Key events
36th over: England 182-5 (Brook 63, Smith 64) Smith is starting to look slightly vulnerable against Krishna’s short stuff. It’s the lack of pace in the pitch that’s the problem; he toe-ends another pull shot that could go anywhere but lands safely on the leg side. “Are the percentage in your favour with two men back?” muses Nasser Hussain on commentary.
After Brook backs away to bad two more – he could have played on actually – Smith savages a much safer pull stroke through midwicket for four. He has 64 from 53 balls.
35th over: England 173-5 (Brook 60, Smith 58) “Can only be speculation, but how would Jos Buttler have played Test cricket under Ben and Baz?” says Gary Naylor. “And what must he think looking on to a successor as a counter-attacking wicketkeeper-batter playing with such freedom? It’s almost a one man vindication of the approach.”
My hunch is that it’s not quite as simple as that. Buttler is susceptible to overthinking and his bad periods in Tests usually came when he couldn’t find a natural tempo. This is conjecture but I don’t think he would ever have truly overcome that, not even under Stokes and McCullum.
34th over: England 173-5 (Brook 60, Smith 58) Six more to Smith, pulled almost absent-mindedly into the crowd off Krishna. You can’t keep hitting sixes without breaking the occasional egg, however; later in the over Smith toe-ends a pull just past the leaping Karun Nair at square leg. Careful now.
Krishna is almost bowling short to Brook, who was caught in the trap for 99 at Headingley. He backs away to steer the last ball for two, which makes it 11 from the over and 34 from Krishna’s last two.
Smith reaches 43-ball fifty
33rd over: England 161-5 (Brook 57, Smith 50) Ravindra Jadeja comes on for the first time today, with a slip and silly point in place. Smith works a single to reach a pulsating fifty from just 43 balls. He has a strike rate of 75 in his fledgling Test career, the second highest for any keeper with at least 500 runs.
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81.95 Adam Gilchrist (Aus)
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74.87 Jamie Smith (Eng)
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73.90 Rishabh Pant (Ind)
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71.19 Quinton de Kock (SA)
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70.16 Sarfaraz Ahmed (Pak)
“We all have some positive attributes and some negative, in life and our sporting abilities,” begins Stephen Brown. “In most areas of life you have to try to find a balance between both. But given the length of a Test match and the split-second nature of it all going wrong for a batsmen, the longstanding assumption from England fans is that you have to prioritise minimising your negatives; i.e. removing the chance to get out.
“To focus instead on maximising the positives is to be seen as arrogant. To do so you must believe that your positives are intrinsically so great as to outweigh the negatives. Thus, I think, the view that Stokes’ team that is focused on positives rather than negative is too arrogant/going about it wrong.
“The flaw in those who criticise (to my mind) is that these are the best batters in the bloody country; they wouldn’t have got here if their positives didn’t outweigh the negatives by several orders of magnitude. So of course they should lean into that. Sorry, pop psychology rant over.”
No apologies necessary, although any mention of the world’s most interesting band is welcome. I find the Bazball Wars really fascinating. I can see it from both sides. I cringe horribly when I remember some of the crap I wote about Sir Alex Ferguson, for example, or a young Jimmy Anderson. But with this team… if we’re alive in 2055, we’ll recall the Bazball Era (and, for that matter, Gareth Southgate’s England, although I was less invested in them) as one of the greatest times of our cricket-watching life. So why has it been soundtracked by so much moaning?
I realise that’s a slightly simplistic view; my brain is more binary than I would like. Even so, I don’t think the level of the opprobrium in the past three years has been commensurate with England’s performances and results. There’s also the danger of normalising kneejerk reactions, but that’s another discussion. There’s cricket taking place FHS!
Smith hits 23 from Krishna’s over!
32nd over: England 160-5 (Brook 56, Smith 49) Now then, buckle up: Krishna is going to the short ball. Smith pulls smoothly for four, then mightily for six despite there being a man on the boundary at deep square.
