Contents
38th over: India 150-5 (Pant 39, Jadeja 26) Jadeja works Broad off his pads for a couple. It’s interesting – when Stokes took over we were concerned that he would bowl too much, but so far he has bowled too little. Better that than the alternative, I guess. But England may need him here because Broad is struggling and India will try to hit Leach out of the attack.
37th over: India 148-5 (Pant 39, Jadeja 24) Jack Leach comes on, this time for real, and Pant beasts him for 14 in three deliveries: a straight drive for four, a pull for four more and then a mighty straight six. That brings up a rapid fifty partnership from 54 balls.
“I believe this is James Anderson’s 172nd Test,” says Joe Gregory. “I haven’t checked, but it seems likely that every single one of those matches was covered on the Guardian OBO. Surely this makes him the most OBO’d player ever? An achievement to rank alongside all those wickets, I’m sure you’ll agree!”
Crikey, you’re right. I think the OBO started in 2002, so we’ll have done all his Tests and almost all of the ODIs as well.
36th over: India 134-5 (Pant 25, Jadeja 24) Four more to Jadeja, laced through extra cover off Broad. He’s batting beautifully, though the moment I type that he has a windy woof outside off stump and is beaten.
India’s scorecard has an unusual look – all seven batters have reached double figures, but nobody has gone past 25. Yet.
35th over: India 130-5 (Pant 25, Jadeja 20) The counter-attack is on. Jadeja gets four more with a gorgeous on-drive off Anderson, and then Pant flicks through midwicket for three. After a burst of 20 runs from 10 balls, there’s a break in play while the ball is changed.
“I’m proofreading a doctoral thesis on the ontological insecurity between Greece and Turkey,” says Rob Lewis. “Perhaps the next paper I am sent will ask about the ontological insecurity of a generation of batters facing James Anderson. What a man!”
It’s really not normal, this. He turns 40 at the end of this month! In the last 50 years, I think only one seam bowler in their forties has taken a Test wicket: Graham Gooch at the Gabba in 1994. Sadly it was Michael Slater, caught mid-off, for 176, on the first day of the series.
34th over: India 121-5 (Pant 22, Jadeja 14) Broad is punched classily down the ground for four by Jadeja, who then flicks three more through midwicket. An expensive over concludes with a stylish cover drive for four from Pant. Broad, playing his fourth consecutive Test this summer, has looked slightly flat today.
33rd over: India 110-5 (Pant 18, Jadeja 7) Anderson continues after the drinks break. Jadeja has started watchfully against the seamers, especially his old buddy Anderson, and is leaving as much as possible.
He survives a biggish LBW appeal from a ball that pitched outside leg stump and might have been too high. One from the over.
32nd over: India 109-5 (Pant 18, Jadeja 6) Jadeja edges Broad towards first slip, where Root grabs the ball near the ground and immediately signals that he doesn’t know whether it has carried. The soft signal is not out, so you’d expect Jadeja to be fine.
The replays aren’t conclusive. Even if Root did get his fingers under the ball, there’s no way it could have been overturned by the third umpire.
“What about Patrick Patterson?” says Ewan Glenton. “93 Test wickets at a phenomenal(?) strike rate of 51.9, the fastest of them all according to the supremely qualified Jeff Dujon. Fearsome, unplayable spells against some of the best & toughest bats in the business… but only 26 Tests.”
Yes, he was the one bowler who made Graham Gooch fear for his safety, at Sabina Park in 1986. I had a lot of fun researching that game a few years ago, though the story of what happened to Patterson is pretty sad.
31st over: India 107-5 (Pant 17, Jadeja 5) Ah, turns out Leach only came on so that Anderson could change ends. Jadeja defends a couple of dangerous inswingers and ignores the rest. A maiden.
“As the oft-omitted XI would need an all-rounder,” begins Geoff Wignall, “Brian Close comes first to mind: 22 Tests spread over 27 years.”
Twenty-seven was also the number of bruises he had on his chest after that appointment with Michael Holding and Andy Roberts in 1976.
30th over: India 107-5 (Pant 17, Jadeja 5) A double change, with Broad on for Anderson. Pant, again on the charge, inside edges to square leg for a single, and then Jadeja survives a hopeful LBW appeal. Too high.
“Most unjustly omitted at Test level?” says Sean Clayton. “A keeper, bowler and batter respectively: Chris Read, Neil Mallender and Owais Shah. The latter seemed to be ‘definitely next man up except…’ for about a decade…”
I thought Owais Shah was unlucky not to play more one-day cricket, certainly in the early 2000s. Mallender was damned if he did well (which he did), because they were going to India the following winter. The braver call, I think, would have been to drop Mallender for the Oval Test against Pakistan, though I understand why that didn’t happen.
