Ben Stokes’s reaction

Bash showed the world what he’s about today. On a wicket that hasn’t offered much spin, the ability he has to change his pace and line was top-class.

I hope the partnership between Root and Brook last night, in the toughest batting conditions of the match, doesn’t get forgotten. If we’re honest we could have got a few more runs today.

This game has been great for the progression of the team and as individuals. Ben Duckett in the second innings was a great example of that; they had plans for him and he changes his plans accordingly but still kept putting them under pressure. Joe was Joe and Brooky played the house down.

Woody could have been man of the match with the way he bowled. Somebody will pay this summer! He’s got the heart of a lion, his pace is phenomenal and he’s got so much skill.

Woakesy really found some rhythm in his second spell on day two and he led the attack so well today. He changed the game for us. The external noise hasn’t affected him.

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite speaks

We didn’t have a good allround performance other than our first innings with the bat.

We’ve got to be more disciplined. We conceded too many runs square of the wicket. The guys will learn.

What we can control is our line and lengths, and we can be better at that for sure.

I didn’t expect a collapse after a decent start. But it’s gone, it’s history. Test cricket is never an easy game. My word for the guys: stay mentally tough and keep fighting.

[Was the collapse because you’d expended so much energy fighting to stay in the match in the first three days?] Nah, I don’t think so.

The player of the match is … Ollie Pope

Stokesy was off the field and Gus got two wickets so I was tempted to tell him to stay in the dressing-room!

I’ve been working hard and I feel really good about where my game is at the moment.

36th over: West Indies 143-9 (Seales 8, S Joseph 8) Shamar chips Atkinson sweetly down the ground for four, then holds the pose. What on earth is he doing at No11?

35th over: West Indies 138-9 (Seales 8, S Joseph 3) Shamar Joseph is beaten by a jaffa that curves onto off stump and then turns past the edge. A couple of big shots land safely, each bringing a single, and on we go.

34th over: West Indies 133-9 (Seales 6, S Joseph 0) Seales sluges Atkinson over midwicket for four. No wicket, which means Bashir has a chance to get his five-for.

33rd over: West Indies 129-9 (Seales 2, S Joseph 0) England are about to win their first series since 2022, a slightly odd stat given how much good cricket they’ve played in that time.

32nd over: West Indies 118-8 (Holder 27, Seales 1) England are two wickets away from taking all ten since the first drinks break. And they almost get another when Holder edges just wide of gully for four.

“How many times does a batter need to get out like Sinclair before batting gloves all have minimal wrist bands, he asks for the umpteenth time,” says Brian Withington. “Wear a separate sweat band if you want it, but don’t give the bowler a bigger target than necessary.”

31st over: West Indies 113-6 (Holder 23, Da Silva 14) Da Silva launches Bashir over mid-on for six, a fantastic shot. Stokes applauds because he wants Bashir to keep tossing it up.

Here’s that beauty Bashir bowled a few overs ago.

30th over: West Indies 106-6 (Holder 23, Da Silva 7) Wood is relieved by Atkinson, who first ball is pulled disdainfully for four by Da Silva. Shot! Holder adds another boundary with a classy drive through mid-off.

Atkinson has been expensive in this game, going at almost five an over. It’s all part of his education.

29th over: West Indies 96-6 (Holder 19, Da Silva 2) Shoaib Bashir averages 32 in Test cricket and 71 in the County Championship. Duncan Fletcher would like that statistic.

28th over: West Indies 96-6 (Holder 19, Da Silva 1) Holder looks much more comfortable against Wood than he did during that weird first innings. That’s eight overs in a row for Wood now, whose figures are 8-2-17-1.

27th over: West Indies 93-6 (Holder 17, Da Silva 0) A gorgeous delivery from Bashir beats Holder’s drive and bounces just over the stump. That was a classic bit of offspin: flight, turn and fractionally too much bounce.

Holder kicks away the next ball, which leads to a strangled shout for LBW. It was closer than England realised, umpire’s call in fact.

26th over: West Indies 93-6 (Holder 17, Da Silva 0) Wood, into the seventh over of his spell, bullets another one past the outside edge, Da Silva’s in this case. England look really keen to finish this tonight.