Another cracking pull, this time through midwicket, is followed by a smear over mid-on to make it 18 from four balls. This is so good to watch. A bouncer is called wide on height, and everyone knows what’s coming next. Pitched up, leathered through mid-off for four. Twenty-three from the over!
The G-word is becoming irresistible. Smith isn’t as good as Adam Gilchrist, nobody is, but his approach is pretty much identical. What kind of everyday cricketer comes in with his team 84 for 5, still 503 runs behind, and races to 49 from 38 balls?
You can ponder that during the drinks break.
31st over: England 137-5 (Brook 56, Smith 27) A beautiful cover drive for four from Brook brings up the fifty partnership. It’s taken only 55 balls, a reminder that this is not – repeat, not – a 130 for 5 pitch.
Thus far Brook has dominated Siraj in this series: 48 balls, 48 runs, no wickets.
30th over: England 132-5 (Brook 52, Smith 26) Smith tries to force a length ball from Krishna through the off side and is beaten. Not a great shot. So far Krishna is bowling length with the occasional short one; that will surely change if these two are still at the crease in his second spell.
Fifty for Brook
29th over: England 130-5 (Brook 51, Smith 25) Siraj changes ends to see whether he can get his run-up right. Brook drives him through the covers and sprints back for a third run to bring up another half-century, this time from 73 balls. He rode his last night but has played with a lower heart rate this morning.
28th over: England 123-5 (Brook 47, Smith 23) Krishna replaces Siraj, whose spell of 3-0-16-2 was both messy and potentially match-winning. Funny old game. The change almost has the desired effect when Brook, carving off the back foot, edges between slip and gully for four. “Can’t believe it,” says Ravi Shastri on commentary. “You lead by 470 and there’s only one slip.”
“Morning Rob, morning everyone,” begins Simon McMahon. “If England win this Test, I’m giving up work, moving to the country with my cats, writing Ben Stokes: The Musical, and starting a new religion with Test cricket as God, Edgbaston as a place of pilgrimage, and the OBO of this match as the holy book.”
27th over: England 116-5 (Brook 42, Smith 21) An inviting outswinger is Deep is square-driven imperiously for four by Smith. He has started marvellously – I’m almost tempted to use the G word – and it might not be long before India ask Prasidh Krishna to test him with the short ball.
26th over: England 109-5 (Brook 42, Smith 14) Siraj is still struggling with his run up. Rishabh Pant has suggested he mark his run out again. He struggles on for now. I say ‘struggles on’, he’s dismissed Joe Root and Ben Stokes so he’s hardly guilty of phoning it in.
“How is the weather for the next days?” asks Anand. “Any rain saving England possibilities?”
There is, though the forecast suggests sporadic showers rather than Brisbane 1998. One small thing in England’s favour is that India will err on the side of caution when they declare in the third innings. You’d expect India to win from here but there’s a wholly credible scenario in which the match is drawn. Off the top of my slightly frazzled head, England’s first task is to score at least 350 in the first innings.
25th over: England 108-5 (Brook 42, Smith 13) A single to Smith brings up the England hundred. WinViz gives England a 1% chance of victory. “So you’re telling me there’s a chance…” memes Stuart Broad in the commentary box.
Smith has started assertively, both in attack and defence, and moves into double figures with a brusque pull for four off Deep.
“I think many will be saying that England deserve this because of hubris,” says Felix Wood. “My bigger gripe is that the poor bowlers will be forced back into the field after two back breaking days. Will India enforce the follow on is the big question?”
The chances of Indian enforcing the follow on less than 1 per cent, probably less than 0.1 per cent. I would also politely disagree about any hubris. Poor shot selection can be the result of hubris but it’s not always the case, not even close. And this morning’s dismissals could have happened to the world’s most defensive, modest batters.
24th over: England 99-5 (Brook 41, Smith 5) Siraj has an interesting field for Brook, with only one slip and a gully. Brook starts the over with a classical drive between extra cover and mid off for four, and ends it with another boundary to fine leg when Siraj rams a bit of rubbish into the hip.
