That’s it for today’s blog. We’ll have Ali Martin’s report shortly; in the meantime, here’s Andy Bull on that surreal, record-breaking over this morning.
Close of play
27th over: England 84-5 (Bairstow 12, Stokes 0) Bumrah brings himself back to bowl the final over of the day. Bairstow, who has been given little option but to play for the close, defends solidly and takes a single off the penultimate ball. He and Stokes will return tomorrow with England still 332 runs behind.
It’s been a terrific day for India and especially their captain Jasprit Bumrah. He hit a Test-record 29 runs in one over from Stuart Broad, which went for 35 in total, and then took out England’s top three with the minimum of fuss.
India bowled quite majestically, Bumrah and Mohamed Shami in particular, and England’s batters just couldn’t cope. England have already extricated themselves from a few holes this summer, but this is the deepest yet.
Updated
26th over: England 83-5 (Bairstow 11, Stokes 0) With five minutes remaining, Ben Stokes comes out as a nightwatchman for himself. I doubt he’ll be hitting his third ball for six today.
In fairness, Stokes did walk down the track to his third ball, but it was dug in short and he settled for a defensive stroke.
Updated
WICKET! England 83-5 (Leach c Pant b Shami 0)
Shami finally gets his first wicket. He was far too good for Leach, who felt for a superb outswinger and thin-edged it through to Pant. India’s pace attack have been too hot for England to handle, again.
Updated
25th over: England 83-4 (Bairstow 11, Leach 0) It was naive, at best, to expect England to steamroll everyone as they did New Zealand. Whatever happens here, and the smart money is on them taking one helluva beating, a sobering defeat might not be the worst thing for their development. India are a class above.
Joe Root GONE!
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 2, 2022
Mohammed Siraj with a BIG wicket for India! Brilliant bowling 💥 #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/uIKOtGgUjs
24th over: England 83-4 (Bairstow 11, Leach 0) When play resumes, Bairstow leaves a huge nipbacker from Shami that just misses off stump. It was a good leave, ultimately, but it’s a minor scandal that Shami has no wickets in this innings.
It’s an even bigger scandal now, because Leach has been dropped at first slip! He got in a trangle with a nasty delivery that followed him and went off the face of the bat towards first slip. Kohli, possibly beaten by the lack of pace, put down a fairly straightforward leaping chance.
Updated
23.1 overs: England 78-4 (Bairstow 10, Leach 0) Shami gets one to burst from a length and hit Bairstow on the glove, which leads to a break in play while Bairstow receives treatment. He’s having the forefinger on his left hand strapped.
“Good to see T.S. Eliot suggest ‘Bill Bailey’ as an acceptable cat name,” says Ian Copestake.
23rd over: England 78-4 (Bairstow 10, Leach 0) The new batter is ... Jack Leach. There are around 25 minutes under the close.
“Our first cat was called (Kit) Marlowe, and his many successors all had cognomens of poets and playwrights,” says John Starbuck. “It helps to distinguish them from all those Toms and Sylvesters, not to mention Spillikins.”
Cognomens. Why has such a brilliant word only just entered my life?
WICKET! England 78-4 (Root c Pant b Siraj 32)
A huge breakthrough for India! Joe Root has gone, caught behind off the new bowler Mohamed Siraj. Root has struggled since the resumption, and he tried to glide a ball that cramped him for room and brushed the glove on its way through to Pant. Really good bowling from Siraj. In fact, this has been a majestic bowling performance from India.
Updated
22nd over: England 78-3 (Root 32, Bairstow 10) Root just about survives a sensational over from Shami. This is seriously good bowling from India. Shami beats Root on the inside twice in three balls, and raps him on the glove with the other delivery.
Shami then has an LBW appeal turned down, with Root again on the walk. Bumrah decides to review, but I’ll be very surprised if this it out. It looks way too high, and replays confirm as much. That was a poor review.
Root gets off strike from the fifth delivery, albeit from an inside-edge and then Shami beats Bairstow with the last ball. That was the most brilliant over.
21st over: England 77-3 (Root 31, Bairstow 10) A maiden from Bumrah to Bairstow, who now has 10 from 31 balls. That a reflection of the quality of the bowling, from Bumrah in particular, rather than a newfound caution from Bairstow.
“Rob,” says Romeo. “In case you don’t know who coined the Bazball thing.”
Oh I know: he won’t shut up about it in our Wisden.com (2001-02 trainee intake) WhatsApp group. Every time one of us suggests a forward defensive might be in order, he dismisses us as “bottlers”.
