Bowler scrambled the Windies batters’ synapses and tested the speed gun even if the wicket he deserved did not come
If anything, the weather was too good. Even in a full Trent Bridge, if you closed your eyes you could almost have been on your own, such was the hush that settled over the crowd in the opening stages of the second day. Some 17,000 supporters simmered silently in the sunshine, perhaps wondering whether, if they could eliminate all distractions and just focus hard enough, they might somehow stop themselves sweating, pores puckered through sheer force of will.
For a while England got little encouragement from the stands, and none at all from the pitch. CricViz analysis showed the new ball swung less than in any Test in this country for a decade. In related news, this is the first Test in this country since 2012 to be playedand Stuart Broad.
On this morning, England’s threat came from other sources. There are moments when a piece of news spreads around a crowd and you can literally hear it travel, like at a relegation-threatened team on the final day of a football season when a significant goal goes in elsewhere.
He replaced Gus Atkinson for the 10th over of the day. His first ball squared Mikyle Louis up and was edged for a couple – 93.9mph. His second swung away and was left alone – 96.1mph. His third was left on length and cleared the stumps – 95.2mph. Louis shouldered arms to the fourth as well, clocked at a comparatively pedestrian 92.2mph; England moved a third gully into position, to match their three slips.
It is hard to know to what extent Louis’s eventual dismissal was down to his brain having been whipped and scrambled by the challenge of facing Wood, his synapses having given up and gone for a lie-down. He swung wildly atcomparatively straightforward spin, completely miscued, got away with it – indeed was rewarded with a four – and instead of learning his lesson he immediately did it again.
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