England v West Indies 2nd Test at Trent Bridge July 18-22

Neil Whitaker reports

Day 1

IT was a day of what might have been after  it had  started so well for the West Indies, captain Kraigg Brathwaite won the toss, put England in and got an early wicket but then everything went wrong with dropped catches, missfields and a miss stumping but they came back well in the evening session

Ben Duckett and Oliie Pope smashed the ball to all parts of Trent Bridge that the confidence had drained from the West Indies fielders. Pope hit his sixth Test century, his fifth batting at number three and his second at Trent Bridge but he had to thank the West Indies slip cordon for giving him three innings.

Two balls before lunch Shamar Joseph should have had his revenge when Pope cut a ball that was too close to him but the ball raced so fast to Alick Athanaze at gully who couldn’t take the chance.

On  54, Pope had a big drive at  Shamar  Joseph and the ball flew to Holder at third slip who could take the catch but in attempting to run Pope out his throw was wide and Pope got two overthrows.  On 23 Pope set off for a leg bye but was sent back by Duckett but as Pope turned back  he slipped but fortunately he easily beat the throw.

He  pulled Shamar Joseph over the square leg boundary for the first six off the match and clipped Seales off his legs for a single to bring up his 15th Test 50 off 81 balls with six fours.

Pope swept Sinclair to the fine leg boundary to take him two shy off his century. He reached his sixth Test century in the next over when he pulled Seales to the square leg boundary. His century came from 143 balls with 14 fours and a six. The  last England to do that number three was Jonathan Trott. Each Pope Test century has been  against different countries.  Eventually his luck ran out when he edged a drive off Alzarri Joseph and Kevem Hodge at first slip took the catch at  shoulder height moving to his left. 

He said: “It’s special getting a hundred is always special, so it’s been a good day.  Hopefully I can take it into the rest of the summer.  Getting 400 after being put in and getting dropped is always good.  We’ll see how good a total it is tomorrow. Hopefully it’s a good total.”

The England vice captain was called to the crease much earlier than he would have liked or wanted. England were put  into bat on a beautiful morning with a slight breeze in Nottingham and lost their first wicket with the third ball of the match. Zak   Crawley  faced three good balls from Alzarri Joseph, the third seamed away from him took his edge and  Athanaze at third slip took a good low catch.

Pope and  Duckett added 105 in 18 overs as we were treated to a boundary fest.  Duckett hit the fastest Test  fifty by an England opener from 32 balls with 11 fours.  The previous fastest fifty was 36 balls shared by Ducket, Crawley and  Ben Stokes.


From being 0/one after three balls England raced to 44/one after four overs with 36 coming in boundaries, the most runs scored in the first four overs in a Test match. The England 50 came up in the fifth over. Duckett hit Jayden Seales first four legal balls for four consecutive fours as 19 came from the over.   It was the first time it had  happened in the first innings of a Test match in England.

After two overs Seales was replaced by Jason Holder and he nearly got the wicket of Pope with his third ball. Pope pushed at him fortunately for Pope the ball was just  out of the reach of Holder.

It’s not often that the West Indies bring on an off spinner after 13 overs in a Test  match but captain   Brathwaite’s hand was forced and he threw the ball to Kevin Sinclair. When Duckett swept a full toss from Sinclair to the square leg boundary it brought up the 100 partnership with Pope. Just when it looked like Duckett would hit one of England’s fastest centuries, the partnership only added another five when it was broken. Duckett pushed at one from Shamar Joseph that left him and Holder at second slip took a good low catch.  His 71 came from 50 balls.


Joe Root pulled a wide ball from Seales that he should have cut to Alzarri Joseph at mid-on who nearly dropped it and caught it at the third attempt.

Harry Brook on 24 cut a ball that was too close to him and the ball flew to Athanaze who put another chance down that turned out to be expensive. He  hit a rapid 36 with a six and five fours as he and Pope added 59 in 12 overs but after the runs began to dry up Brook attempted to sweep Sinclair but toe  ended it and Kirk  McKenzie took a simple catch at short leg. Sinclair celebrated the wicket by doing a back flick. 

He said: “ I’ve been doing that since I was eight and it was for the people from my area.  We were guilty of putting a few chances down but I thought we did really well as a group. The captain was in control of the decision to bowl and it was a good toss to win but we did the best we could.  We would have liked to have bowled them out for 200 but we did well to bowl a side out in a day.”


