An email pings in from Tom Van Der Gucht titled:
‘Bairstow and Buttler – the Barker vs Wade of cricket’
“Over the last few years, there seems to have been a propensity to put Buttler up on a pedestal for his batting genius whilst Bairstow has operated in his shadow. However, with his current test renaissance hopefully leading to an extended period of late career excellence alongside his statistically superior ODI record to Buttler in terms of average and strike rate, I’m wondering if he might get more due and we’ll enjoy the cricketing equivalent of Barker vs Wade, Coe vs Ovett, Audley Harrison vs David Haye… where both are appreciated for their individual excellence.”
56th over: England 250-8 (Billings 25, Potts) Billings picks up two with new batter Potts but is then clattered on the shoulder by a slippery bouncer. He turned away and the ball followed him and struck him with a dull thud. He seems fine. Shakes it off…
Wicket! Broad ct Pant by Siraj 1 (England 248-8, trail by 168)Siraj replaces Jadeja and Broad greets him with an almighty hack that goes straight up in the air… Pant takes the simple catch. That plan did not work.
Stuart Broad is out. Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty Images55th over: England 247-7 (Billings 25, Broad 1) Broad is the new man, a sign of further aggression you’d think. Billing’s may well go into T20 mode here too, he’s been happy to give Bairstow the strike till now but can definitely move through the gears. Shami whistles a bouncer past Broad’s grill and it takes off, flying over Pant for four byes.
WICKET! Bairstow ct Kohli b Shami 106 (England 241-7, trail by 175)Shami comes into the attack and Bairstow has a wild swing first ball, nicking off to Virat Kohli in the slips who safely pouches the catch. England’s talisman has to go and they are still adrift by 175 runs.
Jonny Bairstow returns to the pavillion after being dismissed by Mohammed Shami. Photograph: Rui Vieira/AP54th over: England 241-6 (Bairstow 106, Billings 24) Jadeja whirls through another over. Bairstow and Billings are watchful.
53rd over: England 239-6 (Bairstow 103, Billings 23) Bumrah traps Bairstow with a yorker but the umpire says not out. The Indian skipper goes upstairs straight away without consulting his team. He should have taken a breath, ball tracking shows the ball sliding down past the leg stump and India lose a review. They have one left.
52nd over: England 237-6 (Bairstow 103, Billings 23) Jadeja into the attack. It’s a change of pace on the field and also on the OBO as the spinner rattles through his overs at a lick, my keyboard starts to groan under the pressure. Just a single off it.
51st over: England 236-6 (Bairstow 102, Billings 23) Bumrah goes to his deadly yorker a couple of times in the over and very nearly sneaks one under Billing’s blade, an under edge means the ball is trapped and bounces just over the stumps.
50th over: England 235-6 (Bairstow 102, Billings 23) Billings collects a couple from Thakur who also keeps overstepping and gifting England No-Ball runs. Lucky! Billings then gets a thick leading edge that just loops over Bumrah at mid-on. England trail by 181.
49th over: England 227-6 (Bairstow 100, Billings 20) Bumrah sends down a maiden to Billings.
48th over: England 227-6 (Bairstow 100, Billings 20) England avoid the follow on with a scampered two . A very light ripple goes around Edgbaston from those in the know. Bairstow swishes at a wide one down the leg side and the ball flies away wide of Pant for four. He didn’t get a tickle on it so remains on 96…
BUT THEN HE BRINGS UP HIS CENTURY! Jonny Bairstow has three centuries on the spin!
A push to the off side boundary and Jadeja, of all people, misfields and the ball goes through him for four! Bairstow removes his helmet and lets our a primal roar before a smile unfurls and lights up his face. He looks to the sky. Well batted.
Brilliant again from Jonny Bairstow. Photograph: Alex Davidson/Getty Images47th over: England 215-6 (Bairstow 96, Billings 17) Bumrah is wayward with his first ball and Billings clips it away for four to fine leg. Both batters pick up a single before Billings cue ends a wide Bumrah delivery for four for the second boundary of the over. Thakur will continue.