25th over: West Indies 92-6 (Holder 16, Da Silva 0) One from Bashir’s over.

24th over: West Indies 91-6 (Holder 15, Da Silva 0) That really was a vicious delivery from Wood. West Indies have now lost six wickets for 30 through a combination of poor shot selection and terrific bowling.

“I reckon the selectors should be applauded for picking out Jamie Smith and incorporating him into the team, which can’t have been easy,” says John Starbuck. “Of course, we could be counting our chickens...”

WEST INDIES REVIEW! Sinclair has been given out. I’m not sure he is – but he might have to retire hurt.

23rd over: West Indies 91-5 (Holder 15, Sinclair 1) Sinclair is beaten by Bashir – England went up for caught behind - then almost runs himself out trying to get off the mark. He ran halfway down the pitch, thinking he’d beaten Wood at straight midwicket, but he was back in time.

He does get off the mark eventually, pushing his 15th ball for a single.

22nd over: West Indies 89-5 (Holder 14, Sinclair 0) Sinclair survives another ferocious over from Wood, though it’s fair to say it wasn’t an entirely comfortable experience. “Gough and Malcolm played seven Tests together - two in 94, three in 95 and two in 97,” says Marcus Abdullahi. “Results were W2 L2 D3. Re: spinners in Australia, Mushtaq Ahmed took 18 wickets at 21.33 in 1995-96. That was a three-match series but he only played in two of the Tests.”

Odd that he did so well in that series and then went round the park four years later. But in theory a high-class leggie is the best option in Australia.

Some worrying news from elsewhere. Sir Geoffrey Boycott is back in hospital after developing pneumonia.

21st over: West Indies 89-5 (Holder 14, Sinclair 0) Holder swipes Bashir lazily over long-on for six, and why not. It’s 18 years since a spinner took a five-for at Trent Bridge, Muttiah Muralitharan’s devastating 8 for 70. The last English spinner to do was Monty Panesar in the same game. Bashir is two wickets away and he’s only bowled four overs.

“Has anyone mentioned Bob Willis and John Snow?” says Steve Hudson. “From 1970-71 to 1976 they must have played a dozen tests together and in the early 70s at any rate both would have been genuinely fast.”

Excellent shout, especially on that Ashes tour when Snow was running riot (and almost causing one).

20th over: West Indies 83-5 (Holder 8, Sinclair 0) Mark Wood replaces Chris Woakes, a sadistic move from Ben Stokes. He has a huge LBW appeal against Sinclair turned down; it was too high and Wood was on the deck by the time he appealed.

His next ball is sensational: it curves in, then straightens off the pitch and somehow misses both the outside edge and the off stump.

“My first thought for England’s fastest bowling partnership was perhaps Bob Willis and Norman Cowans, particularly on the Ashes tour of 1982-83, with Dilley supporting,” says Mark Slater. “However, I remembered a fast British bowler with a tragically short Test career and wondered who he bowled alongside.

“Astonishingly, it appears that he and Devon Malcolm alternated in the time they both played. A David Lawrence and Devon Malcolm attack would have been fearsome, and apparently was to the English cricketing authorities. On an even sadder note, ‘Syd’ has had a recent Motor Neurone Disease diagnosis.”

That was just awful news. As for Syd and Dev playing together, England rarely trusted one quick bowler back then, never mind two! The lack of a true allrounder also made it a non-starter, though it would have been great fun.

19th over: West Indies 82-5 (Holder 7, Sinclair 0) Shoaib Bashir’s figures: 3-1-8-3. Kevin Sinclair has come in ahead of Joshua Da Silva, not sure why.

“Sounds like Jamie Smith is having a blinder behind the stumps,” says Max Williams. “Given the strength of his batting, have England found their first long-term wicketkeeper since Matt Prior? (None of Bairstow, Butler or Foakes ever quite established a sense of permanence, primarily due to the existence of the other two.)”

Too early to say. The signs are promising though – he oozes talent with the bat and he should get better than the gloves. His temperament seems sound too.

18th over: West Indies 75-4 (Athanaze 1, Holder 0) A maiden from Woakes to Athanaze, the first over in five not to include as wicket.

