Key events
Thanks Jim, afternoon everyone. England – Bazball England – are scoring at least than three an over, and it’s utterly compelling.
James Wallace
37th over: England 109-2 (Pope 21, Root 34) Root square drives for four, Lord’s is too refined to give the Rooooooot full gusto. Siraj goes full but strays onto the pads, the deflection flies wide of stand-in keeper Jurel and away for four leg byes.
“Blessed are the strokemakers, for they shall cleave air. Blessed are the audience, for they shall tear hair.”
John Starbuck in fine fettle.
Right, that’s me done – the players are taking some electrolytes/Tizer on board and Rob Smyth is here to take you through the rest of the day. Thanks for your company, bye!
36th over: England 101-2 (Pope 21, Root 30) Bumrah takes a breather and the dangerous and double wicket taking Nitish Kumar Reddy replaces him from the Nursery End. Root clips off his pads and they scamper three. Close! Pope gets into a mess outside off stump again but his half-hearted flash falls just short of the waiting cordon.
35th over: England 98-2 (Pope 21, Root 27) England approach three figures but there’s nearly a calamitous run out between Root and Pope as a non existent single sees Pope sprawling for his ground! Face full of dirt and not a run added.
34th over: England 95-2 (Pope 19, Root 26) There’s a long delay here whilst Pant is seen to. We wait to see whether he’ll be able to carry on with the gauntlets… he can’t! Dhruv Jurel is taking the field. That’s certainly one to keep an eye on.
Hearing Tom Osborne’s tales of tearing his hair whilst following in Colombia in 2019 reminded me of this soppy as all hell piece I wrote on a similar topic.
By the time of the final, we were on the Aeolian Islands. You’d struggle to find a more picturesque place. We spent our entire first day there indoors as the whole bonkers game played out. By the time of the Super Over I was losing it, prowling around in my pants, using a curtain pole as a bat, shadow playing every delivery from Boult. T sat on the same cushion, as long as she stayed in contact with that cushion, England were still in it. When Jimmy Neesham launched Archer into the Mound Stand it was a gut punch similar to heartbreak. T looked at me, concerned. “What does that mean?” I couldn’t answer. Couldn’t speak. And then.
Archer. Guptill. Roy, Buttler, Bails! Relief. Joy. Tears.”
A break in play as Pant takes a ball on the finger end and the magic spray is called for.
Time for a rootle in the wonderfully global OBO mailbag. Check out this lovely lot:
Mike Wilner in LA:
“Global check-in from Los Angeles. It’s 6 am, and heading for a high of 32C today. So, whilst following the OBO, I do what any normal Angeleno would do; I bought airline tickets to New Zealand for a January hiking trip. Perhaps I’ll catch a cricket match when I’m down there.”
Rob Petersen in Bali:
“I’m currently following in Bali, probably one of a very small contingent on the island taking an interest in the match (there might be a bit more buzz when the Ashes rolls around). I’ve tried to persuade my dog of the merits of Test cricket, but so far he’s unconvinced. He loves padel, though.”
Robert Lewis in Istanbul:
“To tie in the tropes of scorchio and following in odd places (not to mention your advice to office workers in the UK), I am watching between pages of proofreading in our flat with a Bosphorus view in Istanbul. Tempting to take a leap into the slimy waters of the straits, with 38 degrees yesterday, but it’s a manageable 30 today.”
Tom Osborne in Colombia – sort of:
“Not now but back in 2019, I spent a delightful few days in San Agustin in the coffee region of Colombia. On the day of the world cup final, my wife and I were walking around an excellent archaeological site with tombs dating back over 3,000 years. Whilst the tombs were fascinating (and the visit mainly for my benefit), I spent the whole time furiously refreshing the OBO, particularly during the super over, whilst holding my phone above my head trying desperately to get/maintain signal.
Not sure what the locals thought of my erratic behaviour and associated noises. On another note, this morning affirms my feeling that Pope should open instead of Crawley, with Bethel in at 3. Cheers for the coverage as always!”
Jeremy Boyce in the South of France:
“I’m indoors with the windows and shutters closed hiding from the heat, although it’s “only” 33 today. There are only mad tourists walking down my main street, the natives (I count myself among them, been here 25 years) are all keeping cool.
Pope and Root sounds like the name of a provincial solicitors’ or architects’ practice. Let’s hope they can lay down some law and construct a decent partnership so we’re not looking at a dodgy collapse and eventual proceedings.”