A short ball from Seales took the shoulder of Stokes’ bat and the ball flew over the slips to the third man boundary.  Stokes became the fourth England player to reach 50 when he dabbed Seales through point for a single to bring up 32nd Test 50 from 71  balls with seven fours.  He danced down the pitch to Holder and smashed him through extra cover for a couple.  He became  Hodge’s first Test victim when he pulled a short ball down the throat of substitute fielder Jeremiah  Louis, the brother of Mikyle Louis, on the mid-wicket boundary.  

Sinclair added: “It was good to get the wicket of Stokes, he was starting to hurt us.”

Jamie Smith pulled a short ball from the occasional left arm spinner Hodge for a six over mid-wicket boundary.  With Stokes he added 61 in 14 overs.  He smashed Hodge straight for a big six over long-on he tried for another six by pulling the next ball but found Holder coming in from the long-on boundary.

Gus Atkinson got his first Test runs but he edged a drive off Sinclair and Hodge took a good one-handed catch in his left hand.  Sinclair should have had a third wicket when  Mark Wood squeezed out a drive but Mikyle Louis at point dropped the easy chance. In the previous over from Hodge, Wood  should have been stumped but stumper Joshua Da Silva made a mess of it.


Seales got his second wicket of the innings when he squared Chris Woakes up, took  the edge of his bat and Holder at second slip took a regulation catch. In the next over England were dismissed when Holder took his fourth catch in the slips.


The West Indies made one change from the team that lost at Lord’s last week  Sinclair replaced Gudakesh Motie who has flu and for England Wood came in for the now retired James Anderson.

Day 2

KEVEM Hodge hit his first Test century at the age of 31 in his fourth Test match as the West Indies ended the second day 65 behind England with five wickets standing 

He said: “It’s a dream come true to score a century against England in England.  I am a big believer in preparing well and I think I did that in the warm up game where I hit a century.  We knew that once you got in you had to stay because the   pitch is now really flat.

A few people told me that I was never going to be selected but I never thought about giving up.  I thought if others could do it then so could I, so I was always pushing the envelope.”

His 120 came from 171 balls with 19 fours and shared in a fourth wicket partnership of 175 in 37 overs with fellow Windward Islander Alick Athanaze.

The pair, with only 10 Test matches between them, came together with the West Indies innings at breaking point; they had lost three wickets for 31 in 10 overs. But it wasn’t all plain sailing for the pair.

He added: “We always bat well together, he’s more aggressive than me  so I go under the radar. We did well for our country and I am grateful for that.”

Hodge reached his century when he Ben drove Stokes to long off boundary as he hit the ball  he shrieked yes to his partner Jason  Holder but as the ball reached the boundary he turned and leapt up to Holder and hugged him which makes a good photograph. His hundred came from 143 balls and hit 17 fours.

It wasn’t a faultless partnership, both had their moments. On 16 Hodge played back to Mark Wood instead of forward and  edged him  to Joe  Root at first slip but Root dropped the comfortable chance.  That drop went on to cost England 120 runs.Two balls later Hodge pulled him ala Gordon Greenidge to the mid-wicket boundary.  He pulled Wood fine to the fine leg boundary just wide off stumper Jamie  Smith.

Hodge said: “It was a battle facing Wood, it’s not every day that you face someone who's bowling at 90mph. It was good and it made my knock more satisfying.”

He pulled Gus Atkinson to the square leg boundary bisecting Ben  Duckett and Zak Crawley who were on the boundary and late cut  Atkinson to the point boundary to bring up his second Test 50 from 85 balls with eight fours. 
Hodge used his feet to Shoaib Bashir and blasted him to the long-off boundary.  He late cut Shoaib Bashir to the point boundary to overtake Athanaze and to take their partnership past 150.

In the final session Wood was recalled to the attack and it was another hostile spell not as quick, it only lasted 3.1 overs  before he had to leave the field but it brought the crowd to life and brought Chris Woakes to live.  It was Woakes who got Hodge’s wicket with one which was angled in at him.  Hodge reviewed it and the replay showed it to be clipping the bail.  

His partner Athanaze also had his luck, on 10 he  edged Woakes but the dropped well short off Root at first slip, two balls later he drove Woakes beautifully to the extra cover boundary.   He lofted Shoaib Bashir  just wide off Duckett at short mid wicket on its way to the long-on boundary and he finished the over with a gorgeous drive to the extra cover boundary.

Athanaze clipped Wood off his legs to the mid wicket boundary to bring up the 50 partnership with Hodge.  At this stage it looked like  the only way to break the partnership was by knocking them out . On 48 Athanaze was  hit on the helmet by Wood bowling around the wicket.  Undeterred he  pulled Atkinson for a couple to bring up his 50 off 67 balls with nine fours. 