“Rashid was/is too slow to be an effective spinner in Test cricket,” says Mike Daniels. “This also applies to Matt Parkinson, as they have both proven.

“In the subcontinent you need spinners who can bowl at a good lick, even Sanath Jayasuriya, who nobody would claim was a top-class spinner, got 98 Test wickets!

“In Australia, you would need to be an exceptional spinner to get any joy. They don’t come around very often.”

Even the exceptional spinners don’t get much joy. Murali was belted in Australia, and not only when he was called for chucking. Ashwin averages 43 there, Swann averaged 53. Jadeja has had success, but the last touring spinner to take at least 20 wickets in Australia with an average below 30 was Shivlal Yadav in the 1980s.

17th over: West Indies 75-4 (Athanaze 1, Holder 0) “I’m not sure how many Tests they played together, thanks to dubious selections and Ray Illingworth, but I can’t think of a faster partnership than Devon Malcolm and Darren Gough,” says James Brough. “Malcolm taking 9/57 at the Oval in 1994 through sheer terrifying pace is still a cherished memory - particularly Hansie Cronje playing a perfect defensive shot when the ball was already a yard past him and rattling his stumps.”

That’s an excellent shout. What would Gough have been at that stage of his career, around 90mph? Dev at his fastest was around 95mph. I suspect they played maybe 10-12 Tests together between 1994 and 1997.

16th over: West Indies 74-3 (Athanaze 0, Hodge 0) The main men from the first innings are back together, Alick Athanaze and Kavem Hodge. They’ve got an even bigger job on this time.

15th over: West Indies 66-2 (Brathwaite 39, Athanaze 0) That’s 13 runs in four innings for Kirk McKenzie, a surprising dip in form after a promising tour of Australia.

Bashir almost gets another when a leading edge from Athanaze drops short of him. He’ll have to settle for a wicket maiden.

14th over: West Indies 66-1 (Brathwaite 39, McKenzie 0) Four more to Brathwaite, bread-and-buttered through midwicket off Woakes.

Louis’ scores in his first two Tests have been 27, 14, 21 and 17. He’s faced at least 40 balls in each innings, which is why he’s so hacked off that he hasn’t gone on to make a decent score.

Drinks chat

“I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the selection of Bashir as England’s premier spinner,” says Tom Van der Gucht. “What sort of bowler and role to you think they envision for him? Defensive and tying up an end? Using his extra bounce for attack?

“England seem to never really understand or trust spin, especially legspin, and (apart from Swann) seem to just use spinners as a back up to tie the economy down if the pace department are struggling. Imagine if Rashid had been given the same love, backing and support in tests as Morgan gave him in the short form. How good could he have become? Similarly, imagine if Stokes took the same mentality now and backed Rehan Ahmed.”

With the caveat that I don’t really know what I’m talking about, it feels like they’re picking him with Australia in mind, where bounce is often as important as spin. There are some similarities with Nathan Lyon, who gets a lot of overspin. I don’t think Stokes will ever use his spinner defensively though – his attitude to mid-off and mid-on are evidence of that. Rehan is still only 19 (19!) and I’m sure he’ll be in the squad for Pakistan this winter. I wouldn’t rule out Tom Hartley either, especially as he can bat. But I’m not sure how he’d fare in Australia.

13th over: West Indies 61-0 (Brathwaite 35, Louis 17) A 93mph bouncer from Wood almost knocks Brathwaite off his feet, though ultimately he played it well by swaying out of the way. Despite that Brathwaite is still willing to get forward and drive handsomely through mid-off for four. Drinks.

12th over: West Indies 56-0 (Brathwaite 31, Louis 16) Woakes changes ends to replace Atkinson and gets one to spit at Brathwaite, who drops it on the leg side and looks disdainfully at the pitch. Uneven bounce is the biggest danger to West Indies at the moment. Well, that and Mark Wood’s fireballs.

Meanwhile, Damian Clarke has put a couple of tanks on Brian Withington’s lawn.

There was a time when Jimmy, Mark, and Gus,
The pace, and every common sight.
To me did seem
Apparell’d in celestial light,

11th over: West Indies 56-0 (Brathwaite 31, Louis 16) Wood is pummelling Louis, who is happy to stroll a leg-bye and get down the other end. Brathwaite does extremely well to not only keep out an inswinging yorker but clip it into the leg side for a single. This is great fun.

