Ali Martin's day four report
Close of play! It's England's day (217-1)
The umps have called it a night. So it’s very definitely England’s day, and they lead by 153.
Zak Crawley (117 not out) has another magnum opus at last, Joe Root (84 not out) is back in the groove after struggling since Boxing Day, and together they have transcended a slow pitch to post a magnificent partnership of 193. But there’s now only one day left and the chances of a draw have ballooned to 81pc on CricViz. England’s chances are rated at 18pc, West Indies’ at 1.
The only way we’ll have a result is if England collapse, which is just about conceivable. Thanks for your company, correspondence and candidates for the Quirky XI. I’ll see you tomorrow, when play may start earlier than 2pm GMT to make up for lost time.
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“There hasn’t been an England batting collapse,” says Eleanor Harvey. “Does that mean we can have our two best bowlers back now?”
Only if they promise to bat a bit better.
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The rain has stopped and the covers are coming off. The umpires are going out to have a look, at a leisurely pace. We might get a few more minutes.
Meanwhile here’s Dean Kinsella again. “The rain breaks have me hopping,” he says, “between yourself and an awesome battle in Cardiff. Fridays are fun!”
If you’d rather follow the rugby, that’s fine by me, but obviously you have to stay on the Guardian site. Niall McVeigh is live-blogging it here.
Crawley, madly, deeply
While we wait to see if there’s any more play tonight, I’m having a glance at Zak Crawley’s record against different countries. Against Pakistan, he averages 160; against New Zealand, 4.40. And more than most cricketers, he treats those twin impostors just the same – with a cheery smile, a confident swing of the bat, a lethal on-drive and the odd waft outside off stump.
When he made his 267, he went out of his way to say he’d had some slices of luck early on. Today he didn’t need so many. “A magnificent hundred by Zak Crawley,” Mark Ramprakash is saying as I write. “He’s played beautifully.”
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On BT Sport, they’re using the rain break to show a joint interview with Viv Richards and Ian Botham. These two old friends and legends now have their names on the trophy that England and West Indies play for. As ever, they make a great double act, and a study in contrasts – except in one way. When the camera zooms out, you can see that they’re both terrible manspreaders.
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The rain won't be interrupted
63.2 overs: England 217-1 (Crawley 117, Root 84) Bonner resumes with his loopy leg-spin. It could be rust, or the fact that he was rudely interrupted, but he bowls two no-balls. Each is pushed for a single, as is the one legitimate ball he manages before the rain sweeps in again.
One day, this over will feature in a fiendishly difficult pub quiz.
Play interrupts rain
The covers are off and the players are coming back on.
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Talking of Trott, let’s go back to the Quirky XI. “How about Henry Horton,” says John Corp in Howden, Canada. Henry who? “No 3 for Hampshire in the 1950s and 60s.” Ah.
According to John, there was a rhyme about him. “‘Henry Horton has a stance, which rather lacks in elegance. But when he starts to hit the ball, I don’t mind his stance at all.’ I couldn’t find a picture but essentially he was bent at the knees with his arse sticking out.” Quite like Rory Burns, then.
“Crikey Tim!” says Dean Kinsella. “When did England last have a 2nd wkt partnership of this immensity?” Nine years ago this week, apparently, when Jonathan Trott and Nick Compton added 210 against New Zealand in Wellington. The match, alas, was drawn.
“Whatever happened to Rory?” says Nina, picking up on my throwaway remark from the 61st over. “While the covers are on, spare a thought for Rory Burns. I think he’s seen the harshest treatment of all England’s recent hapless openers, and despite the quirks I reckon he could make a decent opener with Crawley if they keep faith with the latter.
“And I’m not being generous to Burns, considering what he’s said about the England women’s cricket team… I just reckon he got dealt the shortest straw after a torrid time in Australia, and his dropping was a lot to do with that first ball setting the tone for a terrible Ashes series England wanted to forget!
“Long time lurker, first time commenting, Nina.” Welcome! And that’s a great point, though I suspect a few dropped catches may have played a part too.
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“Before everyone gets too excited,” says Tom Bowtell, “when Crawley completes his double century mid-morning tomorrow, he will NOT become the lowest-averaging Test batsman with two doubles. He’ll slot in behind Mulvantrai H Mankad (31.48) and Matthew Sinclair (32.05) with a minimum end-of-match Crawley stat of 32.67 if he’s out for 200. That said, when he goes on a run of 123 runs in his next 11 innings he could well make a play for top spot.” Ha.
David Gower, on commentary, has a nice detail. Crawley’s bat handle is stripey – red, blue and green, the colours of the Lord’s Taverners. Gower is their president, and every time Crawley makes a run, the Taverners get some cash. (If you know how much, do drop me a line.) This has to be the best idea since David Steele earned a lamb chop from a Northampton butcher every time he hit a four.
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Rain stops fun!
