The first day of England's cast in the series is always going to create a lot of excitement if you don't know who you are. The temptation to make instantaneous judgments was very real. The temptation to think that England would have done better with James Anderson and Stuart Broad was probably understandable. But swift judgment will be wrong, it will only get worse. The fact is that any conclusions about the cast for the series will have to wait until the end of the final Test in Grenada. Nevertheless, there was much to be learned from the English exhibition on the second day. Some were good, some were good and some were disappointing.
Things did not start well. No doubt Chris Woakes and Craig Overton wanted to make a statement about the new ball to show that Anderson and Broad would not miss out. Unfortunately, none of the swimmers who opened England, nor Mark Wood when he arrived, received more swings or seam, compared to Jayden Seales and Kemar Roach on the first day, and there were more disagreements on the lines and lengths from Woakes who scored 23 runs. he runs in his first three overs. There was an unusual match and miss by the athletes but they hit 44 runs in 10 overs before lunch break. In flat stadiums, new football is important. England has failed to make full use of it.
Perhaps emotions played a part. Perhaps there was a great desire to make a point. It will not be easy for players like Woakes and Overton in the situation, where they know all the balls will be looked at again compared to the two throwers left at home. "I don't think we were as flexible as we were needed," Wood told BT Sport at the end of the game. "The pitch, although not very helpful, I thought our height was not good. We were too full or too short. We didn't fix it very well. We tried very hard, we put a little bit back. A lot of pressure on us to try to take wickets ahead of time."
It would have been easier for England to wrap up at the time, as it had often done in Ash. But they met well to get four wickets in the space of 15.4 overs later. It was clear that there was a lot of purpose behind the lunch, the anger of the throwers and the force with which they were hitting the pitch. Wood also said that England had decided to "stabilize" rather than force the momentum as they tried with a new ball. There was a desired result. Each of England's four fast bowlers picked up a wicket for each of them and when they were assisted by indifferent shots, that was probably the result of increased pressure and improved consistency.
However, those would be four wickets a day. Although Wood suffered a back-to-back swing, which looked dangerous, England's second-half streak was a steady one instead of a tough game as Nkrumah Bonner and Jason Holder added 75 unbeaten runs in the fifth wicket.
While England keep Holder and Bonner watching very closely, it would be easy to say that West Indians are very much threatened. A few edges from the Holder pass through a slippery surface near the ground. Bonner found himself stuck in the crease a few times against Wood. But there are no opportunities created by England. Their throwing was firm, with disciplinary action. It was no small effort. But incisive? Not so much. Without a hitch, the ball moved slowly from a straight line. It did not sew, it did not move, it did not cut and it did not spin. And England was not in danger because of that.
The pitch is low and slow, so things have not been easy. But often that becomes a reality far away from home. "It's easy to say it's just a flat field but we have to find a way," said Wood. "We have to find a way to create chances, we have to make something happen. Early wickets will be key [on the third day]. If we can keep the reverse curve, maybe that will give us a chance. But we have to try to make the ball go the other way."
None of this indicates that England had a shocker. They did well after the first ten overs. Overton did a lot of what he was chosen to do and kept a decent pressure, though he would probably like to leak a few restrictions. Jack Leach did a good job of catching up, dropping less than two runs in the over and in one phase he threw seven girls in a row. Ben Stokes threw nine straight overs. The most difficult day was that of Woakes, the attack leader in the series, who used a lot of border balls. In the end, Ben Foakes even resisted him.
Importantly, the energy in the field from England was good. There was a lot of noise, the players could be heard talking all the time and sending strange words in the way of the beats. They looked full of energy and the body of Foakes behind the stumps was very good all day. In Australia, England were always very low on the pitch, even at times when they had the opportunity to put Pat Cummins' team under pressure, meaning that crucial moments slipped easily in their grip. Flatness is not something they can be blamed for today, even when Bonner and Holder looked strong. And England still have a good track record in this game.
But getting wickets is the name of the game and has been a constant problem for England on the move. Content they can. Forcing speed on a flat surface like this is not good for those trying to fix it on this trip. It’s a reason why Anderson and Broad were left out, giving others a chance to try to solve that puzzle. There is still a lot to cast for this Test and series. The decision needs to be withheld for up to three weeks. But as shown today, there is still much work to be done
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