“Indescribable” is Mark Butcher’s verdict on Sky on the day’s play, though he has a decent stab at it, including the words “absolutely barking”. Kumar Sangakkara adds praise for Overton’s and Bairstow’s composure and judgment as well as their attacking intent. The absence of a decent spin option might be a significant note of difference between the sides at the moment.
To think a couple of hours ago I was composing a summary in my head joylessly cautioning about the limits of McCullum/Stokes’s Vibes Cricket. But they’re right and I’m wrong, and that’s why they’re earning the big cricketing bucks. This team have redefined the art of digging their way out of a hole here, and it’s been joyous to observe.
That’s us done, as Sky plays us out, fittingly, with Ace of Spades. Thanks for your company, comments, metaphors and reminiscences. Have a good night. Bye
Updated
Jonny Bairstow, the man of the moment/month speaks! And he’s in engaging form off the field too. “Being a Yorkshire lad, scoring a Test hundred at home it’s pretty special. Every Test hundred is emotional, and it’s the kind of guy I am – I wear my heart on my sleeve. I love representing this team and am really excited about the journey we’re embarking on in this group. To have the confidence Jamie had to come out and play the way he did was exceptional.
“I’m pleased with how my game’s at – we’ve played a lot of cricket this year already and I think it’s also just a more relaxed me at the crease, not necessarily as tense, back to Young Jonny just watching the ball and seeing the ball. Sometimes a lot of rubbish is spoken about a lot of different things and sometimes it gets in your mind and you’ve got to just listen to the people that matter to you. The way Brendon has been it’s just ‘go and impose yourself on the game’.”
He adds that he and Stokes greeted each other in the middle with “fancy doing another Trent Bridge?” “It was the first thing me and Ben said, sometimes it’s a simple game that you complicate, we’re trying to strip that complicated nature back. It’s a buy-in from everyone to the head coach to the guys making their debuts – to play in a way we’re capable of doing and a way of Test cricket that is different potentially from the norm.
Of Overton he adds, “I’d not actually played with him before, but It thought the way he played and the way he went about counterattacking was huge, and the power he generated was quite breathtaking at times. He’s fearless, absolutely fearless.”
