Jason Holder was running late on Sunday morning, caught short, like everyone else, by the startling start to the day’s play. Jimmy Anderson dismissed Shai Hope with the first ball and Shane Dowrich with the second. Hope left with his head high and his bat raised, Dowrich went eyes down, like sad Charlie Brown. Then there was a short pause, probably while Holder was scrambling to get his pads on. By the time he made it to the middle, Anderson was waiting at the end of his run and England’s eager fielders were gathered close around, five slips, a gully, a short-leg, a short mid-on. The Test was alive again, the innings back in the balance.
Holder has sounded a little sorry for himself in these last few days. “It’s not an easy job,” he said right after the first Test. “It’s not easy,” he said again just before the second, “But I enjoy it. I don’t think I would shy away from it, I don’t think I would ever give it up.” He said that he needed to “put my hand up”. And now, after all that glorious batting by Hope and Kraigg Brathwaite, the game was already beginning to slip away. West Indies had three wickets left and were only 71 runs in front. It was not enough, nothing like. And here came Anderson, bowling irresistibly well.
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