Kinross athlete out to end UK season on a high in Birmingham –

Old-firm centurions Alastair Cook and Joe Root provided England’s bankable constants in an everchanging world at Edgbaston.

Day one of this country’s inaugural floodlit Test confirmed a raft of popular predictions about a pink ball which proved hard to spot for some broadcast viewers but did so little off a flat surface that Cook (153 not out) and Root (136) had barely any discernible trouble throughout their thirdwicket stand of 248.

Despite the early loss of debutant opener Mark Stoneman and novice Test number three Tom Westley for eight apiece, in this first match of three against West Indies, England therefore took control on the way to 348 for three at stumps after Root chose to bat on a sunny afternoon.

The captain’s 139-ball century, his 13th in Tests, and all-time national record runscorer Cook’s 31st from 182 deliveries ruled through 66 wicketless overs.

The Windies confounded expectations by initially spurning the second new ball and instead deploying spin under lights in a bemusing passage of play which also saw their captain Jason Holder retreat mid-over with a temporarily stiff neck.

A sell-out crowd, half of whom were new to Test cricket according to Warwickshire’s consumer data and presumed attracted by the novelty of the occasion, lapped up a spectacle which became ever more one-sided as England’s broad bats dominated.

Picture: PA. Play under the floodlights in the First Investec Test match between England and the West Indies at Edgbaston.