33rd over: England 90-2 (Pope 18, Root 25) Siraj whistles though another over for the cost of just a single. This is Bazball 2.0 manifest, England are going along at 2.75 runs an over but nullifying some impressively nagging Indian seam bowling.
32nd over: England 89-2 (Pope 17, Root 24) England soak up 28 dot balls in a row before Pope digs out a Bumrah yorker and squeezes it into the leg side for a single. You can’t take your eyes off it, though some of the punters at Lord’s clearly have. That Veuve Clicqot is going to quaff itself now is it?
31st over: England 88-2 (Pope 16, Root 24) Dot follows dot follows dot. You guessed it, Siraj dots up Root who then plays an extravagant cut shot but fortunately the ball misses the edge. India suffocating England’s engine room after lunch.
Restricted are the strokemakers.
30th over: England 88-2 (Pope 16, Root 24) Another probing maiden from Bumrah, he has it on a string here at Lord’s. Decking one into Ollie Pope and then snaking one away with the next ball. Too good.
29th over: England 88-2 (Pope 16, Root 24) It’s all gone a bit Bjork out there after lunch. It’s all so quiet… a maiden from Siraj to Root.
28th over: England 88-2 (Pope 16, Root 25) Bumrah to Root. This is a key battle. Root gets a single off the first ball of the over to get off strike. He’s not daft. Bumrah then works Pope over but the batter is up to it for now, blocking out five dots.
27th over: England 88-2 (Pope 16, Root 24) Siraj from the Pav end. It’s a maiden but a leg-bye gets England a single.
“Any chance of someone sharing the TMS link? I have a long drive in front of me and I’m feeling the need for soothing reflections on the qualities of the cake etc. BTW, eleven o’clock starts make great breakfast listening for those of us in upstate New York.”
Here you go Robin Gleed. Happy driving.
26th over: England 87-2 (Pope 16, Root 24) Pope clips Bumrah off his pads for four through the vacant square leg. The bowler responds by darting one back at off stump that Pope shoulders arms too. There are only two types of leave…
“Missoula, Montana checking in” writes Matt Guthrie.
“Re: the global reach of the OBO. I’m sitting on my porch in the town of Missoula (altitude 3200’) where today’s high will be in the mid-70s and there is currently a deer walking down the middle of the street…”
Lovely stuff. Reckon Ollie Pope would snatch you hand off for something in mid 70s right about now.
The players emerge after lunch and Jasprit Bumrah is going to start with the new ball. He’s well rested after missing the last Test and is into his ninth over of the day. Ollie Pope will be on strike with three slips and a gully in place.
Love this, one of the great things about the OBO is how global it is. For every office worker in a British city surreptitiously* tuning in there is someone like Tom Kirkpatrick:
“Following the OBO while walking in the Italian Alps with my partner and baby. Despite Duckett and Crawley going for low scores they at least took 13 overs out of the ball, which is a job done at least. I’m hoping the rest of the day is fairly quiet because the footing later on looks it will demand my attention back!”
Tom sends in a glorious photo of a precipitous stretch of alpine pathway that I can’t share because of… I dunno – The Man. If Pope play as skittishly as he has this morning in the afternoon session then I’d definitely flick the OBO off whilst you negotiate that stretch, you might come a cropper otherwise.
*Incidentally, I wrote something a few weeks ago trying to tap into that furtive following of cricket at work.
Those Thursday starts are a pain, eh? What with all that annoying “work” getting in the way and a manager/team who inexplicably don’t seem to be bothered about whether Sam Cook will jag the new Dukes and be quick enough on his Test debut or even whether Zak Crawley’s Teflon coating might finally wear through?
Where do these people get off organising meetings for 11am? No matter, you’ve got your methods, your strategies. You’ve been in good form during the first months of the County Championship, honing your skills for the first Test. You do what the teenagers do and surreptitiously use an ear bud so you can tune in to Test Match Special on the sly. Do not – repeat NOT – start tapping your tea mug with your teaspoon when Soul Limbo kicks in, have some self-control. Play the long game. It’s Test cricket for God’s sake, show some grit and determination! Wait, who are you calling old-fashioned?
Open up your tabs on your desktop. Go on, fire up that trusty out-of-date spreadsheet ready to cover the over-by-over and live text alerts with the flick of a shortcut key should someone walk past. Concentrate. Use your process. “Be where your mouse is.” This thing could be over in an instant. Get your head down. Take each ball at a time.”