29th over: India 105-5 (Pant 16, Jadeja 4) A fascinating bit of captaincy from Ben Stokes, who has decided to bring on Jack Leach, against Rishabh Pant, with mid-on and mid-off up. In fact the first big shot comes from Ravindra Jadeja, who gets off the mark by charging Leach and lifting him over mid-on for four.
28th over: India 98-5 (Pant 13, Jadeja 0) James Anderson: 12-2-31-3.
WICKET! India 98-5 (Iyer c Billings b Anderson 15)
Sam Billings takes a superb catch to get rid of Shreyas Iyer! He gloved an awkward delivery from Anderson down the leg side, where Billings flew to his left to grab the ball one-handed. Iyer goes for a frisky 11-ball 15, and England are into the allrounders.
26th over: India 86-4 (Pant 5, Iyer 11) No fireworks in this over from Anderson, but a flurry of singles, which may irritate him just as much.
“Bazball vs Rishabh Pant,” says Robert on Twitter. “The irresistible force meets the irresistible force.”
And that’s me done. Thanks for your company, correspondence and scandalous omissions. I leave you in the superb hands of Rob Smyth, back from a month off.
25th over: India 81-4 (Pant 2, Iyer 10) Here is Iyer, starting as confidently as you’d expect of a young star with a Test average of 55. He pushes Potts for two, square-drives for four, then alas-drives for four more. He’s overtaken Pant already! There may be hell to pay for that. But what a great moment for Potts, who has now bagged Kohli as well as Kane Williamson in his first international summer.
“Having the keeper bat earlier,” says John Starbuck, “is a sensible option, given that you wouldn’t want him to be tired out before starting the second innings. Vice versa if you’re bowling first, naturally. Surprising that more teams don’t do this as a matter of course.”
Wicket!! Kohli b Potts 11 (India 71-4)
The big one! Kohli tries to leave this ball from Potts, but he leaves the decision too late and is out played on, just as he nearly was first ball after lunch. You know when you’ve been Pottsed.
24th over: India 71-3 (Kohli 11, Pant 2) After three balls, Pant decides he has played himself in and charges down the track at Anderson. The upshot is only an inside edge for a single. Anderson answers back with actions rather than words, beating Pant with the fifth ball of the over, and the last.
“I’m following the OBO at work,” says Simon Dobey, “desperate summer. My most omitted great is Eoin Morgan, patience and leadership to spare. Both implacable virtues in a top class Test cricketer. A shame it never worked out for him in red ball.”
“Re: whether we can let in players who have played 62 Tests,” adds Will Denton, “didn’t this conversation start with regards to Ashwin, who has played… 86 Tests?” Bang to rights.
23rd over: India 69-3 (Kohli 10, Pant 1) This is a bold move from Bumrah: sending Rishabh Pant in at No 5, rather than Shreyas Iyer. That’s the sort of thing Ben Stokes might do. Pant gets off the mark with a sober single to square leg, and Kohli leg-glances for four. But the wicket was the main thing and Potts, as usual, thoroughly deserved it. He’s like Ollie Robinson without any of the drawbacks.
And here’s Ben in Whitstable. “My Test career,” he reckons, “also spanned the years that Oasis were any good.” Oof.
Wicket! Vihari lbw b Potts 20 (India 64-3)
Another one! Potts bowls the nip-backer, it keeps low, and even Potts can risk a celebrappeal. Vihari thinks about reviewing but Kohli talks him out of it, and rightly so. That is a very plumb plumb.
22nd over: India 62-2 (Vihari 18, Kohli 6) Anderson continues, but his duel with Kohli only occupies one ball of this over as Kohli, twitching visibly, converts his nervous energy into a dab into the covers for a single. Vihari, gradually getting more comfortable, plays a glide for three.
“Test careers spanning the entire time that Oasis were good?” says Gavin Hutchinson with a snort. “A harsher person than I might cite Joey Benjamin.” Ha. Benjamin, as you know, played one Test in 1994.
21st over: India 57-2 (Vihari 14, Kohli 5) Play resumes, and so does Matthew Potts. He bowls to Kohli – and almost nabs him, played on! Kohl’s bat was crooked and the ball squirted past the leg stump for a streaky four.
“One of my fave stats,” says Stuart Silvers, who started this thread. “The gap between Bicknell’s second and third Test caps spanned the whole of Darren Gough’s Test career.” Ha, yes, spot-on – a whole decade from 1993 to 2003. So it also spanned all the years when Oasis were any good, with some to spare.
“Most omitted great,” says Ben Mimmack. “Matt Le Tissier – did I do this right?”