63.1 overs: England 212-1 (Crawley 116, Root 82) Yes, here’s the rain, so the groundstaff sprint on and the players trickle off. There was time for one ball from another part-timer, Nkrumah Bonner, who served up a leg-break, tucked for a single by Crawley. If that’s it for the day, we know who the day belongs to.
63rd over: England 211-1 (Crawley 115, Root 82) Permaul gets a breather at last, after salvaging some dignity from the wreckage of his first few overs. Roach returns, to be greeted with Root’s signature dish, the unforced force past cover. It only gets two but takes him into the 80s and inspires the travelling fans to sing Joe Root, to the tune of Hey Jude. This in turn inspires him to move onto the front foot, for a change, and play a caress of a cover-drive for two more. The only cloud on the horizon is that the groundstaff are poised, clearly expecting rain.
“Are we allowed county stalwarts in the Quirky XI?” wonders Phil Sawyer. Of course! “If so, may I please nominate Luke Proctor, of whom the redoubtable Paul Edwards once memorably said, ‘the stance of Lancashire’s No 3 may remind one of an arthritic rent-collector trying to see under a door of a late payer’.” That’s great.
62nd over: England 207-1 (Crawley 115, Root 78) As Seales continues, Crawley flicks for four, yet again, and pulls for two. Before that a bye brings up the 200, to go with the no-ball that brought up the 100, not very long ago. These two have done so well to find top gear.
61st over: England 198-1 (Crawley 109, Root 76) A couple more singles, and England lead by 134. This is their first Test hundred by a man not called Bairstow since last August, and their first by a. non-Yorkshireman since June, when Rory Burns got one against New Zealand. Whatever happened to him?
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60th over: England 195-1 (Crawley 108, Root 74) Yet another flick off the pads from Crawley, for four this time. Do West Indies know that when he gets a Test hundred, he tends to make it a double?
59th over: England 188-1 (Crawley 102, Root 73) Brathwaite persists with Permaul, who, like Jack Leach on the first day, is warming to the task. Root takes another single, Crawley another two, nudged to leg. When West Indies pick over the bones of today, they will wonder why they gave him so many freebies.
That’s drinks, with England leading by 121. Zak Crawley has finally done something I wished for in a piece about the year ahead – not this year, last year.
A hundred to Zak Crawley!
58th over: England 185-1 (Crawley 100, Root 72) Seales replaces Joseph and bowls a loosener on the legs, which Crawley flicks for another comfy single. Root, paternally, takes a single himself to get Crawley back on stage. He goes for glory with a grandiose pull – and misses! But then there’s a full ball that he can tuck away for two. He’s done it! A second Test hundred, 18 long months since his first. He smiles the broadest of smiles and gets a hug from Root. It couldn’t happen to a more likeable guy.
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57th over: England 181-1 (Crawley 97, Root 71) Root goes down the track to Permaul, for the first time I think, but not even his dancing feet can get him there in time to do more than pad the ball away. Crawley eases a cut away, softly softly to the cover sweeper, to get within three runs of that second fine careless rapture.
56th over: England 178-1 (Crawley 95, Root 70) Joseph, still doing well, has an LBW shout against Crawley (rightly declined, going down). Root, tied down, wants a spot of tip-and-run but Crawley sends him back, very firmly. If you can answer back to your boss, you can keep calm enough to collect five more runs, can’t you?
55th over: England 176-1 (Crawley 95, Root 69) West Indies held a conference in Permaul’s previous over. It pays off now as he concedes only three and beats Crawley outside off with another one that keeps low. You wouldn’t want to bat last on this pitch. The question now is whether England can keep going in top gear and buy enough time for a declaration.
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54th over: England 174-1 (Crawley 94, Root 68) Root plays and misses! Beaten by Joseph’s reverse-swinging nip-backer, but also by the lack of bounce. And again! Missing that late cut of his, which is like Charlie Watts missing a beat. Joseph completes a maiden, a good effort after the carnage of the past few overs.
The 150 partnership!
53rd over: England 174-1 (Crawley 94, Root 68) Permaul continues, which is fine by the batters, who continue to tuck in. Root sweeps, authoritatively, in front of square, for four. That’s the fifth boundary in 12 balls. Then he laps for a single to take the partnership to 150, which is magnificent in one way, and regrettable in another – as it means that England’s highest second-wicket stand of the past five years no longer belongs to Jack Leach. His partner, almost equally improbably, was Jason Roy, in the one-off Test against Ireland at Lord’s in 2019.
52nd over: England 169-1 (Crawley 94, Root 62) Just when he’s going so well, Crawley plays an ugly waft at a lifter from Joseph and is relieved to see it fly over slip for four off the top edge. Next ball, he remembers how good he can be and nails a cut. The ball after that, he very nearly plays on, as he did in the first innings. England’s lead is 105.
