The Times - UK (2022-03-18)

68 2GM Friday March 18 2022 | the times

SportWest Indies v England: Second Test

It was difficult to know precisely when
the signs became ominous for West
Indies. Was it when Ben Stokes hit his
first boundary, a glorious, scene-steal-
ing on drive? Or was it when, after the
introduction of the spinner, he played a
thunderous reverse-sweep followed by
a straight driven six into the 3Ws stand,
followed by an even bigger hit that
landed on the roof and became stuck in
the gutter?
Whenever it was, there was an early
murmur from those who have seen
enough of Stokes that a special was on
the cards. Indeed it was and he duly
brought the Kensington Oval to fever
pitch in making his first Test hundred
for 20 months, helping to propel
England to their second-highest in-
nings on the ground. Not just any old
hundred, either, but one made in the
kind of belligerent, scorched-earth
manner that has so endeared him to a
generation of England supporters.
In this kind of mood, Stokes is not just
a crowd pleaser but an inspiration to
team-mates as well. After a declaration
with the best part of a session to go,
Matthew Fisher then took a wicket with
his second ball in Test cricket, which oc-
casioned just as much celebration and
emotion as Stokes had caused earlier.
Both players have lost fathers who were
instrumental in their careers, Stokes re-
cently and Fisher a decade ago, and
both pointed to the heavens when they
made their mark.
Stokes had promised himself and his
team-mates that a good tour was in the
offing after a difficult Ashes when he
found it impossible to get up to speed
after a long lay-off. He sat out the Indi-
an Premier League auction in order to
give Test cricket his full consideration;
he has been putting in extra training
sessions, a sure sign of his dedication;
and has been followed around by a
television crew for a forthcoming docu-
mentary, and wants, no doubt, to show
his best side in it.
Australia’s players were puzzled in
the Ashes: why, they wondered private-
ly, was Stokes shackled and full of
caution? This was not the Stokes they
had come to expect. Well, the standard
of bowling was certainly higher in the
Ashes than he faced here, and the
pitches were more bowler-friendly
than this sleepy, nondescript Kensing-
ton surface, but it was still good to see
the free-spirited cricketer return.
After Dan Lawrence’s late dismissal
on the first evening, the stage was set,
but it was a cautious enough start. A
clue to the limit of West Indies’ ambi-
tion from the off was the presence of
sweepers on either side to Joe Root,
which allowed England’s captain to
gently tick over the strike. A single here,
thank you very much, a single there.
Stokes was inert for the opening
40 minutes, save for one glorious on
drive off Jayden Seales, the pose from
which he held ever so helpfully for the
snappers all around the ground.
Other than one optimistic review
against Root, West Indies did not sniff a
wicket in the first hour, the rate exactly
three runs an over, the signs ominous.
Drinks brought the introduction of
Alzarri Joseph and Veerasammy Per-
maul and Stokes immediately creamed
Joseph over mid-off. This indignity pro-

then while returning to the pavilion on

becoming Kemar Roach’s 236th Test

victim — one more wicket than Garry

Sobers now for Roach — shortly after

lunch. Until he missed a ball that angled

into his pads, Root had quietly gone

along in Stokes’s slipstream, content to

play second fiddle. His innings was no

less excellent for that.

Stokes’s century, his 11th in Tests,

came with a dab into the off side from

his 114th ball faced and was celebrated

with due deference to his departed

father, Ged, who died in December

2020, five months after Stokes’s last

Test hundred. The sting had long gone

out of the contest by then and it was

simply a question of how many En-

gland wanted, how greedy Stokes was

going to be and whether others would

take advantage of the situation as well.

Jonny Bairstow made a breezy 20

before pulling Joseph to deep square

leg. Stokes threw the bat at Kraigg

Brathwaite’s filthy lobs, taking two con-

secutive sixes down the ground before

holing out at long-off. Ben Foakes and

Chris Woakes eased the total towards

the previously unimaginable riches of

500. Watching the end stages of the
     innings, the thought occurred that
     never can runs have come so easily to
     England batsmen on this ground.
     Paul Collingwood, who made 96 on
     the only occasion England have scored
     more runs here, now had an opportuni-

duced a long stare from the bowler, but

on this surface, Joseph had little fur-

ther recourse. It was a case of storing

the memory for more propitious cir-

cumstances further down the line.