20th over: England 77-3 (Root 31, Bairstow 10) Shami has a biggish LBW appeal against Root turned down by Aleem Dar. It looked too high, and Root was on the walk as well. It was a lovely delivery though, which nipped back sharply off the seam.
19th over: England 77-3 (Root 31, Bairstow 10) Bumrah beats Root with a jaffa outside off stump. It kept a bit low but Root was done by the seam movement rather than the bounce. Bumrah has been sensational today, and that’s just with the ball. He ends another fine over with a sizzling yorker that is well kept out by Bairstow.
18th over: England 76-3 (Root 30, Bairstow 10) Shami is too straight to Root, who clips through midwicket for three. Then Bairstow plays a bit of a strange shot, a short-arm pull that loops wide of short midwicket. Bairstow isn’t exuding permanence at the crease, which probably means he’ll be 84 not out at the close.
“Just found out we are getting a cat,” says Stephen Cryan. “The naming of cats is a difficult matter. Baz ball? Discuss.”
This sounds like the beginning of a Bob Mortimer tale on Would I Lie To You?
Updated
17th over: England 71-3 (Root 27, Bairstow 8) After a two-hour rest, Bumrah returns to the attack in place of Siraj. He has a huge LBW appeal against Bairstow turned down. I thought there was an inside edge, and after consultation Bumrah decides not to review.
Replays show there was no inside edge, just bat on pad, but it was too high. Even so, it’s a terrific, challenging over from Bumrah, with everything angled in to Bairstow. He inside edges the last ball for a couple, though it wasn’t the most convincing shot.
16th over: England 68-3 (Root 27, Bairstow 6) A loose/aggressive start from Root. He’s beaten first up, chasing a wide outswinger from Shami, and then edges the next delivery over the slip cordon for four. But he ends the over with an authoritative cover drive for four more.
Updated
Play resumes
Here come the players. There are five balls remaining in the 16th over, bowled by Mohamed Shami, and play can continue until 7pm local time.
Updated
“I really hope Baz and his balls read Guy Hornsby’s post on the OBO (of course they will),” says Brendan Large. “This ‘new’ England will not be able to get out of all situations with a few/a lot of swishes of the bat. There has to be a plan B, in terms of batting overs in Tests surely? Or is that not entertaining enough?”
McCullum batted 13 hours to save a Test against India, and I’m sure their approach will settle down over time. Not sure it’ll happen this summer, though.
Updated
“You are obviously not a car person/golfer,” writes Ian Copestake, “but if Ollie Pope has as suggested joined the Crawley school of driving then perhaps the way to go (forward) is via points on their respective licences.”
Play will restart at 6pm. That’s good news, especially for a refreshed Jasprit Bumrah. We should have around an hour’s play before the close.
Updated
‘It’s as if the pilot has died and he has been pulled out of the crowd to land the plane’
Earlier today, Stuart Broad bowled an over to Jasprit Bumrah that went for 35 runs. I’m not entirely sure it wasn’t a dream directed by David Lynch, but people are talking as if it actually happened. And our old friend Andy Bull has written rather brilliantly about it.
Updated
“So, from here Rob, we just score 250-1 off the next 50 overs right?” says Guy Hornsby. “At least that’s what I’m told happens as of five weeks ago. I’d actually be quite happy if we get through the next 10-15 overs until the ball softens as the rain breaks are going to allow India’s new ball pair extra spells. We can play smart, as well as smashing it, presumably.”
That attitude is so May 2022.
“Hi Rob, hi all,” writes Em Jackson. “Re: Classic cars for current cricketers - Sir Alistair Cook would surely have a Range Rover Mk 1. I mean, he’s a Sir, has a farm, plays cricket & I guess owns a wax jacket plus farm dogs. Whilst I know he plays for Essex and not Middlesex, I simply can’t see Sir Alistair in a lime green Ford Escort XR3i cabriolet.”
As somebody who has never driven this is a foreign language to me, but it sounds persuasive. And I can confidently concur with the ‘lime green’ bit.
“You used the word ‘moist’,” cringes John Starbuck. “There was a whole thread about this in a long-ago OBO and I thought this was one of your bugbears. Did the psychiatrist tell you to confront your fears?”
Why else do you think I watch highlights of Adelaide 2006 over breakfast every morning?
From the archive
Here’s Kapil Dev playing a bit of Bazball - 40 years ago.
Inspection at 5.25pm It has stopped raining, but the outfield is a bit too moist for the umpires’ liking. They’ll be back for another inspection in just under 20 minutes.
