Rob Smyth's Blog, page 135

March 2, 2019

India v Australia: first one-day international – live!

Updates from the series opener in HyderabadAny thoughts? Email or tweet @GeoffLemonSport

9.28am GMT

There it is! The risk of the Stoinis approach. Start slow, soak up deliveries, but if you play a bad shot then you’ve sucked some momentum out of the team’s approach. And to get out like that: it was a rank ball. As close to a short ball as Jadhav can produce from his very low release point. Stoinis went back to pull, but had to dip his bat a bit to fetch that ball. Tried to go aerial when he could have slapped it downwards. Instead he just dragged it at mid-height to the Indian captain at midwicket. Looked almost like a thick bottom edge, maybe a bit of toe. The sound of the contact was clunky.

9.27am GMT

20th over: Australia 87-1 (Khawaja 46, Stoinis 37) Jadeja bowls a double blind date this time: four singles.

9.25am GMT

19th over: Australia 83-1 (Khawaja 44, Stoinis 35) Again Stoinis is getting blocked up, with Jadhav the bowler. There’s one bad ball down leg that the batsman can sweep for four, but he doesn’t seem to have much of a plan against the rest. He’s 35 from 50, which isn’t too bad, but considering the number of boundaries he’s hit it definitely tells you he’s facing a lot of dot balls.

9.23am GMT

18th over: Australia 77-1 (Khawaja 43, Stoinis 30) Jadeja playing this like the middle session of a Test match, racing through an over for a couple of singles.

9.17am GMT

17th over: Australia 75-1 (Khawaja 42, Stoinis 29) We have a drinks break, followed by a calm restart as Jadhav sends down an over worth three singles. Very chill.

9.12am GMT

16th over: Australia 72-1 (Khawaja 40, Stoinis 28) Now it’s Jadeja for some left-arm dart practice. Khawaja eases a single straight. He’s up and running smoothly now. The same can’t be said for Stoinis, who blocks out the next four balls.

9.11am GMT

15th over: Australia 71-1 (Khawaja 39, Stoinis 28) Kedar Jadhav comes on for some off-breaks but Khawaja is feeling himself against spin now. Sweeps away a couple, then sees width and slashes a cut for four. More top edge than full face but you can play that deliberately when there’s no slip in place and plenty of room towards third man. A rate misfield from Kohli at cover allows a single to complete the scoring.

9.08am GMT

14th over: Australia 64-1 (Khawaja 32, Stoinis 28) There’s the reverse sweep from Khawaha. He loves that shot, played it to perfection during his epic Test century in Dubai late last year. Totally threw off the bowling plans of leg-spinner Yasir Shah with the stroke. This time Kuldeep bowls a half-tracker, but Khawaja is already committed to the shot so he goes through with it and finds the gap at point for four.

9.03am GMT

13th over: Australia 59-1 (Khawaja 27, Stoinis 28) Marcus Stoinis doesn’t mind facing Shankar. A bit too short, and even though it’s still outside off, Stoinis swats the ball through midwicket for four. Then when Shankar gets too full for just about the first time today, Stoinis flays through the line for a toe-ended drive. Mid-off is up inside the circle, so it’s four. Shankar doesn’t look like he’s too sure what he’s doing.

8.59am GMT

12th over: Australia 49-1 (Khawaja 26, Stoinis 19) Kuldeep bounces back well, conceding four singles from his next over of spin. Nice and slow, plenty of loop. Takes more than a six to spook this operator.

8.57am GMT

11th over: Australia 45-1 (Khawaja 24, Stoinis 17) Righto, fielding restrictions are off. Dhoni has a long chat to Vijay Shankar. When the wicketkeeper takes his gloves off he looks a lot like he’s about to break into mime, with his clean white inners. Shankar follows the chat by bowling another swerving wide outside off. Stoinis goes after a couple of wide ones for a single and a boundary, though the latter is again airborne and close to catchable at point.

Here’s an email in from Surendranath Halder

8.51am GMT

10th over: Australia 38-1 (Khawaja 23, Stoinis 12) Here comes the wrist-spinner Kuldeep to close out the Powerplay. There’s the first easy single of the day as Khawaja skips down to a flighted delivery and drives it to long-off. Stoinis does the same to long-on, but in the air. And that’s all for sighters, as Khawaja repeats his initial movement but follows through with the shot. Doesn’t fully reach the pitch but reaches the ball and lifts it straight for six. Kuldeep has plenty of answers to that, and fizzes through a faster flatter one that beats Khawaja’s charge and flukily takes a thick inside edge, squirting past leg stump and averting two modes of dismissal while giving the batsman two runs. Suddenly an over worth 10 runs after all that pressure.

8.46am GMT

9th over: Australia 28-1 (Khawaja 14, Stoinis 11) A bowling change, as Vijay Shankar replaces Shami. He’s a part-time seamer who is being given an audition here. His first ball swings wildly, but starts wide and finishes even wider. His next attempt sneaks in just within the line of acceptability. His next creeps close to the stumps. Some shape in the air from all three. And some good bounce from the fourth as he pulls the length back. Stoinis has left them all alone. Finally he can’t resist a fifth wider one that doesn’t get up, and slaps the cut shot for four. In the air but finding the gap. Eyeballs the umpire as another ball flirts with the return crease, Shankar still finding swing.

8.42am GMT

8th over: Australia 23-1 (Khawaja 14, Stoinis 7) Outstanding from Bumrah. Around the wicket to the left-handed Khawaja, he gets another ball to seam off the pitch and leave Khawaja, beating the outside edge yet again. Khawaja answers it with equal quality as Bumrah gets too full, and the batsman can split cover and mid-off with a drive for four. Then it’s Bumrah’s turn again, a ball wider and angling in that beats the edge and the stump. Khawaja tries to rebut with a searing cut, and it looks certain to beat backward point for four. Indeed it looks like it already has beaten the despairing dive. Except Ravindra Jadeja comes up with the ball in hand, no run conceded. Incredible work to control that shot on the bounce. It’s him and Maxwell neck and neck for the best fielding in the world, for me. Khawaja has one more chance. There’s a tiny gap between Jadeja at backward point and the man in front of point. So Khawaja uses some width and threads that needle for four. This is a contest.

8.37am GMT

7th over: Australia 15-1 (Khawaja 6, Stoinis 7) Good bounce from this track! Not for the first time today a ball takes off from the surface. Indian pitches in recent years especially have been defying the stereotype of slow and spinning, especially in the shorter formats. Shami gets a couple to vault over Khawaja’s bat outside the off stump, then when a bad ball drifts straight, there’s a great bit of fielding in the circle at midwicket to stop what looked a certain boundary. Khawaja eventually rides the bounce of the fourth ball for another single.

Contrast this to the way that England’s batsmen open an innings, which by coincidence I’ll be covering for you in a few hours’ time when they take on the West Indies. Some outstanding bowling from India’s first pair notwithstanding. Stoinis defends and leaves Shami’s last two, maintaining that line outside off.

8.33am GMT

6th over: Australia 14-1 (Khawaja 5, Stoinis 7) That maiden over from Shami is followed by Bumrah conceding a single. There’s more action in this over though, as Khawaja finds the field with a couple of big drives before attempting a couple more that don’t make contact at all. Bumrah is producing a marvellous spell.

8.31am GMT

5th over: Australia 13-1 (Khawaja 4, Stoinis 7) The crawl-start continues, as Stoinis faces another quality over from Mohammad Shami. Accurate, giving him no width to attack, and one ball cuts in off the inside edge and whacks Stoinis in the box. No run from the set.

8.23am GMT

4th over: Australia 13-1 (Khawaja 4, Stoinis 7) Far from the idea of taking on the bowling in the Powerplay, Usman Khawaja has reached the fourth over without scoring. Nine balls without getting off the mark as Bumrah beats him outside off. But when Bumrah’s line errs, and the length drops short, Khawaja is there for it. That’s his shot. Pulls it away for four.

8.17am GMT

3rd over: Australia 8-1 (Khawaja 0, Stoinis 7) Happy to take his time, Stoinis, as he faces Shami. Leaves a couple, blocks a couple, ignores a wide. But eventually he gets a fuller length that he likes, and even though he doesn’t stride fully forward to it, and even though he only plays the most basic of straight-batted defensive drive, the hard new ball races down the ground for four.

8.14am GMT

2nd over: Australia 3-1 (Khawaja 0, Stoinis 3) Marcus Stoinis at first drop, interesting in itself. He gets off the mark immediately by pushing Bumrah through cover for three.

8.08am GMT

Finch’s horror run continues! He was strongly backed by his coach before this match but surely he can’t get too many more chances to sort this out. Bumrah’s quality is on show again. Finch has been done over so often by the ball coming into him lately, with bowlers taking out his stumps far too often. Instead this ball carves away off the surface, Bumrah getting that seam movement he’s so adept at. Finch is plodding forward heavy-footed and the length of the ball sees it strike near the shoulder of the bat, looping such an obvious edge to Dhoni behind the stumps that neither he nor the bowler really bothers to appeal.

8.07am GMT

1st over: Australia 0-0 (Khawaja 0, Finch 0) At least there’s no debate about whether to use the Australian or the global scoring style. Mohammad Shami starts off with the new ball and is getting just a hint of shape in the air. Holding the seam bolt upright as the ball comes down. Khawaja isn’t sure what to do with a perfect channel outside his off stump, aside from waft at one ball that was just back of a length and so beat his bat. Australia have tried a few options for openers in one-day cricket lately and none of them have worked out too well. Given that, it does seem as though they’re only keeping David Warner’s seat warm.

7.42am GMT

Australia
Aaron Finch *
Usman Khawaja
Marcus Stoinis
Peter Handscomb
Glenn Maxwell
Ashton Turner
Alex Carey +
Nathan Coulter-Nile
Pat Cummins
Adam Zampa
Jason Behrendorff

India
Rohit Sharma
Shikhar Dhawan
Virat Kohli *
Ambati Rayudu
MS Dhoni +
Kedar Jadhav
Vijay Shankar
Ravindra Jadeja
Kuldeep Yadav
Mohammed Shami
Jasprit Bumrah

7.37am GMT

So, who to watch out for today? First of course, Kohli, the superfreak of the 50-over format. He already has 39 centuries by just past 30 years of age, and they’ve been coming thick and fast lately. With a glut of ODIs to come in the next few months, he could be deep into the 40s by the end of the World Cup.

Second, his opposing captain Finch, who is going through an extremely lean run of form in the white-ball formats since being called into Australia’s Test side last October. Last July he set a record for the highest T20I score when he made 172 from 76 balls in Harare. Since then across T20Is and ODIs he’s made 224 runs from 276 balls with 19 dismissals.

7.34am GMT

India won’t mind, because they love chasing and have the two best exponents of that art in the game’s history: current captain Virat Kohli and former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

7.22am GMT

Hello world. No, not the travel agency. It seems an age since we last fired up the famous Guardian over-by-over report from the world of Australian cricket. In reality it’s been three weeks, but that’s how quickly things move on our side of the planet.

Two mighty cricket foes, together at last. Nothing sums up the pain of this separation better than this piece titled ‘Australia and India to end marathon, 37-day break between fixtures.’ Or in fact they’ve already ended that break thanks to a couple of T20 matches that we weren’t able to cover, thus missing Glenn Maxwell’s glorious 360-degree century that included the most extraordinary reverse sweep for six you will ever see.

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Published on March 02, 2019 01:29

February 23, 2019

Manchester City beat Arsenal on penalties to win Continental Cup – as it happened

After a hard-fought 0-0 draw at Bramall Lane, City lifted the Continental Cup thanks to two superb saves from Karen Bardsley in the penalty shootout

4.04pm GMT

That’s it for today’s blog. I’ll leave you with a match report from Bramall Lane. Thanks for your company and emails, bye!

3.15pm GMT

The inspirational Steph Houghton lifts the Continental Cup as Hey Jude blares out through the tannoy. Congratulations to them; commiserations to Arsenal, especially their superb keeper Sari van Veenendaal.

3.09pm GMT

Steph Houghton speaks “We love this trophy and to get it back to Manchester is great. It was the first trophy we won, and when we were underdogs when we won it, so it means a lot to us. We were nervous during the penalty shootout, hoping that KB pulled it out of the bag, and she did. We’re delighted.”

3.08pm GMT

Karen Bardsley speaks “That was awesome. That was so fun. I’m really proud of the performance – we were a little unlucky not to win in normal time. Sari had an excellent game and we hit the bar a couple of times. This is a goalkeeper’s dream. There’s no pressure on us in a penalty shootout. I’m buzzing that we won and the trophy is back in our hands. It’s been a long time coming.”

3.03pm GMT

Karen Bardsley is the City hero after those two saves in the penalty competition. You have to feel for Arsenal, and particularly their heroic keeper Sari van Veenendaal, but City were much the better side and deserved to win. After the misery of last season, when a potential quadruple turned to dust, they should celebrate well tonight.

3.01pm GMT

Janine Beckie wins it for City!

3.01pm GMT

A precise penalty from Bloodworth keeps Arsenal in it. But if City score their fifth penalty, it’s over.

3.00pm GMT

A brilliant penalty from Steph Houghton gives City match point!

3.00pm GMT

Van de Donk telegraphs her penalty, and Bardsley dives to her left to make a superb save!

2.59pm GMT

Emslie, brought on for penalties, calmly sends Van Veenendaal the wrong way.

2.58pm GMT

Williamson’s penalty is saved by Bardley, who flew to her right to push it away!

2.58pm GMT

Hemp’s penalty is saved by Van Veendendaal, who dived a long way to her left and pawed it round the post.

2.57pm GMT

An excellent penalty from Little, placed high to the right.

2.56pm GMT

Stanway scores superbly, belting it low into the left corner.

2.56pm GMT

City will go first. Georgia Stanway is walking forward...

2.54pm GMT

The City keeper Karen Bardsley has been given a sheet of paper, presumably with details of which side the Arsenal penalty-takers prefer. It’s nearly time.

2.52pm GMT

“As an Arsenal fan I’ve been following your minute-by-minute because as far as I know there’s no way to see this game here in Finland,” says Kari Tulinius. “Hopefully women’s games will be carried as widely as men’s soon.”

2.52pm GMT

Yep, it’s penalties. City will feel they should have won - they hit the bar twice and forced two fantastic saves from Sari van Veendendaal. That said, an injury-hit Arsenal fought heroically to hold on.

2.49pm GMT

119 min City make their fourth change, with Claire Emslie replacing the superb Caroline Weir. I assume that’s with penalties in mind.

2.48pm GMT

118 min Beckie, the Continental Cup specialist, shoots just over from 25 yards. That was a really good effort, though Van Veenendaal had it covered.

2.47pm GMT

117 min It’s ragged stuff now, with both teams playing from memory.

2.44pm GMT

114 min Anyone out there?

2.43pm GMT

113 min Miedema wins a corner on the left for Arsenal. Little’s inswinger is punched away by Bardsley.

2.41pm GMT

110 min Both teams look shattered. City will be so frustrated if they lose this, as they’ve been much the better side.

2.41pm GMT

Peep peep! Arsenal are hanging on for dear penalties. If they win this, they will be forever indebted to Sari van Veendendaal.

2.38pm GMT

108 min Yet another chance for City. Stanway’s half-volleyed cross bounces off the chest of the unsighted Hemp on the six-yard line, and Van Veendendaal moves smartly to her right to make another vital save.

2.37pm GMT

106 min Bonner bursts down the right and crosses high towards Hemp, who flashes a header past the near post from 12 yards. That was a really good effort.

2.35pm GMT

106 min Peep peep! City begin the second half of extra time.

2.31pm GMT

105 min City make another change, with Nikita Parris replaced by Lauren Hemp.

2.30pm GMT

104 min Another brilliant right-wing corner from Weir bounces right across the Arsenal six-yard box.

2.29pm GMT

103 min Stokes’ flighted cross is headed over by Parris. That wasn’t much of a chance as she was under pressy from Quinn.

2.28pm GMT

101 min: Another great save from Van Veenendaal! Parris picked up a loose ball 25 yards from goal and scorched thrillingly away from Quinn. That took her into the area, where she stabbed a low shot that was superbly smothered by the outrushing Van Veendendaal.

2.26pm GMT

100 min It’s going to penalties, isn’t it.

2.23pm GMT

97 min Weir’s low cross from the left flashes right across the face of goal. She has been quiet superb today.

2.22pm GMT

95 min Miedema and Scott collided at the end of that attack, when Scott attempted to block Miedema’s cross, and both are limping heavily.

2.20pm GMT

94 min A long, winding run from Miedema takes her into the area, but her low cross is blocked by Beattie.

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2.16pm GMT

91 min Peep peep! Arsenal get extra time under way.

2.11pm GMT

Peep peep! It’s going to extra time.

2.11pm GMT

90+3 min: Beckie hits the bar for City! That was a brilliant effort, a rising drive from a very tight angle on the left side of the box. It beat Van Veenendaal at the near post and clattered off the bar. On reflection, I think Van Veendendaal waved that past, thinking it was going into the side netting.

2.10pm GMT

90+1 min A sudden explosion from Miedema. She combines with Van de Donk on the edge of the area, waits for the ball to sit down and smacks an excellent shot just wide. I’m not sure Bardsley had that covered.

2.08pm GMT

90 min We’re three minutes away from extra time.

2.07pm GMT

89 min At the other end, Scott hits a swirling long-range shot that is beaten away for a corner by Van Veenendaal. A camera save.

2.06pm GMT

88 min Mead almost wins it for Arsenal! That was a lovely attack, their best of the half. Miedema, on the halfway line, flicked the ball classily round the corner to Bloodworth, who swept an angled pass from right to left to find Mead. She was one against one with the last defender Houghton, and moved into the area before making just enough space to drill a low shot that was well held at the near post by Bardsley.

2.04pm GMT

87 min City have been much the better team in the second half. Arsenal will not give a solitary fig should they find a way to win this game.

2.03pm GMT

85 min With both teams tiring, the game is very open. Arsenal have a half chance at the other end when Mead’s snapshot is blocked by Walsh.

2.02pm GMT

83 min: What a save from Van Veenendaal! Beckie played a square pass from the left to Weir, who took it beautifully on the run and surged into the area. Then she drilled a fierce left-footed shot that hit the chest of the outrushing keeper and flashed just wide of the far post. A goalkick was given, but that was definitely a save from Van Veenendaal.

2.00pm GMT

83 min Weir’s vicious corner from the left is patted down by Van Veenendaal to Houghton, who takes the ball down and splatters a half-volley into orbit from 12 yards.

1.59pm GMT

82 min Nikita Parris is booked for dissent.

1.57pm GMT

80 min The tannoy announcer informs us that today’s attendance is 2,421.

1.57pm GMT

79 min A rare break for Arsenal. Mead plays a nice reverse pass to Hazard, who can’t quite find Mead with her attempted through ball.

1.54pm GMT

77 min Miedema has barely had a kick since coming on.

1.53pm GMT

75 min There have been some superb performances today, particularly by Caroline Weir for City and Kim Little and Leah Williamson for Arsenal.

1.52pm GMT

73 min City have been completely dominant in this half, and so it feels like a matter of time before Miedema scores at the other end.

1.50pm GMT

71 min Another change for Arsenal, with Amelia Hazard replacing the injured Katrine Veje.

1.49pm GMT

70 min: Parris misses a great chance for City! She played the ball infield from the right to Weir, who clipped a lovely return pass over the top. Parris took it down beautifully, away from Veje, only to spank it high and wide from a tight angle.

1.47pm GMT

69 min It’s Arnth’s last touch of the game; she is replaced by Vivianne Miedema.

1.47pm GMT

68 min What a chance for Arnth! Evans’ shot ricocheted across the area and fell for Arnth, who sidefooted well wide from six yards. Even though the ball came to her at pace, that was a great opportunity.

1.45pm GMT

68 min Vivianne Miedema, who scored the winning goal against City in last year’s final, is getting ready to come on for Arsenal.

1.45pm GMT

67 min Stokes’ crisp cross-shot on the turn is well held by Van Veenendaal.

1.44pm GMT

66 min Walsh’s cross from the left is bravely punched away by Van Veenendaal, who collides with Parris in the process. Arsenal are hanging on.

1.43pm GMT

65 min City make their first change, with Janine Beckie replacing Tessa Wullaert. Beckie has scored six goals in this season’s competition.

1.42pm GMT

63 min City are having an excellent spell, with Parris and Stanway looking really dangerous.

1.41pm GMT

62 min Weir’s dangerous free-kick from the left slithers under the keeper Van Veenendaal, who is very relieved to see no City players following in behind her. It would have been an open goal; instead it’s a goalkick to Arsenal.

1.38pm GMT

59 min: Parris hits the bar for City! It was a brilliant effort that deserved a goal. Weir drilled a flat free-kick from near the halfway line which found Parris, unmarked eight yards from goal. She could sense Van Veenendaal coming off her line and looped a clever back header that went over Van Veenendaal and dipped onto the face of the bar. Arsenal were eventually able to put the loose ball behind for a corner.

1.36pm GMT

58 min Bloodworth is booked for a foul on Parris.

1.34pm GMT

56 min The lively Stanway zips infield from the left and hits a long-range shot that is headed behind for a corner by Quinn. The ensuing corner leads to a bit of a scramble in the Arsenal area before Mead hooks clear.

1.32pm GMT

54 min Little appears to be fouled just outside the area by Walsh, though the referee Lucy Oliver disagrees. Little has been really impressive for Arsenal.

1.30pm GMT

51 min Little’s dangerous, driven cross from the left is brilliantly headed away by Beattie, under all kinds of pressure. This is much better from both teams.

1.29pm GMT

50 min And now a chance at the other end, where Van de Donk’s deep cross from the left is headed meekly wide from 12 yards by Mead. On reflection she could probably have taken that down on her chest and had a clear shot.

1.27pm GMT

50 min Stanway again finds space in the inside-left channel. This time she tries to make room for a shot and is dispossessed, but these are ominous signs for Arsenal.

1.26pm GMT

48 min Weir plays a fine pass down the left to Stanway, and suddenly City have a two-on-one break with Parris in all sorts of space on the other side of the field. Stanway tries to find her with a square pass and Quinn comes across to make a vital, probably goal-saving interception.

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1.22pm GMT

46 min Peep peep! City begin the second half, kicking from right to left if you like to picture these things in the televisual style.

1.09pm GMT

“The BBC radio commentators are relentlessly excited and upbeat about what’s happening on the pitch,” says Charles Antaki, “but now and again a wistful note enters as they murmur that it would be nice to see a goal.”

That’s modern sports coverage, right there. Actually, that’s modern life, right there.

1.09pm GMT

Half-time reading

1.08pm GMT

Peep peep! A cautious, uneventful start to the Continental Cup final. Both teams have passed the ball pleasantly without creating any clear chances in open play.

1.07pm GMT

45+2 min Weir picks up a loose ball in the D and drills a shot that is deflected behind by Quinn. The corner leads to the best chance of the half for City. Houghton’s powerful downward header is saved by Van Veenendaal and Bonner puts the rebound wide from six yards. She should have scored.

1.05pm GMT

45 min Three minutes of added time.

1.03pm GMT

44 min Stanway is starting to look more dangerous, especially when she runs at the Arsenal defence. Parris hasn’t really been in the game, though.

1.00pm GMT

40 min Stanway gets the first yellow card of the game for a hack at Little.

12.58pm GMT

39 min Wullaert’s long-range shot is blocked by Little but falls nicely for Weir, who sweeps it high over the bar from inside the D.

12.57pm GMT

38 min It’s been a cagey game, a reflection of the mutual respect between the sides. It wouldn’t be a surprise if it went to extra-time, maybe penalties.

12.56pm GMT

36 min Stanway surges forward from the halfway line and beats two players just outside the area before being classily dispossessed by Williamson. She has been majestic.

12.54pm GMT

35 min After a couple of minutes of treatment to her left knee, Weir is okay to continue.

12.53pm GMT

34 min Weir goes down after stretching to block Mead’s cross. She landed awkwardly on his left leg and looks in a lot of pain.

12.51pm GMT

30 min A chance for City! Little is robbed on the edge of the area by Scott, who plays the ball square to Parris. She tries to wriggle away from Williamson and make room for a shot but is eventually dispossessed. Williamson has been superb against Parris so far.

12.47pm GMT

27 min City have been a bit subdued going forward, with Stanway and Parris not nearly as influential as they would like.