“It’s a shame both Wood and Archer appear to be made of lollipop sticks held together with elastic bands,” says Andy Flintoff. “Otherwise in tandem, they might possibly have been England’s fastest-ever bowling partnership.”

Now that’s a good question – who would be the fastest? Let’s say a minimum of five Tests. Maybe Steve Harmison and Simon Jones (with support from Andrew Flintoff) in 2004-05. Tyson and Statham would be up there too.

10th over: West Indies 54-0 (Brathwaite 30, Louis 16) Brathwaite pulls Atkinson for four to bring up the West Indies fifty. It was a slightly odd shot, almost helped round the corner, but he beat the man on the fence. A couple of twos and a pair of singles make it a very good over for the Windies.

“You seem to be in denial that the world has moved on,” says Marcus Abdullahi, highlighting my error in the 90th over. I knew I should’ve edited it.

9th over: West Indies 44-0 (Brathwaite 21, Louis 15) Now then, Mark Wood is into the attack. His first ball is a 91mph attempted yorker that Louis defends pretty well. It almost knocked him off his feet, mind.

Louis times an inswinger through the covers for two, pushes four through mid-off and is beaten by a couple of 95mph sizzler. All that excitement in one over. Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive. But to watch Mark Wood bowl was very heaven!

8th over: West Indies 38-0 (Brathwaite 21, Louis 9) Boom Boom Brathwaite clips Atkinson through midwicket for another boundary. He’s scoring at 76 runs per 100 balls in this game, almost double his career strike rate.

7th over: West Indies 32-0 (Brathwaite 15, Louis 9) Brathwaite edges a beauty from Woakes just short of second slip, then Louis is beaten by a nasty lifter. It feels like a wicket is coming.

“May I commend you on the use of your ‘Edit:’ correction,” says Damian Clarke. “Many (all) of your colleagues simply re-type and hope no one noticed. Being someone who makes glaringly obvious and often disastrous mistakes on an all too daily basis, I appreciate your honesty.”

I’m just trying to make the world a better place, Damian. And if I fail, I can always edit my life story.

6th over: West Indies 30-0 (Brathwaite 14, Louis 8) An errant delivery from Atkinson runs away for four leg-byes. Louis is then beaten by consecutive deliveries: the first kept low, the second spat from a length. Even though the pitch is essentially good, that sporadic uneven bounce makes England strong favourites.

5th over: West Indies 25-0 (Brathwaite 14, Louis 7) Woakes has a huge shout for LBW against Louis turned down. England discuss a review but Stokes decides against it. He thought Louis inside-edged it; in fact the two noises were the ball hitting both pads.

Turns out Stokes got the right answer through the wrong working: it was missing leg stump so England would have lost a review.

Louis finally gets off the mark by driving his 15th ball through mid-off for four. Lovely shot. But that was a very good over from Woakes – as well as the LBW appeal he beat the bat and rapped Louis high on the pad with another delivery.

4th over: West Indies 18-0 (Brathwaite 14, Louis 0) Brathwaite clips Atkinson towards deep square, where the diving Bashir does well to save two runs. Brathwaite is playing his shots again; it’s as if he’s caught a dose of Bazball on this tour. He cuts Atkinson in the air but wide of backward point for four.

Atkinson ends the over with a snorter that seams and bounces past the edge.

3rd over: West Indies 9-0 (Brathwaite 6, Louis 0) An accurate maiden from Woakes to Louis includes a strangled shout for LBW. Missing leg.

“I’m wondering if Harry Brook has yet contributed what might be described as a matchwinning innings in a Test?” says Graeme Arthur. “Is he in danger of achieving that most bittersweet reputation – that of being a flat-track bully?”

Personally I don’t think so, far from it in fact. Never mind his centuries – the first three of which were matchwinning in one sense or another – the 75 against Australia at Headingley was a mini-masterpiece. I think he’s extraordinary, the closest thing I’ve seen to Kevin Pietersen.