51st over: England 160-1 (Crawley 86, Root 62) Permaul continues, aims for the rough outside Crawley’s leg stump, strays too wide and gets swept for four. Crawley now has 28 off his last 32 balls, which is no mean feat on this narcoleptic pitch. Root adds a very Rootish late cut for four, and Permaul is rather living up to his name – permitting himself to be mauled. Eleven off the over, and England’s lead is 96.
50th over: England 149-1 (Crawley 81, Root 56) Brathwaite needs to take himself off and he does. Back comes Alzarri Joseph, who, along with Roach and Holder, has been able to keep the plug in. After Root pulls a single, Crawley clips to midwicket for two, and he’s into the 80s for only the second time in Tests. The first time, he made 267.
“Can I nominate as scorer for the quirky XI,” says Brian Withington, “the so-called Bearded Wonder, Bill Frindall? Although relatively subdued in his on-air TMS role, as a luxuriously bewhiskered guest player for the strolling Chelmsford Clergy, he was borderline alarming.
“He adjusted fielding positions for his bowling via a combination of semaphore-like shrugs and high-pitched Clangeresque whistles. Almost as distracting for my fellow 1970s schoolboys was his strikingly blonde and long-legged chauffeur (presumably). Different times.”
A confession to make: Frindall is the only person to whom I have ever sent a fan letter. In my defence, I was only 12. In his, he sent a very kindly letter back, and signed his name with a circle rather than a dot on the i. I guess he had seen enough dots in his life.
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“Regarding quirkiness,” says Timothy Sanders. “What kind of all-rounder was Jonathan Trott? Was he a quirker who batted, or a batter who quirked?”
That’s the line of the day so far.
Tea: Root and Crawley earn their scones
49th over: England 146-1 (Crawley 79, Root 55) Another single for Root, another cut for four from Crawley, off Permaul this time. And that is tea, with England winning another hour. In the session, they made 74 for none off 25 overs. They’ve been almost as watertight as Nkrumah Bonner, and a lot more fun to watch. At 122, this is already England’s highest second-wicket partnership of the 2020s, but this is a game in which wickets have fallen in clusters, so these two need to cash in while they can.
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48th over: England 141-1 (Crawley 75, Root 54) With a fifty in the bag – his 77th in Tests – Root feels it’s reasonable to try a reverse sweep off Brathwaite. He doesn’t middle it and settles for a single. Crawley, cutting, does get hold of it and reaches his three-quarter century.
A near-miss for Crawley
47th over: England 136-1 (Crawley 71, Root 53) The West Indians think Permaul has got Crawley as the ball pops up to slip. It goes for an umpire’s review, there is an inside edge, but the ball kissed the ground before it looped up off the boot. Fine margins.
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Fifty to Root!
Permaul comes back, so it’s spin at both ends, which is just how Joe Root likes it. He late-cuts for four to reach his first fifty since Boxing Day. “Rooooot,” go the crowd. The move to No 3 has worked after all.
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46th over: England 129-1 (Crawley 70, Root 47) Crawley shows Brathwaite’s lobs a respect they scarcely deserve, then seizes on something leg-stump-ish and paddles for two to reach 70.
45th over: England 127-1 (Crawley 68, Root 47) Seales goes a bit too straight, giving Crawley an easy single and Root an easy two. Strange the way even the best bowlers stray onto the pads.
Hundred partnership!
44th over: England 124-1 (Crawley 67, Root 45) Brathwaite again. His lollipops helped Jonny Barstow reach his century on the first day and now they see these two to their hundred partnership, as Crawley greets a full toss with a hockey shot, swished to midwicket for a single. It’s been both watchable and watchful. It’s taken them 33.3 overs, so the run rate has been three an over, which is motoring by the standards of this match.
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43rd over: England 122-1 (Crawley 66, Root 44) Seales to Crawley, mostly angled in and patted back. But then there’s a hint of a half-volley, on fourth stump, and Crawley whips it through midwicket for four. A shot worthy of Sir Viv, unlike most of the strokes played at his stadium.
“I can’t believe we’ve got this far into the Quirky XI,” says Pete Salmon, “without a mention for either Alan Knott or Jack Russell. My favourite thing about the latter was going to a pub to see the wonderfully underwhelming Severn Bore, and on every wall there were Jack Russell paintings – a number of them of Alan Knott and Jack Russell. Something truly beautiful in that, although for the life of me I don’t know what.” I do hope Jack included the hanky that Knott had spilling out of his pocket, and the teabag that he himself kept to use, again and again, for an entire tour.
42nd over: England 118-1 (Crawley 62, Root 44) Kraigg Brathwaite decides to bring out his secret weapon: himself. He bowls floaty off-breaks so slow that if one goes wrong, he’ll be able to run after it and catch it before it reaches the batter. Crawley, adjusting to the lack of pace, plays a pull so early that it goes straight back past the bowler.
41st over: England 113-1 (Crawley 58, Root 43) Roach gives way to Seales, the only bowler in this match to manage more than a two-for. No joy for him now, though: Crawley flicks another yorker for a single and Root reels off an elegant on-drive that deserves more than two.