“Talking of circles in the nets, I used to go to Peter Wight’s cricket school in Bath when I was a tyro schoolboy cricketer,” says Ben Mimmack. “He once drew a circle in chalk on the ground where I should pitch the ball. I didn’t hit it once and he was kind enough to just brush it away and never mention it again. Lovely man.”
Updated
Inspection at 5pm Good news from Edgbaston. If they can get back on soon after the inspection, we could still have around two hours’ play this evening.
“Ollie Pope seems to have enrolled in the Zak Crawley school of driving,” says Colum Fordham. “I would take away their licences until they have studied Joe Root’s flowing drives, based on a more astute judgement of length, with more care.”
Michael Vaughan, who was a glorious driver, made a good suggestion re: Crawley during the BT Sport coverage of the West Indies tour. Essentially, he said Crawley should draw a big circle on a length outside off stump every time he practises in the nets. If the ball pitches in the circle, he doesn’t drive. I know cricket and especially batting have evolved but it sounds like a decent idea to me.
Tea It’s officially tea, which means the earliest that play can resume is 4.50pm. But it’s likely to be nearer 5.30pm.
Rain stops Bumrah
No change at Edgbaston, where a) it’s still raining and b) England are still in a soupçon of bother.
“Okay, the pitch has been prepared,” writes Vince in Slovakia (see 9th over). “I used the highest setting on the lawn mower. The trees count as fours. The Martians are ready to send a team but they want a rest day so they can take over the world. Also a bear was spotted in the hills above me the other day so I will see if it wants to be the third umpire...”
I’m impressed that you’ve already asked the bear about its preferred pronouns.
Rain stops play
15.1 overs: England 60-3 (Root 19, Bairstow 6) Root chases a short, wide delivery from Shami and is beaten. And that’s it for now, because the heavens have parted. It was India’s mini-session, with Jasprit Bumrah taking the wicket of Ollie Pope to leave England in a peedie bit of bother. They trail by 356 runs.
Updated
15th over: England 60-3 (Root 19, Bairstow 6) These are pretty tough batting conditions, with the ball zipping off the seam and occasionally spitting from a length. Ravi Shastri, commentating on Sky Sports, thinks the extra pace of the Indian bowlers is the reason they are getting more from the pitch.
Another livewire, Mohammad Siraj, comes on to replace Bumrah (7-0-30-3). Bairstow greets him with a mildly imperious pull through backward square leg for four. He’s in death-or-glory mode again, no surprise given his astonishing recent form.
Meanwhile, here’s the wicket of Ollie Pope.
Got him with the extra ball! 💪
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 2, 2022
Pope edges it, Iyer takes the catch and Bumrah gets his third wicket - what a day that man is having! #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/RMZiDN8dUH
14th over: England 55-3 (Root 18, Bairstow 2) Bairstow pings a pull for two to get off the mark, edges a cut short of the slips and then administers a brollocking to someone behind the bowler’s arm. No Bairstow innings would be complete without it.
“Young Bumrah once bowled four wides consecutively playing for Mumbai Indians,” says Yash Gupta. “At that time I headscratched how can someone even dare to become a fast bowler with that run-up? He won’t last two years in T20 format. That was about seven years ago.”
And then India called up the T20 specialist to the Test side! And look how that worked oh.
13th over: England 53-3 (Root 18, Bairstow 0) Root opens the face to steer Bumrah to third man for a couple. This contest, between two bankers for a World XI to face Mars in Vince’s back garden in Slovakia, has the potential to decide the game and therefore the series.
Root gets a bit lucky later in the over when he tries to flick to leg and gets a leading edge through gully for four.
12th over: England 45-3 (Root 10, Bairstow 0) Root remains the prize wicket despite Jonny Bairstow’s extraordinary bish-boshery in recent weeks. One of Root’s great strengths - he has a few - is to stockpile singles, and he flicks Shami into the leg side to move into double figures.
This is a fascinating test of England’s nerve and ability. There are no Michael Bracewells in this attack.
Updated
11th over: England 44-3 (Root 8, Bairstow 0) That wasn’t, alas, a good stroke from Ollie Pope. It’s the third time in the match that a batter has fallen to the seventh or eighth ball of an over: Thakur last night, Lees this morning and now Stokes.
Updated
WICKET! England 44-3 (Pope c Iyer b Bumrah 10)
The no-ball strikes again! Jasprit Bumrah has taken a wicket with the seventh and final delivery of his sixth over, which was extended because the previous delivery was a no-ball. It was full, wide and too much for Pope to resist. He threw his hands into a loose drive and was snaffled in the slips by Shreyas Iyer.