2nd over: West Indies 9-0 (Brathwaite 6, Louis 0) Atkinson takes a few deliveries to find his line. When he does, Louis pushes cautiously at an outswinger and is beaten.

“I can understand that a bowler can be unlucky in an individual innings but Mark Wood seems to be regularly described as bowling better than his figures deserve,” says Jeremy Smith. “It cannot be bad luck every time, so is it that people are seduced by his pace into thinking he’s better than he is or maybe he doesn’t bowl at the stumps enough? (Genuine question - I only ever see the highlights and it’s hard to tell from that.)”

Funnily enough Steve Harmison said the same on TalkSport, that he’d have liked Wood to bowl at the stumps more in the first innings. I haven’t really noticed a recurring pattern of Wood being described as unlucky, though you certainly get cases like that – Phil DeFreitas and Andy Caddick used to beat the bat so often, often because they bowled slightly too short. The pretty length, as it’s now called.

I guess with Wood it’d be interesting to see his Expected Wickets data – I know some people hate that stuff but it is an objective assessment of a player’s luck.

1st over: West Indies 5-0 (Brathwaite 1, Louis 4) Woakes’ opening spells in this series have been disappointing, but he bowled really well at the back end of the West Indies’ first innings and you’d expect him to pick up where he left off.

There’s a bit of outswing, nothing dramatic, and Louis wallops a wider delivery to the cover boundary. He can play, this boy.

Edit: turns out it was Brathwaite who hit that four, so I’ve excelled myself with the above paragraph.

The players are back on the field. Let’s get it on.

92nd over: England 425-9 (Atkinson 21, Bashir 0) A delivery from Holder comes out all wrong, almost bounces at his feet and is timed at 57mph. Atkinson can only cloth it into the leg side.

He gets hold of one later in the over, leathering a drive over extra cover for four. England lead by 384.

91st over: England 421-9 (Atkinson 17, Bashir 0) This has been a good effort from West Indies, who have taken the last six wickets for 92 runs on a flat pitch.

90th over: England 419-8 (Anderson 16, Wood 0) A swinging yorker from Holder is dug out well by Mark Wood. There’s some extravagant inswinger later in the over; again Wood defends.

89th over: England 419-7 (lead by 378; Root 122, Atkinson 16) Seales bounces Atkinson, who top-edges a pull for four. England’s lead is rattling towards the big four oh oh, after which Ben Stokes will be tempted to declare. Imagine if all four innings go past 400; Andy Zaltzman won’t sleep for a week.

88th over: England 413-7 (Root 121, Atkinson 11) Cheers Jim, hello everyone. Root is surprised by some extra bounce from Alzarri and drops his bat after playing a defensive stroke.

There’s much mirth on the England balcony as a Ben Stokes lookalike appears on the big screen, with Jimmy Anderson giggling like a schoolboy who has just struck again with the whoopee cushion. Root snaps us all back to the action by slicing a drive through backward point for four.

87th over: England 407-7 (Root 116, Atkinson 10) Very nearly a run out! In fact should have been long gone but West Indies fluffed their fielding. Root wanted a single but then barbecued Atkinson by aborting far too late, the bowler about 3/4 way down the track and committed to the single somehow makes his ground, getting a face full of dirt to go with his full length dive.

That’s the last action for me on today’s OBO. The majestic Rob Smyth will take you through the rest of the day. Goodbye!

Root is getting a bit of work on his groin from the physio and so it is time for a drink.

86th over: England 405-7 (Root 115, Atkinson 9) Gus Atkinson gets in on the act by timing the undercrackers off a length ball angled in at his pads. This is the first time England have scored 400 in both innings of a Test match. I can’t believe that has never happened?! Particularly in the last few years…

85th over: England 397-7 (Root 114, Atkinson 2) Root is purring now. So are the crowd. The lesser seen (since Rajkot) reverse-scoop is deployed and gets him four over the cordon! Shamar Joseph then strays too straight and is worked off the pads for four more through midwicket. Runs ticking now for England, dangerous times for West Indies.

84th over: England 388-7 (Root 105, Atkinson 2) England lead by 347 runs.

Excuse me whilst I post this again and take a keyboard pause. What a player. How lucky are we to have Joe Root? Not just England but the game in general. That century sees him draw level with Steve Smith and Kane Williamson on the Test century count.

