So this is England v West Indies

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Stuart Broad riding his imaginary unicorn

Like salt and pepper chicken wings from a tried and tested Chinese takeaway, today’s play was hugely enjoyable and entirely predictable – although it was far less likely to result in heart problems later in life.

Mad swing from Jimmy Anderson early on, promising starts from a couple of Windies batsmen and Shivnarinian obduracy for most of the day. This is how we all imagined the Test series and this is what it has delivered.

There were also six wickets for Stuart Broad, which wasn’t quite so predictable. Despite that, we have little to say about it. We’ll go with: well bowled, good perseverance and stop asking for reviews. That pretty much sums things up.

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17 comments

  1. Struck me as a bizarre moment when Broad reviewed an lbw shout, and it wasn’t out, but he didn’t lose the review because it was discovered to be no-ball.

    If it had been a legal delivery but been delivered the same place (clipping the bails), he would’ve lost a review. So in essence, Broad was rewarded for having bowled a no-ball for no discernible reason.

    Isn’t that the sort of thing they’ve been trying to stop happening at Lord’s?

  2. Nice hover. Why does Strauss even allow Broad to use reviews? That first ball Harmison bowled in them there Ashes. The wide one. Broad would have gone to DRS on that.

  3. Good job there’s a Test Match on, so you can avoid addressing the horrors of Edgbaston.

    Does anyone know what the largest ever first class first innings lead is?

    1. A very negative question, Sam, that betrays your lack of confidence in your own team. As you suggest, it does look like Lancs will get a decent first-innings lead, but I’m not sure it will necessarily be a record-breaking one. Have more faith in your bowlers.

    2. Two things I particularly like about that scorecard:
      1. The fact that Railways used two different pairs of bowlers in each innings.
      2. The fact the Railways felt it was necessary to appeal for an “obstructing the field” dismissal.

  4. It isn’t v the West Indies though. If only a few more were here instead of in India it would be neither predictable nor good for the heart.

  5. According to Nick Knight, England have got “plenty of batting still to come.”

    1. Did he think that West Indies had “plenty of batting still to come” at the end of Day One?

      Great day at Lord’s today, btw.

    2. It looked like a nice day, Ged. The commentators kept saying it was dull, but it was proper old-fashioned Test cricket. Love it.

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