40th over: England 110-1 (Crawley 57, Root 41) Jason Holder continues, tucking Root up on middle-and-off, then going round the wicket to test his patience with some wider ones, and collecting a maiden. Root, by the way, has his highest score in seven innings, since he made 50 on Boxing Day at the MCG, as wickets fell all around him.
39th over: England 110-1 (Crawley 57, Root 41) Joshua Da Silva decides to stand up to the stumps for Roach, as Ben Foakes did for Woakes and Overton. The main consequence of this is that we hear every encouragement Da Silva offers his fielders. If he says “C’mon boys!” one more time, I’m going to have to turn the telly down.
And that’s drinks, with England winning that hour, and (whisper it) the day so far – but if you apply the Boycott test and add two wickets, they’re not out of the woods by any means. They lead by 46.
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38th over: England 109-1 (Crawley 57, Root 40) After being the cheerleader-in-chief, Holder now has to bowl again and he starts, uncharacteristically, with a nothing ball down the leg side. Root tickles it for four and soon adds a single in the same direction. He’s outscored Crawley two to one in the past ten overs, despite having less of the strike – though there’s a compliment to Crawley in there somewhere, as the bowlers have tried harder to tie him down.
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37th over: England 104-1 (Crawley 57, Root 35) Roach ushers England into three figures by bowling a no-ball, and then Crawley, after being patient for five balls, picks the right one to caress past mid-on.
West Indies, as Steve Harmison observes, are making a lot of noise, led by Jason Holder. The role of the ex-captain is an interesting one, not talked about enough. Joe Root could be a natural.
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36th over: England 99-1 (Crawley 53, Root 35) Joseph to Crawley, joining the dots. The cameras find Mark Wood, in a blue singlet, testing out that swollen elbow of his – not with the ball but with the bat. He plays a few phantom pull shots, shakes his head and winces. I’m no expert but I’d be surprised if he played any further part in the series, sad to say. Back on the field, Crawley plays an actual pull and gets a single.
Another candidate for the Quirky XI. “Simon Katich and his left arm wrist spin,” says Sam Gair. “To give it its proper name, it was lush. I always bowled as him on Brian Lara Cricket. He looked like a pterodactyl drinking a yard of ale.”
35th over: England 98-1 (Crawley 52, Root 35) Roach keeps Root quiet by a tried and tested method: aiming at the off bail. The only runs in the over are two byes from another grubber, let go by Root and missed by Joshua Da Silva.
34th over: England 96-1 (Crawley 52, Root 35) Crawley, facing Joseph, goes on the pull and fails to connect. He may have to work on his chat-up lines. But then he gets his act together and digs out a testing yorker.
33rd over: England 95-1 (Crawley 52, Root 34) Root nudges Roach off his hip for a single, and then Crawley gets a ludicrous daisy-cutter, which would pin him LBW if it was straight. Luckily for him it’s on sixth stump and he can watch it go by with mild alarm. This is such a big moment for Crawley: we know he can unfurl the odd stylish fifty, but he really needs to reach that second Test hundred, the one that eluded his mentor Rob Key.
32nd over: England 94-1 (Crawley 52, Root 33) Thanks Jim, you will go far. I feel like one of those grumpy old bowlers who suddenly find a pacy whippersnapper racing in at the other end. But enough about us. Just as the TV commentators are showing that 83pc of Zak Crawley’s runs today have come on the leg side, he takes their point and eases Joseph for two, Root-style, into the covers.
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Fifty to Zak Crawley!
31st Over: England 92-1 (Root 33, Crawley 50) Crawley reaches his half ton from 100 balls on the nose.
That’s me done, Tim de Lisle is about to take the controls, you’ll be in very safe hands.
We’ve had Lance Cairns, Stuart MacGill and Marnus (obvs) suggested for the Quirky XI. Keep em coming, I’m sure Tim has some suggestions up his sleeve too. Have a good one, bye!
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30th Over: England 86-1 (Root 28, Crawley 49) A maiden from Joseph.
29th Over: England 86-1 (Root 28, Crawley 49) Root picks off Holder as he gets too full. Gliding, clipping and whipping, the England captain keeps the scoreboard ticking over.
@Jimbo_Cricket re: Chanderpaul's bail tap, I seem to remember him producing it on debut as a teenager, against England back in 1894, and causing the TMS commentators a certain amount of amusement. By the end of the tour, some of the England players were already copying it.
— Mike Morris (@MD_Morris) March 11, 2022
28th Over: England 81-1 (Root 24, Crawley 49) I didn’t mean to scare any England fans with that last ellipsis by the way. Holder’s final ball was safely negotiated by Crawley. Apologies if that particular piece of punctuation gave you the willies or suggested there was a wicket in the next post. I’m learning this OBO lark.
The rain has gone away and the players are back out there. Jason Holder has one ball to finish off his over...
Hmmm, thoughts?