83rd over: England 378-7 (Root 98, Atkinson 0) Gus Atkinson, yet to show his batting skills in the series, joins Root in the middle and survives his first ball. All eyes on Joe Root, can he get to his 32nd Test century?

82nd over: England 372-6 (Root 98, Woakes 6) Root glides on to 98 by driving Alzarri Joseph for a couple through the covers.

81st over: England 367-6 (Root 94, Woakes 5) West Indies do take the new ball and Shamar Joseph sends down a probing first over with it. Just a Joe Root single that takes him to 95 and England’s lead to 327.

80th over: England 367-6 (Root 94, Woakes 5) Singles the order of the day. “It wasn’t me, I told him no!” shouts Josh Da Silva down the stump mic as his captain calls for one of the worst LBW reviews you are likely to see.

Feels like a good excuse to play this:

FREE ENTRY AT TRENT BRIDGE TOMORROW:

79th over: England 364-6 (Root 93, Woakes 3) A single each to Root and Woakes takes the lead to 323 runs. The new ball is due next over, will West Indies take it?

ICYMI: This was an entertaining and interesting listen yesterday on TMS:

78th over: England 362-6 (Root 92, Woakes 2) A productive over for England and Root as he rocks back and punches Sinclair through he off side for four to go into the 90s. Another Test match ton looming on the horizon for Root as Michael Atherton talks about his experiences of scoring 99 in a Test match on the commentary…

76th over: England 354-6 (Root 84, Woakes 2) Shamar Joseph starts up to Joe Root. BIG hour coming up in the Test and series. A clip to leg gets Root moving and Woakes repeats the same shot with a little less panache to get off the mark. Joseph oversteps, just losing his run up a little. Woakes drives for a couple and Root clips a single off the last ball to keep strike and make it six off the over.

Here come the players for the afternoon session. Chris Woakes is joining Joe Root in the middle. West Indies will be keen to winkle one of these two out and get into the England tail. The declaration chatter in my inbox has gone distinctly quiet. A target of 350-380 would not be a foregone conclusion, not if Kavem Hodge can channel a bit of 2017 Headingley Shai Hope…

Time to pad through to the kitchen and see what the fridge has to offer.

Robert Lewis is following from Istanbul and isn’t giving an inch…

“I have to disagree with my fellow grizzled and distinguished correspondents above. Old habits die hard, and as I go back to the early 1960s, with my first Test match attendance at Lord’s watching Hanif Mohammad slowly demoralising England’s attack, I have never wished for anything less than a victory for “us” against “them”. (The same goes for Surrey, however much they are the Manchester City of county cricket). Of course, it all depends who the opposition are, and the Aussies bring on sleeplessness and ghoulish incantations, as I sell my soul for a victory against the old enemy. The Windies and Pakistan are at the other end of the spectrum, being likeable, and so a defeat counts for much less, and can even be almost enjoyed. But I still thrill or wince to the mention of WICKET in your esteemed commentary, according to whose wicket is falling at that moment.”

This was a very interesting chat from the Sky bods this morning. Nasser Hussain on particularly good form talking to Ian Bishop and Michael Atherton about the current state of the game:

74th over: England 344-4 (Root 80, Smith 3) Jamie Smith is the new man, he gets off the mark with a drive past point. The lead stands at 303 runs but England won’t feel comfortable yet.

73rd over: England 341-4 (Root 80, Stokes 8) A maiden from Sinclair to Root. His first of the match, West Indies have been probing and accurate for the last thirty minutes or so, they’d dearly love another wicket before the lunch break.

73rd over: England 341-4 (Root 80, Stokes 8) No real surge in intent from Stokes or Root before lunch, just a single off Seales for Root to take the lead up to 300.

72nd over: England 340-4 (Root 79, Stokes 8) Stokes and Root rotate the singles off Sinclair. Ten minutes to go until lunch.

71st over: England 337-4 (Root 77, Stokes 7) Stokes is solid in defence against Seales, blunting five balls in a row before getting on the front foot to pulverise a full ball through the covers for his first four.