46th over: England 204-6 (Bairstow 95, Billings 7) Bairstow clips the first ball back for four! Timed away perfectly off his pads through mid-wicket. He moves onto 95. Thakur beats him with the final ball of the over, it zips off the seam and into Pant’s gloves at chest height.
Good news! The players are heading back out. Bumrah has his men in a huddle and is giving them an animated team talk. Bairstow and Billings emerge. England are 200-6 and still trail by 216 runs. Bairstow is 91*. Shardul Thakur has three balls to complete the 46th over.
Plenty of you debating the Stokes dismissal:
Alexis Norman weighs in:
“Isn’t the point according to Stokes to entertain us? Are people entertained by the way he’s currently batting? I’m not. I think its just daft. Play each ball on its merits I say.”
Jazz parps up:
“G’Day James,
Loving the KP views on the telebox. Stupid approach from Captain Stokes; should be anchoring with Young Jonny going strong. As for England now, with these clouds presumably lingering, get the deficit below 150, look to skittle India cheaply and chase another score circa 290? Fanciful, I know.”
And here’s the G’s Barney Ronay:
Maybe the real ball along has been Bairsball
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) July 3, 2022 Play to resume at 13:30
If there’s no more of the wet stuff. A fascinating chat on Sky with KP, who goes through some of his old batting notes:
“Don’t be stupid and go after the spinner straight away” 🤣
Kevin Pietersen looks through some of the notes to himself from when he was playing 🔊 pic.twitter.com/plZaYJwsuG
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 3, 2022 LUNCHTIME READING:
Our main man Ali Martin has a very interesting chat with former England Head Coach Trevor Bayliss. Have a goosey why don’t ya.
What a pulsating morning of cricket. I’m off for a lie-down some sustenance and will be back shortly to sift through some of your emails.
RAIN STOPS PLAY – early lunch taken.The cricket is so riveting that no one noticed the clouds gathering, the rain comes and the players are ushered off, it looks like more than a shower so an early lunch is being taken, my sources tell me the re-start will be at 12:55 if the rain stops.
There was drama, more drama in the over before the break as Bairstow swiped across a straight ball from Thakur and was given out lbw by Aleem Dar. He reviews quicker than you can say “inside edge pal” and sure enough the hot spot shows a snick. NOT OUT. Bairstow chews his gum insouciantly, never in doubt.
Here comes the rain. Photograph: James Marsh/Shutterstock45th over: England 198-6 (Bairstow 88, Billings 6) Just a couple off the over. Bumrah managing to curtail the scoring, however briefly.
And here is Virat and Johnny engaging in a little trash talking earlier in the morning.
44th over: England 196-6 (Bairstow 88, Billings 6) Atherton is seemingly right, this is Jonny’s IPL bat – he smears Thakur over mid-wicket into the Hollies stand for a huge six! A swivel pull also brings four more, splitting the boundary riders perfectly.
Here is the story of the Stokes dismissal which it is fair to say is causing some ripples on the emails.
43rd over: England 185-6 (Bairstow 78, Billings 6) Shades of Trent Bridge as Bairstow pulls Siraj into the stands for six!
OBO guru Tim de Lisle emails in with a JonnyStat:
“Bairstow was on 13 off 63 balls, now 72 off 93, so his last 59 have come off 30”
He’s now 78 from 99 balls. And he’s just called for a change of bat. “This one is for even bigger sixes” notes Mike Atherton on commentary.
42nd over: England 178-6 (Bairstow 72, Billings 6) Bairstow plays an audacious late cut that goes up and over the cordon. It’s a brilliant shot as there are men out on the boundary on the leg side making the pull/hook a much riskier proposition. He then backs away to leg and glides a length ball from Thakur through the covers for another four. This is rare form, the sort that you really have to make the most of and Bairstow is very much doing just that.