Updated
10th over: England 42-2 (Pope 10, Root 8) Root survives an optimistic LBW shout from Shami. It was a good ball, which nipped back sharply, but it was too high high, hush hush, eye to eye.
“Look,” says Phil Keegan, “I am very out of touch with the UK, what with living in Vietnam and not even visiting for around 10 years, but what the hell is a ‘a peedie coffee’. Frankly it sounds quite disturbing.”
You live in the home of weasel coffee and you think my coffee sounds disturbing! (Peedie just means small, btw, and has nothing to do with the consumption of mammal droppings.)
9th over: England 41-2 (Pope 10, Root 7) Bumrah didn’t get in many Test XIs for 2021, though I’d have included him for his matchwinning spells at Lord’s and the Oval. They were sensational. This might be sacrilege, but from afar he feels like the best fast bowler India have ever produced. Maybe he needs greater longevity, I don’t know.
“Hello from Slovakia,” writes Vince. “Maybe England should play here. Sunny and warm, though 39, yesterday but a pleasant 29 today. No cricket grounds but they can play in my garden. I live on a hill so they can pretend they’re on an extreme Lord’s pitch. Bumrah must be cock a hoop but I’ll wait till England are eight down to form any opinions on this game.. Seems like Nos 5,6 and 7 are the key batsmen these days.”
They certainly have been this summer, as this list of average partnerships for each wicket demonstrates.
8th over: England 39-2 (Pope 10, Root 6) A poor ball from Shami, short and wide, is deliberately slapped over the cordon for four by Pope. He had a hard time against India last year, mainly in the away series, though that was largely against Ravichandran Ashwin.
Updated
7th over: England 35-2 (Pope 6, Root 6) The floodlights are on, and all logic suggests this is a terrific time to bowl. If you bowl the right length, that is: Bumrah starts with an overpitched delivery that is driven crisply through mid-off for four by Root.
Not that it counts for much in the peculiar circumstances, but Root is averaging 94 in this series. The leading wickettaker is Ollie Robinson, though not for long.
We have play again
The players are back on the field, with three balls of the seventh over remaining. It’s time for business.
Updated
Revised hours of play
Afternoon session 3.15-5pm
Evening session 5.20-6.37pm (with the extra half hour available)
Updated
YOU HEARD THE MAN
I had no idea this was a thing either.
This tweet is dedicated to all the sports journalists - thank you for working tirelessly through major tournaments and finding stories to tell from every game/event possible out there! #InternationalSportsJournalistsDay
— parthiv patel (@parthiv9) July 2, 2022
Updated
Here’s Niall Mullen “Me in October this year: ‘Some people never got over Vietnam or the night their band opened for Nirvana. I guess I never got over Bazball.’”
Play will resume at 3.15pm. Time for me to grab a peedie coffee.
“Cricketer of today in a posh car?” muses Gary Naylor. “Zak Crawley, of course. Though he’d have to improve his driving. HONK!”
That must be the first all-capitals HONK! on here in years. I’m shedding nostalgia tears.
Inspection at 3pm I’m not sure what happened to the 2.45pm inspection. Even so, things are looking more optimistic.
“I saw an eighteen-year-old David Lloyd (the one called Bumble these days) in a Lanky side captained by Brian Statham, against Warwickshire,” writes Romeo on the subject of watching cricketers before they were famous. “His ten runs in the match (4 and 6*) and one wicket for 58 runs in 19 overs didn’t make much of an impression at the time and have yet to do so. His six runs in the following year’s match against a Cowdrey-captained Kent (6 and 0) and no wickets for 26 in 5 overs also failed to convince me of his genius.”
That aside, you were smitten?
Updated
“Good afternoon Rob,” says Kim Thonger. “I’ve been dodging raindrops at Burghley House in Stamford, Lincolnshire, admiring the vintage vehicles at the Annual Rally & Concours d’Elegance widely considered as the largest gathering of Rolls-Royce and Bentley motor cars in the world.
“My question is this. I can imagine many older Test cricketers behind the wheel of these beauties. Colin Cowdrey, Ted Dexter, David Gower, to name but a few. But which of the current crop would not look out of place? Tricky isn’t it?”
My default OBO answer is ‘Darren Stevens’ but I don’t suppose I can get away with that here. James Vince? Colin de Grandhomme? Kumar Sangakkara? (Yes, yes, I know Sangakkara has technically retired but did you see him bat on Sky Sports last week?)