Hodge said: “I thought I was going to get hit before him.”

Just before tea Athanaze smashed Shoaib Bashir over the mid-wicket boundary for his only six. The partnership was broken by England captain Stokes who encouraged Athanaze to drive by bowling a wider and fuller ball.  He was not disappointed by Athanaze who edged his drive and Harry Brook took a good catch in the gully.

In the morning session the West Indies Kragg Brathwaite and Jeremiah Louis had to deal with a hostile spell of fast bowling from Wood.  Wood came into the attack after nine overs and his first ball was 94mph, followed by 96 and then 96mph. His fifth ball was the fastest of the over at 96.5mph.

That over was recorded as the fastest over bowled in a Test match in England by an England bowler.  He got up to 97.1mph in his third over as England brought in Pope at short leg. Wood’s first spell of our overs cost him 11 runs with one maiden. His second  spell he conceded 29 runs in five  overs, and his  third spell cost six runs. He was bowling in partnership with Shoaib Bashir who didn’t bowl a ball at Lord’s came on to bowl the next over. 

Louis had a big mow at Shoaib Bashir that reached the square leg boundary to bring up the 50 partnership, the first West Indies opening partnership since 2009 at Durham, when Chris Gayle and Devon Smith also added 53. He went for another big hit to the next ball but didn’t get any power and found Brok at mid-on.

After looking stubborn England got rid off Brathwaite by implementing a short ball plan.  Atkinson bowled with no mid-off, a mid-on, short leg, leg slip and delivered a short ball which Brathwaite fended off and the ball looped to Pope at short leg.

The West Indies wanted McKenzie and Athanaze to bat to lunch and beyond and looked to be on course to achieve their first objective by adding 29 in 10 overs  but seven  minutes before lunch McKenzie tried to blast Shoaib Bashir over mid-on but instead found Stokes who barely had to move.

England fielding coach Paul Collingwood said: “I thought it was an exceptional day of Test match cricket. The ball  wasn’t doing much in the first session so we had to change our tactics,  I thought the  partnership between Hodge and Athanaze was frustrating but full credit to them.  They batted superbly.   

I thought Wood bowled exceptionally and watching him today was  everything you want to see in Test match cricket.  He threw everything into every ball. The game is set up for tomorrow.”

Day 3

AFTER a topsy  turvy moving day under cloudy conditions with the floodlights on for most of the day the result of this Test is still in the balance with England leading by 207 runs with seven  second innings wickets left.

England started the day well taking four wickets for 35 runs  in 15 overs and the West Indies were still 30 behind then England’s tactics in taking the last wicket was beyond belief.  They attempted to let  Josh De Silva have singles to get at Shamar  Joseph but De Silva got wise to that. He kep  Shamar Joseph away from the strike and allowing him to  face the last ball of the over.  Then suddenly the pair started to blast the ball around Trent Bridge.

De Silva said: “We expected them to do that.  I was pretty confident about Shamar Joseph but I still had to shield him because it was my job to take the team as far as p as I could. Tomorrow is the most important day of the Test, how many quick  wickets we take or how many runs we can restrict their lead to.”

Woakes said: “Once the field goes out for the bowler  it’s  easier not to get the batter out.”

The morning session was extended because nine wickets were down but  De Silva and Shamar Joseph kept making  hay, extending their lead to 41 and partnership to 71 in 13 overs. The partnership was broken after De Silva remonstrated to Shamar Joseph for having a big swing and miss at Mark Wood. Shamar Joseph tried to play a conventional shot but got a leading edge and Gus Atkinson mid-on took a simple catch to give Wood his first wicket of the match.

De Silva reached his 50 with a six off his back foot off Wood over point.  His 50 came from 87 balls with that six and seven fours and  was unbeaten on 82 from 122 balls and 10 fours.  Having started the innings with one six when the innings ended  he had  tripled that figure.

He added: “ I would have loved a hundred. I love to bat and hopefully I can get another hundred against England.”

After looking a novice with the bat, Shamar Joseph smashed Woakes to the long off boundary.  He hit  two sixes in three balls off Atkinson by pulling him: the first in front of square, which brought the scores level,  and the second behind square which broke a roof tile. De Silva said jokingly: “He’s going to have to pay for that.”

