universities took it (in this country it was known as Janet - Joint Academic Network). Then a certain Tim Berners-Lee devised the World Wide Web using http:/ pages: this is what most people refer to as ‘the internet’ from the late 1980s.
“There were plenty of legal and scientific databases already, but you had to deliberately dial them up via a modem and needed separate telephone numbers, and separate training for each one. I got trained in the online version of Chemical Abstracts along with the European Union legal databanks, and all bibliographical applications about them, too. What was indexed was documents.
“Things like Wikipedia got started once Google and similar search engines came along and after that retail got in. 2002 was a fairly mature version of the WWW, but there was no social media as we now know it for ages.”
One of these days, Friends Reunited will get the respect it deserves. That was definitely around in 2001-02, possibly earlier.
Self-indulgence department
“The OBO debuted on the same day as Simon Jones!” writes Pete Salmon. “A ton for Nasser Hussain, but mostly long discussions about whether a vegan pie is a pie (how do you make the pastry they ask?) and whether spelt pasta is pasta, someone humble bragging about getting their girlfriend a trip to Paris for her birthday, and an apology for a technical hitch which meant missing John Crawley getting out for an undisclosed amount. Start as you hope to go on!”
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Tea
44th over: India 174-5 (Pant 53, Jadeja 32) Stokes ends the session with an eight-ball over, including the 98th and 99th no-balls of his Test career. That’s a really good comeback from India, who were in considerable bother at 98 for five.
See you in 20 minutes for the evening session.
43rd over: India 172-5 (Pant 53, Jadeja 32) Pant pulls Leach for four to bring up a joyful, irrepressible half-century from only 51 balls. He struggled in the first four Tests of this series last summer, but he’s been close to his best today. The difference a year makes.
“Anderson needs seven wickets to take the record for most wickets by a pace bowler above the age of 35,” says Timothy Harnedy. “Record currently held by Courtney Walsh. If Broad emulates Anderson he has another 150 wickets left in him. That would be fun.”
I have a hunch, based admittedly on not much, that Anderson will outlast Broad.
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42nd over: India 167-5 (Pant 49, Jadeja 31) Stokes gets one to kick awkwardly towards Jadeja, who reacts smartly and drops the ball on the off side for a single. It’s a no-ball as well. Pant then squirts a square drive through the vacant backward point region for three. India have scored 57 runs from the last nine overs.
41st over: India 161-5 (Pant 46, Jadeja 29) Leach continues, but this time it’s Jadeja on strike so there are no fireworks, just a single off the last delivery.
40th over: India 160-5 (Pant 46, Jadeja 28) With just under 20 minutes remaining in the afternoon session, Stokes replaces Broad (12-1-42-0). There’s a bit of early swing to encourage Stokes, who has the occasional ability to make the ball talk. Pant doesn’t care about all that nonsense - he pings another boundary through backward point to move to 46 from 48 balls.
“OBO started in 2002?!” says Pete Salmon. “That’s astonishing... I don’t suppose there is a link to that debut or does it predate the internet? Would love to see it.”
I’m sure you could find it with some judicious googling (it would be quite an achievement if it predated the internet). For now, here’s one from 2003.
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39th over: India 152-5 (Pant 40, Jadeja 27) This is an important test of Leach’s nerve, particularly after all the positive talk of the past few weeks. A sweep from Pant is well fielded by Potts at short fine leg, which keeps India to a single. Just two from the over.
“It’s not just that it’s not normal what Anderson is doing,” begins Matt Dony. “It’s the fact that we’ve been saying ‘This isn’t normal’ for how long now? Four years, maybe? Respectable Test careers have lasted less time than that. And just when we thought it was probably over, he’s back opening the bowling and taking wickets. I lack the words to adequately describe what Anderson is doing any more.”
Who needs words when you have cold, hard statistics.
38th over: India 150-5 (Pant 39, Jadeja 26) Jadeja works Broad off his pads for a couple. It’s interesting - when Stokes took over we were concerned that he would bowl too much, but so far he has bowled too little. Better that than the alternative, I guess. But England may need him here because Broad is struggling and India will try to hit Leach out of the attack.
