BIG RETURN IS A DAMP SOUIB
Weather fails to play ball on surreal start to landmark Test
So, England are rendered inactive for 163 days since their last Test, including during some of the hottest early summer weather in memory, and then what happens? Rain, of course.
Enough of it to turn cricket’s big return here yesterday into a damp squib. Enough of it to frustrate Steve Elworthy and his bio-secure ECB team after they put so much effort into ensuring the safe return of international sport to this isolated corner of Hampshire.
What an anti-climax the first day of this ground-breaking first Test was and what a shame West Indies were not rewarded for their commendable decision to come here with some of the Caribbeantype sunshine England bathed in during May and June.
only 17.4 overs were possible under leaden skies in front of the empty stands that made this the most surreal start to an international season in an almost dystopian atmosphere.
Really, it should have been more. The long absence and all the planning that went into staging this Test clearly did not include a much-needed infusion of common sense because cricket still does not do itself any favours in bad weather.
Every time the players were forced from the field their absence was extended by cricket’s obsession with always re-starting on the hour, half-hour or quarter-hour.
And then came the biggest sin of them all when the umpires took the players off for bad light just before tea as the floodlights shone down on the Ageas Bowl.
To be fair to English officials Richard Illingworth and Richard Kettleborough — handed a rare chance to stand in a home Test — rain returned soon afterwards but, honestly, cricket cannot afford such inflexibility, even when there were no paying punters here to rob.
All the inactivity meant unquestionably the best performance of the day came not from any of the players but from one of the greatest West Indian fast bowlers of them all, Michael Holding, in his role as a respected TV pundit.
Never can there have been a more powerful and emotional start to any sports coverage than that provided by Sky in the form of Holding and fellow commentator Ebony Rainford-Brent — the first black woman to play for England — talking passionately about why Black Lives Matter. If you missed it make sure you catch up.
There was emotion, too, in a particularly powerful pre-match taking of the knee by both teams that saw every member of West Indies squad don a black glove, 1968
Mexico olympic style, and raise their right fist in solidarity. It was perfect.
Until then the biggest drama came when Ben Stokes confirmed what he intimated on Tuesday that Stuart Broad — and his 485 Test wickets — were going to be left out of a home Test for the first time since he was rested against West Indies at Edgbaston in 2012.
It may have been expected but this was a huge call from a standin captain and entirely in keeping with the positive attitude Stokes promised when vowing to do the job his way while Joe Root stayed at home with his new daughter Isabella.
Not that there is anything negative about Broad. Far from it. But what a statement this was from Stokes to put together probably the fastest combination in English history in Jofra Archer and Mark Wood for the first time in Test cricket.
And how significant that he had the strength of character to tell one of the twin pillars of England’s fast bowling that, even though he was England’s leading wickettaker in South Africa last winter, he would not be needed here. It is a call that it is difficult to envisage
Root himself making even though he has grown as a captain.
It would be foolish to write Broad off just yet. It has been tried before by significant figures in the England set-up and he has defied any suggestions that he is getting past it.
But this was not only an attempt to fight West Indian fire with fire but also a nod to England’s Ashes future in 18 months’ time. Stokes did well to make the call.
Whether he got his other big decision right yesterday remains to be seen because the conditions were crying out for him to bowl first when he won his first toss as captain and then slightly awkwardly almost broke the rules by shaking hands with Jason Holder.
It is another brave call because Stokes was backing his top order to come through what was always going to be a fierce examination of their mettle at the hands of the experienced and potent combination of Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel.
And England looked like they might fail it when, after Rory Burns had narrowly survived a reviewed lbw shout from Roach, the newly slimline Dom Sibley left the 10th ball of the day — Gabriel’s fourth — and saw the ball clatter into his off-stump.
But even though Burns and Joe Denly, so in need of a big score here to end doubts over his pedigree at No 3, had to continually stop and start again because of the weather, they batted well and defiantly to reach 35 for one when play was halted for the day.
It was slim pickings for the 300 or so people allowed into this purpose- built ground for the strange experience of being here for the new normal that the Covid crisis has created for elite sport.
So strict were the rules here that Hampshire chairman Rod Bransgrove, handed the chance to stage more of the Test cricket he craves for this ground in the most unfortunate of circumstances, was not even allowed to set foot in the pavilion that bears his name.
Not that he was complaining. Everyone involved in this project, which will save millions of pounds in broadcasting revenue for the ECB, deserves enormous credit for getting this on. Now all we need is the weather to play ball for the next four days.