12.43pm GMT

24 min Another corner on the right for Arsenal. Mead drives it too deep and it swerves out of play for a goalkick.

12.42pm GMT

23 min Williamson’s defensive header is controlled deftly by the stretching Parris, who swivels and hooks the bouncing ball over the bar from long range. The first touch was lovely; the finish less so.

12.40pm GMT

21 min Van de Donk surges onto a return pass from Arnth and drives a cross which deflects off Houghton and flashes just wide of the near post. I don’t think Bardsley would have got there. Mead’s driven corner is headed over from 12 yards by Arnth.

12.38pm GMT

19 min Parris, who has been quiet so far, gets involved by charging down a clearance from the keeper Van Veenendaal. Happily for Arsenal, it rebounded for a goalkick.

12.34pm GMT

16 min A quiet period in the game. Both teams are playing some good one-touch football without really threatening to create a clear chance.

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12.30pm GMT

13 min “Now, I’ve never been an elite athlete (and, let’s face it, that window is probably closing...) but ‘fatigue’ keeping Miedema out of a cup final?” sniffs Matt Dony. “I’ve no doubt she’s a model pro, but I bet she is FUMING inside. I have no horse in this race, so I’m hoping for an Arsenal win, with a late winner scored by Miedema off the bench, celebrated wildly.”

12.30pm GMT

12 min Mead thumps over from long range. Arsenal have been excellent in the last seven or eight minutes.

12.29pm GMT

11 min The corner leads to a dangerous City break which is eventually thwarted by an important tackle from Lisa Evans.

12.29pm GMT

10 min Arsenal are into their work now, and Little wins their first corner after a neat move down the left.

12.27pm GMT

9 min And now an actual chance for Arsenal. Veje’s left-wing cross is only half cleared to McCabe, who cracks the bouncing ball over the bar from a tight angle.

12.25pm GMT

6 min A sniff of a chance for Arsenal. Little steals the ball off Walsh and curls a fast pass into Mead, who can’t control it on the run. A better touch would have put her through on goal, though it did come at any awkward height.

12.23pm GMT

5 min Stanway plays a neat reverse pass into the area for Weir, whose cross deflects behind for a corner. Nothing comes of it.

12.22pm GMT

4 min “I knew,” says Bill Hargreaves, “I should have had a breakfast steadier.”

It’s what cup final days are for.

12.21pm GMT

3 min It’s been a positive start from City, who look confident in possession. Arsenal haven’t got going.

12.18pm GMT

1 min Peep peep! After a leisurely warm up, Arsenal get the match under way. They are in red; CIty are in sky blue.

12.12pm GMT

The players emerge from the tunnel, all looking very focussed and serious. This should be a belter.

12.09pm GMT

The Arsenal coach Jo Montemurro has confirmed that Vivianne Miedema is fatigued and that it would have been too big a risk for her to start the match.

11.42am GMT

An email! “So Arsenal are leaving Miedema - the league’s most prolific goalscorer - on the bench,” sniffs Charles Antaki. “Do they believe they can do without her? Unless she’s unfit, then this is a dangerous case of hubris inviting, er, nemesis. Which presumably in footballing terms mean no goals.”

There is a suggestion that it’s a precaution due to fatigue.

Arsenals injured list; Emma Mitchell, Jordan Nobbs, Dan Carter, Vivianne Miedema only fit enough for the bench, Jess Samuelsson, Lia Wälti, Tabea Kemme and Viki Schnaderbeck.

11.24am GMT

CONTI CUP FINAL | Tickets available on the gate today for the #ContiCup final.

KICK OFF 12:15@ArsenalWFC @ManCityWomen #ContiCupFinal pic.twitter.com/EKEpokpOSs

11.24am GMT

Vivianne Miedema is only on the bench for Arsenal, which is a bit of a shock, not least to my preamble. Katie McCabe replaces her. That aside, both teams are pretty much as expected.

Arsenal (4-3-3) Van Veenendaal; Arnth, Williamson, Quinn, Veje; Little, Bloodworth, Van de Donk; Evans, Mead, McCabe.
Substitutes: Hazard, Miedema, Peyraud-Magnin, Albuquerque.

9.25am GMT

Morning. You’ve got to love cup final day. The butterflies, the giddiness, the fear, the hope, the breakfast steadiers – and that’s just the neutrals. The supporters of Arsenal and Manchester City will be struggling to sit still ahead of the Continental Cup final at Bramall Lane, such are the excitement, anticipation and sporadic imperfections in the tarmac on the M1.

Both sets of supporters have been here before. These teams are Continental Cup royalty, the only winners of the competition since its inception in 2011. City have won it twice and Arsenal five times, including last year’s 1-0 win over City in the final. They also lead the way in the WSL and have a potential title decider at Borehamwood on the last day of the season.

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Published on February 23, 2019 07:15

February 19, 2019

Questions facing England in West Indies 100 days out from World Cup | The Spin

A new-ball partner for Woakes, whether Wood has a role and back-up batting at the top of the order are among the issues

England play 11 one-day internationals and two international warm-up matches before the World Cup starts on 30 May, but this five-match series is the last before they must announce their 15-man squad. A 16th space would allow them to cover all bases, but 15 means a corner needs to be cut. They are likely to want two spare seam bowlers, especially as those players are most susceptible to injury, which means they will have to sacrifice either a second back-up batsman (Alex Hales will be the first) or a back-up spinner. Or they could cheat. That’s what they have done with the current squad, in which Joe Denly nominally fills both roles. Denly’s last ODI appearance was in 2009 and England need to find out whether he, with support from Joe Root, is a realistic option should Adil Rashid or Moeen Ali sustain an injury. The alternatives are not irresistible, though Liam Dawson – not in the squad for West Indies – would be a more reliable, like‑for‑like substitute.

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Published on February 19, 2019 04:22

February 17, 2019

Bristol City 0-1 Wolves: FA Cup fifth round – as it happened

A fine second-half performance from Bristol City could not stop Wolves reaching the FA Cup quarter-final for the first time since 2003

3.11pm GMT

Nick Ames is our man at Ashton Gate, and his match report has arrived. I’ll leave you with that. Thanks for your company, bye!

3.10pm GMT

Nuno Espirito Santo speaks! “I’m very happy for the boys and for our fans. They are a very tough side. We’ll go game by game in this competition; nothing changes. Matt Doherty is fantastic – he keeps on running, up and down, he never stops. We are very happy with him. It was a big challenge to prove himself in the Premier League and he has done that. Everyone knows we like to use the wings and switch play, as we did for the goal.”

3.01pm GMT

3.00pm GMT

Post-match interviews

Conor Coady “It was a frantic second half. Bristol are a good team and we knew it would be tough today - people think Premier League clubs should win easily but it’s not like that. I thought we dominated the first half but we had to stick in there in the second half. We spoke about it at half-time – we knew there would be a reaction and they played really well.”

2.59pm GMT

When the quarter-final draw is made tomorrow night, Wolves will be third favourites to win the competition. They had to work so hard in the second half to win that. Bristol City, who were a bit genteel in the first half, passed the ball superbly in the second half and were much the better side. There’s a helluva lot to like about both these teams, particularly in possession.

2.56pm GMT

Peep peep! Wolves are into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup for the first time since 2003!

2.56pm GMT

90+5 min: What a finish! Brownhill bursts down the right and stands up a beautiful cross to the far post, where Kalas’s towering downward header bounces up and is headed off the line by Saiss. Ruddy had it covered, to be fair.

The corner leads to a desperate scramble in the area, during which the City keeper Fielding has a shot saved by his opposite number Ruddy!

2.54pm GMT

90+3 min A stinging long-range shot from Brownhill is superbly blocked by Boly, who is almost knocked off his feet by the force of the blow.

2.52pm GMT

90+2 min Wolves make another change, with Adama Traore replacing the excellent Raul Jimenez.

2.50pm GMT

90 min Five minutes of added time.

2.50pm GMT

89 min Bristol City are no longer the form team in Europe’s five biggest professional leagues, yet they will be enormously encouraged by this second-half performance. They are a neat, likeable side who have outpassed an excellent Wolves team.

2.49pm GMT

88 min: What a chance for Pack! The resulting corner, taken beautifully by O’Dowda, skims off the head of a Wolves defender at the near post and flashes right across the six-yard box before Pack wafts it over the bar. He must have seen it very late, but that was still City’s best chance of the game.

2.47pm GMT

87 min Paterson’s fast free-kick is headed on by Taylor, 15 yards from goal, and Ruddy stretches to tip it over the bar.

2.47pm GMT

86 min A moronic shove from Boly gives Bristol City a free-kick 35 yards from goal. A Wolves player, possibly Gibbs-White, is booked for kicking the ball away.

2.46pm GMT

85 min Taylor makes an angled run infield from the left, away from goal, all the while lining up a glorious equaliser from 25 yards. Goalkick to Wolves.

2.43pm GMT

83 min Moutinho is booked for a foul on the impressive O’Dowda.

2.43pm GMT

83 min The corner bounces around the area before Boly hoofs it into orbit. Just before that first chance, Neves came on to replace Doherty for Wolves.

2.42pm GMT

82 min: Fine save from Fielding! Jimenez won the ball off Kalas and slid in GIbbs-White, whose firm left-footed shot was pushed behind at the near post by Fielding.

2.40pm GMT

79 min Wolves cannot get out. Paterson gets his head up and picks out Pack, whose well-struck sidefoot from the edge of the area is straight into Ruddy’s loving embrace.

2.39pm GMT

78 min O’Dowda’s deep, inswinging corner is volleyed towards goal by Wright and pinballs around the area before being hoofed off the line by Doherty. Eventually City win a second corner, and then a third, which is headed away superbly by Boly under considerable pressure.

2.36pm GMT

76 min Moutinho’s curling free-kick is tipped over the bar by the flying Fielding. It wouldn’t have dipped into the net anyway but Fielding was right not to take the risk.

2.35pm GMT

75 min Kalas is booked for a foul on Jimenez 25 yards from goal. He was the last man, and that could easily have been a red card because Jimenez would have been through on goal. I think it was a clear goalscoring opportunity, though I suppose Fielding might just have got to the ball first.

2.33pm GMT

73 min City have been a lot better in this half, though they still haven’t created any really clear chances. They probably should have had a penalty, mind you.

2.32pm GMT

72 min “The way the draw has panned out, with only City and United or Chelsea in the last eight, means teams like Wolves, Palace, etc, have a great chance to reach the final,” says Brian Boyce.

Agreed. And you could imagine a scenario whereby, for example, United beat Chelsea and then City before losing to Palace/Watford/Wolves/whoever in the final.

2.30pm GMT

70 min Wolves make their first change, with the goalscorer Ivan Cavaleiro replaced by Morgan Gibbs-White.

2.29pm GMT

69 min Pack’s good low shot from 30 yards is comfortably saved by the diving Ruddy.

2.28pm GMT

68 min: Good save from Ruddy! Lovely play down the right from Brownhill, who beat two players just outside the area through sleight of hip and stabbed the ball towards the six-yard line. It was flicked towards goal by the stretching Taylor, and Ruddy changed direction smartly to save.

2.26pm GMT

66 min Bristol City make their third substitution, with Jamie Paterson replacing the sporadically effective Kasey Palmer.

2.23pm GMT

63 min Wolves calm things down for a few minutes with a bit of possession football.

2.22pm GMT

61 min “Ah, you should check MBMs out; they’re great fun,” says Matt Dony. “Oblique references to the Sopranos and/or 90’s indie music, smart-arse emails from people who have nothing better to do on a weekend, occasional moans from people who don’t want anything to distract them from pure football action, insane bias towards/against (insert club of choice), words of wisdom from Gary Naylor, regular instances of mistaken identity, something for everyone!”

When you say ‘everyone’...

2.20pm GMT

60 min O’Dowda, who had been superb since half-time, hits the free-kick straight out of play for a goalkick.

2.19pm GMT

59 min O’Dowda, who has been superb since half-time, is shoved over by Jonny, giving City a free-kick on the right wing...

2.18pm GMT

57 min City have been much the better team since half-time. Dasilva’s cross rebounds off the arm of Boly in the penalty area, though he knew very little about it and it wasn’t as clear as the earlier appeal.

2.16pm GMT

55 min City have matched Wolves’ formation, and they are also playing with much greater intensity and purpose. Diedhiou is fouled 30 yards from goal, a long way to the left of centre. Palmer curls the free-kick a few yards wide, though Ruddy had it covered.

2.14pm GMT

53 min I suspect that non-penalty decision would have been overturned with VAR. Meanwhile, Dasilva has missed a great chance to equalise! O’Dowda again burst into space down the right. This time he cut the ball back teasingly towards the edge of the area, where the left-back Dasilva had loads of time - too much time - to run onto the ball and curl it miles over the bar with his right foot.

2.13pm GMT

52 min Actually, City could easily have had a penalty then because Dasilva’s cross hit the outstretched hand of Doherty.

2.12pm GMT

52 min Wright is booked for ploughing through Cavaleiro in the 1980s style.

2.11pm GMT

51 min O’Dowda beats Jonny on the right and flashes a dangerous cross that is eventually cleared by Bennett. This is much better from City, who moments later have an appeal for a penalty when Dasilva’s cross hits Doherty. I don’t think that was handball.

2.09pm GMT

49 min The other substitute Taylor wins a corner for City. Brownhill’s inswinger is headed away the far post by Coady.

2.08pm GMT

48 min Pack has already played three or four cute passes in midfield. He wasn’t fit to start the game but City look so much better with him in the team.

2.06pm GMT

47 min “As a Man City supporter I feel obliged to point out that, as things stand, Man City will move above Bristol City in the form table you posted earlier,” says Phil Grey. “And that defeat to Newcastle is becoming less and less fathomable with every kick of a ball.”

2.06pm GMT

46 min Peep peep! Wolves begin the second half.

2.06pm GMT

Bristol City have made a double substitution at half-time: Marlon Pack and Matty Taylor replace Niclas Eliasson and Joe Morrell.

2.01pm GMT

Half-time reading

1.49pm GMT

Peep peep! That was extremely impressive from Wolves, who passed Bristol City to sleep and could be two or three goals ahead. The goal they did score was driven in by Ivan Cavaleiro after excellent play from Matt Doherty.

Twitter: follow us at @guardian_sport

1.48pm GMT

45 min “There’s this really useful site that has the possession stats big and up-front,” says Andrew. “It’s called something like ‘The Guardian MBM’.”

Oh I can’t access that, I’ve blocked it on all my platforms.

1.46pm GMT

44 min Moutinho, probably the best player on the pitch so far, drops a free-kick onto the head of Boly, whose glancing header goes a few yards wide of the far post.

1.45pm GMT

42 min There’s no VAR in this match I should have said that earlier. Before the game, arguably.

1.44pm GMT

41 min Doherty curls a superb pass over the top for Jimenez, who expends so much energy trying to hold off Webster that he forgets to shoot. When he eventually tries to do so, he falls over and looks hopefully at the referee. No penalty.

1.42pm GMT

40 min I never thought I’d say this ... but I’d love to see the possession stats for this half. Wolves must have had at least 70 per cent.

1.41pm GMT

39 min A half chance for City. Wright’s high, hanging cross is headed over from eight yards by Palmer, who couldn’t get over the ball.

1.39pm GMT

37 min Wolves have played with such authority in this half. And even though they are winning, they won’t want to hear the half-time whistle.

1.37pm GMT

34 min “‘The Dead-Ball One,’” says Matt Dony of our friend Jose Mourinho. “(Except, he never actually said ‘THE Special One’, he said ‘A special one’, which was pretty much fair enough at that point bearing in mind what he’d achieved. The man is a walking disaster these days, but that was always an unfair stick to beat him with. Tangential rant over.)”

Yes, he was the best manager in the world at the time. He was preposterously arrogant, and so much fun until he became a nihilist.

1.36pm GMT

33 min: Good save from Fielding! A long pass forward is helped on by Jimenez to Dendoncker, who waits for the ball to bounce and lashes a shot towards the near post that is turned behind by Fielding. That was another lovely touch from Jimenez, whose link play has been immaculate today.

1.34pm GMT

30 min: Doherty hits the post! What a beautiful move that was from Wolves. Doherty charged infield from the right and fed the ball to Jimenez, who returned it with a superb backheel. Doherty burst into the area and hit a low shot on the run that deflected off the stretching Webster and onto the far post. I think that was going in the bottom corner before the touch from Webster.

1.32pm GMT

29 min At the other end, O’Dowda’s acrobatic volley goes over the bar. Replays suggest the ball rebounded off Doherty’s arm as he ran through Dasilva, though he didn’t know much about it.

1.31pm GMT

That looked like a mistake from Frank Fielding in the Bristol City goal. Coady drove a superb long pass to Doherty, who took it down on the run and stumbled through Dasilva. Once he was into the area he cut the ball back carefully to the unmarked Cavaleiro, whose low shot from 12 yards slithered through Fielding and into the net. I think Fielding might have been unsighted by a defender in front of him, but he’ll still feel he should have saved it.

Twitter: follow us at @guardian_sport

1.30pm GMT

Wolves score with their first chance!

1.28pm GMT

27 min ... and his cross is again too close to Ruddy.

1.28pm GMT

26 min Morrell is fouled near the right corner of the box by Dendoncker. The left-footed Eliasson will take it...

1.27pm GMT

25 min After a difficult start, City are having a bigger share of the game, with Palmer and Eliasson seeing more of the ball.

1.25pm GMT

22 min Kalas marauds down the right and hammers a very deep cross to Eliasson. He cushions it on the volley to the late arriving Palmer, whose first touch is a bit heavy. Bennett comes across to clear, only to boot it off Doherty and behind for a corner. Eliasson’s cross is too close to Ruddy.

1.24pm GMT

21 min “As hilarious as it would be if José Mourinho was taking set-pieces for Wolves, not to mention injecting his unbridled optimism and emotional support into the dressing room...” begins Adam Kline-Schoder. “I think (and I may be wrong) that it’s Moutinho who is taking the free kicks.”

Ach!

1.20pm GMT

18 min The one comfort for City is that their keeper Fielding hasn’t had anything to do. But in every other department the game has been ominously one-sided.

1.18pm GMT

16 min Mourinho lifts it into the six-yard box, where Diedhiou heads away. City needs a breather, though, because the ball keeps coming back at them. The Wolves fans are already oléing during passing moves.

1.17pm GMT

15 min Wright is penalised for a challenge on Jonny near the corner flag on the left. It looked soft, though there might have been a shove. Mourinho will take it...

1.16pm GMT

14 min Jimenez runs the last man Webster, who is in trouble until Kalas comes across to intercept on the edge of the area.

1.15pm GMT

13 min Brownhill wins the ball off Dendoncker with what looked like a slightly dangerous tackle. Martin Atkinson had a great view - marginally better than mine - and didn’t even give a free-kick, so that’s that.

1.12pm GMT

11 min City are struggling to get out of their half at the moment, with Wolves looking very good in possession.

1.11pm GMT

9 min “It seems,” says Ian Copestake, “that Ramos is taking the deliberate accumulation of yellow cards a bit far now.”

In case you’re wondering, football’s No1 pantomime wrong’un walked for two yellow cards in Real Madrid’s defeat at home to Girona.

1.10pm GMT

8 min Moutinho drives a sweet crossfield pass to Doherty, whose cross is deflected behind for a corner. Moutinho comes across to take the corner, which dips at the near post and bounces dangerously across the face of goal.

1.09pm GMT

7 min Wolves have completely dominated possession in the last few minutes. They are a very slick, grooved team.

1.06pm GMT

5 min Now Wolves put together a patient passing move before Jimenez’s backheel is intercepted. I don’t think we’ll see many long balls today.

1.04pm GMT

3 min A really confident start from City, who put together 20-odd passes before Webster overhits a ball forward.

1.02pm GMT

1 min Peep peep! After a minute’s applause for Gordon Banks, Bristol City get the match underway. They are in red and white; Wolves are in old gold.

12.48pm GMT

Twitter: follow us at @guardian_sport

12.45pm GMT

“Was that form table sponsored by Bayern?” asks Ian Copestake. “They lost a game three matches ago so I wonder how they are placed so high.”

By winning eight of the other nine, my boy.

12.39pm GMT

Laughter is the best medicine department

12.28pm GMT

As you will already know if you’ve devoted the requisite screen time to this thing of ours, there are no FA Cup replays from the fifth round onwards. We’ll have extra time and penalties today if necessary.

12.11pm GMT

Wolves have picked a very strong side, with Ruben Neves and Rui Patricio the only regulars to be rested. Quite right, too: it is not beyond the realms they could win the competition this year, and if the draw is favourable they have a great chance of reaching the final.

Twitter: follow us at @guardian_sport

12.06pm GMT

Pre-match reading

12.06pm GMT

Alternative MBM action

12.04pm GMT

Your #EmiratesFACup starting XI. #BRCvWOL pic.twitter.com/H8Ea35GeXB

Here's how Wolves line-up for this afternoon's @EmiratesFACup clash against @BristolCity. #BCIWOL

pic.twitter.com/2Eh75ZgXfF

10.46am GMT

Hello and welcome to live coverage of the FA Cup fifth round tie between Bristol City and Wolves at Ashton Gate. There will be many casual observers who will look at this fixture and assume a comfortable win for Wolves. But I put it to you, dear reader, that these people simply have not spent a sufficient percentage of their screen time studying the form table for Europe’s five biggest professional leagues. Have a perusal of this!

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Published on February 17, 2019 07:11

February 14, 2019

Bate Borisov 1-0 Arsenal: Europa League last 32, first leg – as it happened

Stanislaw Dragun’s first-half goal gave Bate a famous victory over Arsenal, who struggled on a poor pitch and had Alexandre Lacazette sent off near the end

Lacazette sees red as Arsenal shocked by Bate Borisov

8.14pm GMT

Here is Amy Lawrence’s match report:

7.53pm GMT

More football!

7.49pm GMT

That’s a famous victory for Bate Borisov, and an entirely miserable night for Arsenal. They had lots of the ball but struggled to move the ball smoothly on a poor pitch, and never really looked like equalising Stanislaw Drahun’s goal on the stroke of half-time.

Their mounting frustration manifested itself in a red card for Alexandre Lacazette, who crumped his elbow into the coupon of Aleksandar Flipovic. He will miss the second leg at the Emirates a week today. You would still expect Arsenal to go through. But that really wasn’t good.

7.46pm GMT

Peep peep!

7.45pm GMT

90+3 min Guendouzi shoots meekly at Scherbitski from 20 yards.

7.44pm GMT

90+1 min It’s not happening for Arsenal. All night, their attacks have broken down on the edge of the area.

7.42pm GMT

90 min Four minutes.

7.41pm GMT

90 min Torreira shoots well wide from 30 yards.

7.41pm GMT

89 min Bate were 9/1 to win this match - not the whole tie, just this match - a couple of hours ago.

7.40pm GMT

88 min Arsenal will go through, I am almost certain of that, but this has been a desperate night for them.

7.37pm GMT

85 min It’s a straight red for a retaliatory elbow into the face of Filipovic. Lacazette was dragged back near the halfway line, swung his arm in frustration and can have few complaints about the referee’s decision.

7.36pm GMT

84 min Arsenal are looking increasingly desperate. They have had so much of the ball, yet they haven’t created many chances since half-time.

7.34pm GMT

82 min A lovely break from Bate almost brings a second goal. Rios plays the ball down the right to Berezkin, who hits a superb cross on the run towards the unmarked Dubajic. Cech does very well to dive in front of Dubajic and palm the ball away at the near post.

7.32pm GMT

80 min Bate’s last change: Hervaine Moukam replaces Skavysh.

7.30pm GMT

79 min Yet another Arsenal corner, this time from Mkhitaryan, is headed away at the near post.

7.29pm GMT

78 min Lacazette plays a one-two with Suarez and wins a corner. Suarez’s delivery is poor.

7.27pm GMT

76 min Bate are starting to look tired and are really struggling to get out of their own third, never mind their own half.

7.27pm GMT

75 min I don’t think a 1-0 deficit would unduly worry Arsenal ahead of the second leg. But if it were to finish 2-0...

7.26pm GMT

74 min The last Arsenal change - Denis Suarez replaces Kolasinac.

7.25pm GMT

72 min Lacazette’s low cross from the left is blocked. But the attempted clearance goes straight to Kolasinac, who belts the bouncing ball wide of the far post. That was a good chance, though he had to take it quickly.