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37th over: India 148-5 (Pant 39, Jadeja 24) Jack Leach comes on, this time for real, and Pant beasts him for 14 in three deliveries: a straight drive for four, a pull for four more and then a mighty straight six. That brings up a rapid fifty partnership from 54 balls.
“I believe this is James Anderson’s 172nd Test,” says Joe Gregory. “I haven’t checked, but it seems likely that every single one of those matches was covered on the Guardian OBO. Surely this makes him the most OBO’d player ever? An achievement to rank alongside all those wickets, I’m sure you’ll agree!”
Crikey, you’re right. I think the OBO started in 2002, so we’ll have done all his Tests and almost all of the ODIs as well.
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36th over: India 134-5 (Pant 25, Jadeja 24) Four more to Jadeja, laced through extra cover off Broad. He’s batting beautifully, though the moment I type that he has a windy woof outside off stump and is beaten.
India’s scorecard has an unusual look - all seven batters have reached double figures, but nobody has gone past 25. Yet.
35th over: India 130-5 (Pant 25, Jadeja 20) The counter-attack is on. Jadeja gets four more with a gorgeous on-drive off Anderson, and then Pant flicks through midwicket for three. After a burst of 20 runs from 10 balls, there’s a break in play while the ball is changed.
“I’m proofreading a doctoral thesis on the ontological insecurity between Greece and Turkey,” says Rob Lewis. “Perhaps the next paper I am sent will ask about the ontological insecurity of a generation of batters facing James Anderson. What a man!”
It’s really not normal, this. He turns 40 at the end of this month! In the last 50 years, I think only one seam bowler in their forties has taken a Test wicket: Graham Gooch at the Gabba in 1994. Sadly it was Michael Slater, caught mid-off, for 176, on the first day of the series.
34th over: India 121-5 (Pant 22, Jadeja 14) Broad is punched classily down the ground for four by Jadeja, who then flicks three more through midwicket. An expensive over concludes with a stylish cover drive for four from Pant. Broad, playing his fourth consecutive Test this summer, has looked slightly flat today.
33rd over: India 110-5 (Pant 18, Jadeja 7) Anderson continues after the drinks break. Jadeja has started watchfully against the seamers, especially his old buddy Anderson, and is leaving as much as possible.
He survives a biggish LBW appeal from a ball that pitched outside leg stump and might have been too high. One from the over.
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32nd over: India 109-5 (Pant 18, Jadeja 6) Jadeja edges Broad towards first slip, where Root grabs the ball near the ground and immediately signals that he doesn’t know whether it has carried. The soft signal is not out, so you’d expect Jadeja to be fine.
The replays aren’t conclusive. Even if Root did get his fingers under the ball, there’s no way it could have been overturned by the third umpire.
“What about Patrick Patterson?” says Ewan Glenton. “93 Test wickets at a phenomenal(?) strike rate of 51.9, the fastest of them all according to the supremely qualified Jeff Dujon. Fearsome, unplayable spells against some of the best & toughest bats in the business… but only 26 Tests.”
Yes, he was the one bowler who made Graham Gooch fear for his safety, at Sabina Park in 1986. I had a lot of fun researching that game a few years ago, though the story of what happened to Patterson is pretty sad.
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31st over: India 107-5 (Pant 17, Jadeja 5) Ah, turns out Leach only came on so that Anderson could change ends. Jadeja defends a couple of dangerous inswingers and ignores the rest. A maiden.
“As the oft-omitted XI would need an all-rounder,” begins Geoff Wignall, “Brian Close comes first to mind: 22 Tests spread over 27 years.”
Twenty-seven was also the number of bruises he had on his chest after that appointment with Michael Holding and Andy Roberts in 1976.
30th over: India 107-5 (Pant 17, Jadeja 5) A double change, with Broad on for Anderson. Pant, again on the charge, inside edges to square leg for a single, and then Jadeja survives a hopeful LBW appeal. Too high.
