Key events
74th over: England 310-5 (Brook 52, Smith 23) Jadeja’s figures (18-2-53-0) are a big old slice of nothing. But he’s been a threat, as you’d expect on such a dry pitch, and we should remember that the match still isn’t at the halfway point. Jadeja can be lethal in the fourth innings, as England know from last year’s Rajkot Test.
73rd over: England 307-5 (Brook 51, Smith 21) A quiet over from Thakur. Just over 10 minutes to go before lunch.
Brook dropped before reaching half-century
72nd over: England 305-5 (Brook 50, Smith 20) Another let-off for England! Brook has been dropped by Pant, a tough chance up to the stumps but one he would take maybe seven times out of 10. Brook leaned forward defensively to Jadeja, who found enough turn to take a thick outside edge. Pant couldn’t hold on and the ball teased the close fielders before dropping safely.
Smith offers maybe a fiftieth of a chance later in the over with a flick past short leg, then Brook drives a single to reach a stylish, if occasionally blessed, fifty from 65 balls. At one stage he was 0 from 15 deliveries. Even you and I can do that math.
71st over: England 300-5 (Brook 46, Smith 19) Thakur enquires for caught behind after beating Smith outside off stump. He’s getting the old ball to wobble ever so slightly, though not enough to change Smith’s attacking intent. He walks down the track again to flick firmly past midwicket for four.
Smith is such a dangerous player. A dragged pull for two brings up England’s 300; they trail by 171.
“Longtime follower and fan of OBO here,” writes Konrad Jagodzinski. “I just want to let you know that in Italy the England-India test series is available for free via the official ICC website. They stream live Sky broadcast minus commercials. It may be of interest to some readers.”
Ah, thank you, that’s kind. I think it’s only available in certain countries but still very handy for some of you. Bye, then! Have a nice life! You were welcome!
70th over: England 294-5 (Brook 46, Smith 13) Smith drives a flight delivery from Jadeja just short of extra cover. This is a tricky balancing act for England. They need to cash in against the old ball but they can’t really afford to lose another wicket before the new one becomes available in 10 overs’ time.
“Just read the news about David Lawrence,” writes James Brough. “My first day in student lodgings at university was the 4th day of the Oval Test in 1991 against West Indies. England spent it chiselling away at the Windies batsmen. Syd took five wickets, including ending Viv Richards’ last Test innings, caught at extra cover. What a moment that must have been for him. What hopes he must have had.
“My form master when I started secondary school at Newcastle High was Mick James. Short, kind, terrifying when angry. He also ran a B&B where I spent a week revising for A-levels because my family were on a skiing holiday in Switzerland. He died about 15 years ago of motor neurone disease. Aged 60-odd, he died about 18 months after diagnosis. I suspect he and Syd would’ve got on. What a bloody waste.”
That five-for is overshadowed, understandably, by Phil Tufnell’s extraordinary seven-for in the first innings. But England were really straining for wickets on a flat pitch and probably wouldn’t have won the game without Syd’s contribution. Crucially, he also dismissed Richie Richardson – who at the time was the best player in the world along with Graham Gooch and Robin Smith – for 121 on the fifth morning.
69th over: England 293-5 (Brook 46, Smith 12) Smith had pummelled a poor ball through point for four earlier in the over. This is an important spell for Thakur, whose selection ahead of Kuldeep Yadav is pretty hard to fathom, even allowing for his batting.
REVIEW! England 290-5 (Smith not out 9)
Sheeshorama, here’s another sliding door in this fascinating game. Smith ran down the track, missed a full toss from the new bowler Shardul Thakur and was given out LBW. But he reviewed instantly and the technology showed the ball would just have missed leg stump.
68th over: England 286-5 (Brook 46, Smith 5) A fine over from Jadeja to Brook includes a strangled LBW shout and a big-spinning delivery that goes past the edge.
After five dot balls, Brook seizes on a fractionally short delivery and pulls superbly for four. This is just brilliant cricket.
67th over: England 282-5 (Brook 42, Smith 5) A lovely nipbacker from Siraj is inside edged past leg stump for four by Smith. Siraj blows hot and cold but he’s such a competitor, with an irrepressible spirit that reminds me a little bit of Darren Gough. And when he’s hot, he burns.