41st over: England 169-6 (Bairstow 63, Billings 6) Not for long though as Bairstow plays a Viv Richards esque flick from off stump that flies over wide mid-on! Some shot that. He made it look so simple, Sam Billings at the other end is playing a ‘normal’ (What is normal anymore?) Test knock which only serves to accentuate the blistering form Bairstow is in. Nine runs come off the over.
Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images40th over: England 160-6 (Bairstow 55, Billings 5) A no ball adds a single to the score and everything calms down a little bit as Thakur bowls a tidy over to a watchful Sam Billings.
39th over: England 159-6 (Bairstow 55, Billings 5) Bairstow goes over the top again and picks up four, again! England not taking their foot off the gas, as Stokes walked off he merely shrugged and gave a rueful grin and it was all smiles on the England balcony from McCullum and Collingwood. Worth pointing out that England still trail by 256 runs.
38th over: England 153-6 (Bairstow 50, Billings 4) Sam Billings is the new man and he crisply flicks his first ball away off his pads for four!
WICKET! Stokes ct Bumrah b Thakur 25 (England 149-6)Gone! In a frenetic passage of play Stokes is caught on the dive by Bumrah at mid-off after the India skipper had shelled a far easier catch just the ball before. Thakur atones for his drop too.
Shardul Thakur celebrates with Virat Kohli as Ben Stokes walks off. Photograph: Rui Vieira/AP37th over: England 148-5 (Bairstow 50, Stokes 25) England are running well and picking off the runs. Stokes gets three for a hack into the leg side and Bairstow picks up a couple of singles to bring up his FIFTY.
Jonny Bairstow brings up his fifty. Photograph: Ben Whitley/ShutterstockSriram emails in:
“I’m writing from Chennai, India, in defense of the new ‘attacking cricket’ strategy (I can’t bring myself to call it Baz… to call it THAT). But I’m concerned that it just took two lost sessions for the journalistic knives to come out against the strategy, even after all it did for English morale and fortunes just a few short weeks ago. I see altogether too many articles pointing out that the new strategy had failed on day 1 and 2.
Give it time, I say. When Virat Kohli’s and Ravi Shastri’s India started playing this brand of cricket a few years ago, it didn’t exactly work out brilliantly from the get-go for them either. In 2018, India played exhilarating cricket but went down – heartbreakingly – 1-4 to England – with a lot of the same players in the team: Kohli, Shami, Bumrah, Jadeja, Pujara, Pant, Rahul, Ashwin.
Looking even further back, remember Lloyd’s West Indians playing free-flowing calypso cricket and going down 1-5 to Australia in 1976. And then taking it out on the world for the next ten years.Give it time. The strategy’s OK.”
36th over: England 141-5 (Bairstow 48, Stokes 20) DROP! HUGE DROP! Stokes skies Shami and Shardul Thakur spills it! Shami turns away in disgust, he’s bowled 18 overs on the bounce and has grafted for that chance. It was an easy catch, the ball going so high that the crowd got involved with some “Woooaaa-ing” as the ball came down and Thakur snatched at it with fingers raised. Bairstow then plays a couple of beautiful shots for four, a clip off leg stump and a checked drive down the ground. Some of his shots have been a little bit agricultural this morning but those two were all timing and class.
Shardul Thakur drops Ben Stokes. He could have caught that in his pocket. Photograph: Steve Bond/Shutterstock35th over: England 130-5 (Bairstow 39, Stokes 18) Siraj comes into the attack to replace Bumrah and Bairstow takes him for a couple of fours, a wristy pull into the leg side and another aerial cover drive.
34th over: England 121-5 (Bairstow 31, Stokes 17) 11 runs come from the Shami over – Stokes plays a violent cut shot for four that whistles to the fence and Bairstow goes up and over again to get four down the ground. The two batters then scamper a rapid two, Bairstow in particular is lightning between the wickets. Shami bowls a beauty last up that moves away late and Bairstow follows it. Every ball feels like an event.