“I can’t have the Swedes take over the OBO” says Sarah Torvalds, “So here are some greetings from southern Finland as well!”
I did think there was something of a Scandi hue to today’s proceedings. The Guardian love a bit of Hygge… tak you very much.
“I had the resources for one cricket-related trip to the UK this year and decided Lord’s at June for the Test World Championship would be a better bet than England v India in July. So far, I’m convinced I made the right choice – it was a brilliant game and sunny rather than Scorchio. (Being a Finn, I much prefer what Ben Bernard in the 2nd over terms a shit summer, though I naturally reserve the right to moan about the weather, whatever it’s like.) Also, with England not in the picture, it was restful to happily cheer South Africa on as an almost neutral.”
That was a brilliant game Sarah and wonderful to see South Africa cast the ICC Trophy shaped monkey off their back. I’ve got a sneaking feeling that this one might well rumble into something special too you know, it doesn’t look to be a batting snoozefest.
Lunch: England 83-2 (Pope 12, Root 24)
Ben Stokes stands to applaud on the Lord’s balcony as Root and Pope make it through to lunch unscathed. Both sides will be happy with their morning’s work I reckon, England recovered well after they were left teetering from a Nitish Kumar Reddy double wicket over. There’s a bit in it for the bowler’s despite the sweltering batting conditions.
Time for some scran. Thanks for your the emails, do keep them coming in. I’ll wade through the OBO mailbag with my quail eggs and beetroot remoulade or whatever the Lord’s media centre chef has rustled up.
25th over: England 83-2 (Pope 12, Root 24)
24th over: England 82-2 (Pope 11, Root 24) Bumrah gets through his eighth over of the morning. He’s gone for just 13 runs but it Reddy who has done the damage in the early exchanges. Pope punches off the front foot down the ground for a single. We might have one more before the lunch break.
23rd over: England 81-2 (Pope 10, Root 24) Don’t bowl there, son. Akash Deep strays onto Root’s pads and is clipped away with nonchalance for four. The ball seems to be doing a little less now, Mike Atherton called it at the ten over mark, maybe England have survived the trickiest period of the day now? They’d be quite happy to get lunch two down with near to a hundred on the board – I don’t think this is a 600 plays 550 match on this morning’s evidence, especially when you factor in the highest first inning score at Lord’s this season is 260.
22nd over: England 73-2 (Pope 7, Root 19) Bumrah returns for a quick burst before lunch. He loses his line slightly and slams one down the leg side that tickles Root’s thigh and runs away for a welcome boundary. Root then keeps strike with a flick off his pads to long leg.
21st over: England 68-2 (Pope 7, Root 18) Three singles off Deep as England’s rebuild continues after the loss of both openers (and nearly Pope too) in Nitish Kumar Reddy’s first over at the start of the second hour. Can they make it through to lunch?
20th over: England 65-2 (Pope 6, Root 16) Root drives Reddy through mid off for three runs, the lush Lord’s outfield isn’t as glassily quick as the ones at Headingley and Edgbaston. There’s clearly not a hosepipe ban in North London. That’s four though! Pope settles his nerves with a nicely timed drive through the covers.
19th over: England 58-2 (Pope 2, Root 13) Akash Deep replaces Siraj. Root is compact, defending late with an arrow straight blade. Three singles rotated off the over with no dramas.
“Greetings to you from Sunny Southern Sweden James!”
Kennedy Ross has a theory…
“I think no batsman in the history of cricket has more experience than Joe Root of reacting to the immediate tumble of both opening wickets. I assume it is part of his game-prep.”
There’s certainly a meme* out there somewhere.
*Hello fellow kids
18th over: England 54-2 (Pope 1, Root 10) Pope’s jitters transfer to Root as he fences at a back of a length ball from Reddy that he had no business bothering with.
Brian Withington is spluttering through white smoke:
“This innings by England’s no. 3 is already straining the concept of Papal Infallibility to the very limits of elasticity. Survival to lunch might be regarded as a small miracle?”
17th over: England 54-2 (Pope 1, Root 10) Lovely from Joe Root, he plays a high elbowed drive to whistle Siraj away through cover for four. Siraj spears a straighter one in at Root’s pads but its meat and drink to a player of Root’s class and clipped for four more with a side of Henderson’s Relish.
