Second Test, Day 1: England 416 all out (Pope 121, Duckett 71, Stokes 69 | A Joseph 3-98) lead West Indies by 416 runs
TRENT BRIDGE — The only surprise on another day of one-sided Test cricket between England and the West Indies was the fact Ollie Pope was the only player to score a century.
By stumps on the opening day of this second Test, it looked like England, all out for 416 after being asked to bat first, had already done enough to win this match.
Following on from their dominant innings victory at Lord’s that lasted little over two days, Ben Stokes’s team will be pleased with their work as they eye up a first series win in 19 months.
The truth is they probably should have punished the West Indies further for their decision to bowl first after winning the toss.
Yet the tourists, who shelled four catches and missed a stumping, also know things might have been different had they not been so profligate in the field.
Given the Windies made a combined 257 across both their innings at Lord’s, the prospect of a closer contest in Nottingham seems remote. We might be on for another lightning-quick innings victory if England’s bowlers hit their mark and there is enough of an appetite in the dressing room for weekend golf.
Indeed, it would take something extraordinary for the West Indies to claw this match back from here.
The good news for England was the century from Pope, his sixth in Tests, and a first since he struck 196 against India at Hyderabad back in January.
Pope did ride his luck, with two of those drops benefitting him before he had reached 55. He is a player who often looks nervy, especially at the start of innings. But the bottom line is he is averaging 42 since he was handed the No 3 role on a permanent basis at the start of the Bazball era two summers ago.
Pope’s 121 here was his fifth hundred since and no England No 3 since Jonathan Trott has scored as many from the position.
Stokes also returned to form with the bat with his first half-century in 12 innings but will be cursing himself for holing out to the part-time spin of Kavem Hodge on 69.
Earlier in the day, Ben Duckett flirted with Gilbert Jessop’s 76-ball record for the fastest England Test hundred before falling for 71.
That other batters missed out, with Joe Root and Harry Brook guilty of terrible shots for their dismissals, is a negative.
Yet despite a late collapse that saw England lose their final five wickets for 74, this is the first time in more than a year Stokes’s team have posted a 400-plus total in a home Test.
The problem is that the very fabric of Test cricket is cheapened by one-sided “contests” such as this.
This West Indies bowling attack was weakened by the loss of Kemar Roach before the tour began and further here when Shamar Joseph, their brightest young quick bowler, left the field for the second successive Test with cramp. They also lost spinner Gudakesh Motie to illness before play began on this first day.
However, the standard of bowling was the worst England have faced in a long time.
There can be no criticism of the effort put in by the West Indies players. Kevin Sinclair, who filled in for Motie, plugged away manfully for his two wickets. Hodge, who had not bowled in Tests before, picked up the scalps of Stokes and Jamie Smith.
But England should have made more than they did at a venue that can be classed as the spiritual home of Bazball given this is where Jonny Bairstow scored a ludicrous 77-ball hundred during a thrilling run chase against New Zealand two summers ago that lit a fire under England’s attacking new approach.
Duckett channelled it early on as the hosts raced to fifty in just 26 balls.
Yet everything we have seen in this series feels seriously devalued.
Moments of the day
Duckett’s counter
After Zak Crawley was dismissed to the third ball of the day from Alzarri Joseph, England needed something. Ben Duckett provided it. The opener’s partner is due to give birth any day now and he batted like a man in a rush as he counter-attacked superbly to reach fifty in 32 balls. His onslaught started when he hit the first four deliveries of the second over bowled by Jayden Seales for four. He fell short of breaking Ian Botham’s 28-ball record for the fastest England half-century. But it was the quickest by an England opener.
Gilbert’s record lives on
When he was on 67 from 53 deliveries, Duckett had looked set to break perhaps the most sought-after England batting record – the fastest England Test century (76 balls) set by Gilbert Jessop against Australia in 1902. Jonny Bairstow – a 77-ball ton at Trent Bridge two years ago against New Zealand – has come the closest to breaching Jessop’s mark. But it still stands after Duckett edged Shamar Joseph to second slip, walking off with 71 from 59 balls.
Hack of the day
The shot that did for Joe Root shortly after lunch – caught at mid-on after an ugly attempted pull to Seales – was bad. But this innings of 14 did see Root move past Sri Lanka great Mahela Jayawardene into ninth place on the all-time list of Test runscorers. Now on 11,818 runs, Root needs 655 more to overhaul Sir Alastair Cook to become England’s all-time leading Test runscorer.
Sinclair flips out
Harry Brook was looking good as he reached 36 from 33 balls. But he was caught trying an inexplicable reverse scoop off the bowling of Kevin Sinclair. The off-spinner, only in the team because Gudakesh Motie was taken ill overnight, celebrated with a back flip that was greeted warmly by the Trent Bridge crowd.
Pope’s no dope
Ollie Pope wasn’t at his best but when he pulled Seales through midwicket for four in the second hour after lunch it brought up his sixth Test century and first since that epic match-winning 196 against India at Hyderabad in January. Dropped on 46 and 54, he rode his luck but cashed in to become the first Bazballer to reach three figures this summer.
Stat of the day
When England brought up their fifty in 26 balls (4.2 overs) this felt like a T20 match. It was the fastest-ever a team had got to the total in Tests, beating the previous record – set by England against South Africa at The Oval in 1994 – by one delivery.
Quote of the day
“He’s such a clean striker of the ball, so when these pitches come on nicely with a quick outfield, he looks in such fine form. He’s not scored many runs since his brilliant hundred in India. There’s no doubt the whole changing room will have been thrilled for him getting that hundred today.”
Former England bowler Stuart Broad speaking on Sky Sports about Ollie Pope
Bazball-o-meter: 9/10
Duckett set off like a train and England became the fastest team in Test history to reach 50 – in just 26 balls. With Pope and Stokes also in the runs, England laid waste to a poor Windies attack, scoring 400 in a day again during the Bazball era.