“Most unjustly omitted at Test level?” says Sean Clayton. “A keeper, bowler and batter respectively: Chris Read, Neil Mallender and Owais Shah. The latter seemed to be ‘definitely next man up except...’ for about a decade...”
I thought Owais Shah was unlucky not to play more one-day cricket, certainly in the early 2000s. Mallender was damned if he did well (which he did), because they were going to India the following winter. The braver call, I think, would have been to drop Mallender for the Oval Test against Pakistan, though I understand why that didn’t happen.
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29th over: India 105-5 (Pant 16, Jadeja 4) A fascinating bit of captaincy from Ben Stokes, who has decided to bring on Jack Leach, against Rishabh Pant, with mid-on and mid-off up. In fact the first big shot comes from Ravindra Jadeja, who gets off the mark by charging Leach and lifting him over mid-on for four.
28th over: India 98-5 (Pant 13, Jadeja 0) James Anderson: 12-2-31-3.
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WICKET! India 98-5 (Iyer c Billings b Anderson 15)
Sam Billings takes a superb catch to get rid of Shreyas Iyer! He gloved an awkward delivery from Anderson down the leg side, where Billings flew to his left to grab the ball one-handed. Iyer goes for a frisky 11-ball 15, and England are into the allrounders.
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26th over: India 86-4 (Pant 5, Iyer 11) No fireworks in this over from Anderson, but a flurry of singles, which may irritate him just as much.
“Bazball vs Rishabh Pant,” says Robert on Twitter. “The irresistible force meets the irresistible force.”
And that’s me done. Thanks for your company, correspondence and scandalous omissions. I leave you in the superb hands of Rob Smyth, back from a month off.
25th over: India 81-4 (Pant 2, Iyer 10) Here is Iyer, starting as confidently as you’d expect of a young star with a Test average of 55. He pushes Potts for two, square-drives for four, then alas-drives for four more. He’s overtaken Pant already! There may be hell to pay for that. But what a great moment for Potts, who has now bagged Kohli as well as Kane Williamson in his first international summer.
“Having the keeper bat earlier,” says John Starbuck, “is a sensible option, given that you wouldn’t want him to be tired out before starting the second innings. Vice versa if you’re bowling first, naturally. Surprising that more teams don’t do this as a matter of course.”
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Wicket!! Kohli b Potts 11 (India 71-4)
The big one! Kohli tries to leave this ball from Potts, but he leaves the decision too late and is out played on, just as he nearly was first ball after lunch. You know when you’ve been Pottsed.
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24th over: India 71-3 (Kohli 11, Pant 2) After three balls, Pant decides he has played himself in and charges down the track at Anderson. The upshot is only an inside edge for a single. Anderson answers back with actions rather than words, beating Pant with the fifth ball of the over, and the last.
“I’m following the OBO at work,” says Simon Dobey, “desperate summer. My most omitted great is Eoin Morgan, patience and leadership to spare. Both implacable virtues in a top class Test cricketer. A shame it never worked out for him in red ball.”
“Re: whether we can let in players who have played 62 Tests,” adds Will Denton, “didn’t this conversation start with regards to Ashwin, who has played… 86 Tests?” Bang to rights.
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23rd over: India 69-3 (Kohli 10, Pant 1) This is a bold move from Bumrah: sending Rishabh Pant in at No 5, rather than Shreyas Iyer. That’s the sort of thing Ben Stokes might do. Pant gets off the mark with a sober single to square leg, and Kohli leg-glances for four. But the wicket was the main thing and Potts, as usual, thoroughly deserved it. He’s like Ollie Robinson without any of the drawbacks.
And here’s Ben in Whitstable. “My Test career,” he reckons, “also spanned the years that Oasis were any good.” Oof.
Wicket! Vihari lbw b Potts 20 (India 64-3)
Another one! Potts bowls the nip-backer, it keeps low, and even Potts can risk a celebrappeal. Vihari thinks about reviewing but Kohli talks him out of it, and rightly so. That is a very plumb plumb.