It was in this second hour when

Stokes began to inflict some pain.

He took 18 in one over from a

despondent Joseph, including a

remarkable straight six that flew

close to the windows of the Co-

zier, Coppin and Short media

centre, and hit Permaul for three

sixes, two into the 3Ws stand

and one to the leg side into a

very strong cross breeze.

Between them, Joseph

and Permaul conceded 77

runs in 11 overs and

Stokes found him-

self entertaining the

thought of a hundred

before lunch from a

standing start, which

would have been a first

by any batsman in

England colours.

Starved of a little

strike before lunch,

he didn’t quite get

there. Instead, Root

took the applause of

supporters twice

before Stokes did so

again, first when he

passed 150 and

Bridgetown (second day of five): West

Indies, with nine first-innings wickets

in hand, are 436 runs behind England

Masterful Stokes inspires

Mike Ather ton

Chief Cricket
Correspondent
Barbados

West Indies v England

Piling on runs

Most scores of 150 or more

for England

Joe Root

Alastair Cook

Wally Hammond

Len Hutton

Kevin Pietersen

12

11

10

10

10

583-8dec

578

507-9dec

499-9dec

469-9dec

England’s highest innings scores

since the 2019 Ashes

v Pakistan, Aug 2020

v India, Feb 2021

v West Indies, yesterday

v South Africa, Jan 2020

v West Indies, July 2020

Another Root record

Scoreboard

ENGLAND First Innings R

(overnight 244-3)

*J E Root

lbw b Roach

Nipping back, rapped on front pad

153

B A Stokes

c Brooks b Brathwaite

Cross-batted hoick to long-off

120

J M Bairstow

c Bonner b Joseph

Short ball, hauled to deep midwicket

20

@B T Foakes

st †Da Silva b Permaul

Flighted, gripped to turn through

33

C R Woakes

c Seales b Roach

Slogged leg side, running catch

41

M D Fisher

not out

0

M J Leach

st Da Silva b Permaul

Played inside one that did not spin

4

Extras

(b 5, lb 6, nb 3, w 1)

15

TOTAL (9 wkts dec, 150.5 overs) 507

S Mahmood did not bat.

Fall of wickets 1-4, 2-80, 3-244, 4-373,

5-410, 6-424, 7-499, 8-503, 9-507.

Bowling Roach 27-5-68-2; Seales

24-4-55-1; Joseph 23-1-109-1; Permaul

35.5-1-126-3; Holder 28-4-76-1; Bonner

1-0-3-0; Brathwaite 12-0-59-1.

WEST INDIES First Innings R

*K C Brathwaite

not out

28

J D Campbell

c Foakes b Fisher

Come off toe of bat, edged

4

S S J Brooks

not out

31

Extras

(b 6, nb 2)

8

TOTAL (1 wkt, 27 overs) 71

N E Bonner, J Blackwood, J O Holder,

@J Da Silva, A S Joseph, K A J Roach,

V Permaul and J T Seales to bat.

Fall of wicket 1-14.

Bowling Woakes 5-3-17-0; Fisher 5-0-18-1;

Leach 9-4-21-0; Stokes 3-0-3-0;

Mahmood 4-2-3-0;

Lawrence 1-0-3-0.

Umpires J Wilson

and N Duguid.

TV umpire L Reifer.

Reserve umpire

G Brathwaite.

Match referee

R Richardson.

Series details

First Test drawn

(Sir Vivian Richards

Stadium, North Sound).

Third: March 24-28

(National Cricket Stadium,

St George’s, Grenada).

Fisher enjoys

a wicket with

only his

second ball in

Test cricket.

Below, Root

reaches 150