Afternoon everyone and welcome to the final act of a curious drama. It’s almost certainly heading for a draw, and yet, most of the time, it has been far from a bore.
On a pudding of a pitch, both teams managed to collapse in their first innings before staging a recovery. West Indies’ rearguard was painfully slow, albeit impressive in terms of mental strength. Their obduracy nearly smothered the game, only for it to spring back to life in the unlikely hands of England’s top order, so often a basket case themselves.
A score of 217-1 would normally be a big yawn, but, for Joe Root, it could just be the fresh start he is desperately seeking. As nearly all those runs have been made by Root himself and Zak Crawley, it’s been a treat to watch – a welcome departure from the plodding passivity of the Silverwood era.
Like Jonny Bairstow, and unlike Nkrumah Bonner, Root and Crawley have been good enough to go through the gears. After tea they somehow rattled along at five an over: doing that at the Viv is like going at ten an over on most Test grounds. Moving the game along, making things happen, putting pressure back on the bowlers: if only Shane Warne had still been with us, he would have loved it.
According to CricViz, there’s now a 19pc chance of a result (England 18, West Indies 1). How would it happen, exactly? England would have to keep bustling along and then be brave with a declaration, using an extended morning to set a target of something like 270 in two sessions. Jack Leach, who went from bad to decent in the first innings, would have to be at his exacting best; Root and Dan Lawrence would have to fiddle a wicket or two with their slow allsorts. With Mark Wood unfit, there might be a fiery old-ball burst from Ben Stokes, sore foot permitting, and some canny Darren Gough cutters from the improbable new-ball pair of Woakes and Overton.
OK, on reflection, a lot of planets would have to be in alignment. But if a sports lover can’t dream, who can? And when you look up England’s most effective bowlers in the fourth innings over the past four years, the top three by average, ahead of Broad and Anderson, are Woakes, Leach and Stokes.
Play starts at 9.30am in Antigua, 1.30pm GMT, to make up for the time lost to rain, so do join me then to see if this new England really mean business.