WinViz as it stands:
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) March 11, 2022
West Indies - 21%
England - 15%
Draw - 64%#WIvENG
“Afternoon James”
Afternoon to you, Geoff Wignall.
“May I offer some further candidates for the Quirky XI?” Fire away Geoff!
A middle order built around Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Peter Willey, whose stances didn’t even resemble each others, let alone anything, anywhere in any coaching manual; Abdul Qadir, for an action that could only be copied by the three-armed; and Mike Proctor for bowling at around half the speed of light, chest-on off the wrong foot.”
Shiv would make it in for mine, the reflective eye plaster things and the bail tap to take guard... that’s before we even get to his stance/technique. I note Bonner took guard with the bail at the start of his innings in this Test, how common is this now? Was it done before Shiv? Forgive my ignorance BUT I’m sure the OBO hivemind can get us the skinny on bail tappin’. Go go go!
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Good news. A WhatsApp pings in from Ali Martin in Antigua. “The covers are already being peeled off”
Play suspended due to rain
(England 81-1 Crawley 49, Root 24) The players scramble from the ground as if shooed by the be-tabarded dinner ladies of my youth - who used to be able to sniff a drop of rain from 50 miles away.
Hopefully this will blow through quite quickly. I’ll see if I can tap up Ali for a weather report from the ground. For now there is a lot of tarp grappling going on courtesy of the ground staff.
Speaking of Mark Wood, here’s a bit of an update from fellow Ashington lad Steve Harmison:
1/2 Steve Harmison has said on TalkSport that he spoke to Mark Wood last night: “He’s devastated, all the more so because he’s gone so well for so long. He’s frustrated. He couldn’t straighten his elbow, there’s a bit of swelling ...
— Simon Wilde (@swildecricket) March 11, 2022
27th Over: England 81-1 (Root 24, Crawley 49) Root and Crawley continue to accumulate.
@Jimbo_Cricket I cant be the only one thinking that Mark Wood deserves to be in the quirky XI? Especially with his imaginary horse
— Richard Liddle (@0liddler) March 11, 2022
Wood has imaginary tethered his imaginary horse for a few years now. I did like his imaginary ‘team hug’ yesterday. I’d have him down for a Mirth XI rather than a quirky one though.
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26th Over: England 77-1 (Root 23, Crawley 47) Joseph from t’other end and Root works him away square for a single to bring up the fifty-partnership between these two. Batted. Crawley and Root tick over, both have looked busy at the crease.
Ade Couper emails in with another player for the OBO Quirky XI:
“I’m nominating Peter Willey, purely for that rather odd stance at the crease- if I remember correctly, he was pretty much facing square leg when on strike?
You remember corrrectly, Ade. Although Willey wasn’t quite as quirky as this:
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25th Over: England 73-1 (Root 21, Crawley 45) Just a single to Root off Holder’s first over back.
The players are headed back out. I caught a snippet of the talk in the BT studio during the break, Matt Smith was chatting about garlic sauce at the time whilst Ramps, sat opposite, just glared at him. No comment necessary.
For the Quirky XI, I nominate Kim Barnett to open the batting.
Go for your life, Steve Hudson. As a son of Derbyshire I am all ears...
“Kim played in 1989 with a trigger movement that involved him strolling from short leg to the batting crease while the bowler ran in, playing the ball when he got there.”
Kim makes an appearance on this list, I think. Fill yer boots with lovely weirdness.
Here’s some lunchtime reading by the ever-excellent Sean Ingle:
Cricket faces discrimination ‘reckoning’, warns independent report chair. By @seaningle https://t.co/U6VyP13iG6
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) March 11, 2022
Peter Metcalfe is putting Boycs up for selection in the OBO Quirky XI:
“Geoff Boycott, certainly quirky if if he is picked for his bowling. Reversing the peak of his cap like some youth with a baseball cap. I saw him years ago in an ODI vs Pakistan. England needed two wickets but were on the way out. The Headingly crowd started baying for Geoffrey who was brought straight on and immediately got a caught behind. The crowd went mad. Then the last man smashed him over his head only for Mike Hendrick to take a stunning catch running back to the boundary. Serious crowd hysteria. Mind you, Geoffrey did walk on water at the time...”
“Good afternoon Jim”
Afternoon Marcus Abdullahi.
“The opening bowler has to be the hirsute 1970s Pakistani paceman Asif Masood.”
Ah yes, Marcus is talking about the OBO Quirky XI first mooted at 15:38.
“In the words of Wikipedia, Masood, “Used to begin his run-up with a backward step before a loping approach to the wicket which John Arlott likened to “Groucho Marx chasing a pretty waitress”
Sterling work being done (and avoided tbf) here:
1/5 @Jimbo_Cricket Saw a claim that Lawrence had the best average (16.5) for an English spinner in 36 years and thought 'that can't be right', so, having had a meeting cancelled, I decided to check. THREAD
— Grumpinho (@kbetteley) March 11, 2022
Hotten’s campaign starts here:
Make me National Selector and I will give you Zak Crawley and James Vince at numbers two and three for England in perpetuity. You'll have the best hours of your lives.