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22nd over: India 62-2 (Vihari 18, Kohli 6) Anderson continues, but his duel with Kohli only occupies one ball of this over as Kohli, twitching visibly, converts his nervous energy into a dab into the covers for a single. Vihari, gradually getting more comfortable, plays a glide for three.
“Test careers spanning the entire time that Oasis were good?” says Gavin Hutchinson with a snort. “A harsher person than I might cite Joey Benjamin.” Ha. Benjamin, as you know, played one Test in 1994.
21st over: India 57-2 (Vihari 14, Kohli 5) Play resumes, and so does Matthew Potts. He bowls to Kohli – and almost nabs him, played on! Kohl’s bat was crooked and the ball squirted past the leg stump for a streaky four.
“One of my fave stats,” says Stuart Silvers, who started this thread. “The gap between Bicknell’s second and third Test caps spanned the whole of Darren Gough’s Test career.” Ha, yes, spot-on – a whole decade from 1993 to 2003. So it also spanned all the years when Oasis were any good, with some to spare.
“Most omitted great,” says Ben Mimmack. “Matt Le Tissier – did I do this right?”
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“To all those who say that the English have no sense of humour,” chuckles V Kishnamoorthy, “they invented a game that needs five continuous days of sunshine.” You mean you’re not a fan of heavy cloud cover?
“Most omitted greats,” says Stuart Silvers, briskly. “Angus Fraser, Robin Smith, Ben Foakes, Stuart Law, Darren Lehmann, Shoaib Mohammad, Vinod Kambli, Harold Larwood. And top of the list by miles, Sydney Barnes.” Intriguing line-up! I know what you mean about The Judge, but are we really going to let in players who got 62 Tests?
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Restart at 2.15!
The rain has stopped and, all being well, play will resume at 2.15pm, in just over a quarter of an hour. Tea will be at 4.15 and there will be an extended last session with the close at 7pm.
“Good to see that India are paying their own tribute to Bob Willis,” says Jezz Nash, “by having a fast bowling number 11 as captain for this Test.” Ha. “Hope the weather improves for Blue for Bob, tomorrow.”
“I’m watching this,” says William Milner, “at a sports bar in sunny Rhodes in the heat and loving every minute. Chardonnay in the bucket.
“I played for Warwickshire boys with Neil Smith (son of MJK) back in the 80s and remember Bob Willis jogging round the colts’ ground even back then. We were 13 and he was big with even bigger hair.” Nice.
“I recently saw a post highlighting how I could listen in to TMS overseas. Could you please repost?” OK, as it’s raining.
“Btw is Kumar [Sangakkara] possibly the greatest ‘cricket man’ of our times? Please get him on our coaching staff somehow… or better still head of MCC.” Yes, one of the great cricket people – but he has already been MCC president.
Sanga was the first in a chain of mildly revolutionary appointments. He handed the baton to Clare Connor, the first woman to do the job in 233 years. And she in turn has appointed Stephen Fry, probably the first MCC president who is openly gay, and definitely the first to be openly supporting Extinction Rebellion. If only Jim Swanton were here to see it.
No action till 2pm at least
Sure enough, that inspection was on the optimistic side. There will be another one at 1.45, so the earliest the players will get back out there is 2.
“Thanks for the coverage,” says Tom Wein. “With Ashwin in the yellow vest again, can we build a team of most-omitted greats? Alongside Ashwin, perhaps Bob Taylor and Stuart MacGill? Who else would OBOers pick?”
Great question. To go with that nicely balanced spin attack, here’s a seamer for you: Martin Bicknell.
Rain extends lunch
It’s still raining, so Jimmy Anderson can have some cheese and crackers. The rain may be easing off: if so, there will be an inspection in ten minutes’ time, but that looks a touch optimistic
And an ODI squad too!