“Can we not set a limit for how many times the bowling team can request a ball change?” asks Luke Stevenson. “Maybe one every hour? Most Test matches now once a team gets past 40 overs they spend half their time having the ball checked and disagreeing with the umpire about the outcome, which I would say is not what most people tune in for.”
Well, there’s always a lone weirdo who’s into that sort of thing, and I am that weirdo but I really like your idea. Is there a problem that we haven’t considered? Within that one hour limit the umpires would still be allowed to suggest a chance themselves if they think the ball has gone out of shape.
66th over: England 278-5 (Brook 42, Smith 1) Two singles from Jadeja’s over. At least that’s what the scorecard says. Hey, Ravindra, slow down.
65th over: England 276-5 (Brook 41, Smith 0) Jamie Smith is the new batter.
TMS this, TMS that
Toby Peggs has made a video about how to find the Test Match Special overseas link. Bookmark it, cherish it.
WICKET! England 276-5 (Stokes c Pant b Siraj 20)
Brook runs down the track and smashes four more through extra cover. If it’s good enough for Bumrah, it’s good enough for Siraj. That boundary brings up the fifth partnership and adds to Brook’s exhilarating portfolio of strokes this morning.
England need plenty more from Brook because they keep losing wickets. Stokes feels for a wider delivery from Siraj, bowling around the wicket, and edges it through to Pant. He flips his bat up in the air, then shouts angrily at himself as he walks off.
Ultimately he could have left that ball, but Siraj’s line from around the wicket had been really challenging so you can understand why he made the error. The ball straightened off the seam as well. The Sky commentators think Stokes’s frustration is down to him playing a bit of a nothing shot, rather than that he could have left it.
64th over: England 271-4 (Brook 36, Stokes 20) I couldn’t tell you a single thing about that Jadeja over, which kind of proves Krishnamoorthy’s point in the 62nd over.
Drinks: England rally after loss of Pope
63rd over: England 268-4 (Brook 35, Stokes 18) Siraj gurns in with frustration when Stokes edges a good ball between slip and gully for four. It wouldn’t have carried but it was a moral victory for the bowler. As is that, a straighter delivery goes past the edge to end the over, and the first hour of play.
“If you’re thinking of theatre, top skill, unusual bowling action and incredible presence, I think the template was set some time ago…” writes Jeremy Boyce, attaching a picture of … is that Brian Blessed? Hang on, sorry, it’s WG Grace. “And he was an originator of mind games.”
‘Mind games’ is a generous description in some cases.
62nd over: England 264-4 (Brook 35, Stokes 14) Jadeja has a slip and backward short leg for Stokes; the latter is definitely in the game with Stokes trying to get outside off stump when possible.
Out of nothing, Stokes jumps into a reverse sweep and nails it for four.
“Ravindra Jadeja is a problem to OBO,” writes Krishnamoorthy V. “He finishes his over in 40 seconds. Before you can type anything sensible he is already back for his next and you have no time for a Bumrah or a Krishna over in between.”
You’re not wrong, he gets through an over i- sorry, GTG, Siraj is bowling again..
61st over: England 259-4 (Brook 35, Stokes 9) Brook charges Siraj, who follows him with a crafty short ball. But Brook is still good enough to adjust and ping the ball over the slips for four. That’s an outrageously good shot, for which he had a reaction time of half a second, if that.
Pant tries unsuccessfully to get the ball changed, then throws the old ball to the floor in a slightly odd act of petulance. Maybe he’s just trying to pick a fight to get India going.
“Can we have a go at trying to unpick Stokes’ batting in the Bazball era?” asks Mike Jakeman. “It seems fairly clear that by removing the fear of the consequences of failure, Stokes has given the batting unit freedom to attack as much as they like. But has it had the inverse effect on him? Does he feel like he has to be the only adult in the room? Or, as I watch him strike at 15 again, am I falling into the trap of him being a notorious slow-starter and we’ll see him go from second to fifth gear in ten overs’ time?
“My hunch is that it simply too much to ask a single player to be a thrilling batsman, incisive fourth-seamer, gun fielder, set the field placings and the ideological tone-setter of a team and the least important of these disciplines for England is the first one. Either way, I have a bet on with a friend that he won’t make a 50 in this innings and I’m feeling quite confident right now about a free lunch.”