7.23pm GMT

72 min “And to think,” says Ian Copestake, “that Ramsey is going to swap this to sit next to Emre Can on the Juve bench.”

7.23pm GMT

71 min The new arrival Dubajic is booked for a robust challenge on Koscielny.

7.22pm GMT

70 min Arsenal have switched to a 4-2-2-2 shape, with Mustafi at right-back.

7.21pm GMT

69 min Bate make their second change, with Bojan Dubajic replacing Milic.

7.20pm GMT

69 min A double change for Arsenal: Aubameyang and Torreira replace Maitland-Niles and Xhaka.

7.19pm GMT

68 min The willing Kolasinac, who has been Arsenal’s biggest threat going forward, wins a corner for Arsenal. Xhaka’s first effort hits Rios and goes behind, so Mkhitaryan has a try. He plays it short to Kolasinac, who hits it straight out of play on the other side of the field. Nice one.

7.18pm GMT

66 min Though Arsenal have dominated possession throughout, they have struggling to find space between the

tractors
lines. It’s been a very frustrating night on an old-fashioned heap of a pitch.

7.16pm GMT

65 min Meanwhile (2).

7.16pm GMT

64 min “Hi Rob,” says Peter Oh. “Apparently the acronym BATE stands for Borisov Automotive and Tractor Electrical (equipment). Maybe it’s time for Arsenal to park the bus? A big one.”

BATE have parked the whole factory in the second half.

7.13pm GMT

61 min: Good save from Cech! Stasevich shovels the ball to the edge of the area and hits a bouncing shot across goal that is pushed away by Cech, diving to his right.

7.10pm GMT

59 min Bate have rationed their counter-attacks cleverly. They know they can’t beat Arsenal in an open match, so they are sitting very deep, but when they spring forward they do so decisively and at pace.

7.09pm GMT

57 min A first substitution for Bate: Yevgeniy Berezkin reeplaces Aleksandr Hleb.

7.07pm GMT

55 min Kolasinac’s low cross is put behind for a corner. Bate thought the last touch was off Iwobi, and replays suggests they were right. The corner is taken short and eventually leads to a disallowed goal from Lacazette, who slammed Kolasinac’s cross into the net from six yards. He looked fractionally offside.

7.02pm GMT

50 min Lacazette whips a long-range shot that is patted down by Scherbitski and claimed at the second attempt.

7.01pm GMT

50 min Arsenal have started the second half with renewed intensity. Iwobi floats a cross to the far post that just evades the leaping Mkhitaryan and Maitland-Niles.

7.00pm GMT

49 min Meanwhile.

7.00pm GMT

48 min “I’d never made the Iwobi/Erotica connection (although, heaven knows I will from now on. Thanks),” says Matt Dony, remembering to thank me. “But if you’ve ever heard Hamilton and you can still say ‘Lacazette’ normally, then you’re a better man than I...”

6.59pm GMT

47 min A near-post corner breaks for Mustafi, whose snapshot on the turn is blocked by Volkov on the six-yard line.

6.57pm GMT

46 min Peep peep! Bate begin the second half.

6.55pm GMT

6.45pm GMT

Half-time reading

6.43pm GMT

Hands up who predicted that scoreline? No, me either. But there were a few danger signs for Arsenal, who started to lose their way after a fast, authoritative start. They don’t have anything to worry about in terms of the overall tie - not yet, anyway - but this is an irritating and unexpected setback.

6.42pm GMT

Stasevich curled the free-kick towards the near post, where Drahun escaped his marker Kolasinac just outside the six-yard box and looped a smart header over Petr Cech into the far corner.

6.41pm GMT

And it leads to a goal!

6.40pm GMT

44 min The lively Skavysh twists past Monreal, who brings him down. The free-kick is on the right wing, in line with the edge of the area...

6.38pm GMT

42 min “Are we supposed to be talking about football?” says Bill Hargreaves. “What chance of this turning into a St Valentine’s Day massacre, given the difference between the teams on paper?”

There will only ever be one Valentine’s Day massacre.

6.38pm GMT

41 min Mustafi’s cross from the right slithers between the legs of Milic at the far post and falls to Kolasinac, who splatters it wide of the near post from a tight angle.

6.36pm GMT

40 min Mkhitaryan turns smartly on the edge of the area and plays an angled pass to Maitland-Niles, whose shot is blocked. Moments later, Mkhitaryan gets to the byline and hits a cross just behind Lacazette, who can’t control it.

6.34pm GMT

37 min Maitland-Niles’s cross takes a deflection and loops beyond the far post to his fellow wing-back Kolasinac. His header back across goal - and possibly towards goal, I haven’t seen a replay so I’ve no clue to be honest - is blocked by the head of Rios.

6.32pm GMT

36 min “In the absence of inside information about the Arsenal team, I suppose we have rely on, er, outside information,” says Charles Antaki. “Fortunately there is plenty on show today, and it all points to an impending Arsenalisation of this game, as passes go awry, people fall over and the opposition eventually score.”

6.31pm GMT

34 min Arsenal have started to lose their way after an excellent start.

6.28pm GMT

32 min Maitland-Niles ... Mkhitaryan ... Xhaka ... Guendouzi ... Iwobi passes it straight to the keeper.

6.26pm GMT

30 min “I am not going to say that Big Cup’s little brother does not appeal to me,” says Ian Copestake, “but I do have some German tax letters I should open. Happy Valentine’s!”

6.25pm GMT

28 min: Great chance for Bate! Skavysh skinned Guendouzi down the right and drove a low cross towards the near post, where Milic flicked the ball into the side netting from a few yards. Cech might have had it covered had it been on target. But he might not!

6.23pm GMT

27 min Guendouzi lofts a nice pass over the top for Lacazette, who can’t control the dropping ball under pressure.

6.22pm GMT

25 min Stasevich wins a corner off Maitland-Niles, which he’ll take himself. It’s half cleared at the near post and comes to Rios, whose shot from the edge of the area is blocked by Iwobi.

6.19pm GMT

23 min This is a good game. Stasevich dupes Maitland-Niles on the left of the box and smashes a low cross that beats Milic for pace at the near post and deflects behind off Kolasinac. That could easily have gone into his own net.

6.19pm GMT

22 min: Lacazette misses a sitter! A loose ball comes to Kolasinac on the left side of the box. He who floats a lovely cross straight onto the head of Lacazette at the far post, but he plants it over the bar from six yards. That was a great chance, particularly for a player of his class.

6.18pm GMT

21 min Guendouzi appeals for handball in the area when his cross is blocked by Drahun. It hit his trailing arm as he slid forward to block the cross, so a penalty would have been rather harsh.

6.17pm GMT

19 min “Torreira has been very impressive so far this season,” says Matt Dony. “He leaves some big shoes to fill. But, (wait for it...), if anyone can do it, (I’m really sorry...), Xhaka can. Xhaka can. I’m here all week. Try the kluski.”

When that email started I honestly thought you were going to start singing ‘Iwobi’ to the tune of Madonna’s Erotica, so I feel like the rest of us got off lightly.

6.15pm GMT

18 min In the first few minutes it looked like Arsenal would run away with this match, but it’s more of a contest now. Arsenal have probably had 70-75 per cent of the possession. Bate look pretty well organised defensively now that the match has settled down.

6.12pm GMT

14 min Bate are playing like the away side, sitting deep and springing onto the counter-attack.

6.11pm GMT

13 min ... which leads to a chance on the counter for Bate. They break three on three after a mistake from Guendouzi, and Stavysh forces a save from Cech with a stinging shot from a very tight angle on the right edge of the area.

6.10pm GMT

12 min Kolasinac plays in Iwobi, who tries to flick the ball over the advancing keeper. It bounces over his foot, hits the thigh of a sliding defender and loops towards goal. Scherbitski stretches to flap it behind for a corner...

6.08pm GMT

12 min Inside info!

6.08pm GMT

11 min “Rob, do you have any inside info about what’s up with Monreal?” asks Charles Antaki. “Guardian journalists have their ears to the ground. Anyway he’s looked a shadow of his recently-former self. That’s quite good enough to get him into the Arsenal back line (even a quarter would have done), but still, it’s odd.”

Inside info! Inside info! He’s 32, so maybe the inexorable decline of the thirtysomething sportsman has started.

6.07pm GMT

10 min Bate’s free-kick is partially cleared and lobbed back into the area, where Milic fails to control the up and under. A better first touch would have given him a half chance.

6.06pm GMT

9 min Guendouzi slips on the dodgy pitch and loses the ball to Skavysh, who breaks down the right. Xhaka pulls him back and is booked.

6.05pm GMT

8 min The atmosphere in the stadium is brilliant, the kind of thing you used to hear in England. The fact Bate are being totally outplayed doesn’t seem to bother the home fans one bit.

6.02pm GMT

6 min “Surely against unfit, inferior opponents it’s the perfect opportunity for Emery to let Suarez showcase his skills & ability?” asks Sam. “What does he need to do to start a game for the Gunners?”

I’m sure he’ll play next week if Arsenal get a decent lead tonight. The pitch is so bad that I’m not sure there would have been that much value in playing him.

6.01pm GMT

5 min Arsenal are all over Bate. A short corner is returned to Mkhitaryan, whose inswinging cross is headed just wide of the far post by Mustafi.

6.01pm GMT

2 min: Scherbitski makes a fine save to deny Mkhitaryan! Iwobi played a superb angled pass inside the right-back Rios to find Kolasinac, who slid a first-time pass across the face of goal. It was right into the path of Mkhitaryan, whose close-range sidefoot was blocked by the sprawling Scherbitski.

5.57pm GMT

1 min Peep peep! After a minute’s applause in memory of Emiliano Sala, Arsenal get the match under way. They are in red and white; Bate are in yellow. It’s freezing and the pitch is a mudheap. Great stuff!

5.45pm GMT

Unai Emery speaks

“Petr Cech has experience and quality, and his commitment is very big. Today is a good chance for him to play. [TELL US ABOUT MESUT OZIL, UNAI] Today, the priority is the players who are here, and I think it’s much better to speak about those players.”

5.01pm GMT

Read all about it!

4.59pm GMT

Bate’s team includes former Arsenal charmer Aleksandr Hleb. As you probably know already, future former Arsenal charmer Mesut Ozil has not travelled with the squad. Unai Emery makes two changes from the team that beat Huddersfield at the weekend: Petr Cech and Granit Xhaka come in for Bernd Leno and Lucas Torreira.

Bate Borisov (4-3-3) Scherbitski; Rios, Volkov, Filipenko, Filipovic; Baga, Dragun, Hleb; Skavysh, Milic, Stasevich.
Substitutes: Chichkan, Yablonski, Berezkin, Dubajic, Simovic, Moukam, Bessmertny.

12.46pm GMT

Good Valentine’s Day to you. Unai Emery was born to succeed in the Uefa Europa League. Just look at the initials on him! He has won the tournament three times, a record he shares with Giovanni Trapattoni, and it’s quite conceivable he could make it four this year. Arsenal are one of the favourites for the tournament, though there’s a strong field that includes Chelsea, Napoli, Internazionale, Benfica, Lazio, Eintracht Frankfurt - and Emery’s old clubs, Sevilla and Valencia.

It’s strange that Arsenal never won a European trophy under Arsene Wenger, though they had terrific chances in 2000, 2004, 2006 and 2018. That missed opportunity in 2003-04 still haunts me, and I don’t even bloody support them. The last time they won a European trophy, then, was the criminally unsung Cup Winners’ Cup victory in 1993-94. In the parlance of our time, they are due.

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Published on February 14, 2019 12:14

February 9, 2019

West Indies v England: third Test, day one – as it happened

Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes made excellent, unbeaten half-centuries to take England to 231-4 at the close after being put in to bat by West Indies

Report: Buttler and Stokes help England consolidate

11.19pm GMT

See you all tomorrow, hopefully.

Here is today’s report:

10.04pm GMT

Ben Stokes speaks “We’ve been really disappointed with the way we’ve batted on this tour. This is still a challenging wicket and to come off only four wickets down … we’re very proud of that.

“I actually watched some footage this morning of when I played at Lord’s. I’ve been thinking about going back to that technique for a while – straightening my feet up and batting on off stump to around-the-wicket bowlers - and I decided to do it today. I think in the back of my mind, watching that footage gave me the confidence to be more positive.

9.58pm GMT

England should be really happy with their day’s work. Most of the top four gave their wickets away, but they battled hard to blunt the new ball before so doing, and the fifth-wicket pair of Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes were terrific. Buttler played sensibly throughout, taking a long time to get himself in, while Stokes was much more positive than he has been in recent months.

9.55pm GMT

That’s the end of a really good day for England, who fought hard after being put in and took control during a wicketless final session.

9.54pm GMT

83rd over: England 231-4 (Buttler 67, Stokes 62) Buttler picks up a couple of boundaries, steering Roach to fine leg and then third man. He’s played ever so well today, a proper Test-match innings.

“Hi Rob,” says Simon Davies. “Just want to correct David Mansell – he ought to know that a pedant refers to someone who is excessively concerned with something, not merely concerned. A pedant is concerned too much – when you’re concerned enough to write in about something, then you are concerned too much.”

9.50pm GMT

82nd over: England 223-4 (Buttler 59, Stokes 62) The weary Shannon Gabriel shares the new ball. Stokes plays a series of solid back-defensive strokes, and it’s another maiden. Ten minutes until the close.

9.45pm GMT

81st over: England 223-4 (Buttler 59, Stokes 62) Roach gets the new ball to spit nastily at Buttler, who shapes to play and then aborts the shot. Nobody knows anything, that goes without saying, but I reckon England already have a very useful score. The rest of Roach’s over is on the harmless side.

9.41pm GMT

80th over: England 223-4 (Buttler 59, Stokes 62) The second new ball is available, and Kemar Roach is going to take it.

“A pedant is somebody who cares about using the language with some degree of accuracy,” says David Mansell. “Of course, I shouldn’t expect this of sports commentators, whose daily crucifixion of English pains me.”

9.37pm GMT

79th over: England 221-4 (Buttler 58, Stokes 61) There’s no easy way to break this to you so I’m just going to spit it out: England have had a very good day and are already in serious danger of winning the match.

“A pedant,” says John Starbuck, “is an insect on a bicycle.”

9.34pm GMT

78th over: England 219-4 (Buttler 57, Stokes 60) This is a muted end to the day. West Indies are bowling spin at both ends to improve the over-rate and get to the second new ball, while England are dealing exclusively in low-risk ones and twos.

9.32pm GMT

77th over: England 218-4 (Buttler 56, Stokes 60) A mix-up almost leads to an egregious run-out, but the throw goes to the wrong end and Stokes survives.

“Evening, Rob,” says Phil Sawyer. “It’s an interesting question about milking. Also, of course, a debate that could take in nudging and nurdling. Perhaps an over that goes for five or four could be described as Collingwooded, Whereas anything over six has definitely been Thorped?”

9.28pm GMT

76th over: England 213-4 (Buttler 54, Stokes 57) Brathwaite continues to Buttler, who resists the considerable temptation to boff sixes hither and thither. Instead he milks a single down the ground and Stokes plays out the rest of the over.

9.26pm GMT

75th over: England 212-4 (Buttler 53, Stokes 57) A quiet over from Chase to Stokes, who has started his second innings very watchfully. Both teams are playing for the close.

9.23pm GMT

74th over: England 210-4 (Buttler 53, Stokes 55) The part-time captain Kraigg Brathwaite comes on to bowl some part-time offspin. Stokes has an absent-minded waft outside off stump and is beaten. One from the over.

“Presumably Brian Withington meant ‘semantics’ rather than ‘etymology’,” says David Mansell. “Etymology is the science of the origins of words whereas semantics is about their meaning.”

9.21pm GMT

73rd over: England 209-4 (Buttler 53, Stokes 54) A single from Stokes brings up England’s first century partnership of the series. It’s coming home.

9.18pm GMT

72nd over: England 205-4 (Buttler 50, Stokes 53) Buttler back cuts Paul between second slip and gully for four, a deliberate and well-struck shot. He steals two more later in the over to reach a mature, accomplished half-century. He took time to play himself in, making 22 from his first 62 balls; since then he has struck 28 from 34.

9.15pm GMT

71st over: England 197-4 (Buttler 44, Stokes 53) Stokes had to scramble round to find his helmet and gloves, which he had dumped by the boundary rope.

“I’m intrigued by the etymology and numerical boundaries of ‘milking’ the bowling (67th over),” says Brian Withington. “Back in the day I would have said 3-5 runs an over would have been about right. Even in these adrenalised times, 7 feels a tad racy for ‘milking’, but clearly too low for ‘mincing’ or ‘mashing’. Is there an acceptable intermediary term?”

9.10pm GMT

70th over: England 194-4 (Buttler 42, Stokes 52) Well, that was eventful.

9.08pm GMT

It was a no-ball! It took an age for the third umpire to call it, so much so that the new batsman Jonny Bairstow was already on the field.

9.07pm GMT

What a fine catch from Alzarri Joseph! Stokes tried to pull a short ball that was onto him quickly and hit high on the bat. It flew back towards Joseph, who showed superb reactions to grab the ball a split-second before it struck him in the phallus.

9.00pm GMT

69th over: England 191-4 (Buttler 41, Stokes 52) Stokes reaches an excellent fifty from 84 balls with a cut for four off Roston Chase. This has been his best attacking innings since he returned to the side a year ago.

8.58pm GMT

68th over: England 187-4 (Buttler 41, Stokes 48) Stokes pulls Joseph over mid-on for a single. He didn’t middle it but it had just enough to clear the fielder. While most of the England batsmen have decided to sex down their batting today, Stokes has done the opposite.

8.53pm GMT

67th over: England 184-4 (Buttler 40, Stokes 46) Chase continues after drinks and is milked for seven runs.

8.47pm GMT

66th over: England 177-4 (Buttler 37, Stokes 42) Joseph replaces Roach. His first ball is slapped in the air but wide of cover by Buttler, who gets a couple of runs. Later in the over he swivel-pulls emphatically for four, and that’s drinks. After a watchful start, Buttler has changed gear in the last few overs. I think that, of all England’s middle-order glory boys, he is the one best suited to constructing an old-fashioned Test innings.

8.42pm GMT

65th over: England 171-4 (Buttler 31, Stokes 42) Roston Chase comes on to replace Kemar Roach, and Buttler greets him with a savage drive for four. That was beautifully placed, right between extra cover and mid off. England, the contrary buggers, are going to win this game, aren’t they?

8.38pm GMT

64th over: England 166-4 (Buttler 26, Stokes 42) Gabriel to Stokes, round plenty. They had an entertaining little battle in Antigua, which was won hands down by Gabriel, and he is trying to drag Stokes into a metaphorical ruck with a few words and stares. Gabriel swings a delivery down the leg side for four byes, the only runs from an otherwise uneventful over.

8.34pm GMT

63rd over: England 162-4 (Buttler 26, Stokes 41) England have batted with more discipline today, which is reflected by Buttler’s 26 not out from 67 balls. Mind you, the best innings has also been the most attacking, by Stokes, so stick that in your “narrative”.

8.29pm GMT

62nd over: England 161-4 (Buttler 26, Stokes 41) Buttler survives an LBW appeal after being hit by a big nipbacker from Gabriel. Too high. Gabriel ends an otherwise excellent over with a poor delivery: short, wide and slammed for four by Buttler.

8.24pm GMT

61st over: England 157-4 (Buttler 22, Stokes 41) Roach replaces Paul and bowls a maiden to Stokes. And why not?

8.19pm GMT

60th over: England 157-4 (Buttler 22, Stokes 41) A short ball from Gabriel is flashed through extra cover for four by Stokes, who then mishits a pull in the air for a single. Gabriel has a few words with Stokes, which should help to enliven the next few overs. Stokes looks in the mood to take the bowlers on; despite this slow outfield, he has raced to 41 from 56 balls.

8.15pm GMT

59th over: England 152-4 (Buttler 22, Stokes 36) Stokes drives Paul through the covers and charges back for a second. At first that looked like it would be really tight but Stokes is so quick between the wickets. He skims a square drive for three to bring up the 150.

8.04pm GMT

57th over: England 144-4 (Buttler 20, Stokes 31) Paul, bowling round the wicket, gets one to straighten beautifully past Stokes’ outside edge.

“Rob,” says Brian Withington. “Interesting close up of Jos Buttler’s bat - it would appear that his fibre glass tape is just about held together by splintered willow - not sure it’s quite promoting the Kookaburra brand in its best light?”

8.01pm GMT

56th over: England 143-4 (Buttler 20, Stokes 31) Another emphatic stroke from Stokes, who cuts Joseph through the covers for four. Stokes looks really good today. Joseph responds by hitting him on the bottom hand with an excellent short ball. That hurt Stokes, who is still wincing slightly at the end of the over.

7.55pm GMT

55th over: England 136-4 (Buttler 20, Stokes 24) Paul almost slips a fuller, straighter delivery through Buttler, who gets a late inside-edge. A maiden.

7.51pm GMT

54th over: England 136-4 (Buttler 20, Stokes 24) Buttler waves Joseph through extra cover for three, another fine shot that would have brought four on many grounds round the world. Stokes is beaten, chasing a very wide delivery angled across him, but slams the next ball through backward point for four. He looks more like himself today, playing with the controlled aggression that has been missing since he returned to the side a year ago.

7.46pm GMT

53rd over: England 129-4 (Buttler 17, Stokes 20) Ben Stokes push-drives Paul classically through mid-off for four. Gorgeous shot, that. All of his six Test hundreds, and 11 of his 16 fifties, have come at No6. This position just feels right for him; he’s not quite a No5 or a No7. In his Test career, by the way, he has batted everywhere from No3-11.

7.42pm GMT

52nd over: England 124-4 (Buttler 17, Stokes 16) Another escape for Stokes, who inside edges Joseph just over the stumps for four. It was a fine delivery, which cut back sharply off the pitch to induce the false stroke. This looks like a deceptively awkward pitch on which to time the ball.

“Eoin Morgan barely plays county cricket, bats with a quirky technique, speaks with a non-English accent and averages about 35,” says Gary Naylor. “The question is more how is he not playing for England?”

7.38pm GMT

51st over: England 117-4 (Buttler 17, Stokes 9) Stokes, on the walk, gets a leading edge wide of gully for a couple.

“Well, this is fun, isn’t it?” weeps Guy Hornsby. “I guess we’ve been half better. We’ve been obdurate, but still got out to some filthy shots or filthy luck. What a time to be Joe Root. With Bayliss off soon, you do wonder how much risk there is of permanent damage to his confidence this last few weeks. Whisky please, barman!”

7.36pm GMT

Stokes survives a biggish LBW appeal from Keemo Paul - but Brathwaite has decided to review. I reckon this hit him just outside the line. It was a good delivery, which came back at Stokes from round the wicket and beat him on the inside. Here comes balltracking ... and Stokes survives, but on height rather than line. It would have hit the top of the bails and was therefore Umpire’s Call. West Indies retain their review.

7.30pm GMT

Thanks Tim, hello everyone. This will be an extended evening session, with 40 overs still to be bowled. I think this session is two and a half hours long, so we’ll probably get around 33-35 of those overs.

7.15pm GMT

49th over: England 114-4 (Buttler 17, Stokes 6) Stokes is looking assured, timing the ball well, bruised heel and all. And that’s tea, with the afternoon belonging firmly to West Indies. Can England get out of jail this time? Join Rob Smyth to find out. Thanks for your company, your views on Eoin Morgan, your Sammy Davis Jr rewrites, and your brave new plans for this old game of ours.

7.09pm GMT

48th over: England 111-4 (Buttler 16, Stokes 0) Again, they cope well with Chase, but they have to get better at playing these seamers. Four down, nobody reaching 30: there’s a lot of weight on the shoulders of Buttler now.

7.07pm GMT

47th over: England 107-4 (Buttler 16, Stokes 0) So yet again England lose a wicket close to an interval. And Root is out the wrong side of 50 for the seventh time in a row, equalling his worst streak in Tests. To think we used to be worried that he kept getting fifties.

Here’s Brian Withington again. “Your 44th-over observation on the otherwise magnificent Jason Holder’s commentary skills reminds one of the old adage about never meeting your heroes,” he says. “Sky Cricket’s producers would have been well advised to apply a similar principle to the make-up of its old-guard commentary team. I may mellow at some stage this evening but it was a long way to Loughborough and back.”