It never stops, does it? After those T20s, there are three ODIs, also against India (12-17 July). Brook is in this squad too, but he may not get a game as there are recalls for two more senior Yorkies: Jonny Bairstow, presumably resuming his opening partnership with Jason Roy, and Joe Root, displacing Dawid Malan as the designated driver of the party bus. And who’s this sneaking in as the allrounder? It’s Ben Stokes! Gleeson drops out, Carse continues and Overton (C) comes back, so there are two specialist right-arm seamers and just the three lefties.
Full squad Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Phil Salt, Joe Root, Jos Buttler (capt, wkt), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, David Willey, Craig Overton, Bryson Carse, Reece Topley, Matt Parkinson.
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England name T20 squad
Jos Buttler, exuding calm as usual, is giving an interview in his capacity as England’s new white-ball captain. Asked what he feels about the Test team doing so well, he says “I’m enjoying watching as a fan... To be honest, I wasn’t worth my place in the side.”
His first squad has just been announced, as this Test is to be followed by three T20s against India on 7-10 July. Harry Brook, who’s been batting like Bradman for Yorkshire, gets the call, and so does Richard Gleeson, the Northants seamer, who takes the Brydon Carse role as the token right-armer. With Adil Rashid taking a break for the Hajj, Matt Parkinson gets a good opportunity.
Full squad Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Dawid Malan, Jos Buttler (capt, wkt), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, David Willey, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Richard Gleeson, Reece Topley, Matt Parkinson.
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Lunch! England on top
Atherton was spot-on, lunch is being taken. England had slightly the better of the morning as Anderson (8-2-15-2) produced two moments of magic, but it could have been even better for them if Zak Crawley had taken all three of his chances. Do join us in half an hour.
One thing in the meantime. This Test is another fund-raiser for the Bob Willis Fund, which supports the fight against prostate cancer. It also celebrates a man who was a great cricket character twice over, first as a wild-eyed, shock-haired fast bowler, then as a grumpy old pundit. Edgbaston will be going Blue For Bob on Saturday. Do go here if you feel a donation coming on.
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“Aaaaaaand it’s raining,” says Shiladitya Pandit. “Of course it is. How is this a summer? Was it ordered off Wish?”
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Rain stops play!
20.1 overs: India 53-2 (Vihari 14, Kohli 1) One more ball from Potts, and then the heavens open and the hover-cover comes on. The gods are overruling Stokes and giving Anderson a breather. Mike Atherton predicts an early lunch.
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20th over: India 53-2 (Vihari 14, Kohli 1) So, Anderson to Kohli. Easy leave. Uneasy leave – a big nip-backer. Easy leave. Easy leave. Uneasy prod. Easy prod, for a single. Proper cricket.
19th over: India 52-2 (Vihari 14, Kohli 0) Some of the credit for the wicket goes to Potts, for keeping the pressure on with four overs for five runs. He finally concedes a boundary now as Vihari leg-glances and Leach, honest as ever, indicates that he was touching the Toblerone when he flicked the ball back. That brings up the Indian fifty. Vihari, seeing the chance to ruin Potts’s figures, adds a clip for two.
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18th over: India 46-2 (Vihari 8, Kohli 0) Full credit to Stokes: bringing Anderson back (from the other end) has paid off. And now he can resume his epic battle with Virat Kohli, though perhaps only for a couple of overs.
Wicket! Pujara c Crawley b Anderson 13 (India 46-2)
Got him this time! Lovely bowling from Anderson, and all Crawley had to do was bring his hands together in front of his navel. Advantage England.
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17th over: India 45-1 (Pujara 13, Vihari 7) Potts hardly puts a foot wrong – until he does, bowling a big no-ball, the first of his Test career. Pulling himself together, he beats Vihari with a beauty. And then has him dropped by Crawley at second slip – a tough one, low to his right, but he did get there. It went in, and it popped out.
Joe Root, generously, signals that it wobbled. “That’s the 11th catch,” says Ian Ward, “that England have put down in Tests this summer behind the stumps.”
