ENGLAND TRIP LI GHT FANTASTIC!

Root and Cook rack up the runs after yet another early wobble

England’s step into the unknown became a tale of the totally expected yesterday when Joe Root and alastair Cook took rapid and emphatic control of the first day- night Test in England.

It does not matter if the ball is pink, red, white or even blue if one side is so much better than the other, and the first day of this three-match Investec series was an ominous sign that West Indies could be facing a long and difficult month.

This was a miserable bowling display on a flat pitch and with a pink duke ball that pretty much behaved in the same way as a red one would have done, at least until a single hour or so of darkness.

That should take nothing away from the quality of two contrasting but equally effective batsmen who treated a near full house to a one- sided onslaught that has already put England in an almost impregnable position.

Only when Kemar Roach swung one through the defences of Root for a brilliant 136 to end a stand of 248 with Cook was the England domination halted and some respite gained for West Indies.

at a close that came at 9.30pm Cook had stood firm after quenching his own desire for an overdue first-innings hundred, while dawid Malan had survived a testing last hour after twilight to take England to 348 for three.

The air of predictability even stretched to England’s ongoing problems at the top of the order, with two early wickets again falling before Cook and Root — captains past and present — came together for an all too familiar rescue act.

When Mark stoneman — at 30, the oldest England specialist batting debutant since steve James in 1998 — confidently stroked two fours off Kemar Roach’s first over it looked as though the selectors might have finally struck gold.

But surrey’s adopted geordie, something of a last resort for England after the failures of so many county hopefuls, soon had his delayed introduction to the highest level cut short by a quite brilliant and extremely rare beauty from Roach.

There are not many left-handers who could have stopped a ball that swung in before seaming away and taking the very top of his off- stump. Indeed, the delivery was so good that at first it was not clear what had happened.

When Miguel Cummins had Tom Westley playing all round a straight one and a rare mistake from umpire Marais Erasmus was corrected by technology, England were 39 for two and an all too familiar story was unfolding.

Yet sadly for West Indies the expected script stretched to an England recovery at this most atmospheric and successful of grounds where they have lost only eight of their previous 49 Tests.

Roach was the pick of an uninspiring attack that missed their fastest bowler shannon gabriel. as a 4pm ‘lunch’ and a 6.40pm ‘tea’ came and went, they failed to muster any sort of threat.

The pink ball stubbornly refused to offer any real assistance, Root and Cook filled their boots with the ball regularly racing to the boundary and West Indian shoulders sagged in a performance that was barely better than county standard.

Michael Holding, Curtly ambrose, andy Roberts and Joel garner were all here to see a pale imitation of the once great West Indies attacks but frankly they are long past the point where it would have come as any sort of surprise.

There was not even any trademark Caribbean pace to trouble England’s batsmen, with Roach now concentrating more on control than speed and the 20-yearold aspirant alzarri Joseph enduring a difficult first day of Test cricket in England.

If there can be any criticism of Root it is that he too often fails to convert a half century — he has fallen 16 times in Test cricket between 70 and 89 — but there was no doubt here as he reached his 13th Test hundred off 139 balls.

By the time Roach summoned one more big effort to break through Root’s defences he had faced 189 balls and struck 22 fluent boundaries in his second big hundred in only his fifth Test in charge.

Cook had not scored a hundred since the first Test against India last winter and even though he made a match-defining 88 against south africa at the Oval in the pivotal third Test this would have been all- important to the ex-captain.

England’s record runscorer could be their rock for some years to come and here was evidence as he finished unbeaten on 153 that he retains all his hunger and desire to pile on more runs for his country. Maybe he could even threaten his Edgbaston record 294, against India in 2011, today.

as expected, life became tougher for the batsmen as the ball zipped off the surface when darkness fell but West Indies did not help themselves by bizarrely delaying taking the second new ball until 13 deliveries after it was due.

Clearly the best chance of wickets in day-night cricket is under lights and West Indies wasted much of their opportunity to make inroads as the crowd began to thin out, clearly to the agitation of their australian coach stuart law.

all in all, though, a positive first day for this experimental match but clearly the English climate, with twilight coming so late, is not conducive to day- night Test cricket becoming a regular part of the calendar.

For a one- off it is working and England are making the most of it.