— Jon Hotten (@theoldbatsman) March 11, 2022
Forgot to say... England have the lead!
A strong morning session.
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) March 11, 2022
7⃣2⃣-1⃣ and we lead by 8⃣ runs.
Match Centre: https://t.co/gfeafIbJ4L
🏝 #WIvENG 🏴 pic.twitter.com/Ppxghz64hi
And that is Lunch.
24rd Over: England 72-1 (Root 20, Crawley 45) The game is moving on apace compared to the last couple of days. Root glides one away down to third man for a boundary and picks up a single too.
23rd Over: England 67-1 (Root 15, Crawley 45) Crawley picks up a couple off Permaul and we’ll get one more in before lunch. My better half has just wheeled our 11 month old out into the rain, I should add that she is leaving with her and they have the correct waterproofs. I think the local library is about to be descended upon. All of which is to say I’ll have fewer distractions and more capacity to delve into your emails during the tea break.
22nd Over: England 65-1 (Root 15, Crawley 43) An edge falls safely and runs away to bring Root a boundary.
“Another busy day in Nuclear Medicine, embarrassed to say I have only just tuned in to the OBO” Welcome to you, Charles Sheldrick.
“Middle of the morning on Day 4, still behind the Windies first innings score and one down… Are we in pushing to set a target or hanging in for a draw territory?”
Hmm I’d say England will be looking to bat the whole day and then see where they are. If they are in the position to start thinking about enforcing a victory then they will have done very well.
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Not so far...
Permaul will be an interesting challenge for Crawley. He found left-armers Embuldeniya and Axar hard work in SL/India last year.
— Will Macpherson (@willis_macp) March 11, 2022
21st Over: England 61-1 (Root 11, Crawley 43) Crawley is showing his full array here, a throaty cut for four is followed up by a pre-meditated sweep for for, the big man getting down into position swiftly and executing the shot perfectly. Permaul is not being allowed to settle here, ten runs leaked from his first over.
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20th Over: England 51-1 (Root 11, Crawley 33) Four runs from Joseph’s over reduces the deficit to 13. Fifty up for England And we are going to have some spin from Permaul. We’ve got about ten minutes to lunch, which is delayed by five minutes for some reason I can’t fathom.
19th Over: England 47-1 (Root 9, Crawley 31) Seales continues and ooooh a pea roller! That’s the first time the pitch has properly misbehaved, Mark Butcher on comms is getting excited that this could be the start ‘things happening’ if it does start to go then it will certainly make the rest of this game intriguing viewing. Crawley then creams a drive on the up for four as if to immediately show that it is anything but a minefield.
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18th Over: England 42-1 (Root 8, Crawley 27) Alzarri Joseph is into the attack and Root clips him away for a solitary single.
17th Over: England 41-1 (Root 7, Crawley 27) Root keeps the runs ticking off Seales, a couple and a single to the England captain who is as busy as ever. Crawley then launches into another fine pull shot, not as polished as the last perhaps but no matter the ball flies away to the boundary. Decent over for England, seven runs from it.
16th Over: England 34-1 (Root 4, Crawley 23) Holder crunches a short ball into Crawley’s torso, the Kent batter looking momentarily shaken. But not for long as he rocks back to another short one and swivel pulls it away for four in some style! The two tall men going toe to toe out there and it is fun to watch.
15th Over: England 28-1 (Root 3, Crawley 19) Seales serves up a maiden at the start of his second spell. Root happy to watch the ball pass through on the way to the keeper.
Another version of Dan Lawrence's bowling action: Goofy the Olympian. @Jimbo_Cricket https://t.co/Dmt6txsWor
— Ed Blagden (@ed_blagden) March 11, 2022
Having interviewed Dan Lawrence a few times, I think I’m safe in saying that he would find all of this quite funny. It’s a celebration, I’m all for more quirkiness in cricket. Suggestions for an OBO quirky XI? Jack Russell and Rags Randall would be in with a shout for selection surely?
14th Over: England 28-1 (Root 3, Crawley 19) Root and Crawley pick up a single each off Holder. The sun is back out again thankfully, the players’ shirts are still flapping in the strong breeze. Seales is coming back into the attack at the other end.
13th Over: England 26-1 (Root 2, Crawley 18) Back on after a slurp of Gatorade or some other luminous liquid for the players. I’m on the Yorkshire Gold here. La-di-da. Root is watchful, leaving the ball outside off. Roach reels off a maiden.
If we're talking Dan Lawrence and his striking action @Jimbo_Cricket, then this always comes to mind.https://t.co/vU3V1w2nFq
— Guy Hornsby (@GuyHornsby) March 11, 2022
12th Over: England 26-1 (Root 2, Crawley 18) It looks murky out there as Holder keeps the batters honest. We could be due one of those showers that Ali mentioned. Drinks come out onto the field. Time to stick the kettle on, back in a few.