Yeah, my instinct is that it’s largely a natural drop-off, and certainly that his approach is unrelated to captaincy. There was a period around Covid when he was England’s best batter, above even Root, and his approach was very similar then. I still think he has one more batting purple patch in him, hopefully starting today. His improvement with the ball should have a positive impact as well.
60th over: England 255-4 (Brook 31, Stokes 9) Plenty happening from the rough when Jadeja bowls to the left-handed Stokes, so the usual match-up rules don’t necessarily apply today. Brook hasn’t yet taken any risks against Jadeja; he’s happy with ones and twos. For now.
“Given that both Shane Warne and Jasprit Bumrah played as much on the batters’ minds, especially with regard to their potential stroke-making, is it a time for a league table of bowlers’ Deceptively High Cunning?” wonders John Starbuck. “Malcolm Marshall comes to mind.”
Marshall sounds like the smartest fast bowler of the lot, certainly among the greats, and Selve wrote wonderfully about him over the years. I’d probably draw a distinction between cunning with the ball (eg Marshall setting up Mike Gatting for the inswinger) and psychological manipulation with the mouth. I’d probably pick Warne with both.
59th over: England 252-4 (Brook 28, Stokes 9) Mohammed Siraj replaces Bumrah, who bowled an excellent but wicketless spell of 4-1-11-0. Stokes gets his first boundary with a pristine push-drive to the left of mid-off, a shot that evokes his glorious maiden Test century at Perth all those years ago.
58th over: England 246-4 (Brook 27, Stokes 4) I like this move from India. Ravindra Jadeja is coming on, presumably to play on Brook’s ego and desire to attack.
For now Brook is content to take a single off the first ball. Stokes then gets a thick edge between his legs and not far wide of backward short leg. That was a good delivery from Jadeja, which turned from the rough. As Mark Butcher says on Sky, spin should be a bigger factor than usual given the heat of the last few days.
Stokes has 4 from 27 balls. He had 2 from 66 against Australia on this ground in 2019 so in a sense he’s off a flyer.
57th over: England 244-4 (Brook 26, Stokes 3) Stokes’ first big shot is almost his last, a windy woof at a tempter from Bumrah that he could easily have edged to somebody in the cordon. The rest of the over, Bumrah’s third maiden, is the age-old tale of ball meets dead bat.
“Every Bumrah over feels like a miniature Test match in itself; a small but crucial epic,” says Phil Harrison. “I can’t remember another bowler ever feeling like that.”
While I broadly agree with you, one lead actor comes to mind.
56th over: England 244-4 (Brook 26, Stokes 3) Fair to say Brook is into his work now. He gets his fourth boundary with a picture-perfect push through extra cover off Krishna. Brook made 0 from his first 15 balls; he’s scored 26 from the last 16.
“David Lawrence studied at Linden Road secondary school back in the day where my father was headmaster,” writes Chris Doherty. “He was a bit of a baddie at school to put it mildly; my father got so fed up of him being hauled into his office for bad behaviour that he threatened to phone Gloucestershire CCC where he was learning his trade as a youngster and put an end to his budding career.
“The trick worked, his passion for cricket was such that he pretty much became a model student overnight. In later years, watching him play first for Gloucestershire and then for England, my father was so, so proud and pleased for him. As he put it, cricket was his salvation; it was what turned him into the marvellous person we all knew and loved.
“So doubly emotive for me, today’s news. Rest in peace.”
55th over: England 238-4 (Brook 21, Stokes 2) Stokes has made a watchful start, as has been his wont since around 2018, the first summer of Bazball excepted. He plays out four more dot balls from Bumrah, which matters because he can’t bowl forever. That’s already Bumrah’s 16th over of the innings.
‘He hit a four … over the wicketkeeper’s head!’
Thanks to Matthew Doherty and others for reminding us that Syd Lawrence was a central character in the most wonderful piece of cricket commentary known to man.
54th over: England 237-4 (Brook 20, Stokes 2) Four more to Brook, steered past gully off Krishna. Stokes then recoils after defending a ball that hits high on the bat. When Krishna bowls well – and he has been better this morning – his bounce is a significant threat.
