An unbeaten century from West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite and Jermaine Blackwood’s 102 blunted England on day three of the second Test in Barbados.
Here is Will Macpherson’s latest diary from the West Indies…
Cap cock up
Saqib Mahmood is England’s cap No703, and Matt Fisher No704. But should they be the other way round.
Convention has been that caps have been dished out in alphabetical order when two players make their debut in the same game. So when James Bracey and Ollie Robinson both debuted against New Zealand last year, Bracey was 698 and Robinson 699.
Saqib Mahmood and Matt Fisher made their debuts here, and England went against the convention. It had been decided in the days before that Mahmood was playing, and that he would be 703, with Fisher parachuted in at the last minute due to Craig Overton’s illness. So he was 704.
There were further complications with Fisher’s cap presentation. England wanted Steve Harmison to hand it over, as an England fast bowler who had some good days in the Caribbean. Alas Harmison was taking a Covid test required of him as a broadcaster in the bubble, so was unavailable. Fisher’s Yorkshire team-mate and skipper Joe Root stepped in…
Dan the man
Dan Lawrence is a very watchable batter. His bowling is watchable in a slightly different way. He hops in in strange fashion, and bowls off the wrong foot. Nevertheless, he is proving an effective partnership-breaker at Test level, picking up three key wickets late in the day in his short career so far.
Asked if he should bowl more, spin coach Jeetan Patel said: “I’m the spin bowling coach so of course he should.
"He offers uniqueness, like everyone can see his action is a bit different, what he does with the ball is different from other guys as well. He gets some funny bounce, gets it to hit the seam. He is working on his bowling, it’s a work in progress, but he’s also a top order batter, so we need to make sure he keeps doing that.
"I don’t know what to call it. It’s a little bit of a hop. Lots of people bowl off the wrong foot. What impresses me about Dan is obviously his game sense, but the fact he gets so much overspin, and on wickets like this where you get funny bounce and you need to hit the seam to get it to react, he does that very well.”
On the mend
Overton, by the way, was back to bowling (and sub fielding) today and should be in contention for next week’s Third Test in Grenada. So should Ollie Robinson, who was not risked here. They both bowled hefty spells in the middle at the lunchbreak. Might England fancy Matt Parkinson, if another flat pitch is in the offing?
Checking out
Mark Wood has his wife and young son in Barbados with him, so won’t go home just yet after picking up an elbow injury. He will return next week to see a specialist and determine quite how long he will be out for.
For now, it’s holiday time. Wood has checked out of the team hotel to avoid the Covid retractions placed on the players, and headed up the east coast of the island for some R&R.
Out of pocket
Thoughts with Apex, this series’s title sponsor, and FanCraze, who had their advertising hoardings taken down by England fielders because the sun was reflecting off them into the Windies’ batters eyes. The glare extended to the sight screen at the Joel Garner End, which Ben Stokes and Matt Fisher manfully pushed out of the way.