Zaltz coming up with goods as per:
Lees is the 9th England male Test debutant to be out in single figures in both innings when opening the batting; the third since 1958 (Wilf Slack (1986) & Hugh Morris (1991), both also against West Indies). Last Yorkshire player: Len Hutton (0,1 v NZ 1937) https://t.co/7MHWeW4DOl
— Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket) March 11, 2022
WICKET! Lees lbw b Roach 6 (England 24-1)
Roach pins Lees in front, the Durham man leaning over as he tries to work to leg and he pays the price. It’s the second time in the game he has fallen to Roach and this one looked worse than his 1st innings dismissal, unbalanced as he was when the ball struck him. He reviews in vain too. Joe Root is the new man and he’s off the mark with a quick single.
11th Over: England 25-1 (Root 1, Crawley 18)
Updated
10th Over England 24-0 (Lees 6, Crawley 18) A tight over again from Holder...
9th Over England 23-0 (Lees 5, Crawley 18) West Indies have put a man catching at mid-wicket to Zak Crawley who does occasionally whip aerially in that region. He picks up two into the leg side off Roach and moves on to 18.
8th Over England 21-0 (Lees 5, Crawley 16) A maiden from Holder who looks threatening from the off. That ball is still zipping about, off the pitch and through the air.
“I seem to remember Feherty describing Jim Furyk’s swing as an octopus falling out of a tree! emails Simao (in a rainy Portugal). Another good one and reminds me of a slightly more risque line from The Thick of It*
*It’s TTOI so don’t click if offended by FOUL LANGUAGE as my old man calls it.
7th Over England 21-0 (Lees 5, Crawley 16) Roach continues to probe, full and hooping. England pick up three. Jason Holder is whirling those long arms of his and I suspect he is about to come on to bowl. That’s a bit of nous for you.
6th Over England 18-0 (Lees 4, Crawley 14) Seales drifts onto Crawley’s pads this time and big Zak doesn’t miss out, timing it away for four more. The bowler tightens it up with a string of dots for the rest of the over.
“Hello from sunny Sweden…”
Back atcha from drizzly Wandsworth, Julian Menz.
“Thanks again to the OBO writers for relaying every detail of the Ashes calamity” Our pleasure?
“Wonders never cease though and (thank Odin), I can actually watch this series on YouTube (they’ll probably take the feed down now I’ve mentioned it). As far as the match and series goes neither team is up there with the best, so it should be pretty evenly matched (a bit like Villa v Wolves for a football take). Prediction: Windies 2 - 1.
Do I detect a whiff of a Swede-Brummie Julian?
Updated
5th Over England 14-0 (Lees 4, Crawley 10) A single takes Crawley into double figures.
Quite the graphic pic.twitter.com/GtDUBVOWf2
— Chris Stocks (@StocksC_cricket) March 11, 2022
Gulp.
4th Over England 13-0 (Lees 4, Crawley 9) Seales gets taken for six from his second over. Both batters picking up three runs each.
“Afternoon James”
Afternoon Brian Withington!
“Kudos to Gary Naylor’s retro hi-fi analogy of the Dan Lawrence bowling action. It rather puts me in mind of Jim Furyk’s ‘man in a phone box’ golf swing. Apparently Jose Maria Olazabal didn’t even dare watch it when playing together for fear of catching something.”
Updated
3rd Over England 7-0 (Lees 1, Crawley 6) Roach is zoning in on the timbers and looking dangerous, he gets one a smidge too full though and Crawley picks him off for four through mid-wicket and then squirts one away through backward point for a couple.
There is this...
Right, here we go. Collingwood described ydays bowling effort as "one of the best Ive seen in an England shirt and Test cricket" given how lifeless the pitch was. Great to back to bowlers and all that but has made a hell of a rod to beat the batters with if we're 30/3 in a minute
— Cameron Ponsonby (@cameronponsonby) March 11, 2022
Cam Ponsonby btw, despite having the name of a Victorian era Aussie spin bowler, is a proper wordsmith. Annoyingly good actually. You can read his report of yesterday here.
2nd Over England 1-0 (Lees 1, Crawley 0) Seales begins with a maiden, the ball is moving in the air quite significantly, despite it looking very blustery in Antigua.
1st Over England 1-0 (Lees 1, Crawley 0) NOT OUT! Turns out it was missing by quite a way on the angle. Decision reversed. Phewf. Roach has got this new ball moving around. Lees picked up a single into the off-side. A nervy start for England.
Review! Crawley has played all round a straight one from Roach and the umpire has given it...
I like this Gary. Doesn’t slip off the tongue easily though does it?!
Dan Lawrence's bowling action? Disentangling the cables at the back on an 80s stack hifi system @Jimbo_Cricket.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) March 11, 2022
Kemar Roach has the ball and debutant Lees is on strike. The sun is blazing down (Thanks Ali) and England have a day of batting to get on with.