“To all those who say that the English have no sense of humour,” chuckles V Kishnamoorthy, “they invented a game that needs five continuous days of sunshine.” You mean you’re not a fan of heavy cloud cover?
“Most omitted greats,” says Stuart Silvers, briskly. “Angus Fraser, Robin Smith, Ben Foakes, Stuart Law, Darren Lehmann, Shoaib Mohammad, Vinod Kambli, Harold Larwood. And top of the list by miles, Sydney Barnes.” Intriguing line-up! I know what you mean about The Judge, but are we really going to let in players who got 62 Tests?
Restart at 2.15!
The rain has stopped and, all being well, play will resume at 2.15pm, in just over a quarter of an hour. Tea will be at 4.15 and there will be an extended last session with the close at 7pm.
“Good to see that India are paying their own tribute to Bob Willis,” says Jezz Nash, “by having a fast bowling number 11 as captain for this Test.” Ha. “Hope the weather improves for Blue for Bob, tomorrow.”
“I’m watching this,” says William Milner, “at a sports bar in sunny Rhodes in the heat and loving every minute. Chardonnay in the bucket.
“I played for Warwickshire boys with Neil Smith (son of MJK) back in the 80s and remember Bob Willis jogging round the colts’ ground even back then. We were 13 and he was big with even bigger hair.” Nice.
“I recently saw a post highlighting how I could listen in to TMS overseas. Could you please repost?” OK, as it’s raining.
“Btw is Kumar [Sangakkara] possibly the greatest ‘cricket man’ of our times? Please get him on our coaching staff somehow… or better still head of MCC.” Yes, one of the great cricket people – but he has already been MCC president.
Sanga was the first in a chain of mildly revolutionary appointments. He handed the baton to Clare Connor, the first woman to do the job in 233 years. And she in turn has appointed Stephen Fry, probably the first MCC president who is openly gay, and definitely the first to be openly supporting Extinction Rebellion. If only Jim Swanton were here to see it.
No action till 2pm at least
Sure enough, that inspection was on the optimistic side. There will be another one at 1.45, so the earliest the players will get back out there is 2.
“Thanks for the coverage,” says Tom Wein. “With Ashwin in the yellow vest again, can we build a team of most-omitted greats? Alongside Ashwin, perhaps Bob Taylor and Stuart MacGill? Who else would OBOers pick?”
Great question. To go with that nicely balanced spin attack, here’s a seamer for you: Martin Bicknell.
Rain extends lunch
It’s still raining, so Jimmy Anderson can have some cheese and crackers. The rain may be easing off: if so, there will be an inspection in ten minutes’ time, but that looks a touch optimistic
And an ODI squad too!
It never stops, does it? After those T20s, there are three ODIs, also against India (12-17 July). Brook is in this squad too, but he may not get a game as there are recalls for two more senior Yorkies: Jonny Bairstow, presumably resuming his opening partnership with Jason Roy, and Joe Root, displacing Dawid Malan as the designated driver of the party bus. And who’s this sneaking in as the allrounder? It’s Ben Stokes! Gleeson drops out, Carse continues and Overton (C) comes back, so there are two specialist right-arm seamers and just the three lefties.
Full squad Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Phil Salt, Joe Root, Jos Buttler (capt, wkt), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, David Willey, Craig Overton, Bryson Carse, Reece Topley, Matt Parkinson.
England name T20 squad
Jos Buttler, exuding calm as usual, is giving an interview in his capacity as England’s new white-ball captain. Asked what he feels about the Test team doing so well, he says “I’m enjoying watching as a fan… To be honest, I wasn’t worth my place in the side.”
His first squad has just been announced, as this Test is to be followed by three T20s against India on 7-10 July. Harry Brook, who’s been batting like Bradman for Yorkshire, gets the call, and so does Richard Gleeson, the Northants seamer, who takes the Brydon Carse role as the token right-armer. With Adil Rashid taking a break for the Hajj, Matt Parkinson gets a good opportunity.
Full squad Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Dawid Malan, Jos Buttler (capt, wkt), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, David Willey, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Richard Gleeson, Reece Topley, Matt Parkinson.
Lunch! England on top
Atherton was spot-on, lunch is being taken. England had slightly the better of the morning as Anderson (8-2-15-2) produced two moments of magic, but it could have been even better for them if Zak Crawley had taken all three of his chances. Do join us in half an hour.
One thing in the meantime. This Test is another fund-raiser for the Bob Willis Fund, which supports the fight against prostate cancer. It also celebrates a man who was a great cricket character twice over, first as a wild-eyed, shock-haired fast bowler, then as a grumpy old pundit. Edgbaston will be going Blue For Bob on Saturday. Do go here if you feel a donation coming on.
