It was a day of queues at Trent Bridge. There were queues for Brian Lara’s autograph during a book signing session at lunch, queues for the ice-cream vans at tea, queues for the bars throughout – pretty standard at an English Test match, admittedly– and batters positively lining up to have a go out in the middle.
Although not all of them fancied it. There was bright sunshine over Nottingham, a pitch that looked well rolled, and an outfield as green as Robin Hood’s tights that had been mown to offer an almost frictionless path for the ball. But Kraigg Brathwaite, West Indies’ captain and an opener with 12 Test centuries, won the toss and decided to bowl.
Ben Stokes did the same against New Zealand here two years ago, the match where Jonny Bairstow vaporised a fourth innings target of 299 and Bazball was arguably born. But, even factoring in that remarkable last Test on Trentside, it felt a slightly passive move and one that could have spiralled fully out of control. England, bowled out for 416 to bring stumps after Ollie Pope’s 121 from 167 balls, were just about kept in check.
All the same, 4.7 runs an over made it a fast-scoring day and not least by Ben Duckett first thing. After the loss of Zak Crawley third ball, the left-hander responded with a flurry of boundaries – four in four off Jayden Seales’s first over – and had a shot at Gilbert Jessop’s cobwebbed record for the fastest Test century by an Englishman (76 balls in 1902). That was until he drove Shamar Joseph to slip and mooched off with 71 from 59.
Instead, it was Pope who made the three-figure score that the conditions had called for. The England vice-captain was not always at his fluent best and was dropped either side of his half-century and lunch. But given some nagging, admittedly external doubts about his suitability for No 3, the right-hander’s sixth Test century and first since that highwire 196 in Hyderabad in January was a welcome return to the runs column.
The same went for Stokes, who after his first half-century in 11 Test innings, holed out off the part-time spin of Kavem Hodge on 69 trying to cash in before the second new ball. Stokes was not alone, Joe Root (14), Harry Brook (36) and Jamie Smith (36) all architects of their respective demises. Less culpable was Chris Woakes, whose useful 37 in his 50th Test match was ended by Seales, the second new ball and an edge to slip.
It was tough going for West Indies. Despite bowling well in patches and throwing some late punches to prevent a monstrous total, they did not exactly support Brathwaite’s call at the toss. The first of those lives handed to Pope, on 46, was a tricky one, the ball scorching off the middle of the bat to Alick Athanaze at backward point. But the second, shelled by Jason Holder at slip after going fingers-up to a chance at chest height, was a dolly.
Both were clearly costly, while some of the ground fielding was a bit shoddy after lunch. The pressure felt from England’s aggressive intent only went so far by way of mitigation here. Equally, despite their first 400-plus total since the start of the India tour, England left a few out there. After that 3-1 defeat Brendon McCullum spoke of a need to refine their approach but shots such as Root’s loose flap at Seales pointed to a few impurities remaining.
Perhaps the greatest frustration for West Indies beyond the drops – four in total by the end – was Shamar Joseph walking off the field clutching his left hamstring for a second successive Test match.
The biggest plus, however, was Kevin Sinclair stepping off the bench after Gudakesh Motie fell ill overnight. On a day when Brathwaite’s opening bowlers shipped a run a ball, the Guyanese off-spinner offered both control and threat for his captain to finish with figures of two for 73 from 22 overs.
Sinclair is a bit of a showman, too, with the latest sold-out crowd treated to a wonderful somersault celebration when Brook tamely top-edged a paddle sweep after lunch. Sinclair told the BBC earlier this year that perfecting the leap was a way of staying out of trouble while growing up in Berbice. Brook, whose earlier back-foot six might have otherwise been the viral clip of the day, wasn’t exactly doing cartwheels about it.
Perhaps it was telling that the player who had to scrap hardest for his runs, Pope, was the one who made the highest score on the day; almost driven by the search for rhythm rather than seduced by the blue skies overhead. The right-hander was very much content to operate in the slipstream of Duckett at first, serving as the junior partner in a breakneck stand of 105 runs that followed Crawley’s initial working over by Alzarri Joseph. Notably, he cut out the skittish forays down the track that had crept in during his time in India.
It was not until Stokes walked out at 201 for four, and he had 76 to his name, that Pope upped the ante and began beating the ring fielders more regularly. His century, made from 142 balls, was brought up with a heaved four to the leg side and a modest raise of the bat to his teammates at the newly-minted Stuart Broad End.
Pope, whose runs are usually so princely, will have drawn a great satisfaction from the mettle this one required and will be queuing up for another go.