Updated
Inspection at 2.45pm Woot and, indeed, woot.
Thanks Tanya, hello everyone. I’m not sure I have many thoughts on Crawley, except that to give him a break after this game would be an act of kindness. I still think, in the parlance of our time, that he has the highest ceiling of all England’s current openers. But he probably has the antonym (the lowest basement? The deepest catacomb?) as well.
He needs some time out, and maybe a visit to see Duncan Fletcher. Another thought on Crawley - his form is doing Alex Lees a favour.
Updated
With the rain still falling, I hand over to Rob Smyth (welcome back, maestro) who will tickle your through the rain break. Thanks for all the messages, bye!
Thanks to Em Jackson for this nudge: “Not often one would mention a retired Scottish cricketer during an England game but RIP Andy Goram (probably more well known for Rangers, Hibs and Man Utd admittedly). 58 is no age.”
According to cricinfo, who I paraphrase: goalkeeper Andy Goram was one of the last to play both cricket and football to a high level, but even by the 1980s professional football was becoming all encompassing. This limited his appearances for Scotland as a right-arm medium-pacer to two first-class and two list-A matches. RIP.
Bored of Baz-ball already? I hate to tell you but England have signed up for a four year term.
Didn't take long for this iteration of England's men's cricket to become insufferably full of itself.
— Aditya Devavrat (@theamericandesi) July 2, 2022
The cameras pan to the outfield, where the umpires have umbrellas up and are inspecting some wet grass.
Writes Oliver B:
@tjaldred Arlott's comment about Gower was not as visionary as you might think. The rest of the batting lineup in that match was especially inexperienced and journeymanish: Brearley, Wood, Radley and Roope (plus Botham who made 100).
— Oliver B (@Oliksto2) July 2, 2022
(Boycott cried off the day before the test.)
“Haseeb Hameed is having a decent season - averaging 50, 2 centuries, healthy SR of 65, showing the mental qualities required to bounce back after his time in Australia,” writes Matt Cast.
“Whether he fits the blueprint is another story, but I still really want to see him doing well in the Test side.”
I’d love to see him in the Test side. But it feels a bit early again, just like it felt a bit early when England brought him back last year. I’d give him another season with Notts and see where he is then.
Updated
Thank you Gary Naylor for fab rain break reading.
Wrote a piece about early brushes with talent @tjaldred https://t.co/DV6oHYmNhd
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) July 2, 2022
Great stories! I saw Ollie Pope score a hundred at Guildford for Surrey a few years ago, but I think he’d already been earmarked by then. Who were your before-they-were-famous spots?
A tracksuited Rahul Dravid has his legs up on the Indian balcony, Pant, knees up, hand on chin, is listening raptly. Wouldn’t we all.
On TMS, Ramps is chatting Crawley. Sometimes, he says, ( or something along those lines) it is better to take the player out of the spotlight.
Jos Buttler yesterday pooh-poohed the idea of him opening the batting in the Test team. But he does fit the blue-print.
@tjaldred nah you play like you mean to go on under this new era of aggression by picking jos buttler to open and drop zak 9 runs crawley
— james kavanagh (@kavjames) July 2, 2022
Robert Ellson follows up on Vic’s wise words about Pant. “When David Gower hit his first ball in Test cricket for four, John Arlott’s commentary was something along the lines of ‘he is a good player this boy, probably the only class batsman in the side.’ Now that’s spotting talent early.”
Rain stops play
6.3 overs: England 31-2 (Pope 6, Root 2) Brollies up! Like Lees earlier, Crawley will be cursing himself. If he could have just lasted another couple of overs, he’d be having a satisfying, rather than miserable, breather in the dressing room.
“HI Tanya, Can you please sit down with Zak Crawley and explain to him that, if what England needed was someone to hit a couple of attractive drives before wafting a loose drive into the slips, then James Vince would still have a test career.”
A motherly chat? Not sure how well that would go down. For his own sake though, I’d let him return to county pastures after this Test. Who replaces him though, I’m not sure. You don’t want to ruin Harry Brook by pushing him up the order.
Updated
6th over: England 30-2 (Pope 5, Root 2) Not much relief at the other end from Shami, who has a touch of the Ali Martins about the beard. Root is watchful, wary.
Going back to when Bumrah had the bat in his hand:
I don't agree with wickets being taken off the seventh balls of overs @tjaldred. I think there is a proposal to make them free hits, but I'm not sure. They should be.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) July 2, 2022
5th over: England 29-2 (Pope 4, Root 2) Root nearly done by the hat-trick ball, fizzing popping candy that squeals past the bat. And another. Bumrah is bowling like a dream here.