7.03pm GMT

Ah what a shame. Root’s struggles continue as he cuts at a short fast one and gets a thin nick off the toe end of the bat. When your luck is out, it’s right out.

6.58pm GMT

46th over: England 107-3 (Root 15, Buttler 16) It must be nearly time for tea as there’s a spinner on. Roston Chase, who suckered Root into a soft dismissal the other day, comes on and gets some drift, but no noticeable turn. Both batsmen do some milking.

6.55pm GMT

45th over: England 103-3 (Root 13, Buttler 14) Five dots, and then Buttler tucks a full one round the corner for a single.

And here’s Robert Wilson. “Excellent shade from Brian Withington there [42nd over] about the wicked cruelty of bringing Morgan back into the Test line-up. If we are going full sadism, why not tie a couple of puppies to the stumps and throw knives at them? Can you even imagine what Morgan’s stance would look like if he survived the first 20 minutes? Plus, when it comes to long-form cricket, does he still remember the rules?

“PS. I’m Irish. I’m allowed to say this.”

6.50pm GMT

44th over: England 102-3 (Root 13, Buttler 13) That’s more like it from Root, spotting a short one from Joseph, dancing deep into his crease, and late-cutting for four. His 13 have come off 46 balls, further evidence of some fine bowling. Jason Holder, banned from this match for slow over-rate, has popped up in the commentary box, where, so far, he’s proving that he can’t do everything after all. Clear plans, blah blah, being as patient as possible, blah.

6.46pm GMT

43rd over: England 98-3 (Root 9, Buttler 13) Roach reckons he’s got Buttler lbw, but it’s probably doing too much and Brathwaite doesn’t review. Then Root is cut in half by a nip-backer that charges through the gate and sails over middle stump. For all their toils, England have lost only one wicket every 14 overs today, a big improvement on the first two Tests, when it was one every five.

6.41pm GMT

42nd over: England 96-3 (Root 8, Buttler 12) Joseph replaces Paul, but the effect is much the same: a maiden to Root, who plays at thin air again. He’s so out of nick now, he’ll probably make a thousand in the Ashes.

6.36pm GMT

42nd over: England 96-3 (Root 8, Buttler 12) Roach drops short and Buttler sees it early enough to thwack him past cover. Captain and vice-captain decide the time is right for a little fist bump.

And here’s Brian Withington. I’d been wondering where he was. “Hightailing it back from a 4-3 defeat for Worcester at Loughborough –” aha – “but mightily consoled by the talk of Cap’n Morgan as England’s saviour skipper for the Ashes. Why not recall Mike Brearley while we’re about it, given that red-ball batting form and county cricket is immaterial to Test selection now?” Oof.

6.33pm GMT

41st over: England 91-3 (Root 7, Buttler 8) Root, facing Paul, at his best and worst. A creamy cover drive for four, his first flicker of authority today; a couple of good decisive leaves; and an ugly play-and-miss. Buttler, showing leadership, pulls him out of the firing line by calling for a quick single.

“Is it me,” asks Amod Paranjape, “or are the England batsmen being plainly tentative? I mean, as Rahul Dravid puts it, leaving the ball is also an act of aggression. Dravid must be doing something right. He got KL Rahul back in form.”

6.27pm GMT

40th over: England 84-3 (Root 2, Buttler 8) Kemar Roach takes over from Gabriel and the dots continue to pile up, with Buttler playing like a man who thinks it’s still dry January.

6.23pm GMT

39th over: England 84-3 (Root 2, Buttler 8) Stuck for ideas, England go back to getting ’em in fives, as Paul sprays one down leg and it goes for five wides. That’s the first run of any kind off Paul in this spell. Then, finally, Root gets off the mark with a cover push for two off his 21st ball. Mike Atherton says Paul reminds him of Jofra Archer – who may well be rushed into this England side for the Ashes. Possibly as an opening batsman.

6.17pm GMT

38th over: England 77-3 (Root 0, Buttler 8) Another row of dots punctuated by another edge. Buttler plays a better shot to a full outswinger from Gabriel, but it’s still a slice, and it’s still in the air. If there had been a backward point, he would have swallowed it. As it is, it’s four, and that’s drinks. That hour belonged firmly to West Indies, as England, after patiently building a platform, set fire to it in the face of some fine fast bowling.

6.10pm GMT

37th over: England 73-3 (Root 0, Buttler 4) Now it’s Root’s turn to have a scare, as a textbook outswinger from Paul kisses the edge, but Root’s hands are soft enough to make sure the ball drops short of first slip. You take the high nick, I’ll take the low nick.

6.07pm GMT

36th over: England 73-3 (Root 0, Buttler 4) Tied down, Buttler flashes at a wide one from Gabriel. In a joint effort by first and second slip, who are not very tall, the ball is tipped over the bar. Jason Holder would have caught it, says a commentator – though he’s more likely to have been at third slip, or bowling.

“Don’t ask me why,” says Kim Thonger, “but I suddenly felt the need to alter the lyrics of the choruses of The Candy Man by Sammy Davis Jr.” Go on then.

”Who can take a wicket (who can take a wicket)
Sprinkle it with dew (sprinkle it with dew)
Cover it with fert’lizer and a miracle or two
Oh, the Groundsman can (the Groundsman can)
The Groundsman can
‘Cause he mixes it with love
And makes the ball bounce good (makes the ball bounce good)

Who can take an outfield (who can take an outfield)
Wrap it in a sigh (wrap it in a sigh)
Soak it in the sun and make a groovy Duke ball fly
The Groundsman can (the Groundsman can)
Oh the Groundsman can

NB ‘Fertiliser’ only works in the first chorus in a Somerset accent.”

6.00pm GMT

35th over: England 69-3 (Root 0, Buttler 0) So England have their captain and vice-captain out there, both on nought, and both out of form. Root plays out a maiden from Paul, who has sensational figures of 7-5-7-2. He’s been the man of the day so far.

5.57pm GMT

34th over: England 69-3 (Root 0, Buttler 0) Jos Buttler survives the rest of the over, but he’s out of form for the first time in a year. And Gabriel is steaming in – the replay shows that Denly was beaten for pace. His wicket, according to Sky, was the 18th England have lost to a bowled or lbw in this series, compared to West Indies’ four.

5.52pm GMT

Gone! The bat came down crooked and the review only brought three reds. After all that grafting this morning, the collapse is on.

5.51pm GMT

Yet another lbw shout, from Gabriel this time. It’s given, and Denly only reviews at the last moment...

5.49pm GMT

33rd over: England 69-2 (Denly 20, Root 0) Paul sniffs a second lbw in the same over as Root plays outside an inswinger, but it’s going down the leg side. Root then plays a millionaire’s cover drive that could easily cost him his wicket. He said after last week’s debacle that he couldn’t bat for the others. In this form, you wouldn’t want him to.

5.46pm GMT

Gone! What a good review by Kraigg Brathwaite, who missed one early on. It was a full ball from Paul, not doing much, but angled in from wide of the crease and Burns, falling over to off as he is apt to, was aiming through midwicket, with half a blade. He battled hard but never looked comfortable, and 29 is a very Burns-ish score. Mind you, it was quite Cook-ish too.

5.43pm GMT

For lbw, off Keemo Paul, who has just come on. Could be out if there’s no bat...

5.42pm GMT

32nd over: England 69-1 (Burns 29, Denly 20) Gabriel beats Denly with a jaffa. Before that, Burns played another of those crabby nudges of his for a single. He’s playing in binary: 101 balls faced, one boundary.

An email comes in from St Lucia, of all places. “Whilst enjoying the vibes here in Beausejour,” says John Brunt, “I’ve been giving some thought to seizing opportunity from the jaws of ineptitude.

5.36pm GMT

31st over: England 68-1 (Burns 28, Denly 20) Roach strays onto leg stump and Denly gets a flick on it, which is all it needs to go for four. And that’s his highest Test score, beating 17 in the previous game. He’s been more purposeful this time, standing outside his crease and meeting the ball earlier. The last ball of this over is a nasty one, and he meets it with his rib cage, or perhaps his glove. Painful either way.

5.31pm GMT

30th over: England 64-1 (Burns 28, Denly 16) Gabriel is looking to tempt Denly into a hook, with two men out there. He bowls a bouncer, which is calmly ducked, then follows up with something so far outside leg that it beats the keeper and goes for five wides. England are getting ’em in fives.

5.26pm GMT

29th over: England 56-1 (Burns 27, Denly 14) Denly flashes at Roach and gets four. He’s keeping the slips interested, but he’s still there.

5.21pm GMT

28th over: England 51-1 (Burns 27, Denly 9) Gabriel bowls to Denly, who pushes into the covers for a single – and picks up a five, as a scatterbrained shy at the stumps races away to the boundary. So, finally, the England fifty comes up. They’ve been reasonably boring.

5.17pm GMT

27th over: England 46-1 (Burns 27, Denly 4) Kemar Roach returns with a maiden, his sixth of the day, as Rory Burns digs in again.

“I was wondering,” says Richard Graveling, “if this current England selection situation reminds anyone else of the wonderfully establishment-shaking 1990s and the gentlemanly tussle between Alec Stewart (a batting part-timer) and Jack Russell (a Proper Wicketkeeper) that threatened at the time to overthrow the MCC and democracy in general?

4.38pm GMT

So Denly gets to enjoy his lunch, just. And Burns survives too, though he has only been a little more convincing than his opening partner, Jennings. For West Indies, Roach was excellent, Gabriel flaky at first then formidable, Joseph testing and Paul almost as good as the man he’s replaced, Holder. But the story of the morning is the dog that didn’t bark: England haven’t collapsed. See you in half an hour or so.

4.33pm GMT

Denly did glove it – but the glove was off the handle. Now that’s what I call a narrow escape.

4.32pm GMT

For caught behind down the leg side. Not given by the umpire, but there may be some glove...

4.31pm GMT

26th over: England 46-1 (Burns 27, Denly 4) Denly clips Gabriel to leg for a single, and then Gabriel produces a big effort ball for Burns – a bouncer angled in above off stump, which is ducked at the last second. Burns regains his composure to shovel a single to long leg.

4.27pm GMT

25th over: England 44-1 (Burns 26, Denly 3) Keemo Paul has been Denly in reverse: a young player performing like a veteran. He beats Burns all ends up by angling the ball in and moving it away.

4.23pm GMT

24th over: England 44-1 (Burns 26, Denly 3) Gabriel returns and finds his radar, which went missing at the start. Denly survives an LBW shout close to off-stump, then edges just short of second slip, and finally pulls at thin air, when the ball was wide of off and crying out for the cut. He’s playing like a man of 32, going on 22.

4.18pm GMT

23rd over: England 43-1 (Burns 25, Denly 3) Denly plays out a maiden from Paul, who turns out to have a handy bouncer as well some swing.

The mention of Reds Pereira (20th over) strikes a chord with David Stewart. “Had the pleasure of meeting the old boy at the ground yesterday morning. My two colleagues had no idea who the great man was – till I said I had listened to him on TMS as a teen, back in the 1970s. A bit unsteady on the pins these days, but sharp as ever between the ears; and that demerara voice...”

4.13pm GMT

22nd over: England 43-1 (Burns 25, Denly 3) Another nudge from Burns, another couple of runs. His temperament seems better than his technique, which is probably the right way round.

4.11pm GMT

21st over: England 40-1 (Burns 23, Denly 3) Denly wafts at Paul. For a seasoned pro, he does seem a little shaky outside off – which is exactly the problem he’s been brought in to fix.

4.09pm GMT

20th over: England 40-1 (Burns 23, Denly 3) A single apiece off Joseph: a gritty nurdle from Burns, an elegant push-drive from Denly.

And an interesting point from Kandukuru Nagarjun. “Much has been said of the decline of West Indian Test cricket over the last two decades, but relatively less about the downswing in Caribbean cricket writing. The greatest writer of them all, CLR James, was West Indian. People like Tony Cozier, Reds Pereira, Tony Becca and Hilary Beckles were ornaments to the game, especially in the ‘80s high noon. But where are their successors? Fazeer Mohammad, Donna Symonds and Vaneisa Baksh seemed worthy, but seem to have disappeared. Ian Bishop and Mikey Holding are very good experts in the commentary box, but where are the proper professional writers? Would you know of any to keep an eye on?

4.02pm GMT

19th over: England 38-1 (Burns 22, Denly 2) Burns is still looking awkward. He edges Paul for four through the slips, then nudges to leg and calls Denly for a crazy single. It would have been out if Hetmyer had hit.

“A couple of things,” says Peter Salmon. “First, I do like the fact that the current picture at the top of the page, with Jennings leaving a ball outside off stump, is captioned ‘Keaton Jennings plays a shot from the bowling of Kemar Roach’. I understand that leaving the ball is technically a shot, but it does seem very Keaton.” Ha.

3.58pm GMT

18th over: England 33-1 (Burns 17, Denly 2) Chin music! Joseph gets a lovely tune out of this slow pitch, and Denly does well to jag out of the way.

Meanwhile, a very short email arrives from David Bertram. “Ian Bell nailed on to bat three for the Ashes?” You would think so. Jennings was handed a gift of a second chance today and he blew it.

3.53pm GMT

17th over: England 32-1 (Burns 16, Denly 2) Joe Denly, who spent ages on nought in his first Test, wastes no time in his second, cover-driving Joseph for a couple. His bat was some way from his left pad, so the slips may want to stay on their toes. A great start from Keemo Paul, who is tall, relaxed, already swinging it both ways, and the first person today to understudy Jason Holder with any success.

3.48pm GMT

Oh, Jennings. First ball after drinks. First ball from Keemo Paul. Same old stroke – a loose drive at a regulation Test-match delivery. Same old result: catching practice for first slip.

3.44pm GMT

16th over: England 30-0 (Burns 16, Jennings 8) Two more twos for Burns off Joseph. A lot of Josephs in this match: England, possibly for the first time ever, have one at three, one at four and one at five. And that’s drinks, with the openers just about doing their job of seeing off the new ball.

“Hello Tim.” Hello Kim Thonger. “I’ve thought for some time that Test cricket would benefit from a radical shake-up. How about allowing a squad of 15 to be selected for each Test, and giving the captains the ability to select 11 from the 15 for the first innings, and then a DIFFERENT 11 for the second innings. Imagine how that could alter the strategic flow of the game. All sorts of calculations and game plans become possible.

“My other thought is that as very few two-innings five-day matches now last the full five days, why not have three innings per side? Or even two normal innings and a ‘power play’ third innings of say, five batsmen, selected by the captain to be either attacking or defensive depending on the state of the game.” Kim, there’s a job waiting for you at the ECB.

3.38pm GMT

15th over: England 26-0 (Burns 12, Jennings 8) Jennings, facing Roach, remembers that today is all about being boring, and plays out a maiden. His eight have come off 42 balls.

More on the captaincy. “I would be very intrigued to see Morgan as Test captain,” says Toby Sims, “though I’ve no idea what that would do to Joe Root’s psyche. I would hope that he would relax into batting like a demon. I’m very with Abhijato’s point – a specialist captain I think is an undervalued role, someone either sensible (Paine) or talismanic (Morgan?). As long as they can contribute *something* with the bat (or ball), it could make a huge difference.

3.35pm GMT

14th over: England 26-0 (Burns 12, Jennings 8) Alzarri Joseph comes on to replace the wayward Gabriel. Burns helps himself to two, two and two – but very nearly gives short leg a catch in between. Short leg is square and not that short, and paid the price as the ball reached him on the half-volley.

3.30pm GMT

13th over: England 20-0 (Burns 6, Jennings 8) Jennings survives, again, but he keeps getting squared up by Roach. Does anyone know why he became an opener? He’s far better against spin and seems more suited to going in at five or six, congested as that zone may be.

3.28pm GMT

12th over: England 20-0 (Burns 6, Jennings 8) Gabriel strays on to Burns’s leg stump again, and that’s four more to leg byes, which have made a more confident start than Jennings and may well get the nod for the Ashes.

Following John Starbuck’s riposte to Romeo (6th over), we now have Romeo’s retort to Starbuck. “John, I agree that a statement of rationale would help. I searched for ages, in vain, for such a thing. I only found anything to this effect in a press notice, and it didn’t give any reasoning. The regs are very, very written, with a very firm biro. It seems the computers all said no. The regs need looking at for match situation etc., and give the referee more leeway.” Seems to me that the phrase “very, very written” could catch on.

3.21pm GMT

11th over: England 15-0 (Burns 6, Jennings 7) Another beauty from Roach, full and swinging away from the left-hander, proves too good for Burns, who prods at thin air. Later in the over, he manages to lay bat on something similar and picks up two to third man.

Here’s Abhijato Sensarma, picking up on Rob’s point about Eoin Morgan being a potential Test captain. “Following a year of sensational Test selections, until this series happened of course, I think bringing in Eoin Morgan will be a hugely controversial, but a potentially team-saving decision! While it’s more of a hope and a step too far even for the pyrotechnics of the ECB selectors, Morgan could be Paine-esque. Not the best player for the role he will occupy in the line-up itself, but a calm head and a brilliant captain in sudden times of uncertainty! Like a superhero film which drops into movie theatres a month before announced (never happens), here’s to hoping Morgan flies into the English Test side for the Ashes!” If any captain of today is worth a few exclamation marks, it’s Morgan.

3.15pm GMT

10th over: England 13-0 (Burns 4, Jennings 7) England find calmer waters as Gabriel bowls a maiden, conceding only a leg-bye.

“Hi Tim,” says Cosmo The Average on Twitter. “I hope you’ve got another TV for the rugby at the moment.” I haven’t. “It’s a belter.” Ah.

3.13pm GMT

9th over: England 12-0 (Burns 4, Jennings 7) That was actually two lives for Jennings, as he’d just been smacked on the pad by a full straight one. It was given not out, perhaps because there were two noises, and West Indies didn’t review. Hawk-Eye showed it was plumb: the two noises were one pad, then the other. So the Windies missed Jason Holder twice in two minutes – as a reviewer, and a safe pair of hands at third slip.

3.10pm GMT

Keaton Jennings, surprised by the bounce from Kemar Roach, pops one off the shoulder to third slip, where Roston Chase is surprised too, and spills a straightforward chance

3.06pm GMT

8th over: England 8-0 (Burns 4, Jennings 3) Thanks Rob and afternoon everyone. England have one task today: to rediscover the art of being boring. So far it’s going pretty well – one run per over, two dogged left-handers, slow surface, sheaves of leaves. Rory Burns sees off another over from Shannon Gabriel, who seems to be bowling for a non-existent leg slip.

3.01pm GMT

7th over: England 8-0 (Burns 4, Jennings 3) Jennings offers no stroke to a ball from Roach that jags back to thump him in the box. It was too high for an LBW appeal, so let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and say he left it on length. Roach is still struggling to make the batsmen play, and figures of 4-3-2-0 flatter him.

That’s it from me for now. Tim de Lisle will be with you for the next few hours – you can email him or tweet @TimdeLisle. Bye!

2.57pm GMT

6th over: England 6-0 (Burns 3, Jennings 3) Gabriel resumes his third over with a lifter that is left on length by Burns. Although he has modest figures this winter - his average is 26 - I think Burns has done enough to stay in the team for the start of the Ashes. He looks comfortably batting at different tempos, and so far today he has 3 from 23 balls.

“Thanks, Romeo, for looking up the rules about slow over-rate penalties, but my main point still stands,” says John Starbuck. “They don’t publish their reasoning and scoring. In an age when we can hear the third umpire’s words for DRS, it would help everybody, including offending teams, if we all knew what was actually going on. Secrecy invites conspiracy theories.”

2.49pm GMT

Play will resume in five minutes’ time.

2.43pm GMT

The covers are coming off. Woot and, indeed, woot.

2.42pm GMT

“Hi Rob,” says Romeo. “John Starbuck asks who makes these decisions. I looked it all up last week. There are lots of rules. It’s the first three umpires, who ‘can’ refer it to the match referee, who has quite a lot of discretion as well. There’s a table of allowances for wickets, drinks etc. I suspect the umpires feel they have to go by the regulations and refer, but the person who actually makes the decision and applies whatever sanction, if any, is the match referee. It was Jeff Crowe in Antigua, as it is for this game.”

2.42pm GMT

“I think the complaints about the output of Root, Buttler, Stokes and Bairstow miss the point slightly,” says Phil Harrison. “The problems at the top have a knock-on effect. Root is constantly coming in at 30-2. Buttler at 50-3. Stokes at 70-4. And so on. Of course that’s going to be harder than coming in with the shine off and the bowlers into their second and third spells. Sort the top three and the rest falls into shape.”

I agree up to a point. This middle order would love to have the 2011 versions of Cook, Strauss and Trott above them, but they still aren’t good enough at scoring tough runs. Middle-order batsmen like Graham Thorpe, Robin Smith, Nasser Hussain and Paul Collingwood scored a helluva lot of runs from 30-2 and 50-3. England also had a very good start before they collapsed to Roston Chase at Barbados.

2.35pm GMT

“I think Jennings should not be opening for England,” says Don Wilson. “Nothing to do with his form (or lack thereof), but just for shaving his head and looking such a bloody idiot.”

Well...

I’ve decided to #BraveTheShave and shave my head cleaner than the @jackleach1991 with @macmillancancer. I’d really love your support - whether that be in the form of a donation, or a retweet! Let’s do our part to support those fighting against cancer! https://t.co/SLmtegx18e

2.30pm GMT

“I have come to the conclusion that, nine times out of ten, England collapse due to the pressure they face,” says OB Jato. “This is very dangerous for any side, especially one which is a favourite to win the World Cup. What if they collapse in the knockouts of a global event like they did in the Champions Trophy semi-final? Their entire focus has been on the ODI side since the 2015 disaster. If they don’t win, and the Test side continues with its unorthodox without being particular success, I am sure heads will roll...”

Heads are already scheduled to roll, aren’t they? I’m not sure I completely agree with your first point, though I accept there’s a psychological fragility in the Test batting line-up. They have collapsed in all circumstances and formats, including dead rubbers, and I think they have become much better at dealing with pressure in ODIs.

2.25pm GMT

5.1 overs: England 5-0 (Burns 2, Jennings 3) There’s a bit of mizzle in Gros Islet, and the umpires have decided to protect the pitch before it gets worse.

2.22pm GMT

5th over: England 5-0 (Burns 2, Jennings 3) Roach offers Jennings a few tempting deliveries well wide of off stump, all of which are politely ignored. When he tightens his line with the final delivery, Jennings can’t resist a leaden-footed groundhog drive that takes the edge and lands a fraction short of second slip. Roach has figures of 3-3-0-0.

2.17pm GMT

4th over: England 5-0 (Burns 2, Jennings 3) Burns gets off the mark with a couple of runs off Gabriel. It’s been a low-key start to the game. Mind you, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre began quietly.

“On the over-rate suspension of Holder, yes, they do have to do something, but they could be more open about it,” says John Starbuck. “Who exactly took this decision? And why don’t they exercise discretion? There ought to be a checklist of considerations, such as how much time is taken attending to injuries, recovering the ball from the boundary big sixes, umpire dithering about the weather and so on. The third umpire should be required to add mitigating comments before such a decision, rather than the powers-that-be relying on crude figures; anyone would think this was the DWP.”

2.13pm GMT

3rd over: England 2-0 (Burns 0, Jennings 2) Roach hasn’t got his line right yet. Burns is constructing his innings on a need-to-play basis, which means he has barely put bat on ball. A poor over from Roach is therefore a maiden.

“Isn’t it clear,” begins Andrew Hurley, “that Root preferred not to drop one of his buddies and didn’t have the character to stand up to Bairstow?”

2.09pm GMT

2nd over: England 2-0 (Burns 0, Jennings 2) Shannon Gabriel starts to Keaton Jennings, who clips a full ball off the pads to get off the mark. If Jennings gets a hundred today, England’s selectors won’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“Rob,” says Colum Farrelly. “In your preamble aren’t you just being polite in saying ‘you could argue’ that this team is ‘thinking they are better than they actually are’. Is it not sticking out the proverbial mile the team is so afflicted?”

2.04pm GMT

1st over: England 0-0 (Burns 0, Jennings 0) Kemar Roach starts with a quiet over to Rory Burns. Ther was a little bit of movement off the greenish pitch but nothing alarming, and Burns left most of the deliveries outside off stump.