16th over: England 45-2 (Pope 1, Root 1) Root opens the face and runs Reddy backward of point for a single to get off the mark. The atmosphere of the innings has really shifted at Lord’s. England feel very much on the ropes here, Reddy has been a revelation.
15th over: England 44-2 (Pope 1, Root 0) Oh my days. Ollie Pope is back to his frenetic ways, lunging and poking at balls that he should leave well alone. He’s like a kid poking a wasp net with an ice pop. He jabs at a ball from Siraj that takes the shoulder of the blade and drops just short of second slip. England clinging on here at Lord’s at the start of the second hour.
14th over: England 44-2 (Pope 1, Root 0) ‘Where’s me box?’ All of a sudden Joseph Edward Root finds himself in the middle.
WICKET! Zak Crawley c Pant b Nitish Kumar Reddy 18 (England 44-2)
Crawley goes to Reddy in the same over! Nowt much he could do about it to be fair to the big guy, pitched on middle and seamed away late, taking the edge of Crawley’s bat as he stayed back in the crease. Reddy has cracked the game open in his first over.
Ollie Pope arrives in the middle and he drives at his first ball, a thick edge flying to Shubman Gill in the gully who drops it! A tough chance but it carried and Gill is sick with himself. Pope gets a life early on!
WICKET! Ben Duckett c †Pant b Nitish Kumar Reddy 23 (England 43-1)
Nitish Kumar Reddy is on for a bowl straight away after drinks. His first ball is a beauty that pitches on middle and and nips past the off stump. Duckett then pings through mid off to pick up four but is OUT the next ball to a rank long hop! He swished the blade and got a tickle through to the keeper. India and Reddy have burgled one.
13th over: England 39-0 (Crawley 18, Duckett 19) England make it through to drinks unscathed. It’s been a riveting first hour.
“Greetings from sunny central Sweden James!” writes Julian Menz. “Nevermind Bazball. As someone of a certain age who grew up watching the likes of Boycott and Tavare (apologies, don’t have the ’swoosh’ on my keyboard), even Graham Gooch’s relative bravado as an opener was a hard watch.”
It certainly not dull. Michael Atherton thinks the next ten overs are going to be the trickiest in England’s innings with the lacquer off and the ball moving about with interest.
Alex in Cardiff has a slightly more bullish view than Iron Mike:
“Got through the first 8 overs with a lot of luck, but they have done it. It is easy street now, big score coming in these conditions. Scoreboard pressure and a day and a half in the field will cause all sorts of physical and mental issues for India now.”
I think I know who’s word I believe more. Clue – they aren’t in Wales.
12th over: England 36-0 (Crawley 18, Duckett 16) Bumrah is around the wicket to Duckett and he sends down an absolute jaffa than angles in and then moves late up the slope. I’m sat right behind the bowler’s arm in the media centre and confirm that delivery was a work of art.
Duckett glides away to deep third for a single and gets a breather. Close! Bumrah nips one back into Zak Crawley’s pads but after a debate India decide not to review, Pant suggesting it was sliding down. Bumrah has got this ball hooping now that the lacquer has started to wear off, dangerous signs for England.
11th over: England 35-0 (Crawley 18, Duckett 15) Oooosht! Crawley charges Siraj once again and throws the kitchen sink, chest freezer and last night’s leftovers at a length ball but fails to connect once more. Despite all the bluster, its a maiden.
10th over: England 35-0 (Crawley 18, Duckett 15) It’s just a change of ends for Bumrah, gotcha! A quieter over as each batter knocks a single to keep the scoreboard ticking and the strike rotating – such a crucial part of this tall and short, left and right opening partnership.
9th over: England 33-0 (Crawley 17, Duckett 14) England have seen off Bumrah’s first spell, which is something. Mohammed Siraj, him of the Oliver Reed wild energy and love of the contest is coming on to bowl. Duckett takes a single to the leg side to bring Crawley on strike. Flogged through the covers on the up! That’s some shot from Crawley, he seems to have got his eye in now. A packed Lord’s is soaking up the first hour of this contest.
“Crawley clearly batting like someone who doesn’t give a tinker’s cuss what anyone thinks because his position is guaranteed until after the Ashes.”
Hmm, there is a certain Jacob Bethell lurking in the wings but Crawley has certainly has a Teflon coated Test career thus far.