16th over: India 43-1 (Pujara 13, Vihari 6) Broad gets his break now, but Sergeant-Major Stokes doesn’t turn to Leach, or himself... He goes back to Anderson! Is he trying to make them retire? Anderson responds manfully, if it’s still OK to say that, with a maiden to Pujara.
Thanks to those readers who have pointed out the slight lack of a scoreboard, now rectified by my colleague Niall McVeigh. And thanks too to Ed Broome for the TMS link.
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15th over: India 43-1 (Pujara 13, Vihari 6) Potts, again, is right on the money, luring Vihari into a nick – but it just dribbles through to Joe Root at first slip. The early signs are that this pitch is too slow, which won’t be music to the ears of India’s four seamers.
Review! Pujara reprieved
14th over: India 43-1 (Pujara 13, Vihari 6) The last England regime believed in resting elderly seamers. Ben Stokes seems quite happy to wear them out – his administration is half holiday camp, half boot camp. So it’s still Broad, and he’s still not getting any joy. As his pace sags to 79-80mph, Pujara has plenty of time to cut for four. But then the old boy strikes back, seaming the ball in and drawing a raised finger from the umpire. Pujara reviews straight away and he’s right: you can see from the first replay that the ball just flicked his trousers.
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Drinks: honours even
13th over: India 38-1 (Pujara 9, Vihari 5) Potts keeps the batters quiet, as he did throughout in the last Test. He’s a senior player already. And that’s drinks, with India winning the first half-hour, England the second, but India maybe marginally the happier camp, as they haven’t crumbled after being put in.
“Is there an overseas TMS link?” asks Gill Partington. “Desperately trying to follow from Germany!” I suspect the hive mind will sort it for you.
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12th over: India 36-1 (Pujara 8, Vihari 5) Pujara flirts with danger by watching the ball as Vihari calls for a quick single. Anderson swoops at mid-on and Pujara would be out if the shy had hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end – or, perhaps, if Billings had been a bit quicker to get there. Broad, with figures of 6-1-16-0 after a wicketless second innings at Headingley, is due a breather. Another early go for Leach?
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11th over: India 34-1 (Pujara 7, Vihari 4) Stokes makes his first bowling change, replacing Anderson with Matthew Potts. “He’s built from the ground up,” as Mark Butcher says, quoting Mike Selvey. Potts doesn’t have four slips like the old firm: he has five. Vihari makes use of the gap this leaves in the covers to push for two. Potts beats Pujara, but the ball only just gets through to Billings. The pitch is as pale as an oatcake and “very woolly”, Mike Atherton said earlier.
Here’s Kim Thonger. “Reading the interview with Jimmy about Stokes instilling spirit previously never seen, and unimaginable calm in the dressing room during run chases, it does sound as though the new captain has been watching and channelling the very wonderful Ted Lasso. But I predict he will need to also absorb and deploy the methodologies of Tony Soprano and Logan Roy before his tenure comes to an end.”
10th over: India 31-1 (Pujara 7, Vihari 2) This time there’s no early single, so Broad has a decent go at Pujara. There’s a near-miss as the nip-backer goes big and Pujara’s leave is either beautifully judged or a fluke. Broad has fun pulling his ooh-that-was-close face, and picks up his first maiden of the day.
“In what is India’s eighth [Test] appearance at Edgbaston,” says Zain Malik, “it is remarkable to note that Bumrah will be the eighth captain to lead the Indians. From Pataudi, Kapil Dev to the likes of MS [Dhoni] and Virat, none have been able to lift the curse of Birmingham.”
9th over: India 31-1 (Pujara 7, Vihari 2) Pujara is picking up singles, which is fine by England as it means he’s not seeing much of the strike. Anderson sets Vihari a small exam, which he passes, without flying colours.
“Just trying to recall,” says Pet Salmon, “didn’t India leave Ashwin out for all of the other Tests in this series a year ago. Making this the second time they’ve dragged him out here to carry the drinks?” Ha, yes, that’s right, though he did get a Test last year against New Zealand.