“I’m with you on finding the Foakes omission hard to like but far from finding it easy to understand,” says Geoff Wignall. “Get a towelling and drop your form player? In favour of the guy whose every public pronouncement of late has been undermining of the form man? Yes, Bairstow’s a good but not great batsman (inadequate at No3) - but with no great run scoring record when keeping wicket and seemingly incapable of accepting that Foakes is easily the superior gloveman. I see it as a ridiculous and grossly unfair selection, one that doesn’t reflect well at all on Root.”

2.00pm GMT

“Dear Rob,” says Robert Wilson. “I’m guessing you don’t want my nineteen-page J’Accuse about the Jason Holder balls-up (God forbid that the suicidal entity called cricket should exploit effortlessly charismatic and likeable young players in their attempt to seduce new generations into liking this weird and discomfiting sport!). Without him, this becomes a test of where the Windies are at. If they do well, it’s proof of organic and permanent vigour. If it goes wrong, then maybe Holder will get some of the long-overdue kudos for what a sensational skipper he quite clearly is. So it’s a win-win (though hugely annoying).”

I’m torn on this. They have to do something, don’t they, when over-rates are so slow?

1.34pm GMT

Ben Stokes has passed a fitness test and will play. West Indies have brought in the bowling allrounder Keemo Paul to replace Jason Holder, which means we’ll have to wait to see the exciting Oshane Thomas.

England have made two changes to their XI - Mark Wood and Keaton Jennings for Sam Curran and Ben Foakes - but there have been multiple changes to the batting order.

1.33pm GMT

Ooh hoo, this could be fun.

1.14pm GMT

England have dropped Ben Foakes, a decision that is easy to understand but much harder to like. If I were Foakes, I’d be emitting a serious amount of righteous heat just now. I still think Ed Smith and his selection team are comfortably in credit after their first year, but they have had a bit of a shocker on this tour.

When you try to revolutionise selection, as England have in the last nine months, a few mistakes and contradictions are unavoidable. There is also not much they can do about the fact that, on any given day, England’s tail can start at No1. Yet even allowing for this, and the understandable reasoning behind each individual decision, the cumulative effect is a rare old mess.

1.03pm GMT

Pre-match reading

11.21am GMT

Hello. The England Test team are like one of those viral brain teasers. You know, #TheDress, that sort of thing. Everyone who looks at this side sees something different. Are they an enormously talented group with the potential to be the world’s best once they find a top three? An entertainingly ramshackle collective who have breached Pakistan’s copyright of the word ‘mercurial’? A shower of good-time Charlies who can’t be bothered to do the hard yards? Or all the above before 9pm tonight?

At the moment I see them as the team that never quite grew up. The middle-order spine – Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali – are all aged between 27 and 31, yet we still talk about their potential. Perhaps they have realised their potential; perhaps this, give or take, is as good as they will ever be.

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Published on February 09, 2019 15:19

February 4, 2019

Fix the top three, consider Root’s position: an England recovery plan | Rob Smyth

Changes are needed in the wake of England’s defeats in the Caribbean, but this is not the time for knee-jerk reactions

England have won eight of their past 11 Tests. They have also won eight of their past 19. They are not as good as they thought they were after victory in Sri Lanka; they are not as bad as we think they are now. By demanding an instant fix to a complicated problem, many modern fans are demonstrating the same aversion to nuance and patience that they deplore in England’s batsmen. It’s important not to overreact, but nor should England under-react. Their top-order batting was in crisis even when they were hammering India and Sri Lanka last year, and all ideas should be discussed in an attempt to address it. Those ideas should all stay on the table until after the World Cup, England’s biggest priority this year, and the Ashes, which they should still win if the pitches are slow seamers. This summer will be the end of two important cycles, and of Trevor Bayliss’s time as coach. Then, not now, is the time to make major changes.

Joe Root’s average by series since becoming captain

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Published on February 04, 2019 02:00

February 1, 2019

West Indies v England: second Test, day two – as it happened

England bowled admirably, with little luck, as a courageous, discplined West Indies inched towards a potentially matchwinning lead in Antigua

11.33pm GMT

10.05pm GMT

Vic Marks’ report has landed so I’ll leave you with that. Thanks for your company, goodnight!

9.29pm GMT

9.27pm GMT

That was a really good day’s play. England bowled excellently with little luck, Stuart Broad in particular, but West Indies played with admirable discipline to inch towards what should be a decisive lead. In many ways, that performance will give Jason Holder more pleasure than watching his team skittle England for 77, because all the batsmen were willing to do the hard yards and play their unnatural game.

9.24pm GMT

111th over: West Indies 272-6 (Bravo 33, Holder 19) Moeen beats Bravo with a classic off-spinner, an apt note on which to end a frustrating day for England. That’s stumps!

9.20pm GMT

110th over: West Indies 270-6 (Bravo 32, Holder 18) Holder drives Stokes through extra cover for a couple. He has played carefully, with none of the expansive strokeplay we saw in Barbados. West Indies have been impressively adaptable with ball and especially bat, and have outplayed England in that department. They have also read the conditions better, which I suppose a home side should. Stokes ends his work for the day with another excellent over; his work-rate is extraordinary. One more over to go.

“Holding was an elegant bowler even at full pace and off his (very) long run,” says Phillip Mallett. “But as John Arlott said, that run-up was ‘a thing of beauty, but not a joy for ever’. It’s not every commentator who has the poetry of Keats at his fingertips, let alone the Hampshire accent with which to speak it. Much missed.”

9.15pm GMT

109th over: West Indies 268-6 (Bravo 32, Holder 16) This is now the longest innings of the match from Bravo: 161 balls, 32 runs. That’s a lot of dots.

“The difference between Stokes and Botham?” says Kim Thonger. Botham was taught rhythm by Tom Cartwright. The most elegant medium-pace bowler of the 20th century.”

9.13pm GMT

108th over: West Indies 268-6 (Bravo 32, Holder 16) An attempted yorker from Stokes swings down the leg side for four byes. He looks completely spent; he has given everything and got almost nothing today.

9.08pm GMT

107th over: West Indies 264-6 (Bravo 32, Holder 16) Moeen continues, with five overs remaining until the close. Bravo drives him down the ground for a single to move to 32 from 155 balls. That’s a strike rate of 21 runs per 100 balls. It’s a counter-intuitive way to play on such a capricious surface, but he has made it work.

9.05pm GMT

106th over: West Indies 262-6 (Bravo 31, Holder 15) The indefatigable Stokes straightens a beautiful delivery past Holder’s outside edge. As Nasser Hussain says on Sky, England’s main three bowlers – Anderson, Broad and Stokes - have been beyond reproach today. There have been so many false strokes, near misses and dropped catches. West Indies lead by 75.

9.01pm GMT

105th over: West Indies 260-6 (Bravo 31, Holder 13) Moeen Ali replaces the harmless Sam Curran (13-0-38-0). One from the over; Bravo’s vigil is now 31 from 150 balls.

“‘Ben Stokes now has a better bowling average than Ian Botham,’” says Phil White. “Er, no. Botham 28, Stokes 32. (Also Botham 383 wickets, Stokes 123.) Don’t think Botham was really a ‘monster’ batsman though (33 as against say Kallis 55?) It was more that we all thought he might do something monstrous.”

8.57pm GMT

104th over: West Indies 259-6 (Bravo 31, Holder 12) The strokeless Bravo plays out a maiden from Stokes, who is trying absolutely everything to open the door to the West Indies tail. Stokes is absolutely shattered. In different ways, he and Bravo have shown immense courage today. I wouldn’t say the pitch has gone quiet, but it’s keeping itself to itself a lot more than it did earlier in the day.

8.52pm GMT

103rd over: West Indies 259-6 (Bravo 31, Holder 12) It’s not happening for Sam Curran, who looks in need of a little break from Test cricket to take stock of it all. He’s still only 20 and I have no doubt he’ll be back. Mind you, I said the same about Haseeb Hameed.

8.48pm GMT

102nd over: West Indies 255-6 (Bravo 30, Holder 9)

8.42pm GMT

101st over: West Indies 253-6 (Bravo 29, Holder 8) Holder punches Curran sweetly through mid-off for four. England would love to have the taller, quicker Chris Woakes bowling here. Hindsight says Curran was a poor choice in these conditions, but then hindsight can be a tedious know-it-all. He’s never done anything wrong in his life, that one.

“Hi Rob,” says Kieron Shaw. “Ben Stokes now has a better bowling average than Ian Botham. Not sure what that tells us other than that, possibly, he’s a bowling all-rounder rather than a batting all-rounder?”

8.38pm GMT

100th over: West Indies 248-6 (Bravo 28, Holder 4) Ben Stokes comes on at the Sir Curtly Ambrose End to replace Stuart Broad, who has Ambrose tribute figures of 28-13-42-3. Bravo misses a drive at a seductive outswinger; the slips go up for a catch but nobody else was interested. It’s been a filthy innings from Bravo - and all the more impressive because of that. He is hopelessly out of form and playing on a very difficult pitch, yet he has hung around for 135 balls to inch West Indies into what should be a winning position.

8.33pm GMT

99th over: West Indies 245-6 (Bravo 25, Holder 4) A quiet over from Curran, two from it. West Indies lead inches up to 58.

8.29pm GMT

Meanwhile, over in the BPL, Jason Roy has just added another worldie to his collection pic.twitter.com/Zi1yXp2zdS

8.28pm GMT

98th over: West Indies 243-6 (Bravo 25, Holder 2) Broad beats Bravo yet again outside off stump; the left-handers have played and missed at him at least 20 times in this innings. The word on Ben Foakes, incidentally, is that his hand is bruised and swollen but not broken. It might give England an excuse to leave him out of the final Test next week, though a lot depends on whether the series is still alive.

Broad’s over ends with a brutal delivery that explodes from a length to smack Bravo on the forearm. That was nasty. Bravo is on his haunches but I think he’s fine.

8.23pm GMT

97th over: West Indies 243-6 (Bravo 25, Holder 2) Sam Curran replaces Ben Stokes, who I suspect will change ends. Curran has had a tough series so far, averaging 12 with the bat and 148 with the ball, and Jason Holder might decide to target him. Not in that over – it’s a good start from Curran, with some menacing inswing to the right-hander and one lifter that hits Holder on the glove. West Indies lead by 56. This is brilliant stuff.

8.19pm GMT

96th over: West Indies 241-6 (Bravo 25, Holder 0) A slightly tired over from Broad, the eighth of his spell, costs just a single.

8.12pm GMT

95th over: West Indies 240-6 (Bravo 24, Holder 0) Bravo is cut in a half by a big inswinger from Stokes. He has played with such determination, making 25 from 119 balls; he’s certainly earned a drink.

“Hey Rob, big England fan who hasn’t been watching due to work (and living in Norway),” says Brendan Large. “What’s happened to Foakes? And how bad is this for England?”

8.07pm GMT

94th over: West Indies 240-6 (Bravo 24, Holder 0) Oh, hold on, England have one review remaining, and they are tempted to use it when Holder survives an appeal for caughtbehind/LBW/JUSTGIVEUSABLOODYWICKETMATE after being cut in half by Broad. It missed the inside edge, hit the back pad and would have gone a long way over the stumps. Lovely bowling from Broad, though, who has been majestic today: 27-11-42-3 are his figures for the innings.

“What is the highest innings total in a Test in which no batsman got over 49” asks Michael McClelland.

8.02pm GMT

93rd over: West Indies 240-6 (Bravo 24, Holder 0)

“Hi Rob,” says Ned Harrison. “Catching up on coverage of the day’s play (for which thanks, by the way) and news, and all this talk of positivity seems a bit out of place. Especially now hope’s gone. So can I offer a negativity eleven instead?

8.00pm GMT

Bravo was hit on the back leg by a low full toss from Stokes, but it clearly hit him outside leg stump and replays confirmed as much. England have no reviews left. The ball also ran away for four leg byes.

7.58pm GMT

This is a stupid review, I think.

7.57pm GMT

92nd over: West Indies 236-6 (Bravo 24, Holder 0) The new batsman is Jason Holder. England will fancy their chances of blowing away the last three batsmen, so this is the key partnership.

“Evening Topical Bob,” says Chris Drew. “Now come on Father, what would you say to a nice cup of tea?”

7.55pm GMT

Phew, England needed that wicket. A vicious lifter from Broad takes the glove and loops in slow motion to Buttler at third slip. Dowrich walks off wringing his right thumb; he played really well for a handy 31 and could do nothing about that delivery. It was similar to, if not quite as extreme as, the ball that dismissed Joe Root yesterday.

7.51pm GMT

91st over: West Indies 235-5 (Bravo 23, Dowrich 31) Stokes replaces Anderson, who remains wicketless in the innings, and is pulled confidently for four by Dowrich. Stokes hoofs the turf. Apart from that one bad ball it was an excellent over, including one big inswinger that Bravo drove whence it came for a single.

“Rob,” says John Starbuck. “Was there any indication of reverse swing in the previous 80 overs? It seems to be missing from the commentary, what with all the emphasis on the uneven pitch. Maybe this version of the Dukes balls don’t work as well?”

7.47pm GMT

90th over: West Indies 229-5 (Bravo 22, Dowrich 26) Bravo, who is clearly out of form and has fought admirably, plays out another maiden from Broad. Cricket is a strange elderly pastime, and it’s unwise to predict too much. But I suspect that England’s moment has passed and that the series will slip away from here. They don’t just need two quick wickets; they need five.

“Whenever I hear that Burns is at the ballgame (e.g. over 68),” says Bill Hargreaves, “I wonder if he’s going to get someone to trim their sideburns.”

7.43pm GMT

89th over: West Indies 229-5 (Bravo 22, Dowrich 26) Gorgeous shot from Dowrich, who drives Anderson through mid-off for four. There are many West Indies teams of the last 20 years who would have been all out for 80 on this pitch. This team seem to have much more discipline and stomach for the fight.

“I think All Time World Positivity Squad might not be catchy enough,” says Kim Thonger. “How about PCGOTG, Pantheistic Cricketing Guardians Of The Galaxy.”

7.39pm GMT

88th over: West Indies 224-5 (Bravo 21, Dowrich 22) The second new ball is starting to do a little more, and Broad beats Bravo with an unplayable delivery that angles in before snapping past the edge. West Indies lead by 37 precious runs.

7.37pm GMT

87th over: West Indies 223-5 (Bravo 20, Dowrich 22) Dowrich survives another huge LBW appeal from Anderson. This one looks a lot closer – but England decided not to risk their last review. They must be worried about height, and replays suggest it would indeed have bounced a long way over the top. That’s good captaincy from Joe Root as many people, including Topical Bob, would have reviewed that.

By the way, that was definitely a dropped catch from Buttler in the previous over. It pitched a fraction before Bravo edged it. This is turning into a tale of woe for England.

7.33pm GMT

Anderson strikes! Dowrich pushes around an excellent delivery and is given out LBW, but he’s going to review. This might be bouncing over the top; it’s really close because he was up on his toes. It’s missing! Oh my.

7.30pm GMT

86th over: West Indies 221-5 (Bravo 20, Dowrich 20) Bravo misses a big drive at Broad and then survives a hopeful LBW appeal. Buttler at third slip then puts down what seemed to be a bump ball, though on second glance I’m not so sure. I think that was an edge from Bravo. It was certainly a really bad drop from Buttler, who has had a nightmare in the field in this series.

7.25pm GMT

85th over: West Indies 218-5 (Bravo 20, Dowrich 19) Another maiden from Anderson to Bravo. “These are alarm bells for England,” says Bumble on Sky. “There’s nothing happening with this new ball.” West Indies are looking really comfortable.

“Hi Rob,” says Simon Richards. “There used to be an Aussie rock band (Rose Tattoo?) whose lead singer was an Angry Anderson. Wonder if he ever got as angry as our English one?”

7.22pm GMT

84th over: West Indies 218-5 (Bravo 20, Dowrich 19) Broad is bowling very straight to Dowrich, hoping a delivery will either take off or stay down. Thus far, that hasn’t happened with the second new ball. There was really good carry in Anderson’s first over, but nothing much has happened since then. The last ball of Broad’s over deflects for four leg-byes.

“If we are sticking to Test players,” says Starkive, “NZ have fielded a Merritt and a Stirling.”

7.17pm GMT

83rd over: West Indies 214-5 (Bravo 20, Dowrich 19) A quiet maiden from Anderson to Bravo.

“Log on from frozen NYC to see the cricket score and check who is writing OBO currently,” says Rachel Clifton. “Peep Show reference – must be Rob…”

7.11pm GMT

82nd over: West Indies 214-5 (Bravo 20, Dowrich 19) It’s Stuart Broad at the other end. Dowrich, turned round by a good delivery, gets a thick edge that is well saved by the diving Burns at gully. He does so again off the last ball to ensure it’s a maiden.

“Let’s face it; ‘comedy’ language accidentally picked up on microphones is one of the true joys of live sport coverage,” says Matt Dony. “My current all-time favourite was at the French open a few years ago, Andy Murray shouting ‘I’m trying my tits off here!’ Maybe that could be bettered, though, if we could sneak a mic on to Jimmy...”

7.06pm GMT

81st over: West Indies 214-5 (Bravo 20, Dowrich 19) Here we go. Jimmy Anderson takes the new ball, and immediately gets some encouraging swing and bounce. In fact, there’s extremely good carry through Bairstow. Bravo, who has played with impressive sang-froid, flicks off the pads for the couple.

“Hey up, Rob,” says Keith Meloy. “You describe Joe Denly as an occasional legspinner… Does that mean he mostly bowls googlies?”

6.44pm GMT

80th over: West Indies 212-5 (Bravo 18, Dowrich 19) In fact, the occasional legspinner Joe Denly will bowl the last over before tea. That’s not a bad move, particularly with West Indies playing for tea. It’s a decent over, too, and the last ball bounces nastily at Dowrich, who shapes to pull and has to abort the shot at the last minute.

That was a thrilling session: 30 over, 86 runs, four wickets. The new ball is due straight after the interval, so the evening session should be even better. See you in 10 minutes.

6.40pm GMT

79th over: West Indies 211-5 (Bravo 17, Dowrich 19) Moeen hurries through his over so that Stokes can have one more before tea. Good work.

6.37pm GMT

78th over: West Indies 209-5 (Bravo 16, Dowrich 18) Though West Indies have to bat last, I still think a lead of 100 would be decisive on such an uneven pitch. Stokes almost grabs the sixth wicket with a beautiful inswinger that is about to do all kinds of damage to the stumps when Bravo gets an inside-edge at the last. Stokes was halfway into an appeal/celebration but adjusted seamlessly to put his hands over his face in frustration.

6.33pm GMT

77th over: West Indies 208-5 (Bravo 16, Dowrich 17) Bravo edges Moeen on the bounce to Stokes at slip. There are only a few minutes until the tea break. The final session – new ball, series in the balance, England’s fast bowlers in a vile mood – should be electric.

6.32pm GMT

76th over: West Indies 206-5 (Bravo 15, Dowrich 17) Dowrich again edges Stokes to third man for four. England have conceded a lot of runs down there. Stokes, it’s fair to say, is not entirely at peace with sport’s vicissitudes just now.

“I know that cricket lovers are genetically predisposed to be misty-eyed nostalgists who yearn for the Good Old Days, but I’m quite liking the here & now,” says Matt Emerson. “Take, for example, the current state of cricket coverage. I spent a happy hour in the car driving through the sleet whilst listening to TalkSport’s rather good coverage of the match - there’s no Boycott or Agnew and they bring in the Sky commentators every so often. Finish work at six-ish to find that there’s about three and a half hours play still to watch. All in crystal clear HD: good enough to see the veins in Jimmy’s temple throb as another catch goes down. Beer? Don’t mind if I do...”

6.26pm GMT

75th over: West Indies 202-5 (Bravo 15, Dowrich 13) Moeen’s spell feels like a series of timeouts between overs at the Uneven Bounce End, but he has quietly done a really important job: 17-3-46-2.

6.24pm GMT

74th over: West Indies 202-5 (Bravo 15, Dowrich 13) Dowrich is beaten outside off stump by another grubber from Stokes, who then effing screams with effing frustration as an edge bounces through the slips for four. England’s fast bowlers, to use a phrase of Peter Willey’s, have a bit of a humour on today.

“Apologies if you picked up any foul language on the effects mics,” says the Sky presenter Nick Knight at the end of the over. Np apologies necessary, Nick, let’s get on with the quiz.

6.20pm GMT

73rd over: West Indies 198-5 (Bravo 15, Dowrich 8) This match is so much fun. Back to positive names.

“Hedley Verity?” says Felix Lowe. “Monty Noble? Andy Flower?”

6.16pm GMT

72nd over: West Indies 196-5 (Bravo 14, Dowrich 8) Stokes replaces Anderson. If only Sky had a red button that could give the viewer access to James Anderson’s internal monologue right now; I suspect it would be up there with the first series of Peep Show.

Dowrich is beaten by consecutive deliveries of similiar length from Stokes. The first goes past his ankles, the second past his face. Had either been straight, he would have been out, but then had they been straight they probably wouldn’t have bounced the same way, so why don’t you shut up with your hypothetical scenarios, Smyth.

6.11pm GMT

71st over: West Indies 192-5 (Bravo 14, Dowrich 4) West Indies have moved into the lead, though England will be really happy with how the afternoon session has gone. Moeen hurries through an uneventful over. It looks like Ben Stokes is going to replace Jimmy Anderson at the other end. If that’s the case, I think Joe Root has picked a very bad time to demonstrate who’s in charge.

6.10pm GMT

70th over: West Indies 189-5 (Bravo 13, Dowrich 2) If anything, that catch has made Anderson even angrier. At the end of his next over he shoves his cap over his mouth and screams the kind of motivational slogan you don’t hear on CBeebies. “I’ve seen a lot of Jimmy Anderson over the years,” says Bumble on Sky, “but I’ve never seen him as stroppy as this.”

6.06pm GMT

69th over: West Indies 186-5 (Bravo 12, Dowrich 0) Given the match situation, the batsman, and the fact he’d been dropped off Anderson in the previous over, that was an immense catch. Oh, and the fact Anderson is 37 years old. If, if, if, if, if England get anything out of this series, that deserves to be the champagne moment.

6.03pm GMT

A disgusting long hop from Moeen is pulled extravagantly for six by Hetmyer. Like Adam Gilchrist back in the day (remember Lord’s 2001), he is not the kind of man you want to drop. England have done so in the first innings of both Tests.

But now Jimmy Anderson has taken him brilliantly! What a catch! Hetmyer sliced Moeen miles in the air towards wide mid off, and Anderson charged in from the boundary to take a magnificent tumbling catch!

6.01pm GMT

68th over: West Indies 179-4 (Bravo 11, Hetmyer 15) Hetmyer is dropped by Rory Burns! He drove Anderson low towards short extra cover, where Rory Burns swoooped to his left but couldn’t hold on to a difficult low chance. Hetmyer applies some bleach to the wound by slapping the next ball for four.

That was a terrific over from Anderson, much better than his first. England are bowling well and are still in this game, but they are running out of time - and runs. On this pitch, a lead of 100 would surely be enough for West Indies to win the match.

5.57pm GMT

67th over: West Indies 175-4 (Bravo 11, Hetmyer 11) Hetmyer misses an attempted cut at Moeen, who is playing an important holding role while still threatening to take wickets. One from the over, and Moeen’s figures are 13-2-34-1. Not exactly Tayfieldian, but useful in the circumstances.

5.52pm GMT

66th over: West Indies 174-4 (Bravo 11, Hetmyer 10) Anderson replaces Broad at the Uneven Bounce End. This is a vital spell, especially as Hetmyer could take the game away from England in a hurry. The first ball brings an unsuccessful shout for a catch down the leg side as Hetmyer jumps across his crease. Jonny Bairstow was convinced, Kumar Dharmasena and then Joe Root were not. The decision to not review was the right one; replays showed it missed the bat and hit him on the bum.

Anderson is trying to bowl straight in an attempt to maximise the impact of any uneven bounce - but he was a bit too straight in that over and Bravo was able to work the last delivery to the fine-leg boundary.

5.47pm GMT

65th over: West Indies 169-4 (Bravo 7, Hetmyer 9) Thanks Simon, hello everyone. How good is this? West Indies are fighting for their best series victory since the early 2000s; England are scrapping to avoid being the subject of a vituperative tweet from Piers Morgan. The stakes could barely be higher.

