When you’re in a place, you trust Jason Holder, right? One of the top two SUVs in test cricket, along with Ben Stokes, Holder has most of the time demonstrated behavior, maturity, understanding and skills, with ball and bat, to take advantage of opportunities. He may not have done it as often as Stokes, but Holder shares the propensity to be the catalyst for his team’s test wins.
So on Sunday afternoon, the West Indies were in one place, thanks once again to Stuart Broad, who had resurrected a test match with the second new ball. With no wicket in the morning, but climbing through his second wind, he picked three key wickets in successive actions, as the West Indies were left needing another 18 runs to avoid follow-up, with only Holder and Roston Chase as the remaining specialist hitters. .
Ten runs less than the target, Holder faced Chris Woakes. Moments earlier, Stokes had left the field, clutching his stomach. Holder took a guard off the stump to cover the line of Woakes’ fourth stump. I knew it would be a good length, walking away. He did not need to play the ball. However, he touched an easy-to-slide trap. Holder had created another turning point. This time for England.
There were still 21.4 overs overs left at night. The West Indies needed to eat that allowance to deny England the lead with a full day of play yet to be played.
The West Indies were never meant to be so desperate. That pressure was from England, at lunch and tea. However, if Test Cricket teaches you one thing, it’s about having a positive mindset at all times. It’s about controlling the controllables and focusing on the plan. And if you ever lose the plot, even momentarily, it’s about getting it back on track.
Broad demonstrated that today. He and Stokes attempted to dry the runs before tea while Shamarh Brooks and Chase sought to capitalize on a flat pitch, smooth seam, and dull ball.
But as soon as Joe Root took the new ball, Broad corrected his lines, went over the gate, threw fuller, made use of hard sewing, sometimes wobbled, cast doubt on the well-established minds of Brooks and others, And so, he put England back into the game.
Thinking that Broad could do this without the usual chant of the Old Trafford packed house shows why it has remained a treasured asset to England this decade. The West Indies can learn a lot from Broad: He said he was hungry after being abandoned in Southampton. Today the hunger was evident.
Stokes and Dom Sibley showed that same perseverance in the first two days when they struck with an over-my-corpse attitude. Yes, it was boring. But if it hadn’t rained on Saturday, England would have realized the true value of that great partnership. Both hitters were determined to turn the starts and make it big. Make it count.
That pair were the only two of England’s first six to hit 25 in the first innings, compared to five for the West Indies. But between them they made 296 runs, while the Windies’ top two runners, Brooks and Kraigg Brathwaite, made less than half of that, 143 runs.
Yes, the West Indies had alliances, but they did not prosper when it mattered most. Brooks was his best hitter today, playing with control, command, and using his wrists to move and push shots in wide spaces effortlessly. When Stokes tirelessly bent his back, hitting in short deliveries, while aiming for his throat, Brooke bent down and knitted without breaking a sweat most of the time.
He tamed the challenge of Dom Bess’ flat buds by playing roulette on the front foot for the most part, and swinging backwards to slash for easy runs. But as soon as Broad caught the new ball, Brooks suddenly seemed reluctant to move forward with the same confidence. He had, as he later admitted, he would not have been caught for £ 68.
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Brooks is 31 years old and playing in his fifth test. In 86 previous first-class games, he averaged 32, and in 146 innings he has faced only 200 balls six times, including his lonely century of testing against Afghanistan last year.
Long innings are not yet his forte. Nor are they the forte of Jermaine Blackwood or even Shai Hope, who has struggled to play for time despite her now-faded memories at Headingley in 2017.
A mindset to dig for long innings isn’t natural, however talented a hitter is. It takes a lot of experience and hard work, allied with hunger and resolution. Not to mention the skill.
But West Indies hitters will have a second chance on Monday. They may need to hit about 85 overs as Broad, Woakes, Curran and Stokes join in with renewed energy to tie this series of tests together. Can Windies hitters resist collective pressure, playtime, and then figure out if they are going to kill by chasing the target?
Brian Lara did it consistently. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, too. They became great because they could be trusted when the pressure increased.
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