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8th over: India 30-1 (Pujara 6, Vihari 2) Now it’s Broad’s turn to beat the bat as a lifter, moving away, proves far too good for Vihari to get an edge. And the same again! The first half-hour is now a distant memory. Broad and Anderson are creatures of habit, grooved over the years. They believe the day starts at 11am.
7th over: India 29-1 (Pujara 5, Vihari 2) So one of the danger men has gone, and the reply shows that he could easily have left the ball: that’s the difference it makes, not having Rohit and Rahul.
Anderson, buoyed by that freebie, greets Hanuma Vihari with two nip-backers. One is too high, the other gets an inside edge. The first brings an appeal and a lovely shot of the cordon (four slips, no gully) all going up. This England are more expressive than any previous edition that comes to mind.
Vihari manages a square drive to get off the mark, squirted away for two, but then Anderson beats him with a jaffa. Game on!
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Wicket! Gill c Crawley b Anderson 17 (India 27-1)
Correction! India are not winning now. Anderson gets the length just right, putting Gill in two minds. His feet go nowhere, his bat goes half-cock, and Zak Crawley takes a comfy catch at second slip.
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6th over: India 26-0 (Gill 17, Pujara 4) Maybe Broad won’t be so thrifty after all. Gill, facing him for the first time, tucks in straight away. An imperious pull is followed by a wily dab, both for four. India are winning so far.
5th over: India 18-0 (Gill 9, Pujara 4) Anderson continues. “I see your off-push,” Gill says to Pujara, “and I raise you an off-drive.” It’s a beauty too, the shot of the morning.
“I’m a bit confused,” says Jazz, “by the decision to retain Broad and drop the snarl of Jamie Overton. This is now Big Stu’s fourth consecutive Test after his hiatus and [he] looked much less threatening in Leeds. That’s also forgetting Joverton’s last innings yielded 97.” Yes, it’s certainly debatable. Broad is seldom threatening in both innings these days, but he’s less likely to be expensive, so perhaps this is a rare case of Stokes taking the defensive option.
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4th over: India 13-0 (Gill 4, Pujara 4) Pujara gets off the mark in style, pushing Broad past mid-off with the greatest of ease. He also picks up two leg-byes when, as Broad notes, he was surely not playing a shot.
“As we all know,” says Alex Hankey, “India is cricket-mad. As an Englishman living and working in Pune, I am often asked where I come from, my ‘Native Place’. If ‘England’ gains lack of response, ‘Joe Root’ commands instant recognition. I can see that I shall now have to change that to ‘Ben Stokes’! Best wishes, and many thanks for all your efforts.” Pleasure! I’m old enough to remember when the magic words were “Bobby Charlton”.
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3rd over: India 7-0 (Gill 4, Pujara 0) Anderson adjusts his line, making Gill play, but the consequence is only a controlled edge, dropping well short of the cordon, and a couple of leg-byes.
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2nd over: India 5-0 (Gill 4, Pujara 0) The other opening bowler is ... Stuart Broad. I wonder if Stokes was tempted to go with Matthew Potts, as (a) he’s the devil the Indians don’t know and (b) it would really get Broad going. But Broad it is, and he opens with a no-ball before joining the dots as Cheteshwar Pujara just looks to survive and Broad, like his old mate, strays too wide. It was a mild surprise to see Pujara pushed up to open, but a Sky caption shows that he’s actually better there than at No 3: eight innings, average 98.
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1st over: India 4-0 (Gill 4, Pujara 0) Anderson’s first ball dribbles through to Sam Billings. By mid-over he’s found some carry, but he’s wide of off and Shubman Gill, taking his cue from Rohit and Rahul last summer, gets in some good solid leaves. The fifth ball is the inswinger, hitting him high on the pad; so is the sixth, but it’s fuller and Gill clips it for an effortless four.
The anthems ring out, giving us the chance to read some body language. The Indians stand proud, strong and apart from each other, hinting at independence. England lock arms, emphasising togetherness.