70th over: England 333-4 (Root 77, Stokes 3) Sinclair is flicked off the pads by Stokes for a couple as the England captain gets off the mark to a ripple of applause.

England’s lead is at 292. We’re still a way off declaration carrot chat I reckon. Unless Stokes decides to open his shoulders before lunch.

68th over: England 327-3 (Root 75, Brook 108) Sinclair whirls away and England tick along serenely, five runs off the over with a minimum of fuss from the two Yorkshiremen.

67th over: England 322-3 (Root 72, Brook 106) Joe Root purring towards three figures, collecting eight runs off Jason Holder on both sides of the wicket.

66th over: England 314-3 (Root 64, Brook 106) Time for spin as the somersaulting Kevin Sinclair comes on to bowl. Root and Brook work into the gaps to keep the scoreboard ticking. Snap! Brooks cracks the wrists under a full ball and slots it in-to-out over the infield for a remarkable four. Some shot that, eleven runs off the over. West Indies need to break this partnership if they are to keep a foothold in this game. Well durrrr…

65th over: England 303-3 (Root 58, Brook 101) Holder gets a ball to jag and lift under newly cloudy skies in Nottingham. He likes what he sees and moves another slip into position.

“He was the future once” David Cameron said of Tony Blair at PMQs back in the day. Putting their politics aside (I don’t care for either of them), I wonder if Root feels a bit Blair batting with Brook these days…”

I was thinking along similar lines, James Walsh*. Though I reckon these two will be batting together for England for a good few years yet.

*Was just trying to think up a witty line to do with the Blair/Brown Granita pact but failed miserably. Gray Nicolls pact? Root uses a New Balance? Oh forget it.

64th over: England 300-3 (Root 55, Brook 101) The only time Brook looks slightly vulnerable is against the short ball. He occasionally gets caught in two minds and can end up having a bit of a flap. Alzarri Joseph slams one into the middle of the pitch and causes a bit of indecision from Brook, the ball flying past the keeper too, resulting four byes. 300 up for England, the lead is 259 and it is time for a drink.

63rd over: England 293-3 (Root 53, Brook 100) Root tickles a single off Jason Holder. Brook’s ton came off just 118 balls with 12 fours. TMS’ Andy Zaltzman chimes up to say that this is just Brook’s 14th Test match and only five previous England players have scored five hundreds within their first 14 Tests, most recently Andrew Strauss.

This has just given my melon a twist though:

62nd over: England 292-3 (Root 52, Brook 100) Root clips a couple through square leg to go to a fifty of his own – his 63rd in Test cricket. Remarkable, and he’s got Brian Charles Lara in his sights:

61st over: England 288-3 (Root 49, Brook 99) The ball has gone out of shape for the umpteenth time and is going to be changed. That switcheroo did for Ollie Pope yesterday but Root has a good look at the new orb, playing out a patient maiden from Jason Holder.

60th over: England 288-3 (Root 49, Brook 99) Brook has played this open faced glide shot particularly well in this innings. He does it again off Alzarri Joseph with something approaching nonchalance to go to 99.

59th over: England 284-3 (Root 49, Brook 95) Three more singles to England, the lead up to 243 with no alarms and no surprises so far this morning.

Guy Hornsby is mellow, man.

“I’m absolutely with Martin (over 54) and the mellowing over time. I was never the most parochial England fan but it was easier to wish opponents I’ll when you didn’t know anything about them. It also helped that the first Aussie side I was the late 80s larrikin top 6 that no Englishman could love. While franchise cricket looms over all, it’s also meant players know each other, and we see much more of them on social media and the likes of the brilliant The Test, where the opponents are likeable, real people. And getting to know so many other fans of cricket of all stripes along the way (hat tip to the Final Word podcast for that, and all its wonderful nerds) means I appreciate a much wider cricketing world, players, teams and all watching the game is much less stressful and more delightful. It’s all good place to be, and makes me wish West Indies make a game of this.”