And I’ve just done it again! CLANG. A thousand apologies to Kraigg Brathwaite. I won’t tell him if you won’t.
@Jimbo_Cricket In your preamble you mentioned Jason Holder's men.
— Polemikos (@IPolemikos) March 11, 2022
Have i missed something? Or have you?
I believe Brathwaite is the West Indies captain nowadays.
Any updates on what England's captain Cook thinks of the pitch?😜
Ed Blagden has been on to suggest Dan Lawrence’s limb-tastic bowling action “could be known as an inflatable tube man, beloved of Better Call Saul fans?”
That is a good shout Ed. Jason Holder gathers his players into a huddle. What do we think is going to happen here then? The pitch still looks flat, surely England cannot conspire to collapse on a surface as benign as this? Surely?
OBO stalwart John Starbuck has been on asking about the weather in Antigua. A quick text to our man on the ground (and SJA Cricket Journalist of 2021) Ali Martin to get the latest intel from the ground.
“Bright sunshine right now but might be a day of showers...” Ali promises to get his Michael Fish on throughout the day.
WICKET! Seales lbw b Leach 0
Leach strikes with his third ball! Seales props forward to a straight one and it hits him on the pad straight in front. He sends it upstairs but the three reds mean he he has to go.
West Indies are bowled out for 375 and have a lead of 64 runs.
Updated
The players are out, Leach has the ball. Let’s go!
If Paul Adams was a ‘frog in a blender’ can we come up with a pithy way to describe this? Other than glorious, obviously.
Dan Lawrence's bowling action in all its glory 😍#WIvENG pic.twitter.com/vU2j5NMA1Z
— Cricket on BT Sport (@btsportcricket) March 10, 2022
An email! From Bristol’s own Andrew Benton:
“Jim, the only thing I’d like to see from England is a good batting performance by the top order in innings 2.0, which would be progress of a sort. If not, they’re surely spazongled big time.”
You and a lot of others too no doubt, Andrew. First time I’ve come across spazongled - I’m sure as things progress we can come up with more words to describe England’s batting. But maybe they’ll prove us all wrong. We’ll be underway in 15 mins, England need to take that final wicket before they can start to chip away at this already tricksy first innings deficit.
Mark Butcher is doing the pitch report on BT, decked out Duran Duran stylee in cream chinos and loafers sans socks. He says that there might be a bit more turn but that in general it will be more hard yakka on this pitch. Maybe it will start to break up and the fifth day will be a thriller? “Hope springs eternal” Butch says.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to the OBO of the fourth day of this contest between West Indies and England in Antigua.
Tortoise and … despair?
What to make of proceedings yesterday? Nkrumah Bonner ground England down down down, but not quickly. Bonner’s nine hour vigil at the crease was less high end Italian coffee grinder (though it was De Loooonghi - hoho) and more resembled an ancient Calabrian olive oil press operated by a doddery donkey and overseen, between protracted puffs on a cigarillo, by a stern looking elderly signore.
But, and I must stress this, that is to take nothing away from Bonner, who has likely put his side into a position that if not exactly match-winning is certainly match-dominating.
Bonner spent years in the cricketing wilderness after making his international debut in a couple of T20Is back in 2011/12 where he was ultimately discarded for, well, slow scoring.
He found some form for Jamaica in 2019 and hasn’t really looked back since. His Test debut, against Bangladesh at Chattogram in early 2021 saw him score 86 off 245 balls as West Indies pulled off the highest ever Test run chase in Asia. Kyle Mayers’ incredible 210* deservedly took the headlines but Bonner was there, doing his thing – stultifying, accumulating and securing a foothold on which his side could then capitalise.
West Indies lead England by 62 runs and still have a wicket in hand.
England? Well, they’ve got problems. Much as Paul Collingwood wants to laud the efforts of his lads it was a dispiriting day in the dirt. Woakes and Overton looked to lack any real threat and Mark Wood was off the field for the second half of the day with an elbow injury, England will be praying it is a situation that does not start to unravel in the same way that Jofra Archer’s did, putting him out of the game for an extended amount of time.
Ben Stokes, fresh off a side strain, ended up doing a Ben Stokes, gritting his gnashers and reeling off 28 overs, returning figures of 2-42 in the process. Good on him, but this is not really the way things were meant to go. Was it?
Can England snare this last wicket quick sticks and bat themselves into a position where they can put some pressure back on Jason Holder’s men at some point tomorrow? (Hmm, not likely)
Will West Indies skittle them and charge to victory? (More likely)
Or will things slooowly peter out into a unmemorable draw? (Most likely but please, please no).
Jim here with the reins until Tim swoops in later on, as ever do get in touch via email or @Jimbo_Cricket on Twitter. Your thoughts, theories, whimsy and.. whatever else are most welcome.
We’ll be underway at 14:00 GMT (10:00 am local time)