Moeen gets one to spit nastily past Bravo and into the grille of the keeper Bairstow, who can’t take the ball on its way down. I don’t think there was an edge from Bravo.

5.44pm GMT

64th over: West Indies 168-4 (Bravo 7, Hetmyer 8) Hetmyer clogs the ball straight down into the turf and not far from off stump, then edges along the ground and through that gap where third slip should be. That’s four runs, and it’s also drinks. The next few minutes could be key as England try to break this potentially destructive partnership before it gets settled, and Rob Smyth will be the one to take you through it. I’ll be back another day. Bye for now!

5.37pm GMT

63rd over: West Indies 163-4 (Bravo 7, Hetmyer 3) Bravo takes the fight to Moeen, thwacking his first ball back over his head for four. Kim Thonger has completed an all-time world positivity XI but with a plea for assistance: “But I’m hampered a bit by not knowing what Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi names would mean to native speakers of the languages of those countries. Can anyone help add more names to the squad?” Anyone?

Hope (WI), Bravo (WI), Angel (Aus), Love (Aus), Darling (Aus), Noble (Aus), Young (Aus/Eng/NZ), Sunny (Ban), Grace (Eng), Makepeace (Engl), Verity (Eng).

5.34pm GMT

62nd over: West Indies 157-4 (Bravo 2, Hetmyer 2) Broad’s last Test wicket before Hope here was Virat Kohli at the Oval last September, 40.5 overs ago. He’s not far off another here, a strangled appeal as the ball flies through, but it clipped leg rather than bat.

5.29pm GMT

61st over: West Indies 155-4 (Bravo 2, Hetmyer 0) A Moeen maiden. This is really tasty now, though Hetmyer could change England’s mood in a hurry if he’s so minded.

5.26pm GMT

60th over: West Indies 155-4 (Bravo 2, Hetmyer 0) On Sky they’re bemused by the fact that Anderson has yet to bowl from the Ambrose End, where Broad is once again causing havoc. His first delivery just misses the bat; Broad gives Hope a lingering glare then goes back to the start of his run-up, sends down another leg-cutter and this one does the trick! Then Chase edges his second ball straight to third slip, who sadly for England doesn’t exist. “On this pitch, for your best bowler on this surface, why wouldn’t you have a man there,” wails Nasser Hussain. Chase gets four runs for that, but is out next ball to one that simply refuses to bounce!

We need a montage of Broad's looks at the end of this innings. The sad headshake at Campbell was my favourite fwiw #WIvEng

5.24pm GMT

Broad demolishes off stump, and England are fighting their way back into this!

5.19pm GMT

Finally reward for Broad, as Hope nibbles and gets a gentle nick through to Bairstow!

5.17pm GMT

59th over: West Indies 151-2 (Hope 44, Bravo 2) How Hope survived that I do not know! The ball comes off his bat, into the turf, flicks off his heel and rolls just past the stumps. The close fielders already have their arms in the air when they notice the ball is still coming towards them and the bails remain unbroken!

5.14pm GMT

58th over: West Indies 150-2 (Hope 43, Bravo 2) Broad climbs back aboard the maiden bus, Bravo the batsman this time.

5.10pm GMT

57th over: West Indies 150-2 (Hope 43, Bravo 2) Hope thwacks the ball through the covers, picking out not just a gap in the field but also, once it’s over the rope, a gap in the advertising hoardings, and then thumping Moeen’s final delivery past square leg for four more, missed by Sky after they prematurely triggered an ad break.

5.08pm GMT

56th over: West Indies 141-2 (Hope 35, Bravo 1) A bit of extra lift here from Broad, Hope pushing his bat forward and seeing the ball fly right over it. After successive maidens Broad gets nowhere near a third. “It’s lovely that Hope and Bravo are batting together. Wonderfully positive names,” enthuses Kim Thonger. “I’ve been scouring the list of all time Test cricketers and I find that Australia have had batsmen called Angel, Love and Darling, although they were not contemporaneous. I may report back later with a fully uplifting World Positivity XI.” Now there’s a challenge.

5.02pm GMT

55th over: West Indies 135-2 (Hope 29, Bravo 1) A loud lbw appeal, but when Chris Gaffaney shakes his head Root doesn’t look remotely interested in a review. Which is just as well, because the ball went into the pad off Hope’s bat.

4.59pm GMT

54th over: West Indies 133-2 (Hope 28, Bravo 0) Bravo calls for a helmet at the end of Moeen’s over. Maybe he’ll switch headgear every over? He then doesn’t face a delivery as Broad bowls a maiden to Hope.

4.57pm GMT

53rd over: West Indies 133-2 (Hope 28, Bravo 0) Bravo comes out, eschewing a helmet in favour of a cap which seems a little headstrong. And he’ll need his head to be strong if he misjudges a short ball from Broad. Brathwaite’s innings had been excellent and extremely patient – his 49 came from 156 deliveries, and had he got another run it would have been his third (at least, depending how long it took him to get it) slowest Test half-century.

4.53pm GMT

And that’s one! Brathwaite, one run from his half-century, tickles the ball into the hands of Keaton Jennings at short leg!

4.52pm GMT

52nd over: West Indies 132-1 (Brathwaite 49, Hope 27) Broad, whose bowling was a highlight of the first session, returns for another spell and starts with a maiden to the watchful Brathwaite. England need, what, a minimum of three wickets in this session if they are stop West Indies taking (even) firm(er) control of this match?

4.46pm GMT

51st over: West Indies 132-1 (Brathwaite 49, Hope 27) Moeen gets the session started, and Hope thrashes a drive to the long-off boundary.

4.42pm GMT

The players are back out and ready for more!

4.05pm GMT

West Indies trail by 61 with nine first-innings wickets remaining

50th over: West Indies 126-1 (Brathwaite 48, Hope 22) Hope edges, but straight into the turf and after one further single it is lunch, and despite England’s valiant efforts it’s been another excellent session for West Indies! How they lost only one batsman in that session is something of a miracle, but they have takes a real grip of this game now. Time for England to draw breath and get ready to go again. I’ll be back in 20 minutes.

3.59pm GMT

49th over: West Indies 125-1 (Brathwaite 48, Hope 21) On one hand Moeen fails to change things, but on the other he at least fails to change them quickly, so we will have another over before the interval.

3.58pm GMT

48th over: West Indies 124-1 (Brathwaite 48, Hope 20) Curran’s final delivery is a ripper, slung across Hope, forcing him into a defensive prod and flying just past the edge. England have just not had breaks in this session. There’ll be one more over before lunch for them to change things.

3.53pm GMT

47th over: West Indies 121-1 (Brathwaite 48, Hope 17) Moeen’s first three deliveries cost five runs. Another single has been scored from the following 15, and this is a maiden.

3.52pm GMT

46th over: West Indies 121-1 (Brathwaite 48, Hope 17) Curran returns, having changed ends since his first six-over burst. England have dropped one catch and missed another couple of chances today – meanwhile in Bangladesh, Jason Roy has done this:

Jason Roy.
Oh my days.#BPL2019 pic.twitter.com/s1vXXkOcox

3.47pm GMT

45th over: West Indies 119-1 (Brathwaite 48, Hope 15) “Maybe the data just shows that Stuart Broad is England’s best boundary catcher, so his bowling suffers by comparison because he doesn’t have the advantage of his being at the boundary?” suggests Smylers. Perhaps, though since the start of 1997 15 English fielders have taken more catches than Broad (most of them in the slips, inevitably), who has 40 catches in 125 matches.

3.44pm GMT

44th over: West Indies 118-1 (Brathwaite 48, Hope 14) Brathwaite lifts the ball dangerously close to Jennings at short leg, but gets a couple of runs.

3.40pm GMT

43rd over: West Indies 116-1 (Brathwaite 46, Hope 14) A change of pace as Moeen comes into the attack, and Brathwaite hits a lovely cover drive for four. He spends the first half of the over suggesting that he plans to his Moeen back out of the attack again in short order, but the bowler does well to force him to scale back his ambitions.

3.35pm GMT

42nd over: West Indies 111-1 (Brathwaite 41, Hope 14) Stokes is still banging the ball into the pitch with venom, but the sense of imminent excitement that hung over the game in the first hour, and particularly while Broad was bowling and Campbell at the crease, seems to have lifted.

3.30pm GMT

41st over: West Indies 106-1 (Brathwaite 37, Hope 13) West Indies move into triple figures as Brathwaite drives down the ground for four, then the batsman tries to repeat the dose, his drive evades a diving Anderson but Broad chases it down and this time the batsmen only run the three.

3.26pm GMT

40th over: West Indies 99-1 (Brathwaite 30, Hope 13) Another chance goes down! Brathwaite fends the final ball of Stokes’ over, angled right into his ribs, back towards the bowler, who sprints and dives but still can’t get there in time!

3.21pm GMT

39th over: West Indies 96-1 (Brathwaite 29, Hope 12) “It could be that England haven’t been quite good enough at setting the right fields for the pitches, batsmen and the bowlers?” suggests John Starbuck of that drops stat. “It’s obviously something of an art in reading the game, but not one which is trained for much, perhaps?”

I agree with much of that, though in order for a catch to be dropped the ball must have gone to a fielder. If Broad is eighth on balls bowled and first on chances dropped, doesn’t it suggest the fielders are in the right place but just not very good?

3.18pm GMT

38th over: West Indies 95-1 (Brathwaite 29, Hope 11) Brathwaite hits down the ground and Broad sprints 60 yards to prevent it reaching the rope, stops it six inches short, turns around and sees the batsmen completing their fourth run, so really he might as well not have bothered. That seems to rile Stokes, who with the willing assistance of a still untrustworthy pitch peppers the batsman for the remainder of the over.

3.13pm GMT

37th over: West Indies 91-1 (Brathwaite 25, Hope 11) Curran replaces Anderson, and Hope edges low, through the cordon for four, and cracks one through the covers for another. “I don’t know what to make of that drops stat,” says Harkarn Sumal. “It could be (a) an indictment of our slips fielders in the last 13 years, (b) testimony to how many chances Broad creates, (c) testimony to how many balls Broad has bowled in the last 13 years, or (d) the fact that Broad and Anderson are pretty much the only two frontline bowlers that have remained active throughout the sample period. A ratio of catches/drops would give a more refined picture. Not that I’m offering, mind.”

3.09pm GMT

36th over: West Indies 83-1 (Brathwaite 25, Hope 1) The first ball after drinks nicks something and is brilliantly caught by Bairstow, diving low to his left. There’s a very loud appeal but a shake of the head from the umpire, England don’t review and it’s just as well, the ball having clipped only Hope’s buttock.

3.01pm GMT

35th over: West Indies 80-1 (Brathwaite 25, Hope 0) Broad collects the ball at midwicket, dummies to throw towards the bowler’s end, waits for Hope to ground his bat there and then inexplicably does throw towards the stumps, misses them by a distance and giftwraps four runs! Anderson is, to say the least, unchuffed.

2.58pm GMT

34th over: West Indies 74-1 (Brathwaite 19, Hope 0) England’s wicket drought apparently lasted 101 overs. They bring in a short leg for the new batsman, Shai Hope, who was caught there in Barbados, but he isn’t brought into play. Stokes however keeps up his hostile start, and Hope swings and misses as he tries to drive, and then is totally undone by one that swings through a very large and open gate, across the wicket, somehow wide of leg stump, wide also of Bairstow’s desperate dive and away for four byes.

2.52pm GMT

Having tried pretty hard to do so on several occasions, Campbell finally falls! He edges to Buttler again, but this time the fielder makes no mistake!

2.51pm GMT

33rd over: West Indies 70-0 (Brathwaite 19, Campbell 42) Anderson continues to labour without reward, and this time he concedes nine runs to boot. Campbell mistimes a yahoo down the ground but it’s still safe, and the ball rolls away for four.

2.47pm GMT

32nd over: West Indies 61-0 (Brathwaite 19, Campbell 38) Stokes replaces Broad, is hoiked over the cordon for four by Brathwaite, and by my calculations England have now bowled one delivery shy of 98 overs across two Tests since they last took a wicket.

2.42pm GMT

31th over: West Indies 54-0 (Brathwaite 15, Campbell 35) Still no magic for Anderson, with all the fireworks happening at the other end.

2.38pm GMT

30th over: West Indies 53-0 (Brathwaite 15, Campbell 34) Campbell top-edges a pull and the ball loops up in the air. Bairstow sprints towards it from behind the stumps, Moeen runs in from the boundary, and the ball somehow lands between both of them. Campbell appears to be being protected by some kind of magic force at present, and gets a couple of runs to boot. The next delivery slams into the pads, but is heading down leg side. Then he drives beautifully for four to take the home side’s score past 50, somehow without loss.

2.35pm GMT

29th over: West Indies 46-0 (Brathwaite 15, Campbell 27) Here’s a stat for you. Before you ask, Broad is eighth in the list of Test deliveries bowled since the end of 2006, more than 1,000 behind Anderson and 2,000 behind Muttiah Muralitharan, the No1 on the list.

Buttler's drop of Campbell was the 96th dropped catch off Broad's bowling in his career. Since the start of 2006 no other bowler has had as many catches dropped off his bowling. Anderson—with 83—is the next most. #WIvENG pic.twitter.com/1rB56n0cIG

2.30pm GMT

28th over: West Indies 44-0 (Brathwaite 14, Campbell 26) Broad’s first delivery clumps Campbell on the hip, and the bowler follows that with an extended evil glare. If he can’t bowl the man out, maybe he can stare him out. It doesn’t work immediately, though, Campbell driving smartly to the long-on boundary, and surviving a final delivery that totally changed direction as it came off the surface, but heading away from the wicket rather than towards it.

Here’s a guy who really knew how to deliver an evil stare, Fred Spofforth having “frightened more batsmen out than many bowlers have fairly and squarely beaten”. Sadly he’s no longer available to give tips to the likes of Broad.

2.25pm GMT

27th over: West Indies 40-0 (Brathwaite 14, Campbell 22) A couple of singles from Anderson’s over. Broad is looking by a margin the more dangerous of the bowlers this morning.

2.22pm GMT

26th over: West Indies 38-0 (Brathwaite 13, Campbell 21) Dropped! Campbell edges straight to third slip and Buttler fumbles it! That was as straightforward as slip catches come, just above waist height and straight at him. There are English heads in English hands, and how Broad has failed to take a wicket by now I’m not quite sure. This over started with an absolute ripper, full and straight but moving away, tempting Campbell into a drive but somehow missing the bat.

2.17pm GMT

25th over: West Indies 38-0 (Brathwaite 13, Campbell 21) There’s an lbw shout here, but Anderson’s delivery was high, and also going down the leg side, plus a couple more that tempted Brathwaite into misguided little nibbles but didn’t take a nick.

2.14pm GMT

24th over: West Indies 36-0 (Brathwaite 11, Campbell 21) Broad is bowling with real zip and aggression, and the last ball screams up off the pitch and is taken by Bairstow, jumping with both hands high above his head. The non-wicket came when Campbell tried to leave the ball but didn’t do so altogether convincingly, and it did look on first viewing as if the ball had clipped the bat. England could certainly have done with a flukey freebie wicket, but sadly/fortunately such things DRS ended that possibility.

2.10pm GMT

The ball hit his arm and nothing but his arm, so Campbell remains!

2.10pm GMT

The batsman has reviewed this, though it’s hard to see what other than bat the ball could have hit there! Oh hang on, it hit his arm!

2.08pm GMT

23rd over: West Indies 36-0 (Brathwaite 11, Campbell 21) The first runs off the bat today come from Campbell, who pulls away for four.

2.04pm GMT

22nd over: West Indies 31-0 (Brathwaite 11, Campbell 16) Having spoken about “tightening our lines up” and making sure he bowls “at the batsman”, flings down a wild wide. That aside, it’s a promising over and it ends with the ball being clipped in the air towards square leg, where it landed about three inches short of Jennings, the sub fielder.

1.59pm GMT

The players are out! It looks pretty breezy. Stuart Broad has the ball in his hand.

1.42pm GMT

Here’s some snippets from Stuart Broad’s pre-action chat:

Every time you get the chance to play for England it’s a special feeling. we’d have liked yesterday to go maybe slightly better but I’ve got no clue what this pitch is going to do. I just hope it continues to play as it played yesterday.

Barbados would have been quite a nice pitch to bowl on as a tall bowler but this one doesn’t look too bad either. I was disappointed not to have a bowl in the morning, because it did look a bit of an ugly pitch. I’ve seen seam movement disappear when a pitch dries out but I’ve never seen uneven bounce disappear. The exciting thing is it’s going to be a result pitch: it’s either going to be 2-0 or 1-1. We’ve just got to make sure it’s 1-1.

1.37pm GMT

News from Antigua is that Ben Foakes has gone for x-rays and Jonny Bairstow will thus continue with the gloves this morning.

1.35pm GMT

The heavy roller is currently rumbling up and down the pitch, flattening out those nasty dents as best they can before West Indies do some batting. Here, meanwhile, is some good advice from a good source of advice:

One of the key things in playing good Test Cricket is the ability to put yesterday's performance behind you and focus on the task at hand. #stayfocus #windiesvsEng #WIvENG… https://t.co/qfN7LMaEYi

12.42pm GMT

Hello world!

Another week, another Test, but at this rate next week’s in St Lucia might be academic. England head into day two battling to stay in the match, and the series. There has been much talk about the pitch in Antigua, which for the first half of yesterday was greener than Kermit’s bogeys and made life extremely difficult for England once Joe Root again lost the toss – with the captain himself suffering more than anyone from some occasionally wild bounce – but it is the pace, hostility and quality of the West Indies bowling attack that has forced England both literally and metaphorically onto the back foot. The hosts ended the first day 157 runs behind with all 10 wickets remaining and England need their own bowlers to make quick inroads this morning if they are not to start their second knock at a significant disadvantage.

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Published on February 01, 2019 13:29

January 25, 2019

Arsenal 1-3 Manchester United: FA Cup fourth round – as it happened

Alexis Sanchez, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial scored as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side made it eight wins out of eight with a ruthless counter-attacking display

Report: United progress in FA Cup

10.10pm GMT

Our match report from the Emirates has landed, so I’ll leave you with that. Thanks for your company, goodnight!

10.00pm GMT

The thing that will please United most about the wins at Spurs and Arsenal are that Solskjaer used bespoke attacking tactics that were spot on. So far he has been almost immaculate in three vital areas: man-management, tactics and interviews.

9.55pm GMT

Peep peep! Manchester United make it eight wins out of eight under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with a ruthless counter-attacking performance. Alexis Sanchez, Jesse Lingard and the substitute Anthony Martial scored the goals, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring for the home side just before half-time.

Arsenal played some excellent football and had a lot of the ball, yet Sergio Romero only had one really difficult save to make. Arsenal also lost both centre-backs, Sokratis and Laurent Koscielny, with what look like medium-term injuries. United are in a very happy place, and Jose Mourinho’s internal monologue at this precise moment may be one of the great pieces of lost comedy.

9.49pm GMT

90+6 min Rashford shoots high over the bar from 30 yards.

9.48pm GMT

90+4 min That third goal has flattened Arsenal’s morale.

9.47pm GMT

90+3 min That was almost a fourth. Martial slid a nice pass down the left for Shaw, whose low cross flashed just in front of Rashford.

9.46pm GMT

90+2 min In other Arsenal-related news, Monaco have dumped their new boyfriend for their old boyfriend.

9.45pm GMT

90+1 min There will be 10 minutes of added time. Guendouzi is booked for a foul on Pogba.

9.44pm GMT

90 min Arsenal have had 64 per cent possession. This has been like those Arsenal v Man Utd matches from around 2008-10, when Arsenal had all the ball and United shredded them on the counter-attack.

9.43pm GMT

89 min Arsenal shouldn’t give up on this - there are still at least 10 minutes remaining.

9.43pm GMT

88 min “All those tributes to Cech recently made me think he’d retired,” says Niall Mullen. “Turns out he did.”

You’re a hard man, Mullen.

9.42pm GMT

87 min The icing on the cake for Manchester United: Phil Jones comes onto the pitch. He replaces the overheated Jesse Lingard, who scored an excellent second goal. It seems Lingard was hit by a coin from the crowd, which was why he briefly lost it.

9.41pm GMT

86 min Lingard doesn’t receive a second yellow card. It’s hard to be suyre what he did or didn’t do as we haven’t seen any replays, though it was clear at the time that his noggin had briefly gone. At one stage he was having a full and frank exchange of views with some Arsenal fans, though that in itself is not a yellow-card offence.

9.39pm GMT

86 min It started when Kolasinac and Rashford put their heads against each other, and both have been booked. Lingard got involved after that, and VAR Man is looking at some replays.

9.38pm GMT

85 min It’s all kicking off! This is more like it. Lingard is involved and might be in trouble here, as he’s already been booked.

9.37pm GMT

Pogba marches forward from deep inside his own half, uses Rashfjord by not using him and hits a low shot from 25 yards that Cech can only parry straight to Martial. He finishes calmly, sweeping it past the recovering Cech at the near post. That was another ruthless counter-attack, and I am going to eat some vegan humble pie.

9.36pm GMT

So much for being wishy-washy on the counter-attack!

9.35pm GMT

81 min Arsenal contine to dominate the match, although Romero hasn’t had that much to do. United have been a bit wishy-washy on the counter-attack since half-time; they’ll regret that if Arsenal equalise.

9.34pm GMT

80 min Pogba is robbed on the edge of the D by Lacazette, whose subsequent shot is blocked by Shaw. Lacazette’s defensive workrate has been outstanding.

9.33pm GMT

79 min There should be at least 10 minutes of added time, mainly because of the Koscielny injury. Cech makes a good save from Rashford, who was offside anyway.

9.31pm GMT

78 min Arsenal don’t deserve to lose this game, although United fans might point out the travesty of the 2005 FA Cup final in return.

9.29pm GMT

76 min Lingard is booked for dissent.

9.29pm GMT

75 min “Just got in from an evening setting up kit and noisily (and messily) sound-checking in a village hall, ready to play a set at some friends’ wedding tomorrow,” says Matt Dony. “There was no mobile signal, so I’m just catching up. So, England are facing a comedy score in the West Indies, Solskjaer’s glorious start looks like it might continue (which means the United fans in work are going to be unbearable), and I’m ‘feasting’ on a vegan pizza. It tastes exactly as good as you imagine it does. I’m sure Fridays used to be more fun...”

Threshers is still open.

9.27pm GMT

73 min: Chance for Arsenal! Lacazette picks up a loose ball on the edge of the United area, moves around Shaw and hits a stinging shot that is beaten away at the near post by Romero.

9.25pm GMT

72 min “Do you think,” begins Niall Mullen, “that on a Pacific Island somewhere there is a Mourinho loyalist on manoeuvres through the jungle still refusing to believe his emperor has been defeated?”

I thought he’d just taken a job in Qatar?

9.25pm GMT

71 min A double change for United: Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial replace their highly effective stand-ins, Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez. Lukaku made two and Sanchez scored the first.

9.23pm GMT

70 min “Hello Rob,” says Kári Tulinius. “I hope Özil has a good game. Not only because I’m an Arsenal fan, but because I’ve enjoyed watching him play since he broke through at the 2010 World Cup. I’m generally happy with Emery, but his decision to keep a regular source of joy away from the field has started to become enervating. Hopefully now once the transfer window closes Unai will come to his senses.”

9.23pm GMT

69 min Torreira swings the free-kick beyond the far post, where the unmarked Aubameyang cushions a volley into the six-yard area. It ricochets off a couple of defenders and falls kindly for Matic to clear.

9.22pm GMT

68 min Ashley Young is booked for deliberate handball just outside the area on the Arsenal left.

9.21pm GMT

67 min Aubameyang comes infield from the left and finds Ramsey, who slashes high and wide from 22 yards.

9.20pm GMT

66 min Pogba leads another United break, running 60 yards before shaping to shoot and playing a disguised through pass to Lukaku. It was slightly overhit and ran through to Cech.

9.18pm GMT

64 min Koscielny is being walked off the field, so Arsenal have lost both their centre-halves. After an eight-minute delay, Arsenal make a double change: Mesut Ozil for Alex Iwobi and Matteo Guendouzi for Koscielny. Granit Xhaka has gone to centre-back.