WICKET! Crawley c Gill b Bumrah 9 (England 27-2)
I don’t want to type these words but... he drives... and the ball is duly collected by third slip. Bumrah on a hat-trick.
Updated
4th over: England 27-1 (Pope 4, Crawley 9) Shami resumes from the pavilion end. And the first ball zips through beating both Crawley and Pant - who is wrong footed. There’s nearly another running mix-up as Crawley sends Pope back mid-pitch, after driving the ball to backward point. And again Crawley on the drive. Nasser doesn’t think it is such a good idea with Shami wobbling the ball about. Pope off the mark with a neat four pulled down to fine leg.
We’re back on:
That over encapsulated:
Greatest c̶r̶i̶c̶k̶e̶t̶ photo ever taken? #EngvInd pic.twitter.com/LGHqkvhwuw
— Vithushan Ehantharajah (@Vitu_E) July 2, 2022
An email arrives from Jonathan McKinley, titled: The Amazing Anderson
“Without Anderson’s contribution India are an ODI-esque 356-5 from 63 overs. Can we find some way of keeping him going for another twenty years? Or cloning him?”
Who knows what else Baz has in his bag of tricks. Such a shame the heir apparent Saqib Mahmood is injured, missing precious time bowling with the master.
Just a casual 32nd Test five-for for Jimmy Anderson.
— Rory Dollard (@thervd) July 2, 2022
England legendary five-man attack in 2005 Ashes (Harmison, Hoggard, Jones, Flintoff, Giles) took 26 combined.
Just a casual 32nd Test five-for for Jimmy Anderson.
— Rory Dollard (@thervd) July 2, 2022
England legendary five-man attack in 2005 Ashes (Harmison, Hoggard, Jones, Flintoff, Giles) took 26 combined.
Re-start 1.15pm BST
If there is no more rain.
The umpires have been inspecting - we await news.
Tom Vd Gucht hits a melancholy air:
“Sadly, Broad seems to gave become increasingly toothless this summer. I worry that his crazy over was a case of an ageing pro raging against the fading light and finding the magic isn’t quite there as it once was. I’d be surprised if he’s still part of the test team by the end of this test season.”
I dont know, he’s proved the critics wrong so many times. I don’t think he’s ready to give up yet.
I’m going to grab a sandwich, but not before we admire Vic Marks’ crystal ball, courtesy of Ewan Glenton:
“Apologies if I’ve mentioned this before (I might have when Pant went ballistic in Australia), or if anyone else has drawn attention to it… I was struck 4 years ago when Vic Marks, in his Guardian report when Pant made his Test debut (Trent Bridge, August 2018), wrote ‘...a cameo at the end from India’s debutant, Rishabh Pant. He was only 22 not out at the close but I have a hunch this might have been an ‘I was there’ moment.’
“That was a very big statement based on very little evidence; Marks obviously saw something huge there and felt an urge to stick his neck out, and I remember thinking I’d note the name in case Marks was onto something. He certainly was. I’ve been watching/listening to/reading about cricket since the late 70s and that’s one of the most impressively bold (and accurate) one-to-watch calls I can remember.”
Lunch England 16-1 trail India by 400 runs
The teams take an early lunch in an attempt to manage the rain. Stuart Broad can bounce Ben Stokes with roast potatoes just for the lols.
Will, apologies, I may have got that wrong:
Stuart Broad now has the world record for conceding most runs in an over in both Tests and T20Is.
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) July 2, 2022
35 runs vs Bumrah Edgbaston 2022
36 runs vs Yuvraj Durban 2007#ENGvIND
“Hello Tanya.” Hello Matthew Doherty!
“Did Mcullum go into the wrong dressing room?”
Boom Boom! Curious to see how England play out their first-innings now - can they resist trying to out-do Pant-ball and Bum-ball -( let’s ride this Bazball vernacular while we still can.).
“Combined with the time he got tonked for 6 6s, does Broad now hold the record for most runs conceded in an over in both Test and ODI cricket..?” asks Will Denton. I don’t think so... unless I’m reading this cricinfo list wrong?
Rain stops play!
As the rain starts to fall, Umpire Aleem Dar tries to stop Shami bowling the first ball of his over, but the call is so late that Shami has to go through with the delivery. Kohli has something to say, and the covers are wheeled on.