8th over: England 28-0 (Crawley 13, Duckett 13) Liquid Crawley! Akash Deep serves up a full ball that Crawley spanks away through cover for his first four of the day. That’ll loosen the shackles a little… crikey! Crawley charges down and flays at Deep, he doesn’t get it out of the middle but a meaty edge flies over the cordon for four more. Shot! Crawley plays a back foot punch to pick up his third boundary of the over. Cry and laugh and laugh and cry about it all again.
7th over: England 15-0 (Crawley 1, Duckett 13) Bumrah stitches together a third maiden. England under the cosh a bit here, the pitch has a bit of life in it and India are bowling tight lines.
“I have tickets for Monday with a couple of old school chums, one a vicar, the other a retired professor.” Is the start of a bawdy joke Kim Thonger?
“It will all be terribly jolly, if the England batting unit can just CALM THE FECK DOWN and make sure the game lasts to the 5th day. Pretty please?”
6th over: England 15-0 (Crawley 1, Duckett 13) Zak Crawley comes trotting down the crease to Deep but his long limbed swish connects with nothing but North London air. Close! A plink of a drive is nearly caught by the fielder at close cover. A frenetic over of batting but he somehow survives. Crawley living a charmed life at the moment, insert joke here.
5th over: England 15-0 (Crawley 1, Duckett 13) Bumrah from the Pav end. They like it when you call it that here. He spears one down the leg side that Duckett swishes at but misses. The next ball is full pitched and Duckett drives through mid off for four! Cheers around Lord’s, that will just dissipate the tension a little in this first half hour.
4th over: England 9-0 (Crawley 1, Duckett 7) Akash Deep beats Crawley with an absolute beauty that jags off the pitch and carries through to Pant above waist height. Signs of life! Deep is bowling beautifully here, he rips one back through Crawley that bounces over the stumps and nearly flicks the inside edge. Riveting stuff in the first 20 minutes. It is nibbling about in St John’s Wood, Deep completes a maiden.
Bonjour Michael Jelley:
“Hi Jim, following you from Bordeaux this afternoon; scorchio scarcely covers it.
I’m hoping England’s bowling sextet can keep it up for the duration. I’m a little worried that between Stokes’s stamina, Archer’s fragility, Bashir’s inexperience and Root’s part-timer status there’s a lot of burden on Woakes and Carse to bowl lots of overs and take the majority of the 20 wickets as well.
However, Baz and Ben have repeatedly demonstrated that I know the square root of very little, so here’s to England declaring on 700-2 just after tea, and using their mystery bowler Mr S Pressure to extract the visitors…”
I hear you, but you haven’t mentioned Jofra, Michael? He’s guaranteed to get a ten-fer, that’s how cricket works. Right?
3rd over: England 9-0 (Crawley 1, Duckett 7) Crawley gets off the mark with a nudge into the off and a quick call of his partner. Ben Duckett does not leave many and duly has two wild swipes at length balls from Bumrah. “A yawning gap between bat and pad” says Ravi Shastri, which is – can you believe it from the big man – an understatement. Bumrah pins Duckett on the pad but the strangled appeal suggests it was going doing. It was. It’s heating up at Lord’s!
2ndover: England 8-0 (Crawley 0, Duckett 7) Akash Deep opening up from the Nursery End. He was a revelation at Edgbaston. He strays too straight from around the wicket and Duckett flicks away fine for England’s first boundary.
“Plenty of examples of teams being rolled for booger all in this scenario” laments Ben Bernards. “A pitch cultivated at England’s request to be “livelier”, Bumrah’s back, Deep in form …. Bazball going full Baz, or Bazball losing its head under pressure? Promises to be fun! Oh, and stop banging on about the bloody heat. Up here in the Nordics we’re flying the flag for shit summers and usually have the UK as a reliable meteorological bedfellow…”
1st over: England 2-0 (Crawley 0, Duckett 1) Crawley leaves two length balls alone from Bumrah, there’s a bit of swing in the air but I don’t think the pitch is lightning quick on first glance. Crawley got out to a couple of poor shots at Edgbaston and is a great big chicken for not launching a cover drive showing some restraint off the first few deliveries. A bye wide of the diving Pant opens England’s account, a bit loosey goosey from Jasprit there and Crawley can breathe at the non-striker’s end for a second or two. Close! An angled ball slanted across Duckett finds the edge but falls short of Pant. Duckett then scampers a single to the off side to get himself going.