9.16pm GMT

62 min Koscielny is still receiving treatment on the field, though he is sitting up now. Mesut Ozil is getting ready to come on.

9.14pm GMT

60 min Koscielny is still down and being treated. He looks groggy and sore, and I don’t think he’ll be continuing.

9.12pm GMT

57 min Koscielny is down after a challenge with Lukaku. It was Lukaku who alerted the referee and asked him to stop play, in fact. That was a nasty collision, with Lukaku accidentally backheeling Koscielny on the side of the the face. Koscielny has a cut by his left ear and, presumably a very sore cheekbone.

9.09pm GMT

56 min Aaron Ramsey has had a storming game tonight.

9.09pm GMT

55 min The free-kick is slightly to the right of centre. Lukaku will take it... and boot it into the crowd.

9.08pm GMT

54 min Pogba leads a very dangerous United break, three against two, before Koscielny fouls him 25 yards from goal. He is booked.

9.06pm GMT

53 min “Hi Rob, just watched the highlights of the game from 1988,” says Rob Carey. “Without trying to sound like an old fart, we didn’t need a second commentator talking us through an action replay in excruciating detail. And talking of replays, One was enough; I just saw two slow motion replays of Sokratis lying on the floor.”

That game wouldn’t have been televised live, but I do take your point.

9.06pm GMT

52 min Pogba goes down inside the area after a challenge from Xhaka just outside it. He was sure he was fouled; Craig Pawson disagreed.

9.03pm GMT

48 min Aubameyang runs into Young in the area and falls over. Craig Pawson isn’t interested, and nor, it seems, is VAR Man. But Arsenal have started the second half superbly. United will definitely need a third goal to win this, and possibly a seventh.

9.01pm GMT

46 min: Great save from Romero! Aubameyang’s cross from the right hit the underlapping Maitland-Niles, who reacted smartly to lift a cross of his own towards the near post. Ramsey steered a close-range header towardas goal, and Romero showed brilliant reactions to change direction, stretch to his left and touch the ball onto the top of the bar.

8.59pm GMT

46 min Peep peep! Arsenal begin the second half.

8.58pm GMT

Half-time reading

8.53pm GMT

Half-time chit chat

“Remember when Arsenal couldn’t seem to lose a game this season no matter how hard they tried?” says Niall Mullen. “This really shows the value of perseverance.”

8.46pm GMT

Peep peep! That was a half of three thirds. The first two were dull, the third was electric. See you soon for the second half.

8.44pm GMT

45+3 min Ramsey, who has been brilliant, lifts a dangerous cross to the far post that eventually comes to Aubameyang. His route to goal is blocked so he tries to find Koscielny, and Young is alert to the danger. Moments later, Mustafi heads a few yards wide from 12 yards. Romero had it covered.

8.42pm GMT

45+2 min Aubameyang breaks into space down the right and wins a corner. United are hanging on at the moment.

8.41pm GMT

45+1 min Maitland-Niles dupes Pogba on the right wing and slides the ball back to Lacazette, whose first-time shot from 10 yards is too close to Romero.

8.41pm GMT

45 min Three minutes of added time.

8.40pm GMT

44 min The Arsenal left side has been a problem for United, just as it was when Cole, Pires and Henry were driving Gary Neville to distraction. Ashley Young is sometimes having to deal with three men - Iwobi, Ramsey and Sokratis.

8.39pm GMT

Iwobi played a short pass down the left to Ramsey, who surged into the area and stabbed the ball across the six-yard box. The stretching Lacazette couldn’t get enough on the ball to score but his touch diverted it to Aubameyang, who swept it into an open net from six yards.

8.37pm GMT

Now then!

8.35pm GMT

40 min Ramsey’s long-range shot deflects behind for a corner.

8.34pm GMT

40 min “Is it me or is Romero sporting comically over-sized gloves?” says Nick Smith. “What are the rules on this sort of thing?”

How do you mean?

8.34pm GMT

39 min Sanchez plays the ball back to Lingard, who takes a touch and splashes a half-volley into orbit from 20 yards.

8.32pm GMT

37 min After the success of the 4-V-V formation at Spurs, this has so far been another tactical triumph for Ole Solskjaer, the second goal in particular.

8.30pm GMT

36 min Romelu Lukaku can be a frustrating bugger but he has played a huge part in both goals in this unusual role as a right-sided forward.

8.30pm GMT

35 min Arsenal will feel they’ve been mugged, because United had barely threatened before the first goal.

8.29pm GMT

That was a classic counter-attacking goal. Shaw won the ball on the edge of the area and set off on a long diagonal run towards the halfway line before playing the ball down the right wing for Lukaku. He timed his run perfectly to stay onside and then looked up before squaring the ball to Lingard, who calmly took a touch and slid the ball carefully past Cech.

8.28pm GMT

Two goals in two minutes!

8.27pm GMT

Alexis Sanchez scores on his return to Arsenal. Lukaku, just outside the area, put him through on goal with a very cute pass, and Sanchez danced around Cech before lifting the ball into the net from an acute angle. That’s an excellent goal. The disguised pass from Lukaku was quite superb.

8.25pm GMT

Yep.

8.25pm GMT

29 min The lively Iwobi wins a corner off Young. It’s played deliberately to the unmarked Kolasinac on the edge of the area, but Mustafi is penalised for a block on Young.

8.23pm GMT

28 min After some neat passing from Arsenal on the edge of the area, Lacazette crosses too close to Romero.

8.21pm GMT

24 min Xhaka feeds a sharp pass into Lacazette on the edge of the area. His superb touch releases Iwobi on the left side of the box, and he shoots straight at Romero from a tight angle. Iwobi should probably have crossed to Aubameyang, who was lurking in the six-yard box. At the other end, Lingard’s superb cross from the right bounces tantalisingly across the face of goal, just evading both Lukaka and Pogba in the six-yard box.

8.18pm GMT

23 min Breaking news: this isn’t great.

8.15pm GMT

20 min Sokratis tries to come back on, realises his ankle has gone and signals to the bench that he needs to come off. United kick the ball out of play so that he can be replaced by Shkodran Mustafi. The poor bloke is almost in tears.

8.14pm GMT

19 min Sokratis moves gingerly to the touchline to receive more treatment. Arsenal will continue with 10 men for the time being.

8.12pm GMT

18 min Sokratis lands awkwardly on his left ankle after challenging Lingard, and this doesn’t look good for Arsenal.

8.11pm GMT

17 min Romelu Lukaku isn’t a fan of sprinting, is he?

8.10pm GMT

14 min It hasn’t been the electric start to the game that we hoped for, though Arsenal - and Pogba and Sanchez for United - are showing good intent.

8.08pm GMT

13 min Pogba moves forward imperiously from midfield and is sent flying in the D by Torreira. I think he got something on the ball first, and Craig Pawson waves play on.

8.07pm GMT

13 min “Hi Rob,” says Lizz Poulter. “I agree with Mark Childs - on paper Man Utd shouldn’t win this tie. Solskjaer is going to lose a game sooner or later, and this is one could easily be it, so it’s a perfect time to change around the lineup, give some other players a run out, save De Gea for a home replay and penalties if necessary... and what a boost if we scrape the win! I’m so happy with Ole Gunnar in charge - I love my team again - it IS my team again. Let’s go!”

8.07pm GMT

11 min Sanchez plays an eye-of-the-needle return pass into the area for Pogba, and Cech is quick off his line to smother Pogba’s attempted stab across the face of goal.

8.05pm GMT

9 min “At what stage in a player’s career can one be reasonably confident about their ability - or is there no such fixed quality?” says Charles Antaki. “The Arsenal team over the last few years has looked like a rather cruel sports psychologist’s field experiment. Coquelin looked absolutely superb for one season. Flamini came back and looked fine after having been rubbish. Szczesny was often excellent and equally often not, and then did very well at Roma, until he didn’t. And then take your pick from the current crop. Perhaps Ozil was recruited precisely because the experiment needed to move to the final, publication-in-Nature phase.”

Yes, I used to think building a team was like that Ikea scene in the film Fight Club – “whatever happens, I’ve got that sofa problem sorted” – but it never works out like that, especially if you burn your own condo to the ground.

8.02pm GMT

7 min Iwobi finds the overlapping Kolasinac, whose driven cross is met by Aubameyang at the near post. His flicked first-time shot is well blocked by Lindelof. Arsenal look really sharp, United less so.

8.00pm GMT

4 min Arsenal have started well. Iwobi moves down the left and crosses low to Lacazette, whose touch is too heavy and sends the ball out of play. He might have been better hitting that first time from just inside the area.

7.59pm GMT

3 min Arsenal have started in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Iwobi wide left and Lacazette roaming from the right. United are playing with the same 4-V-V formation they used at Spurs: Lingard is the nominal centre-forward, with Lukaku on the right and Sanchez on the left.

7.57pm GMT

2 min Sanchez harasses Maitland-Niles into conceding an early corner. Shaw’s outswinger is headed away by Koscielny.

7.55pm GMT

1 min Peep peep! United, in their blue away strip, kick off from right to left. Arsenal are in red and white.

7.55pm GMT

After a minute’s applause for Emiliano Sala and Doug Ibbotson, Manchester United will get the match under way.

7.51pm GMT

The players are in the tunnel, all with their gamefaces on. They’ll see you out there.

7.38pm GMT

“I kind of like what Ole has done tonight,” says Mark Childs. “Romero has to play at some point, and he has played in a World Cup final so he’s not bad. Bailly is always an improvement on Jones. And he’s kept a strong team, giving a motivated Lukaku and Sanchez the opportunity to play well. I wonder where he could have got the idea for playing the two back-up strikers against Arsenal in an FA Cup tie? Didn’t turn out so badly in the ’99 replay…”

Ha, that’s a good point. Although they don’t have Juventus in the semi-final next week. I would definitely have played Rashford and probably Martial.

7.37pm GMT

Unai Emery speaks! “We need to start with the first XI but on the bench we have players who can help us. We have been very consistent at home. We know today is very difficult. We want to produce our best performance and show our quality and commitment.”

7.35pm GMT

An email!

“Rob, totally agree that this has been the best rivalry in English football, at least in my lifetime,” says Andrew McLaughlin. “As an Arsenal fan, it was simultaneously heartbreaking and amazing to see Ryan Giggs pick up an errant pass by Vieira (of all people) and blow through the famed Arsenal backline in that 1999 FA Cup semi-final. United were steered by destiny that season. I can’t think of any other explanation for the way all the fine margins tilted their way, even in the Champions League.

7.21pm GMT

Remember When (part 731212432354) The last time Arsenal played at home to United in the FA Cup was that wonderfully hateful fifth-round match in 1988, when Nigel Winterburn took exception to Brian McClair’s existence.

7.15pm GMT

Pre-match reading

6.58pm GMT

The FA Cup is United’s only realistic chance of a trophy - a Liverpool 2005-style miracle notwithstanding - so it’s slightly surprising that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has rested David De Gea, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.

Unai Emery hasn’t rotated any of his outfield players, so there’s no place in the starting XI for Mesut Ozil. It’s not yet clear whether Arsenal will play a diamond midfield or 4-2-3-1.

5.43pm GMT

No English fixture comes with as many history lessons as Arsenal v Manchester United. There are two main reasons for that. The rivalry from 1996-2005 was, in my correct opinion, the greatest in English football history; and the teams aren’t what they used to be. Good times then, bad times now: the combination is conducive to the kind of easy, comforting nostalgia usually reserved for the lonely, self-loathing man propping up the bar and staring absent-mindedly at the top shelf.

There’s an upside to the downside, though. These teams aren’t going to win the league this year, and therefore the FA Cup really matters. You could argue that none of the other 30 teams left in the competition want or need to win it as much as Arsenal and United, so this match should crackle with oldfangled intensity.

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Published on January 25, 2019 14:00

West Indies v England: first Test, day three – as it happened

England ended a day entirely without wickets still 572 runs behind after Jason Holder scored a phenomenal double century

Chastening Test for Sam Curran as West Indies punish England

9.34pm GMT

Right, I’m done here. I’ll be back tomorrow to see how long England can keep up the pretence that they might not lose this match. Bye for now! Here’s something from Ali Martin in Barbados:

9.26pm GMT

Eighteen wickets fell yesterday. No wickets fell today. West Indies will surely win this, but it looks like they’ll have to put in a lot of hard work before they do.

9.24pm GMT

England trail by 572 runs with 10 wickets remaining

19th over: England 56-0 (Burns 39, Jennings 11) The last over of the day is delivered by John Campbell, his first deliveries in Test cricket. Five extras follow: a wide, and one that kept low, flew through Dowrich’s legs and sped away for four.

9.20pm GMT

18th over: England 51-0 (Burns 39, Jennings 11) There are now just two overs remaining, and there has not been a wicket all day. This is unusual. West Indies have a loud appeal here for lbw against Burns, but the umpire isn’t keen and they don’t review. It looked a pretty good shout to me, but ball tracking shows that the ball pitched outside the line of leg stump. Burns then drives to long-off for four to take England’s score to a psychologically important 50. A scant 577 runs to go now.

9.13pm GMT

17th over: England 44-0 (Burns 33, Jennings 10) Chase gets one to straighten, and there’s a stifled appeal when Burns gets a thick edge into his pads. As it stands Burns has had one Test innings in the 50s, one in the 40s, one in the 30s, one in the 20s and one in the teens. Plus three that ended in single figures, of ourse.

9.10pm GMT

16th over: England 41-0 (Burns 31, Jennings 9) Alzarri Joseph does his first bowling of the innings, and it’s a maiden.

9.05pm GMT

15th over: England 41-0 (Burns 31, Jennings 9) Roston Chase brings some spin, and when he bowls short and wide Burns clobbers it away for four. Chase then bowls even wider, conceding the first extra of the innings. Five overs remain in the day.

9.00pm GMT

14th over: England 35-0 (Burns 27, Jennings 8) Burns isn’t holding back. He lifts the ball (a long way) over the cordon for a one-bounce four. Smart stuff: given the pace on the ball and the number of close fielders that wasn’t overly risky, and England need to keep the score ticking over if they’re going to, ahem, win this.

8.57pm GMT

13th over: England 31-0 (Burns 23, Jennings 8) Burns is looking in decent nick here. For the third time in the innings he clips the ball off his pads through midwicket for four, this one just as sweetly timed as the others, and then for the second time he hoiks over square leg, though this one doesn’t have the legs to get to the rope.

8.53pm GMT

12th over: England 23-0 (Burns 16, Jennings 7) Roach re-enters the fray, having changed ends, returning to the one from which he did so much damage in England’s first innings. Burns heaves the final ball of the over over backward point for four. England were 23-0 in their first innings as well.

8.48pm GMT

11th over: England 18-0 (Burns 12, Jennings 6) Nine overs left in the day, and just the 189 or so in the Test. “I own the Picador Book of Cricket,” boasts Phil Sawyer, “and it is well worth any cricket follower investing their money and time. It’s an extraordinarily rich collection of writing on the great game.”

8.42pm GMT

10th over: England 17-0 (Burns 12, Jennings 5) Gabriel unleashes an absolute howitzer at Burns, the ball rising off the pitch and heading as if laser-guided towards the batsman’s nostrils. When he pitches it fuller, Burns again flicks it through midwicket for four, another fine shot. Just another 153 of those and England have won this.

8.37pm GMT

9th over: England 13-0 (Burns 8, Jennings 5) Holder bowls the third successive maiden over.

8.34pm GMT

8th over: England 13-0 (Burns 8, Jennings 5) Oooof! Gabriel tempts Burns into tentatively fending at the ball, which zips just past the bat. And then another ooof! as the ball whistles past his defensive prod.

8.28pm GMT

7th over: England 13-0 (Burns 8, Jennings 5) Holder, having not really had much to do for a while, has a bowl, and it’s a maiden. Here’s a link to that very same article, in a compilation of cricket writing. Strangely they have used as a headline the actual headline to an entirely different and only tangentially cricket-related article by McIlvanney published seven years earlier, in 1978.

@Simon_Burnton Link to Mcilvanney on Sir Viv https://t.co/NIE79P7iVv"mcilvanney"+"black+is+bountiful"&source=bl&ots=hGepCRroVs&sig=ACfU3U1S439_jv2fK8cPNE23cYNkuSI4Rw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjogf694YngAhVU8OAKHTzQDHYQ6AEwAHoECAIQAQ#v=onepage

8.24pm GMT

6th over: England 13-0 (Burns 8, Jennings 5) Burns clips Gabriel’s final delivery off his pads for four, sweetly timed. So, that McIlvanney article. I haven’t exactly read all of it - I’m a bit busy at the moment watching cricket and stuff - but if you’d like to you could try clicking this link. Do let me know if it works.

8.20pm GMT

5th over: England 8-0 (Burns 4, Jennings 4) Nope, I can’t work out how to show you the article. Sorry. It’s great though. McIlvanney was genuinely phenomenally good.

8.14pm GMT

4th over: England 7-0 (Burns 4, Jennings 3) A maiden over from Gabriel, whose two overs so far have gone for one run. England are in all sorts of stuff at the moment, but the one thing they’re not in is a hurry. “627 runs,” sighs Robert Wilson. “Ouch; that’s a proper kick in the bum. That’s old school Windies. Our nostalgia for the sunny smiles of 80s and 90s WI legends sometimes neglects how pitilessly carnivorous they were. Like lions hunting hamsters, opposition was often charged, chomped and chewed in very quick order. Setting 627 is a fairly meat-eating kind of gesture.”

8.09pm GMT

3rd over: England 7-0 (Burns 4, Jennings 3) “Did Hugh McIlvenny write cricket - give us some links would ya?” begs Andrew Benton. He certainly did, from time to time. I’m looking at an interview with Viv Richards from 1985 which would seem apposite, but I’m not yet sure how to get it to you (from the pdf it’s currently on). Leave it with me.

8.05pm GMT

2nd over: England 5-0 (Burns 4, Jennings 1) Holder, for the first time today, is not involved in play: he’s doing some shoulder exercises with a pully stringamibob. Jennings gets a run off Gabriel’s first delivery, and Burns sees out the remainder.

7.59pm GMT

1st over: England 4-0 (Burns 4, Jennings 0) Well they’ve survived the first over, so that’s something. Roach bowls and Burns gets off the mark with an edge, which wouldn’t have carried to the cordon and anyway runs between third slip and gully.

7.55pm GMT

And out they come! Can Burns and Jennings bat out the day? And then the next one? Time to find out!

7.52pm GMT

“So although I always want England to win, I do hope this is the start of the Windies getting a decent side together,” says Alistair Harper. “They just need Boycott calling them average all the time to motivate them.” Boycott may have been a great English batsman, but the English seem to have a lot more love for the West Indies.

7.49pm GMT

The beancounters reckon England have 22 overs to face before the close of play.

7.45pm GMT

103.1 overs: West Indies 415-6 (Dowrich 116, Holder 202) Holder clogs Jennings’ first ball to midwicket for four, thereby completing his double century, and his celebratory dance takes him all the way to the pavilion!

7.43pm GMT

103rd over: West Indies 411-6 (Dowrich 116, Holder 198) Root has his head in his hands again, this time after Dowrich nudges the ball just wide of Stokes at slip. It was an uncatchable catch, though. Root has now bowled more overs (10) than the expensive but underemployed Rashid (9) in this innings.

This is the 12th time numbers 7 & 8 have made centuries in the same innings; only the 2nd time in a second innings.
Full list: https://t.co/tOeOCNTvS3

7.39pm GMT

102nd over: West Indies 404-6 (Dowrich 111, Holder 196) Dowrich guides the ball to third man for four, tickling his team’s score beyond 400.

7.36pm GMT

101st over: West Indies 397-6 (Dowrich 106, Holder 194) Root has a bowl. This is already by a margin the biggest partnership for any of the last three wickets against England ever, but still 70 away for the all-comer title.

7.32pm GMT

100th over: West Indies 396-6 (Dowrich 106, Holder 193) Holder appears to be signalling an imminent declaration by means of massive, mighty thwacks. Jennings’ second delivery is smitten into the sightscreen for six. No2 spot in the all-time No8 charts is now a mere 13 runs away.

7.28pm GMT

99th over: West Indies 387-6 (Dowrich 106, Holder 184) Holder starts Moeen’s over with a six to cow corner, and then a similarly-directed but comparatively underhit four. At the end of the over he leaves the field, and Stuart Broad gets a standing ovation from the Englishmen in the crowd as he subs on.

7.26pm GMT

98th over: West Indies 376-6 (Dowrich 106, Holder 173) There’s an lbw shout, but that could have been heading down leg side, so the umpire shakes his head and England’s reviews are long gone. It’s more than two years since Jennings last bowled more than two overs in a Test, and really him getting a bowl at all is never a good sign.

7.22pm GMT

97th over: West Indies 373-6 (Dowrich 104, Holder 172) That’s a maiden over from Moeen. And now Keaton Jennings is going to have another go.

7.19pm GMT

96th over: West Indies 373-6 (Dowrich 104, Holder 172) Have some! Stokes gamely bangs the ball into a wicket that stubbornly refuses to be of any assistance whatsoever, and Holder clobbers it over midwicket for six. Then he tries a straight drive, edges and the ball flies through a gap in the cordon for four! Stokes is on his haunches, head in hands, and at the end of the over he heads back to the dressing room, presumably for a quiet sob.

7.14pm GMT

95th over: West Indies 361-6 (Dowrich 103, Holder 161) Holder gets an early single and there’s a pause while bowler and captain discuss how best to deny Dowrich the single run he need to reach 100. Finally Moeen runs up and Dowrich lets his first ball go, leaves his second alone as well, defends his third, and then cuts the next, perfectly bisecting two fielders for four!

7.10pm GMT

94th over: West Indies 356-6 (Dowrich 99, Holder 160) Stokes bowls his 49th over of the match. He has only once exceeded that number, with 52 in the run-heavy draw against India at Trent Bridge in 2014. Dowrich moves another run closer to triple figures and Holder, after seeing one move fractionally away from him and whistle just past the bat, pushes the next to third man for four.

7.04pm GMT

93rd over: West Indies 350-6 (Dowrich 98, Holder 155) Moeen gets the final session of the day under way, and Dowrich moves another run closer to triple figures.

7.02pm GMT

Right, the players are back out. There seems to be an assumption among the Sky commentariat that the declaration will come at some point in this session. Let’s see.

6.42pm GMT

92nd over: West Indies 349-6 (Dowrich 97, Holder 155) Stokes completes the session and Dowrich, four runs from his century, takes another single, leaving Holder to see out the remainder of the session. And so ends another magnificent, wicketless session for West Indies.

6.38pm GMT

91st over: West Indies 348-6 (Dowrich 96, Holder 155) And now for Moeen, with just a couple of overs left until tea. Dowrich gets a single, and West Indies lead by 560 runs.

6.34pm GMT

90th over: West Indies 347-6 (Dowrich 95, Holder 155) Stokes bowls, Holder tries to flick the ball down to fine leg but doesn’t get enough on it and presents Foakes with a reasonably straightforward catch, diving to his left. He midjudges it, though, and the ball comes off the top of his glove and trundles away. This is thus now the No3 No8 innings, but Holder is still a little more than 50 runs away from moving to No2 in the all-time No8 charts, and over 100 away from top spot. The full rankings are here.

6.29pm GMT

88th over: West Indies 343-6 (Dowrich 95, Holder 151) Dowrich drives Anderson past mid-on for four, an extremely handsome shot. Holder is a mere three runs away from moving to No3 in the list of all-time highest scores by a No8 in Test cricket, and his is already the highest score by a No8 in the second innings of a Test.

6.25pm GMT

88th over: West Indies 339-6 (Dowrich 91, Holder 151) Holder thwacks the final ball away for four to take himself past 150 and earn a standing ovation from a good proportion of the crowd.

6.20pm GMT

87th over: West Indies 332-6 (Dowrich 90, Holder 145) Holder hits the ball in the air and Buttler moves to his left, ready for the catch. The ball goes to his right. He simply didn’t see the ball, divined that it was coming vaguely in his direction, moved somewhere sensible and hoped it hit him in the hands. It went for four. “Ian Chappell always – ALWAYS – says you should think about what the opposition would least like when you declare,” says Pete Salmon. “For me, that would be batting out he day, and for 10 minutes tomorrow. Just to see what that does to Jimmy Anderson...” He may self-combust.