“I’m on the record many times as an acolyte of the Stokes/McCullum regime, but I had the provocative thought last night that is it the best one for Harry Brook?” wonders Will Vignoles. “For such a fabulously talented and destructive batsman he does seem to have a tendency to chuck it away with nonsense shots like his reprieve last night, and maybe a less forgiving setup could help him pick his moments a bit more? Not sure I believe it myself but it’s an argument I suppose…”
And arguments make the world go round. That said, it is interesting to consider When Bazball Goes Bad. There was one example (it was a private chat so I won’t say who just in case) of a batter being shown too much faith – the longer they stayed in the team, the more damage was done to their technique and confidence, and in hindsight it would have been a mercy to drop them maybe five Tests earlier.
53rd over: England 232-4 (Brook 14, Stokes 2) Hello! Brook charges Bumrah and wallops a cover drive for four. I’m not sure I’d choose to tweak Bumrah’s tail, which I suppose is one of the reasons I’m not the No2 batter in the world. There are a few others: an almost complete lack of hand-eye co-ordination, the self-confidence of Mark Corrigan, a visceral aversion to any kind of conflict, even sporting.
Anyway, it was scintillating stuff and a reminder that each England player will have their own method against Bumrah. Stokes’s, for now, is to get in line and defend solidly. He has had plenty of trouble against Bumrah in the past; who hasn’t.
52nd over: England 227-4 (Brook 10, Stokes 2) The new batter is Ben Stokes, who is quietly in a bit of a lean trot. Since his last Test hundred, that dead-eyed rampage at Lord’s two years ago, he’s made 802 runs at an average of 29.70.
WICKET! England 225-4 (Pope c Pant b Krishna 106)
A big wicket for India, not least because Jasprit Bumrah didn’t take it. Pope tries to cut a short, wide delivery from Krishna that gets big enough to brush the top edge and race through to Rishabh Pant. That’s a frustrating end to a quite outstanding innings.
51st over: England 225-3 (Pope 106, Brook 10) Bumrah’s first ball is a loosener that Pope flicks behind square for four. A single gives Bumrah two deliveries at Brook; both are defended solidly.
50th over: England 220-3 (Pope 101, Brook 10) Prasidh Krishna opens the bowling from the Not Bumrah End. Brook misses a windy drive, slaps a cut for four to get off the mark – and then pulls mightily over midwicket for six.
Well that escalated quickly: one moment Brook had 0 from 15 balls, now he’s on 10 from 17.
The players line up for a minute’s applause in memory of Syd Lawrence. Motor neurone disease sounds unimaginably horrific. You can read about it – or watch the Australian show Mr Inbetween, which has an astonishing portrayal of a man with MND – but I can’t imagine anything prepares a family for the impact it has.
Ben Duckett on Ollie Pope
He was just so calm coming out. He probably couldn’t come out in tougher conditions, with Jasprit Bumrah running down the hill with the lights on. I don’t know what’s inside his head, but he’s just stayed true to the way he plays, and there’s no better feeling than that, scoring a hundred against that attack, coming out in the first over. You could see it in the way he celebrated, and it didn’t just mean a lot to him, it meant a huge amount in the dressing room as well. I had goosebumps for him.
“I know people don’t like the term ‘Bazball’ but it’s much more than just ‘positive cricket’,” says Gary Naylor. “England are reaping the benefit of one of its tenets – that it’s better to risk picking a player for one Test too many rather than one too few – with that superb ton yesterday. The commentators on the highlights could barely conceal their disappointment that Jacob Bethell (professional centuries 0) was not in for Ollie Pope (professional centuries 32) at No3. Bazball also demands wicket-takers and Josh Tongue did his job, as the last four Indian wickets added just 18. Meanwhile, Kuldeep Yadav looks on as Shadul Thakur bowls his overs.”
I would who the hell do you think you are, Naylor politely disagree on Bethell. Everybody I heard though Pope was right to keep his place, and there was so much warmth towards him yesterday. I’m as obsessed with Bethell as anyone – I was there, in New Zealand, when he made that 10 at Christchurch* – but there are very few precedents for 21-year-olds thriving in such a key position so it’s fine to wait. I also think it was and is fair to query Pope’s record against the best teams at No3. But like almost everyone, I was so happy for him yesterday.