3rd over: England 16-1 (Pope 0 Crawley 7) An eventful over, as Crawley creams a four, then edges Bumrah just short of the slip cordon, before Lees loses his woodwork.
“Your weather forecast of drizzle has happily turned out to be wrong, “ muses Colum Fordham, “but your prediction of the last pair not detaining England for long has ultimately proved right, but not after carnage off the wayward bowling of Broad who, in my humble opinion, should not be allowed to bowl to aggressive tailenders.”
Such a bizarre over. You could almost see Broad’s brain processing the information in real time - like a man standing in front of a slot machine: this ball, I’m going to get him.
WICKET! Lees b Bumrah 6 (England 16-1)
A no ball means Bumrah steams in for one last delivery and Lees hangs his bat in wooly fashion. The ball slides thankfully between bat and pad, clipping the stump, thanks very much.
Updated
2nd over: England 7-0 (Lees 6; Crawley 0) England run a leg bye off Shami and Lees picks up four through that handy devise of the thick inside edge.
Can we say England were Bazboozled?
Bazball wasn't ready for Boomball 🔥
— Shilajit (@ShilajitIsHere) July 2, 2022
India's innings
1st over: England 2-0 (Lees 2; Crawley 0) Bumrah swings seamlessly from batting genius to bowling machine. England survive unharmed.
Neil Parkes is quite cross. “Idiotic! Moronic! Predictably inane! Farcical! Brainless! Wrong headed! Stupid! Arse minded!”
My inbox suddenly overfloweth, but I must grab a quick coffee in the 2 minutes before the next innings.
#ENGvIND Jasprit #Bumrah's idea of a captain's innings is breaking a world record by taking 35 off an over from Stuart #Broad. We may have to give #Bazball a new name - either Bumball or Pantball
— Tim de Lisle (@TimdeLisle) July 2, 2022
84.5 overs: India 416 ( Bumrah 31 not out) Another five-fer for Anderson, but that isn’t the story of the morning - which is encapsulated by the most expensive over in Test history, with Jasprit Bumrah now elbowing out Brian Lara as the man with the most runs in a Test over.
“You were right Tanya,” types Jonathan Eastwood, “these 2 didn’t last long, but holy heck that was a ridiculous couple of overs even by England’s standards.” Mea culpa.
WICKET! Siraj c Broad b Anderson 2 (India 416 all out: Bumrah 31 not out)
The chaos comes to an end as Siraj’s swipe only makes it to mid-off where Broad redeems himself after an over of short-pitch madness.
A world record in Tests: 35 runs off the over!
83rd over: India 412-9 (Siraj 1, Bumrah 29) Utterly bonkers carnage off Broad as Bumrah makes hay: four (top edge that just misses Crawley); five wides; seven (no ball, wacky top edge), four (a full toss, spanked), four (inside edge), four (a falling over swipe), [in the Indian dressing room, the players rush to watch a replay on TV], six [an upper flick to fine leg]; and finally a single that ends in a scrambled mess but Siraj is just in. Bumrah and Siraj are bent double with the fun of it all. Stokes looks less impressed.
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83rd over: India 376-9 (Siraj 1, Bumrah 0) I don’t think these two will detain England too long today. Famous last words.
WICKET! Jadeja b Anderson 104 (India 375-9)
Jadeja has a mow, and Anderson’s accuracy does the rest. Points mean prizes. He walks off to a standing ovation, as he should.
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82nd over: India 375-8 (Jadeja 103, Bumrah 0) Broad and Anderson doing the trick here in stemming the runs. Just one off Broad.
Thank you Romeo: “The Sky graphic of top ten wicket takers is wrong. Nathan Lyon has just gone past Kapil Dev’s 434 with 436 into 10th place.”
New ball taken
81st over: India 374-8 (Jadeja 103, Bumrah 0) Jadeja picks up three and Bumrah survives his solitary ball from the on brand Anderson.
80th over: India 371-8 (Jadeja 100, Bumrah 0) Broad nearly picks up another, as Bumrah top edges to fine leg where Crawley leaps into the air, grabs the ball, but can’t hold on as he plummets to earth, but remembers to jettison his prize onto the playing area before he collapses in a shambolic tangle of arms and legs.
WICKET! Shami c Leach b Broad 16 (India 371-8)
Broad does the trick in his first over of the morning as Shami’s luck runs out, trying to ramp the ball, but only finding Jack Leach. And that’s Broad’s 550th Test wicket, at 28.01 in 156 matches.
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Jadeja reaches his hundred!