6.17pm GMT

86th over: West Indies 328-6 (Dowrich 90, Holder 141) Anderson got a warning from the umpires for threatening a violent throw towards the batsman after fielding the final ball of the last over. He must be tired and extraordinarily grumpy. Holder gets a thick edge to the penultimate ball of Curran’s over, but gets away with it.

6.12pm GMT

85th over: West Indies 326-6 (Dowrich 89, Holder 140) Anderson bowls at the stumps and Dowrich does to him precisely what Holder did to Curran in the previous over, pushing the ball back down the ground for four. Then Holder tickles the ball fine for four, an equally lovely but totally contrasting shot.

6.08pm GMT

84th over: West Indies 317-6 (Dowrich 84, Holder 136) Curran’s final delivery is pitched full, straightens towards the stumps and is effortlessly pushed back down the ground by Holder for four. At what point does a target become so impossibly distant that scoreboard pressure ceases to exist and it becomes a merry Caribbean-based batting exercise? Can’t be far off.

6.04pm GMT

83rd over: West Indies 310-6 (Dowrich 82, Holder 131) Another maiden from Anderson.

5.59pm GMT

82nd over: West Indies 310-6 (Dowrich 82, Holder 131) Curran rehashes his opening-bowler impression, and immediately gets one to straighten into Holder. There’s a lusty appeal, but the umpire isn’t keen and England are fresh out of reviews. And it was missing leg stump.

5.53pm GMT

81st over: West Indies 307-6 (Dowrich 81, Holder 129) The new ball is taken, and tossed to Anderson. Can he perform the kind of magic with this fresh cherry that he abracadabraed up towards the end of day one? Well, not immediately. Still, it’s a maiden.

5.49pm GMT

80th over: West Indies 307-6 (Dowrich 81, Holder 129) Evening/afternoon/whatever everyone! As I join you Keaton Jennings is handed the ball, and his first delivery is pummelled to the rope by Holder. And two balls later he’s dropped! Holder looks to drive down the ground but hoists the ball into the air off his outside edge, and three fielders run towards it. Burns gets there, the ball dropping over his left shoulder, but it goes through his palms and down!

5.40pm GMT

79th over: West Indies 301-6 (Dowrich 81, Holder 123) Nothing much is happening. England are waiting for the declaration; West Indies are pottering along in second gear. Dowrich back cuts Root classily for four to move into the effortless eighties. That’s drinks, and time for me to tag in Simon Burnton. You can email him at here or tweet here. Thanks for your company, night!

5.36pm GMT

78th over: West Indies 295-6 (Dowrich 76, Holder 122) Holder half-edges, half-steers Anderson to third man for four. West Indies don’t seem in a hurry to declare, and it looks like they will bat on at least until Dowrich is dismissed or make his hundred. He is 24 away.

5.34pm GMT

77th over: West Indies 289-6 (Dowrich 75, Holder 117) And now West Indies lead has gone past 500.

“Evening Rob and 2019,” says Tom Bowtell. “Last year I read somewhere, possibly on the OBO, that the England management were increasingly seeing Stokes as a batsman who bowls. Ever since then he has emerged as the complete opposite, as his stats from the last year - with nearly identical batting and bowling averages of 25 - show. He’s now arguably our second best seamer, but isn’t doing enough to be a top five batter. I wonder if some sort of role-swap with Curran needs to happen sooner rather than later?”

5.29pm GMT

76th over: West Indies 283-6 (Dowrich 70, Holder 116) Anderson gets one to straighten past Holder’s outside edge. Lovely bowling.

“Do you think Jimmy is trying to get himself banned for running on the pitch,” says Richard Adams, “so he can spend the rest of the innings resting in the outfield?”

5.26pm GMT

75th over: West Indies 280-6 (Dowrich 69, Holder 114) Root has comfortably outbowled Moeen and Rashid today, mixing off and legspin and varying his pace as well. One delivery in that over was 72mph.

5.22pm GMT

74th over: West Indies 279-6 (Dowrich 68, Holder 114) Anderson replaces Stokes, another decision that is on the unfathomable side of WTF. He is warned by Rod Tucker for running on the danger zone, which makes his countenance even grumpier than it was at the start of the over. One run from it.

“After the earlier comments from Sara Torvalds, can she offer any solace to an Englishman living in Finland?” asks Chris Prior. “At least I’m not on Pluto? A Sri Lanka supporter?”

5.17pm GMT

73rd over: West Indies 278-6 (Dowrich 67, Holder 114) Joe Root hurries through another over. While he is doing so, Jimmy Anderson gets loose for another bowling spell. Great, nice one.

5.14pm GMT

72nd over: West Indies 276-6 (Dowrich 66, Holder 112) Stokes bowls his 46th over of the match, and we’re not even at the halfway point on day three. I can’t really see the logic behind this. Bowl Sam Curran, bowl Jonny Bairstow, bowl anyone else.

5.10pm GMT

71st over: West Indies 275-6 (Dowrich 66, Holder 112) This is a terrific spell from Joe Root. Holder almost drags on and then inside-edges a legspinner this far wide of leg stump.

“It’s just gone lunch on Day 3,” says Harkarn Sumal. “Other than any gremlins that the weather might hold across Saturday and Sunday, there is no earthly reason why Holder should declare at any point before stumps today, especially if they’re rattling along like this and having fun. They’re potentially putting horrible thankless miles into Stokes and Anderson’s legs (and souls) too. If I were Root, I’d simply wrap the two of them up in cotton wool and leave Curran and the spinners to do the work for the whole of the rest of this innings, no matter what it did to the scorecard. England are toast here even if four wickets fall in the next over.”

5.07pm GMT

70th over: West Indies 270-6 (Dowrich 66, Holder 107) The admirable, indefatigable, bloody-minded, bloody-stupid-to-still-be-bowling Stokes twice beats Dowrich outside off stump during an excellent over.

“Rob,” says John Starbuck. “Now that we’ve had choice of toss to the visiting side in the County Championship, are there any win/loss figures there too? Or do we have to wait about five years to get a respectable spread?”

5.03pm GMT

69th over: West Indies 270-6 (Dowrich 66, Holder 107) Root is bowling well here, and almost slips a legspinner behind Holder’s legs. Much more of this and Root will be officially classifed as an all-rounder as well. Once Jimmy Anderson retires, England should be able to pick an XI comprised entirely of batsmen and batting all-rounders.

“I’m not basing this on the kind of stattastic numbers Jon Taylor produced (64th over), but might one reason for the increasing influence of the toss be the inability of test teams to bat out a draw when facing an ungettable target?” says David Hopkins. “It feels like nowadays teams lack the application to even try to bat out a day and a half, so a first innings leads more or less guarantees victory.”

5.00pm GMT

68th over: West Indies 269-6 (Dowrich 65, Holder 107) Oh for heaven’s sake. Ben Stokes is bowling again, again. This surely isn’t a good idea given how much work he has already done in this match. Holder pulls him for four, because he wants to, because he wants to.

4.56pm GMT

67th over: West Indies 264-6 (Dowrich 64, Holder 103) Joe Root, the Sonny Ramadhin de nos jours, is mixing offies and leggies to decent effect. Three from the over.

“I thought you (and a few other England supporters) might need a bit of cheering up,” says Sara Torvalds. “Take the positives and all that. So far, apart from the obvious (a resurgent West Indies, good for cricket, learning curve, yada yada) there’s one thing you probably haven’t thought of: You’re not in Finland!

4.53pm GMT

66th over: West Indies 261-6 (Dowrich 62, Holder 102) The West Indies captain Jason Holder reaches a spectacular hundred on his home ground by launching Rashid for a glorious straight six. It’s his fifth six, all off Rashid, and that one went straight into the sightscreen. His hundred has taken just 99 balls. Rashid’s misery continues when he is called for a back foot no-ball. He has figures of 9-0-61-0, and I have a bad feeling we are watching the last spell of his Test career.

“Afternoon, Rob,” says Phil Sawyer. “The thing about Souness wasn’t just the tackling; he perfected the art of protesting that he was the injured party long before Suarez damaged his poor teeth on those chaps. This is a spectacular example. Warning: May not be safe for those of a nervous disposition.”

4.48pm GMT

65th over: West Indies 252-6 (Dowrich 62, Holder 94) Joe Root takes one for the team by coming on to bowl. His first ball is a good one that Holder edges wide of slip for four, and then he has a huge LBW appeal against Dowrich turned down. England have no reviews left. That looked extremely close because Dowrich was a long way back as he played around a legspinner. In fact, I’m not sure what was wrong with that. Yes, replays show the decision would have been overturned had England been able to review.

4.46pm GMT

64th over: West Indies 247-6 (Dowrich 61, Holder 89) Holder begins the session by swiping Rashid over long-on for six. He didn’t quite get hold of it as he intended but it had just enough to clear Jos Buttler on the boundary.

“Hi Rob,” says Jon Taylor. “How much would you say England’s Test recovery over the last year was helped by that crazy run of eight tosses won in a row? Without Sky I’ve relied on highlights and match reports so couldn’t assess how strong the performances behind the results really were. But of the last 100 completed Tests worldwide, the team winning the toss had an astonishing (to me) record of 60 wins, 27 losses and 13 draws. It feels like the toss is becoming more and more of a factor. Thoughts?”

4.41pm GMT

This is wonderful

“Just came across this,” says Kim Thonger. “Marvellous stuff. Groucho visiting MCC v Cambridge University in 1954 at Lord’s. He was heard to remark, ‘What a wonderful cure for insomnia. If you can’t sleep here, you really need an analyst.’”

4.37pm GMT

The players are coming back out

“Don’t worry Rob,” says Bob Miller. “As I vegan I can confirm you can chuck vegan pies. And cows will still be allowed to exist in the corner, come the revolution.”

4.00pm GMT

63rd over: West Indies 237-6 (Dowrich 61, Holder 80) Stokes hustles in for the last over before lunch. Even he can’t bend this situation to his will, and the West Indies batsmen complete a superb session for their team: 110 runs, no wickets, no danger of anything other than a crushing victory.

I’ll be back in half an hour for the afternoon session. In the meantime, let’s get on with the quiz.

3.56pm GMT

62nd over: West Indies 235-6 (Dowrich 60, Holder 79) Ach! The answer is Mark Boucher and Lance Klusener. Darn it. Turns out McMillan and Richardson were 15 runs short of achieving the same feat. Meanwhile, Adil Rashid has decided to around the wicket, which is primarily but not exclusively a defensive move. Dowrich and Holder milk him for five runs from the over. Rashid’s figures in this second innings are 7-0-42-0; he’s going at a run a ball, in other words.

3.52pm GMT

61st over: West Indies 230-6 (Dowrich 57, Holder 77) Ben Stokes comes back into the attack. Did Andrew Flintoff die at Lord’s in 2006 for nothing?! (NB: He didn’t actually die.) A handful of singles push the West Indies lead up to 442. More to the point, Bumble will give us the answer to the big question at the start of the next over.

“You said Holder hit Rashid over cow corner for six,” notes Rob Merrills. “If the rising tide of veganism continues to gather momentum, will ‘cow corner’ join ‘Chinaman’ as nothing more than a footnote in the cricketing lexicon, evoking fond memories of simpler though considerably more cruel times where cricket teas included buttered scones with cream and jam, and potted beef sandwiches?”

3.48pm GMT

60th over: West Indies 227-6 (Dowrich 56, Holder 75) This is a great question from Bumble on Sky. Dowrich and Holder are apparently only the second pair in Test history to put on a century partnership for the sixth, seventh and eight wickets. Who are the other pair? I’m going to guess Brian McMillan and Dave Richardson, and I’m almost certainly wrong.

3.45pm GMT

59th over: West Indies 225-6 (Dowrich 55, Holder 74) Yeeha! Holder drives Curran high over long off for a regal six, which brings up the century partnership. England’s change bowlers are being treated like an old sock.

3.41pm GMT

58th over: West Indies 219-6 (Dowrich 55, Holder 68) A bit of respite for Rashid, who gets through an over without being pumped for six by Jason Holder.

“Surely England are a bit like one of those SA XIs that had Pollock or Klusener at No9 or 10,” says Gary Naylor. “(Maybe, from memory, also the 1970 SA XI too. They were pretty good.)”

3.37pm GMT

57th over: West Indies 216-6 (Dowrich 54, Holder 66) A maiden from Curran to Holder.

3.32pm GMT

56th over: West Indies 216-6 (Dowrich 54, Holder 66) A flighted delivery from Rashid is carted into the crowd at cow corner by Holder. That’s a majestic shot, his second six in as many overs from Rashid.

3.28pm GMT

55th over: West Indies 208-6 (Dowrich 53, Holder 59) That light shower has passed, so it was a good call from the umpires to continue. Sam Curran, who has switched ends, is flicked sweetly through mid-on for four by Dowrich. That brings up to a confident half-century, his ninth in Tests.

“OK Robert,” says Adam Roberts. “I’ll take the bait. I didn’t write in yesterday as it was during a very intense passage of play, but you’ve done it again today. Are you spelling mayhem as mayham on purpose and, if yes, why? Is it Sopranos related?”

3.24pm GMT

54th over: West Indies 203-6 (Dowrich 49, Holder 58) I’ve a hunch this might be Adil Rashid’s last Test. He comes into the attack and is immediately launched for six by Holder. Poor Rashid’s match figures are 20-1-80-0.

“Hi Rob,” says Pete Salmon. “The thing that actually annoys me most about slow over rates is the way that every ex-player who becomes a commentator immediately bemoans them and starts looking for solutions AS THOUGH THEY WERE NEVER INVOLVED. Given we’ve suffered them for nigh on 30 years, who was actually playing when they happened?”

3.20pm GMT

53rd over: West Indies 194-6 (Dowrich 47, Holder 51) It has started to rain at the Kensington Oval. The umpires decide to take the players off and then change their mind, presumably reasoning that it is only a light shower.

“’I can’t remember a Test team with a balance quite like this, which makes them hard to judge because there are no precedents,’” says Andrew Benzeval, quoting my earlier comment. “Yet another tick in the column in favour of the long overdue recall of Robin Smith…”

3.14pm GMT

52nd over: West Indies 191-6 (Dowrich 45, Holder 50) Holder works Curran for a single to reach a quietly dominant half-century from only 60 balls. It’s his ninth in Tests, to go with two centuries and five five-fors. Even though he’s been Test captain for almost four years, he’s still only 27. This is a cricketer, and a gentleman, of admirable substance.

“Absolutely right that they changed it to ‘Left Arm Wrist Spinner’ (48th over),” says Bill Hargreaves. “Chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature.”

3.09pm GMT

51st over: West Indies 190-6 (Dowrich 45, Holder 49) A good comeback from Moeen, who pulls his length back from full to good. One from the over.

“With the Australian Open going on right now, my eyes fell upon the ‘shot clock’ introduced in the major tennis tournaments to prevent wastage of time between the playing of points,” says Abhijato Sensarma. “Cricket could do with something similar amidst a long-standing crisis of poor over rates in Test matches. Timing the period between consecutive deliveries will be too distracting and impractical; maybe there could be the introduction of an ‘Over Clock’ on the electronic scoreboards? This ensures the change of ends is done at a quick rate, and the first ball of the next set is bowled at a decent rate. ‘Violations’ could be handed out to the skipper in case of delays not caused by the batsman or external factors, with fines (and even bans) being handed down after repeated offences. Maybe, this could bring an end to the over-rate crisis the sport is seeing nowadays! Thoughts?”

3.03pm GMT

50th over: West Indies 189-6 (Dowrich 45, Holder 48) Holder plays another cracking shot, pulling Curran dismissively for four, and then Dowrich drives him to the cover boundary to take West Indies’ lead past 400. That’s drinks, and England need a very stiff Gatorade.

“I’m sure you saw this, Prof. Smyth,” says Bill Hargreaves. “The Dude is back – but is Jeff Bridges about to pull the rug from under us?”

2.59pm GMT

49th over: West Indies 179-6 (Dowrich 41, Holder 43) A double bowling change, with Moeen Ali replacing Affronted Anderson. Moeen bowled well yesterday, picking up three wickets in the mayham of West Indies’ top-order collapse, but he starts today with a poor over that goes for 13. Holder drives him for three consecutive boundaries, the first two through extra cover and the third blitzed over mid-off. That’s superb batting, and I reckon West Indies have a collective plan to go after Moeen and dent his confidence. The first of those boundaries, by the way, brought up a fine fifty partnership.

2.54pm GMT

48th over: West Indies 166-6 (Dowrich 40, Holder 31) Sam Curran replaces Ben Stokes and goes straight around the wicket to the right-handers. It’s a good, accurate start from Curran, with just one from the over. West Indies lead by 378.

“Rob,” says John Starbuck. “The thing about ‘Chinaman’ is that it’s laugh-out loud funny, in a sardonic way too.”

2.50pm GMT

47th over: West Indies 165-6 (Dowrich 39, Holder 31) Holder does to Anderson what he did to Stokes, flicking neatly to the fine-leg boundary. Anderson is leaving the field, which suggests his work for this match is done. He must have been so hacked off yesterday, and rightly so.

“Why do we suddenly have so many allrounders and is it a good thing?” says Tom German. “Could some of these allrounders be forced to choose like with their A-Levels or should we just field seven allrounders and to hang with it?”

2.45pm GMT

46th over: West Indies 160-6 (Dowrich 38, Holder 27) An inswinger from Stokes is flicked to fine leg for four by Holder. Stokes yelps in frustration. I would be tempted to take him out of the attack. It’s a short series and a long year, and England are going to lose this game. Stokes’ bowling workload is becoming an issue.

“Given the minuscule chance of anything other than a Windies victory, I was surprised to see the bookies giving odds of 1.13 before the start of play today (£100 would return £113),” says Sam W. “They’re giving England significantly more of a chance of a result than, turning to football for an example, Burnley getting something against Man City in the FA Cup tomorrow (£100 on City returning £107). I’d have thought this was much more of a done deal than the unpredictability of a 90-minute football match. Is there much chance of rain? Or is there something I’m missing?”

2.41pm GMT

45th over: West Indies 156-6 (Dowrich 38, Holder 23) “I realise that I’m going against the grain here, but as a bowler myself, I’m a bit torn about the ‘fashion’ in recent years to squarely blame our low inningses (not sure that’s a real word) on our batsmen, as surely our bowlers are as culpable for allowing our opposition to score so many runs?” says Scott Roberts. “I genuinely look at the bowlers we have/don’t have any worry about the future of our team, as there don’t seem to be any decent prospects (with the exception of Jofra Archer) and haven’t been any threats to the Anderson/Broad duo for years, allowing them to rack up so many wickets unchallenged. Just a thought.”

I know what you mean, and it’s only a year since an average Australia side were scoring 600 at will. I’d expect Broad to be around for 2-3 years after Anderson to help with the transition. Archer is also, in the parlance of our time, a bit of a gamechanger. And there’s a lad at Warwickshire, Henry Brookes, who is a serious prospect. I’ve started bowling a bit of offspin at the age of 43, too, so let’s all just chill out for a bit, can we.

2.34pm GMT

44th over: West Indies 151-6 (Dowrich 34, Holder 22) It might be time to have a look at Moeen Ali. Anderson and Stokes aren’t bowling badly, quite the contrary, but this middle-aged ball isn’t doing a great deal. Stokes still finds a way to burst one past Dowrich’s outside edge, which causes a flustered Dowrich to play and miss at the next delivery as well. Stokes has bowled so well this morning.

“Re: Gary Naylor’s point,” begins Ian Copestake. “Perhaps there should be a ban on using the phrase ‘we win as a team and lose as a team’ in front of a group who perhaps do not understand the notion of metaphor.”

2.29pm GMT

43rd over: West Indies 146-6 (Dowrich 32, Holder 20) A juicy outswinger from Anderson is pinged through extra cover for four by Holder. He’s a really useful Test No8, with an average in the low 30s.

“Hello Rob: a book with cricket as a main feature and one that I’d highly recommend is Chinaman by Shehan Karunatilaka, set in Sri Lanka,” says Ravi Raman. “Fiction and not a true ‘cricket’ book as such.”

2.25pm GMT

42nd over: West Indies 142-6 (Dowrich 32, Holder 16) Stokes, who is bowling with impressive intensity and precisely no luck, beats both batsmen in the course of a fine over. Before Bristol, Stokes was a batsman who bowled; at the moment he looks like the opposite.

2.21pm GMT

41st over: West Indies 140-6 (Dowrich 31, Holder 15) Holder square drives Anderson for four, helped by a misfield from Bairstow, before being beaten by a lovely outswinger.

“As a counterpoint to all the doom around the England shower-show yesterday, and in the spirit of enthusiastic preamble, can I just say that, as one who was a lad in the era of Marshall, Holding, Croft and Garner, I loved the heady wave of nostalgia which swept over me on seeing a Windies fast bowler rip the heart out of the English line-up,” says Martin Wright. “Made me feel young again. And gave me hope (illusory maybe) that cricket still has a future in that most entertaining of cricketing nations. So there.”

2.16pm GMT

40th over: West Indies 136-6 (Dowrich 31, Holder 11) Holder tries to turn a lifter from Stokes to leg and gets a leading edge that lands safely on the off side. Well bowled by Stokes, who has been extremely good with the ball since his return. (Don’t mention the batting.)

“Rob,” says Charles. “As a 47-year-old England fan I have lived through some tough times against the West Indies, but this is too much, can we stop now? Just post a few pictures of the blue sky and maybe a bit of local wildlife, NO MENTION OF THE CRICKET...”

2.12pm GMT

39th over: West Indies 133-6 (Dowrich 30, Holder 9) After that scandalously expensive first over, which disappeared for four runs, Jimmy returns to his parsimonious ways with a maiden to Dowrich.

“It really was an extraordinary collapse yesterday,” says Andrew Benzeval. “West Indies bowled very nicely by all accounts, but perhaps not 77 all out nice. One way to look at it would be the nature of selection under Ed Smith, which is by hunch to a degree, combined with a number of players fulfilling multiple roles (the old “bits and pieces” team as opposed to a settled side of specialists) does create danger. An unkinder way to look at it would be two unproven openers, a new number 3, a misfiring middle order and then bowlers who recently have been doing much of the batting. Is another way to look at yesterday then simply that the wheels came off, as they have threatened to do a number of times in the last year, but this time nothing was there to stop it?”

2.08pm GMT

38th over: West Indies 133-6 (Dowrich 30, Holder 9) Ben Stokes starts at the other end. He takes a few balls to get his radar right but ends the over with an excellent lifter that beats Holder.

“Hard as it is to disagree with Gary Naylor, I think it’s necessary,” says Geoff Wignall. “Buttler and/ or Curran have had to rescue the batting rather too often recently, decent opening stands have been too few and far between even when respectable totals have been posted and without the Earl of Burnley the bowling would be too frequently unconvincing to go along with his theory. It’s still about individual performance, albeit it does seem a very well knit team. (Am I alone in thinking the sense of team unity and common purpose, as well as Root’s onfield decision making has been on an upward curve since Buttler returned?)”

2.03pm GMT

37th over: West Indies 131-6 (Dowrich 29, Holder 9) Shane Dowrich and Jason Holder get West Indies off to a good start, milking four singles from James Anderson’s first over. I suspect they will want to increase the lead to 400 as quickly as possible.

“My boyfriend and I are off to Antigua next week,” boasts Emma Leonard, “and we want something to read on the way. Any new cricket books you’d recommend?”

1.48pm GMT

Mike Atherton is interviewing Shimron Hetmyer on Sky Sports. He seems a thoroughly charming, happy and self-deprecating young bloke, and we already know he is spectacularly talented. We are going to seriously enjoy him over the next 15 years.

1.39pm GMT

This is an interesting point from Our Gary

“It’s often said that cricket is an individual sport played within a team environment - indeed, that’s one of its principal delights,” says Gary Naylor. “Can it be entirely coincidental that Joe Root’s England team - one of the most ‘together’ in England’s history, maybe in Test cricket’s history - tend to succeed and fail collectively, as if a hive mind operates positively and negatively? I can provide no psychological explanation for such conjecture, but it’s happening too often to be explained away by simple coincidence.”

1.35pm GMT

Pre-match reading

11.52am GMT

Oh, England. There’s your preamble!

At least it would be, had I not just spotted The Man lovingly polishing his knuckle duster. So, here’s your preamble.

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Published on January 25, 2019 13:34