Kuldeep, though. I’ve become world-class at sitting on the fence, straining to see both sides of any argument, but that one is beyond me.
*Okay, I was writing the OBO at home in Whitstable. But I saw every ball!
“Big day for Harry Brook, this,” writes Phil Harrison. “If there’s a serious chink in his armour, I suspect it’s against the short stuff. He was incredibly lucky to get to stumps but Bumrah will work him over first thing – and Australia will be watching with great interest. Haven’t looked forward to a day’s Test cricket so much in years!”
One of my biggest concerns about the Ashes is how a number of England’s batters – Duckett, Brook, Smith, potentially Bethell – will deal with the short ball on those huge grounds.
“What awful news to start the day,” writes Linda Gray. “I logged on full of enthusiasm and anticipation for a great day’s cricket and now I feel quite deflated with a tear in my eye. A lot of things about English cricket in the 1990s weren’t the best but Syd was one of them.”
I can’t really add much to that. He’s one of the few cricketers about whom I never heard a bad word. Even the ones we love usually rub some people up the wrong way; not Syd.
Sounds daft now, but England’s 2-2 draw at home to West Indies in 1991 was that generation’s equivalent of the 2005 Ashes. In this paper, Selve wrote that it “represents quite possibly the most stirring of post-war deeds and arguably the grandest of them all”.
Syd Lawrence played a key part in that, hustling a second-innings five-for on a flat Oval track. It was his first five-for in Tests – and his last. At Wellington A few months later, in the last session of a nailed-on draw in a series that had already been decided, he steamed in at full pelt, because that was all he knew. He suffered a fractured kneecap, one of the most horrific injuries ever seen (and heard) on a cricket field, and at 28 his career was effectively over.
He was so indomitable that he made a brief comeback for Gloucestershire in 1997. Those four games, in which he took eight wickets at 45, are the greatest testament to his character.
Read Andy Bull on Jasprit Bumrah
The fielders finally held on to one in his third spell, when he had Joe Root caught at slip. Then in the final over he bounced out Harry Brook with what turned out to be a no ball. By stumps, he had taken three for 48, and it could easily have been double the first number. His teammates had none for 149 between them.
RIP Syd
David Lawrence dies aged 61
Some desperately sad news this morning: David ‘Syd’ Lawrence, England fast bowler of the 1990s and one of the finest men ever to play the game, has died aged 61. He was diagnosed with motor neurone disease last year and his book, In Syd’s Voice, was launched this week.
We’ll have more shortly but Taha wrote a terrific piece about him for The Spin last week. The headline is especially poignant.
Preamble
Our thoughts at this time are with those who don’t like Test cricket. What is wrong with you losers? A pulsating second day at Headingley was the latest reminder that this is the greatest sporting format of all. Always has been (well, since 1877), always will be (well, until, you know).
There’s every chance today will be equally exhilarating, maybe even more so. England will resume on 209 for 3, a deficit of 262, with Ollie Pope on 100 and Harry Brook 0 not out in his second innings. Pope’s century, his finest innings on home soil, was a gem.
Once upon a time, defiant batting meant over-my-dead-body, but Pope – under so much pressure going into this game – breezed to a hundred from only 125 balls. The ovation he received was a lovely moment for one of the good guys.
Oh, just one more thing. Jasprit Bumrah, bloody hell! He was almost a one-man attack yesterday, taking all three wickets and having Brook caught off a no-ball. Bumrah’s overall Test record, 208 wickets at 19.35, is that of an all-time great, but in the last 18 months he has starting putting his tanks of SF Barnes’ lawn.s
For various reasons, Bumrah didn’t play a Test between July 2022 and December 2023. Since his return at Centurion for the Boxing Day Test, he’s taken 80 wickets in 16 Tests at an average of 15.13. It gets better: 14 of those 16 Tests have been against South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and England.
Great bowlers have carried their teams in the past – Ilford 2nds and all that – but it’s hard to remember the last time a team as good as India were so dependent on one bowler. Here’s the breakdown since the start of the Border/Gavaskar Trophy in November.
Bumrah’s spell this morning will set the tone for the rest of the day, the rest of the match, maybe the rest of the series.
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