Righto, here we go. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett mark their guards. The returning Jasprit Bumrah prowls at the top of his run up. Let’s play!
The players head out for the anthems. There’s a crackle as well as the oft mentioned hum around Lord’s and nearly everyone is in their seat rather than socialising, which is nice.
Martin O’Donovan-Wright, clearly a Fast Show ultra, sends a NICE email.
“Seeing as you’ve got us off to a marvellous Scorchio! start to the day, could I just add that I hope we can say at the end of today’s play that, “Jofra had a great return to test cricket, taking a five-fer, and he gave us all a big wave as he went off. Which was nice.”
Ding dong! Ben Heywood is tearing into Ramps!
“Hi James, I’m not sure I’d take Mark Ramprakash at his word when it comes to advice on getting Shubman Gill out. I was hoping for some analysis and clues as to potential weaknesses but Ramps’ article doesn’t even offer solutions until the final para, at which point he names Sam Cook as the answer…
Vaguely terrified as to what Bumrah might do to us first up but as ever, I will be delighted when Ben Stokes proves me 100% wrong and England are 160-0 at lunch.”
England’s first job is to get a decent score on the board. Their second is to work out a way to winkle the imperious Shubman Gill out. Ramps has been scratching his head:
Andy Bull leans over from his laptop with a mischievous grin to tell me that the average first innings score at Lord’s this year is… 213. Ah. Stokes and McCullum have supposedly ordered a livelier pitch than we saw Headingley and Edgbaston but we’ll see what the ‘curator’ has been able to produce in about twenty minutes. There is a slight green tinge to the wicket at the moment… no you stop it.
I just saw a security guard just rugby tackle a guy for having a northern accent and wearing shorts! Just kidding, that’s actually me. I’ve broken my no shorts in public rule for the first time in years, Bazball gets us all in the end I guess.
England win the toss and will… bat first!
Ravi Shastri has gone full man from Del Monte out on the field, creamy linen suit, fedora and MCC tie. Resplendent. A blue blazered Ben Stokes wins the toss and chooses to bat first. A cheer goes up around Lord’s! I think Stokes wanted to pull our legs for a moment there and pretend to elect to bowl, he’s a cheeky so and so.
Teams:
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill (capt), Rishabh Pant (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj
Lord’s is an absolute picture, sun beating down and it is very warm already. I’ve taken my seat next to Messrs Bull and Martin in the press box where the air con is thankfully ramped up to eleven.
Simon Burnton has some more on Jofra’s return:
Preamble
James Wallace
Scorchio! That’s the weather forecast for the next five days and the level of excitement building for this third Test between England and India at Lord’s.
I’ve just waggled my way through the avalanche of chinos on the way down to the ground from St John’s Wood station, red trouser count already at seven but I’ll let you know if that changes before the start of play at 11am.
Today sees the return of Jofra Archer in a home Test match in six long years and his first anywhere in four. Archer burst onto the scene in 2019 and tore up international cricket in his first six months, emerging almost fully formed as a searingly quick fast bowler with a liquid action who had all the white ball skills in his armoury and a taste for the big moment.
He dazzled in England’s 2019 World Cup win, bling bouncing off his neck like a souped up Dennis Lillee he troubled nose and toes whilst slipping in skilful cutters and slower balls with a midas touch. Twenty wickets across the tournament and that Super Over integral to England’s first World Cup Win.
He dazzled in whites too, the 2019 Ashes Test at Lord’s saw one of the great battles between Steve Smith in the form of his life and Archer throwing everything at him, mostly at about 95 mph. Smith was eventually clonked on the helmet (as was his concussion substitute later Marnus Labuschagne) and forced to retire hurt and miss the next Test at Headingley. Surely you don’t need reminding what happened there?
A series of freakish and horrible injuries have plagued Archer since, a stress fracture of the elbow threatening to cut down his career before he was able to build on that most electric of beginnings. England have been managing his return with the utmost caution, another lengthy injury would be catastrophic.
Jasprit Bumrah also makes his return to the series after missing Edgbaston last week. His side did just fine without him, pummelling England into the Birmingham dust to level the series at 1-1.
To watch two of the most eye-catching fast bowlers going toes to toe will be a real thrill. Play gets underway at 11am and the toss will be at around 10.30am.
Please do get in touch if you are tuning in… it promises to be… scorchio!