England got an early wicket in the third over of the day when Jason  Holder, after adding four to his overnight score, pushed at a ball outside the Corridor of uncertainty from Woakes and edged it to Jamie Smith.  They should have had a second when De Silva drove Woakes into the covers, thinking the ball was past Ollie Pope set and off for a single luckily for De Silva, Pope’s throw to the bowlers end missed with De Silva nowhere to be seen.

Kevin Sinclair got a thick edge to a drive off  Atkinson and the ball flew to Harry Brook at  gully who took a sharp  catch above his right shoulder. On seven Alzarri Joseph tried to turn Atkinson to leg but got a leading edge and the ball looped in the air.  Ben  Stokes raced in from cover and caught the ball one-handed but as he fell to the ground the ball fell from his grasp.

After the drinks break Alzarri  Joseph had a big waft at Woakes and Smith caught it. While the England players celebrated, Alzarri Joseph waited for umpire Adrian Holdstock to make the decision.Woakes got on a hattrick when bowled Jayden Seales through the gate.  With five slips and a gully for company Shamar  Joseph survived the hattrick by getting everything behind the ball.


Woakes said: “It felt great to get some wickets. Hope I can take into the second innings where I left off today.  When you take wickets in the first innings it gives your confidence for the second. It was hard yesterday bowling in the sunshine on a flat pitch, on another day Wood could have got three or four wickets, but I felt better than I did at Lord’s.  I’ve got another Test experience to know what works for me. I always play the game as if it was my last.”


Trailing by 41 England lost their first wicket when Zak Crawley was run out backing-up.  Ben Duckett drove Seales straight and the bowler got a finger tip to it on its way to the stumps.

Pope carried on in the same vein that he did in the first as he raced to 17 from seven balls with four fours. After Pope’s blistering start it was Duckett who reached his fifty first.  He top edged a sweep off Sinclair to the fine leg boundary, a couple of balls he swept Sinclair more squarer to bring up his second 50 of the match.  This 50 came from 55 balls with eight fours.

Pope reached his 50 when turned Seales off his legs for a single and his 50 was  slower than Duckett’s coming from 64 balls and hitting a couple of fours fewer than Duckett.

After bowling two overs Seales was removed from the attack as he was in the first.  In his second spell the West Indies set a predominantly offside field for Duckett with a slip, wide third slip, a backward point, a cover, extra cover and mid-on. But it was A Joseph who broke the partnership immediately after a ball change.  Pope edged a drive off him and Sinclair at gully took a comfortable boot high catch and Pope wa so angry with himself that he thumped his bat. The pair added 119,  only the third time that an England pair have had a hundred partnership in both innings in England.

Pope was soon joined in the hutch by Duckett when he was hit by a full ball from Alzarri Joseph and was given out by umpire Rod Tucker.  Duckett  reviewed it and after  an eternity Duckett was on his way to the hutch.


Joe Root was joined by fellow Yorkshireman  Brook who stoked Alzarri  Joseph to long off boundary to bring up his 50 from 62 balls with five fours.  Two cheeky fours for Brook off Seales brought up the hundred partnership with Root.  A single two balls later took England’s lead to 200.

Day 4

ENGLAND beat the West Indies by 241 runs with over a day to spare  to take the Rothesay Test series 2-0.


It took England 170 minutes to take 10 West Indies wickets  for 82 runs. Needing 385 to win the match it all looked good for the West Indies as they went into the drinks interval at  61 for none then it all went wrong for the visitors.

West Indies captain Kraaigg Brathwaite said: “It’s disappointing because we know that we can do better but it’s gone, it’s history but it’s important that we learn from this.  The more we play in pressure situations we can start thinking about getting better.

The pitch was still a good pitch. The big positive we take from this match is that we scored 400 runs but we weren’t our best with our bowling.  We need to be more disciplined.” 

They  lost their first wicket to the first ball after a drink’s interval when Mikyle  Louis edged Chris Woakes but his bat was well away from his body and Jamie Smith took a low catch.

Then Shoaib Basher came to the party and started with a wicket maiden. Kirk McKenzie played a nothing shot to his  third ball, got an inside edge and Smith got his second catch  in five minutes. Brathwaite fell three short off his 50 when edged Woakes  to give Smith another catch.

After scoring a century in the first innings Kavem Hodge was leg before to Shoaib Basher when he tried to turn him to leg for a duck.  Alick Athanaze prodded Shoaib Bashir, edged him and Joe Root at slip  took a great low catch at slip.

Jason Holder decided his best form of defence was to attack; he hit Shoaib Basher for a big six over long on, into the Radcliffe road stand after hitting him in the previous over for a big one bounce four into the same place.  The West Indies had lost five wickets for 21 in 28 minutes.