Anderson waves an arm, wanting something. He’s got something now: the new ball.
The first email of the day comes from Texas. “Howdy!” says Jay P. “D’yuh think India will be quaking in their boots apropos England’s steamrolling of NZ, the current World Test champions?”
No. But my guess, probably no better than yours, is that they’ll be wary. It’s one more thing for Bumrah to think about, on top of a hundred others.
India team: no Ashwin!
Jasprit Bumrah goes with a battery of four seamers, so there’s no room for Ravichandran Ashwin. In a perfect world, the ECB would stage a single-wicket contest at lunchtime between him and Jos Buttler. Formidable as those seamers are, you wonder whether India have noticed that this year’s Dukes ball isn’t moving much and Jack Leach has just taken a ten-for. Maybe they’ve decided that anything Leach can do, Ravi Jadeja can do better.
1 Shubman Gill, 2 Cheteshwar Pujara, 3 Hanuma Vihari, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Shreyas Iyer, 6 Rishabh Pant (wkt), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Jasprit Bumrah (capt).
England team: as advertised
Stokes likes to announce his team the day before, so no surprises here. Jimmy Anderson returns, Jamie Overton drops out and Sam Billings gets a proper start rather than a last-minute dash. The big question is whether Stuart Broad will have recovered from his extra-long shift at Headingley.
1 Alex Lees, 2 Zak Crawley, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Sam Billings (wkt), 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Matthew Potts, 10 Jack Leach, 11 Jimmy Anderson.
Toss: England choose to chase
Ben Stokes wins the toss and puts India in to bat. The thrill of the chase! This isn’t Bazball, it’s Morgsball.
Preamble
Morning everyone and welcome to a contest that is crying out to be a the answer to a quiz question. Albeit one that takes a bit of careful wording. Which Test-series decider took place in a different season from the series it was deciding? With different captains and coaches on both sides?
It’s a bit like the bacon-and-egg ice cream that Heston Blumenthal once came up with: weird but mouthwatering. We’ve seen Joe Root and Virat Kohli going out to the toss often enough. It’s time for Ben Stokes and ... Jasprit Bumrah!
Rohit Sharma, India’s new Test captain, has sadly gone down with Covid, which is bad news for connoisseurs of old-school Test opening but intriguing news for students of sporting strategy. Stokes captains just the way he plays, a man on a mission to make things happen. If Bumrah turns out to be that sort of captain too, this Test could be over by tomorrow night.
For Stokes, it is his first game in this series. For England, it is almost certainly the first time they have ever had back-to-back Tests against different opponents. It could have been a nightmare, but after acing all those chases against New Zealand they have the momentum.
They also have home advantage: the game is at Edgbaston, where they have beaten India in six Tests out of seven (and never lost to them). Hell, England even have a settled squad, albeit because Stokes and Brendon McCullum are bending over backwards to show faith in their opening batters, Alex Lees and Zak Crawley.
The Indians could be caught cold, as they were last summer, when they were beaten to the World Test Championship by New Zealand. But they have the lead in the series (2-1) and most of the superstars on the scorecard: the resurgent Cheteshwar Pujara, the buccaneering Rishabh Pant, the wily Ravi Ashwin, the tireless Mohammed Shami, the stump-smashing Bumrah and the wounded Kohli, who surely has a big score in his back pocket. On this ground, three years ago, he made a masterly 149 and 51 and still ended up on the losing side because of the will to win shown by England’s allrounders, Stokes and Sam Curran.
If today’s captains are birds of a feather, the coaches are a study in contrasts. Brendon McCullum treats a day at the Test like a trip to a funfair. Rahul David sees it more as a day in the library – a time for diligence and sobriety, with fun as an occasional bonus. It’s a clash of cultures that could make for a cracker.
Play is due to start early throughout the match – at 10.30am UK time, 3pm in India. I’ll be back 25 minutes before that with news of the toss. Will any captain fancy batting first against Stokes’s England? We shall see.
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