By the way, that Stokes duck continues a lean trot over the last two years. Since his last Test hundred, that dead-eyed rampage at Lord’s in 2023, he averages 28 from 32 innings. On this occasion, though, the agency is largely with the bowler. Stokes loves to get on the front foot, literally and figuratively, and it must have been a plan to hit him with a short one first ball.
23rd over: England 89-5 (Brook 32, Smith 4) Never mind Harry Brook; right now England could do with Harry Houdini. But they’ll still be looking for chinks of light because that’s how their brains work. Brook works Deep for a single and Smith defends the rest of the over.
“Having Stokes and McCullum as bosses would have suited me down to the ground,” says Keith Astbury. “I could have been great at my job one day and rubbish the next, but would be guaranteed an early finish. What’s not to like?”
Not sure I’d love all those golf days though.
22nd over: England 88-5 (Brook 31, Smith 4) Jamie Smith drills the hat-trick ball through mid-off for four. Nicely done. But what a start for India, who lead by 499 runs and are one wicket away from the bowlers.
“I know that That Band from Burnage will be in the news today,” wrote Richard O’Hagan about 10 minutes ago, “but can we keep the mid-90s nostalgia to that and not extend it to England batting collapses after shipping a shedload of runs in the first innings.”
England’s vice-captain went first ball yesterday; now the captain has gone the same way. Stokes, pressing forward instinctively, was undone by a brilliant short ball that brushed the shoulder of the bat on its way through to Rishabh Pant. That’s a stunning piece of bowling, both the idea and the execution.
WICKET! England 84-5 (Stokes c Pant b Siraj 0)
Mohammad Siraj is on a hat-trick!
WICKET! England 84-4 (Root c Pant b Siraj 22)
Siraj loses his run-up twice before bowling his first delivery. Losing your run-up is bad, losing Joe Root is a whole lot worse. He’s gone to Shami’s third ball, caught down the leg side by the diving Pant! Root can’t believe his luck. He flicked at a poor delivery, on the pads, and got a little tickle that was snaffled gleefully by Pant. That’s a big wicket. Huge. Massive. Massive!
21st over: England 83-3 (Root 22, Brook 30) Joe Root is the highest scorer in Edgbaston Tests, with 938 runs at 72, and there’s plenty in his favour today: flat pitch, ageing ball, nemesis-free bowing attack. His first task is to see off Deep and Shami, who will come steaming in this morning.
Deep bowls a couple of no-balls and then beats Root with a good delivery. India’s line was excellent last night and Shubman Gill spoke about wanting to make England play as much as possible. Deep achieves that for the majority of the over, but when he gets too straight Root puts him through midwicket.
Enough! It’s time for the action. Akash Deep will open the bowling to Joe Root and Harry Brook.
“I feel like people who get very very very annoyed about ‘brainless’ shots have convinced themselves that having the right mentality, and getting the right shot selection, is the easy bit of being a cricketer – perhaps because it’s more or less the only bit of being a cricketer we can imagine ourselves being good at,” writes Mike Morris. “Since this England team is looking a bit like the Jimmy White of Test cricket, it reminds me of how people would sigh with exasperation at Jimmy’s careless shots that cost him titles, rather than acknowledge that snooker – like cricket – is a mentally exhausting sport and maintaining concentration all the time is hard.
“My feeling is that Stokes and McCullum have created a team with such incredible self-belief that it isn’t even troubled by the opposition being 430 for 3, and can repeatedly chase huge totals. Establishing that sort of mentality has a cost, and in England’s case the cost is some frustratingly hubristic dismissals. I think we should all accept that you can’t have one without the other, particularly when the cricket is so much fun.”
The point about it being the only thing we can imagine ourselves being good at is very shrewd; I’ve not heard that before. I think there’s also an element of us thinking it’s like a computer game in which you choose a batting mode – defensive, normal, attacking etc – rather than make a series of literally split-second calculations to a 90mph delivery. It’s impossible to get those right all the time, even more sown when you take greater risks than any time in cricket history.