79th over: India 371-7 (Jadeja 100, Shami 16) The magnificently hirsute Jadeja pulls off his helmet and swings his signature sword-bat swing, reaching his hundred with a hammer through point off Potts. The ball before, he’d been lucky to escape an edge through the slips which eluded both Crawley, diving right, and Root, diving left. Virat Kohli leads the applause on. the balcony. Fabulous stuff.
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78th over: India 362-7 (Jadeja 92, Shami 15) India feeling a bit more frisky, 20 minutes in. Jadeja edges Stokes through the slips for four; and Shami has a carefree punt for four more.
Exactly so. I remember the awesome Sharda Ugra telling me about Pant when he was just a reckless kid in the IPL.
Pant had been doing this since his debut 4 years ago what England started doing 3 matches ago. #INDvsENG
— Bee.Positive ⭕️ (@BhavikK11) July 2, 2022
77th over: India 352-7 (Jadeja 87, Shami 9) This time they take an early single, and Shami shows everyone just what he’s made of, swatting Potts for two successive fours: through backward point and midwicket.
76th over: India 341-7 (Jadeja 86, Shami 0) Stokes has been to the same barber as lots of the boys I saw scrubbing up just fine for the high school prom last week. Short at the back, long at the top, but he always wears it slicked back ever since those early long-haired Covid days. Jadeja isn’t too worried by the over, but takes a single off the fifth ball to cream the strike. Bit of a tempo change here from last night.
75th over: India 339-7 (Jadeja 84, Shami 0) As eager as a young pup, something solid like a Labrador, Potts runs in. A huge lbw appeal first ball against Jadeja but no-one fancies it as much as Potts.
74th over: India 339-7 (Jadeja 84, Shami 0) Stokes leans gingerly into his first over of the day, just a single coming from it.
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England and India are lining up, wearing matching Bob Willis fund caps, and everyone is clapping for 45 seconds in memory of the wide-eyed legend of Headingley ‘81. Statistically, two thousand men sitting at Edgbaston today will develop prostate cancer. If you catch it early enough, it is treatable. So get yourself checked, you hear me? Good.
And apologies if you sent me an email earlier today which bounced back, the correct address is tanya.aldred.freelance@theguardian.com.
We are going to have play, starting on time!
Sky are screening a touching segment dedicated to Bob Willis, and I’ve just realised that is why all the commentators are wearing matching blue jackets. Please wipe my previous comment from your brain.
Remember to wear your blue today! 💙
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 2, 2022
Edgbaston will be turning #BlueForBob to raise money for research into prostate cancer, the disease which took the life of England legend Bob Willis ⤵️
A lot of sixes:
Rishabh Pant's six off Jack Leach was the 11,616th six recorded in men's Tests
— Mark Puttick (@GryllidaeC) July 1, 2022
69696 runs off sixes in men's Tests#ENGvIND #BBCCricket
Matthew Potts is talking to Mark Butcher. “We put in a good shift yesterday, we’re hoping to come out today and clear them out. Everyday has been tough, [but] that was the first time I’ve been put under pressure, Rishabh played an absolute blinder of an innings.
“This [playing for England] is something that wasn’t on the radar at all at the start of the season, was just hoping to get fit and help to contribute to some wins for Durham. Is the same game, just wearing a different shirt and different cap.”
KP is rueing his luck that he’s not playing Test cricket under Baz-ball. He’s got a point.
They’re out practising at Edgbaston. I’m not sure, but it looks as if Pant might be wearing deck shoes. Certainly Ian Ward, KP and Sangakkara are in matching pale blue jackets.
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Preamble
And good morning to y’all on this bonny July Saturday. My weather app predicts drizzle in Birmingham, but let’s forget about that dismal prospect for a while and reflect on Rishabh Pant doing Baz-ball. Actually, Rishabh Pant has always done Baz-ball, but in the glory of England’s new red-ball clothes, we forgot.
Friday’s cricket was fabulous, even if there wasn’t quite a full house in to see it. England attacked, and attacked again, with slips falling out of Sam Billings’ sleeves. At 98 for five, England were cruising, Matthew Potts continuing his fancy for the big wicket, popping Virat Kohli in his saddle bag alongside Kane Williamson. But then came Pant and Jadeja in a 222-run sixth-wicket whack-a-mole partnership, only ended by Joe Root. As assistant coach Paul Collingwood said last night:
“It was a brave ball, with his two men up still after being hit back over his head.”
England will continue to go for it today - India too. Collingwood said anything less that 370 would be a result. Play (might) start at 10.30am, don’t miss a ball.