58th over: England 281-3 (Root 47, Brook 93) A chip down the ground for four sees Harry Brook enter the 90s…

57th over: England 275-3 (Root 47, Brook 88) Shamar Joseph surprises Root with a well directed short ball, the batter getting into a bit of a tangle as the ball whooshes past his grille. A couple of singles takes the England lead to 234 runs. A few of you in touch about what might be a decent target or carrot to dangle for Stokes and co if it gets to declaration time. I think they’d want a target of 380/400 runs minimum and maybe even more than that. The pitch still looks good and the ball skims to the boundary once the infield is beaten. Trent Bridge of course was the scene of one of BazBall’s finest moments so far:

56th over: England 272-3 (Root 45, Brook 87) Cowabunga! Brook plays a contender for shot of the day before 11:30! A drive down the ground on the up off Jayden Seales. The ball whistling back past the bowler and thudding into the advertising hoardings. Brook is thirteen runs away from a maiden century on home soil.

55th over: England 265-3 (Root 42, Brook 83) Root opens the face to glide a boundary down past point and both batters pinch a single to add a couple more onto the lead.

54th over: England 259-3 (Root 37, Brook 82) Harry Brook taps a single to bring Joe Root on strike for the first time this morning. Root defends back towards Seales with a full blade and then shoulders arms to a wide-ish length ball to end the over.

“One of the great consolations of ageing I have found” emails Martin O’Donovan-Wright, “Is that even as an England supporter I am happier with a genuine contest than a facile victory, even if such a contest should end in English defeat. In that vein, I’d like England to add no more than about a 100 or so runs this morning, leaving WI a target of approximately 320, which i think would be optimum for a balanced scrap for the spoils. As Galeano said about football, “I give thanks for the miracle, and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.” (Unless we’re playing Australia, natch.)

53rd over: England 258-3 (Root 37, Brook 81) Brook really does look in good touch. Positive in both attack and defence. Yesterday’s terracotta terroriser - Shamar Joseph - glides to the crease and bowls full, targeting the stumps and front pad. A muted appeal as a full one thunks into Brook’s ankle but he was well outside the line. A flick off the pad brings Brook two runs and he pinches the strike from Root with a single off the last ball.

“Good morning James, here’s what I would like today: I’d like Harry Brook to ease his way to a delicious 130 odd, not out, while an entertaining clatter of wickets at the other end take the declaration question off the table. A lead of 340 sets up a cracking finale which the West Indies get the better of some time tomorrow afternoon, thereby setting up a belter for next week. Please and thank you.”

You aren’t the only one David Horn…

52nd over: England 255-3 (Root 37, Brook 78) The players spill out onto the pitch in bright sunshine. Jayden Seals has ball and bustles in to bowl at Harry Brook. The cameraman pans to Zak Crawley on the England balcony tucking into a Sunday morning bacon sarnie. Wonder how many times he’s thought about his dismissal yesterday? Evidently consoling himself with some fried pig.

Brook opens the face to guide nicely for two runs, England are off and running on day four. Shot! Brook follows up with an imperious cover drive for four. Hold the pose, lad.

I can see James Anderson prowling around the outfield with his bowling mitt. It still feels very weird to me.

Forgive the shameless pluggery but I just wrote something about Jimmy’s farewell that also served as a paean to my favourite band. There’s about ten minutes before we get going if you want a bit of misty eyed musing to go with your morning coffee.

“Memorise the bathwater, memorise the air
There’ll come a time I’ll want to know I was here
Names on the doorframes, inches and ages
Handprints in concrete, at the softest stages”

Most days during my daughter’s bath time I think of the above lines, tapping as they do into a particular kind of parental melancholy but also the more universal sense of time slipping by, sometimes unappreciated, and of trying to live in the moment.

The title of that song popped into my head last week at Lord’s. It’s called ‘Weird Goodbyes’. It was wasn’t it? There was a sort of awkward pageantry about Jimmy Anderson’s final Test, a prolonged farewell in a one-sided contest that you sensed the man himself was at odds with.”

Bright skies with a bit of mottled cloud at Trent Bridge. It looks a picture. There are ten pound tickets available for Day Five (tomorrow) which could well be a snip if today follows the same pattern as the previous three. A couple of early wickets would certainly put the hen ‘mongst the chickens.

Simon Dennis has come up trumps with the TMS overseas link:

https://m.youtube.com/live/_A0jIm5YZag?cbrd=1

Catch up on yesterday’s action with Ali Martin and Simon Burnton: