Dom Sibley nears century and builds partnership with Ben Stokes as England pass 200 vs West Indies

Some day soon, cricket may begin to feel normal again. But that day was not Thursday in Manchester. Not by a long shot.

While England and West Indies engaged in an old-fashioned arm wrestle on the first day of the crucial second Test, Jofra Archer sat out of view in his hotel room in the north-eastern corner of Emirates Old Trafford – banished, for health reasons, to consider the wisdom of visiting his Hove home on Monday in breach of coronavirus protocol.

How much he watched of the proceedings on a grey Mancunian day was unknown. He is, after all, partial to his Xbox, and spoke earlier this summer about being unfazed by lockdown.  

Ben Stokes (L) and Dom Sibley put on an impressive 126 for the fourth-wicket stand

Ben Stokes (L) and Dom Sibley put on an impressive 126 for the fourth-wicket stand

Day one started with the news that Jofra Archer would not play after breaking team protocol

Day one started with the news that Jofra Archer would not play after breaking team protocol

But if he dared peer through the curtains, he would most likely have seen Dom Sibley shoulder arms, or West Indies hide the ball from Ben Stokes outside off stump. Archer might then have settled back down to Call of Duty.

That is not to criticise the tactics of either side. The Wisden Trophy is at stake, and no one is yielding an inch. 

Only when Joe Root, on his return to Test cricket, was compiling a busy 23, before aiming a loose drive at the impressive Alzarri Joseph, did the tempo stray above the pedestrian.

Joe Root reacts after being dismissed for 23 in the afternoon session on day one on Thursday

Joe Root reacts after being dismissed for 23 in the afternoon session on day one on Thursday

Yet at stumps it was England, driven by the bloody-mindedness of Sibley and the competitive zeal of Stokes, who were comfortably the happier. 

Inserted by Jason Holder, they had reached 207 for three, with Sibley 14 short of a second Test century. In all, 82 overs brought just 11 fours and a six, with the slow outfield only partly to blame.

If it didn’t set the pulse racing, well, English cricket could do with lowering its blood pressure right now. 

Opening batsman Sibley finished the day just 14 short of his second Test century for England

Opening batsman Sibley finished the day just 14 short of his second Test century for England

For Root, back from paternity leave to deal with England’s first home deficit against West Indies for 20 years, that pressure must have gone through the roof when it emerged late on Wednesday night that Archer was not available for selection.

After leaving out Stuart Broad at the Ageas Bowl, where the surface would have suited him nicely, the selectors had switched tack. 

Mark Wood and Jimmy Anderson were rested, leaving Archer as the strike weapon beside the steadier artillery of Broad and Chris Woakes. There was much talk of England’s seam-bowling strength in depth.

But Archer burst the biosecure bubble, Sam Curran entered the fray, and Root was instantly fielding questions on why a team-mate had been unable to respect a set of rules designed to salvage some cricket from a devastated summer. 

Root was back as captain after missing the first Test to attend the birth of his second child

Root was back as captain after missing the first Test to attend the birth of his second child 

His response – ‘Enough has been said about it,’ when nothing had really been said at all – summed up England’s bewilderment.

No longer faced with the one bowler who had threatened to scupper their run-chase in Southampton, West Indies must have been unable to believe their luck. 

And they might have further exposed the chaos had they chosen to bat: imagine the extra vitriol aimed at Archer if England had bowled poorly. Instead, the baton passed to the batsmen to atone for a pair of collapses which, as much as Broad’s omission, had cost them the first Test.

Overnight rain delayed the start until 12.30, and England progressed safely enough against wayward seam bowling until Roston Chase was brought on for a pre-lunch over of off-breaks.

Spinner Roston Chase took the first two wickets of the day, that of Rory Burns and Zak Crawley

Spinner Roston Chase took the first two wickets of the day, that of Rory Burns and Zak Crawley

His second delivery went on with the arm, trapping Rory Burns in front for 15 – a misjudgment compounded by a wasted review. 

His next delivery, on the other side of lunch, persuaded Zak Crawley to tuck his first ball as England’s No 3 straight to Holder at leg slip. 

Suddenly, a two-hour 26 from Joe Denly, whose Test career is surely over now that Crawley has ousted him, had its merits.

Zak Crawley goes first ball after nicking down leg side to West Indies captain Jason Holder

Zak Crawley goes first ball after nicking down leg side to West Indies captain Jason Holder

From 29 for two, Sibley knuckled down, carrying on in Manchester where he left off in Southampton. On that occasion, he reached 50 in the second innings from 161 balls; here, it took him 164. Thrilling it was not, but that was hardly the point.

England have craved top-order stability for some time, and Sibley isn’t obliged to put bums on seats while he provides it. 

In that respect, he is the perfect behind-closed-doors batsman, hitting only two fours in his half-century, and daring the West Indian seamers to aim straighter and serve up offerings on his pads.

Root tried to force the pace at the other end, before falling to the second ball after a drinks break, at which point West Indies had one foot in the door at 81 for three. Slowly, but with increasing assurance, Sibley and Stokes eased it shut.

Progress was not without alarms. Shamarh Brooks put down a tough reflex chance at short leg when Sibley, working Chase off his pads, had 44. 

And Sibley should have been caught by Holder at second slip on 68 after edging a drive off Shannon Gabriel, who spent much of the day off the field nursing a niggle.

Stokes, meanwhile, resisted the carrots dangled before him, as if determined not to repeat the impetuosity that twice cost him his wicket in Southampton. 

But he was never strokeless, lofting Chase for a straight six in the last over before tea, then reverse-sweeping him for four to bring up the 150.

By stumps, with the sun finally poking through, the fourth-wicket pair had put on 126, and were applauded off by grateful team-mates. 

Somewhere in the on-site Hilton Garden Inn, Jofra Archer might have been quietly applauding too. It was the least he owed his colleagues.

source: dailymail.co.uk