Kevin Sinclair gloved a short ball from Mark Wood, who again bowled at speeds over i1 mph, and the ball looped to Zak Crawley at second slip.  Sinclair thought the ball had come off his arm guard and reviewed it.  The replay showed it hit his wristband.

Joshua De Silva pulled Woakes to the mid wicket boundary to bring up the West Indies hundred.  After hitting Shoaib Basher for a six over long on he adjudged leg before on the back leg to Gus  Atkinson in the next over. De Silva  reviewed it and it was umpire’s call.

Alzarri Joseph made a two ball duck when Atkinson nipped one back and the ball kept low to bowl him.

Holder was ninth out when he tried to push Shoaib Basher for a single to keep the strike but Shoaib Basher darted one in at him and bowled him.

Shoaib Basher wrapped the match up when Shamar Joseph had a big swing at him and was bowled.  Shoaib Basher took five wickets for 41 to become  the  first spinner to take five wickets in the final innings of a Test match at Trent Bridge since Muttiah Muralitharan took eight for 70 in 2006.

England captain Ben Stokes said: “Shoaib Basher has shown the world that he can do it on a pitch that was offering anything to the spinners.  He spins the ball and the ball that he got Holder was brilliant. He has so much talent and he works so hard to get better.  I am so pleased for him.”

Earlier the fourth day became Yorkshire day after  Yorkshire’s Joe Root and Harry Brook scored centuries. 

Root  rose to eighth in the list of leading Test run scorers.  He  brought up his 32nd Test  century and his fifth Test when he drove Alzarri  Joseph to the cover boundary. Once he reached his hundred he brought out  his ramp shot for the first time in his innings and it was nearly his downfall. He ramped Shamar Joseph but luckily for Root it just cleared Hodge at first slip if Holder had been at first slip instead of second he would have been out.

He dabbed Shamar Joseph into the covers and set off for a single but Atkinson didn’t respond and turned back but in the meantime Atkinson changed his mind and set off only to be sent back.  With Atkinson out off his ground Sinclair’s  throw was wayward.

Root clipped Alzarri Joseph to mid-wicket  for a couple to bring up his 50 from 91 balls with four fours and took England’s lead to 250. His innings ended in a rather tame way when he wide ball from Holder to McKenzie at cover 178 balls with 10 fours.


In his partnership with his Yorkshire teammate Brook, it was  Brook who took charge of the partnership.  He made a blistering strat to the fourth day  he drove Jayden Seales beautifully to long off boundary. In  Seales next over Brook drove him  to the long on boundary to take him into the  90’s. 


He  drove Sinclair majestically to the cover boundary and  steered Alzarri Joseph to the point boundary to take him to 99.  He reached his first century in England when he played Alzzari Joseph out on the legside for a single. His fifth Test century  came from 118 balls with 12 fours. 

After dominating the morning session England lost three wickets for 29 runs.  

Seales returned to the attack and with his.fourth ball he got Brook’s wicket. 

Brook reached for a widish ball with not much foot movement, edged it and De Silva took the catch.

Stokes gave Alzarri  Joseph some catching when he pulled Seales straight to  him and the West Indies paceman didn’t have to move an inch on the fine leg boundary.  On the final ball of the morning, which saw England score 100 runs in 25 overs,Smith pushed at Sinclair and got a faint outside edge and De Silva did the rest.


Woakes tried to guide Shamar  Joseph through point but the ball bounced more than he expected and Holder took a sharp catch moving to his left.  Then we had a passage of cricket which belonged to Fred Karno’s circus.cricket 

On 16 Atkinson edged Seales but  Holder at second slip didn’t get to it and Atkinson got a single. Wood edged the  next  ball and Hodge agfirst slip dropped it.  Seales decided to take the slips out of the equation by bowling Wood with the next ball. The innings was over when Shoaib Basher had a big swing at Seales and was castled. Seales finished with four wickets for 97.

It was only the second time in this country that the first three innings of a Test  have sides  passed 400 and the seventh in a Test match in England.

Stokes added: “I am really pleased that the squad have put in some good performances in the first two games and have showed that we have moved forward as a team.  It was a good batting pitch and we thought they had fought back well after we had made a good score.  I thought Root’s and Brook’s partnership last night was important under the floodlights and they  kept the scoring rate up.  Being over  critical I thought we should have scored more runs in our first innings.

I thought their openers played very well but it was a phenomenal bowling performance from us.”



  

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