In other news, I’ve noticed that every time I go shopping I’ll stand in the aisle for about 30 seconds, trying to decide whether I should buy a loaf or whether I need to dial down the carbs, then often another 30 seconds deciding which loaf to buy. So I have no right to excessively criticise those who make errors like Crawley and Pope’s yesterday. I still do it from time to time, though, and I wince when I recall my entitled grumbling when they all went on the pull at Lord’s in 2023. I’ve written and thought plenty of disgraceful nonsense over the years so I’m no better than anyone else in that regard. But I do have more empathy, and that makes me an intrinsically superior human being.
There’s another Ashes warm-up Test taking in place in Grenada, where Australia were bowled out for 286 on the opening day by West Indies. Not for the first time, Beau Webster and Alex Carey got them out of trouble. Their counter-attacks are starting to evoke Brian McMillan and David Richardson, the defiant South Africa pair of the mid-1990s.
“I wrote this yesterday,” says Gary Naylor. “and I’m still not entirely sure what I mean.
Bazball demands that all situations be looked straight between the eyes with the best version of yourself and an attitude that does not countenance failure. Well, not quite. It’s more the fear of failure that is banished, a subtle but important difference.
“I do know that for every great in sport who confesses to being paralysed by self-doubt before deeds of derring-do, there are many more who only surprise themselves when they don’t win, and never when they do.”
That’s far more eloquent than anything I could come up with. I know what you mean, though, and I agree. I keep coming back to the same thought: that 99.94 per cent of the population would be better at their jobs if their boss was Ben Stokes and/or Brendon McCullum.
That’s not a slight on everyone else – my boss is one the best in the business, he even goes out of his way to read the OBO – so much as an acknowledgement that these have a degree in people. But they’re also human, which means they are intrinsically flawed. I feel like we’ve never been less tolerant of these flaws and I’m not quite smart enough to understand why.
Weather watch
Sun is shining, weather is sweet, yeah. We’ll should get a full day’s play – and maybe even a full 90 overs given India have two spinners.
It’ll get cloudy as the day progresses but there’s only a chance of rain after around 5pm.
Day two roundup
Preamble
“Where’s your brain? Where’s your brain?!” Ferris Bueller’s exasperated enquiry of his best friend Cameron Frye has been regularly repeated by England fans in the Bazball era. When England chased 371 at Headingley with almost serene efficiency, it was described as “Bazball with brains” and the narrative moved on to whether England’s top seven was the best in the world.
Life is rarely that simple. Just look at how often we use the phrase “one/two steps forward, one/two steps back”. That’s our natural rhythm, in all walks of life, yet the phrase is generally uttered to express disappointment that the subject hasn’t made the smooth progress we expected.
England took one step back yesterday evening – metaphor, Harry – when they lost three early wickets in reply to India’s mammoth score of 587. They could have lost four or five, with Harry Brook giddyupping his luck on a number of occasions. And though it would be unfair to call their cricket brainless, there was some poor shot-selection from Brook, Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope. Bazball giveth, Bazball taketh away. You cannot revolutionise Test-match batting – as England have unquestionably done – without occasionally getting high on your own supply.
In some ways that’s what makes England so much fun. If, say, Andrew Strauss’s 2010-11 side were in this position, resuming on 77 for 3, you could be reasonably confident they would still be batting at the close. This lot? They could be 450 for 4 at the close or 220 all out by mid-afternoon. There are still loads of runs to be scored on this Edgbaston pitch, especially as the ball gets older, so there’s evern chance we’re set for a match-defining day.
England can frustrate the hell out of us, but that’s a price worth paying ten times over. I don’t know about you, because you keep ignoring my WhatsApps and don’t think I haven’t seen the two ticks by the way, but for the last three years they have enriched my life to a degree that almost brings a lump to the throat.
Watching and writing about them has consistently alleviated tiredness, ennui, depression, even fear. Nobody will lie on their death bed lamenting how much time they spent watching Ben Stokes’ England play cricket. But they might wistfully recall day three of the 2025 Edgbaston Test.
Legal disclaimer: the Guardian reserves the right to dispatch the toys and England’s top order as a bunch of egotistical balloons if they are rolled for 150 before lunch.