33rd over: England 110-5 (Bairstow 25, Stokes 12) Bumrah jags one back into Stokes and an inside edge saves him. Bairstow comes onto strike and short arm jabs Bumrah aerially down the ground for four. The Yorkshireman then leans on one into the covers to pick up two. Absorbing first half an hour this.
Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow take a quick single. Photograph: James Marsh/Shutterstock32nd over: England 100-5 (Bairstow 16, Stokes 11) It all gets a little spicy out there as Virat and Bairstow seem to have terse words and the umpires step in. Not sure what about, probably Kohli trying to get into Johnny’s noodle. Bairstow’s beans are well and truly up as a result and he has a wild few swipes before connecting with a flay over point for three. Bairstow is ticking.
31st over: England 97-5 (Bairstow 13, Stokes 11) OUCH. Bumrah decks one into Stoke’s “midriff” and floors the England skipper. Deep breaths and eventually a wry smile. An inside edge is nearly chopped on to the stumps but gets Stokes off strike. Bairstow is then beaten by consecutive deliveries outside off before flicking a single off the final ball.
John Little has the first email of the day:
“Morning James, fine choice of music to start the day. Kristofferson often used a key change to take things up a notch after the first chorus. Take note, Johnny Bairstow and Ben Stokes”
There are notches and there are notches John. Will we have a rousing chorus or fading feedback squall in this England innings?
It’s lucky that Ben Stokes was wearing a cup to protect his ‘midriff’. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA30th over: England 95-5 (Bairstow 12, Stokes 10) Bosh! Stokes skips down and bunts Shami back over his balding pate for four. Shades of Rishabh Pant about that shot. He then nurdles a single to get off strike. Ayayayay – Shami then nips one back to Bairstow that misses his stumps by a gnat’s eyelash. It is not dull.
29th over: England 90-5 (Bairstow 12, Stokes 5) Stokes skips down to Bumrah but the fast bowler holds back his length and beats Stokes on the outside edge. It looks like both men are relishing this battle and neither will take a backward step. Sure enough Stokes clips Bumrah away through mid-wicket for four! He’s up and running.
28th over: England 84-5 (Bairstow 12, Stokes 0) Shami is finding a bit of movement and there’s some wobble as the ball passes through to Pant behind the timbers, he spills one and does well to cling onto another. Shami starts with a maiden. Stokes v Bumrah up next!
The players are out on the field in the hazy Birmingham sunshine, Bairstow is scratching his guard, Shami has the ball. PLAY!
Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes of England take to the field. England need these two to hang around to have any chance. Photograph: James Marsh/ShutterstockAnd this by Jonathan Liew, provides quite a sobering reality check:
www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2022/jul/02/england-ben-stokes-india-reality-check-test
Here is Andy Bull with those bullish Anderson quotes:
PreambleSunday Morning Coming Down.
Welcome to the day three OBO of England v India, Jim here with the Sunday morning call before the mighty Rob Smyth takes over this afternoon. And what position might the match be in by then?
England we’re chastened yesterday by the Indian juggernaut and if they are to come back from this far behind in this Test then it will take something even more crackers than anything we’ve seen in ‘BazBall’ thus far.
The day started with Stuart Broad being flogged for the most expensive over in Test history, winding up on his belly in the dirt of the popping crease from whence he had been slayn by Jasprit Bumrah.
Bumrah, the smiling assassin with the bullwhip action then got to work on England’s top order with the ball, whipping away Lees, Crawley and Pope and England find themselves 84-5 trailing India by 332 runs.
Stokes and Bairstow are at the crease and it would be wise to tune in from the get-go as Jimmy Anderson’s rallying call that “attack will be the best form of defence” suggests that they aren’t going to change their aggressive approach and will try to hit themselves out of strife once more.
Play gets underway at 10:30AM BST – a little over ten minutes time (the earlier start has caught me out already…)
Time for a quick splosh of coffee and we’ll be ready to go. Gulp.