As football, cricket and tennis fans have all discovered, there is a unique and seductive allure to night-time competitionOne of the great things about being a fan of sport is the licence to rail against modernity. Complain about the intranet at work and no doubt, in time, you will be disciplined. Complain about sprinters pulling faces for the cameras on the start line and millions will be with you.This antediluvian attitude ought to make the positive noises which greeted the day-night Test involving England and the West Indies all the more surprising. Rather than bemoan the creation of an entirely new meal break, coined ‘trunch’ by my colleague Andy Bull, the Edgbaston crowd were bang into it. Perhaps even a...
Touring side’s innings defeat by England highlighted absence of Chris Gayle, Darren Bravo and more, but Blackwood showed all is not lostThere will be a few reasons to remember this game, the first day-night Test held in England, but none of them will have anything much to do with the cricket played by West Indies. Alastair Cook batted for longer in the one innings he played than their 11 batsmen managed in 22 innings between them. On Saturday West Indies lost 19 wickets in the day. It wasn’t even spectacularly bad cricket. There was no dramatic collapse, just a grim and inevitable subsidence. You would get a better contest watching a steamroller go over wet tarmac. This is a callow...
Playing the first Test under the lights was a little discombobulating for spectators but, as the cops and robbers, Mario Brothers and Jamaican bobsleigh team discovered, it did mean they could go on drinking for longerAt a quarter to seven on Thursday evening, just as the sun was starting to dip and the shadows to stretch out towards the wicket, the ground staff switched on the floodlights and shortly after the players walked out for the final session. Related: Cook and Root shine for England against West Indies in day-night Test Continue reading...
In setting an England record of scoring 50 in 11 successive Tests despite having to face the new ball again, Root showed demands of leadership lie easy with himNestled within Joe Root’s serene cruise to a 13th Test century was an England record that has stood for 46 years. At 5.10pm, with the sun still shining in Birmingham and the fuchsia pink Duke ball just 34 overs young, he swished a cut off Jason Holder over the slips for four. Related: England v West Indies: day-night Test at Edgbaston, day one – live! Continue reading...
They will have the fastest bowlers on show at Edgbaston, but a new batting star will need to emerge if the tourists are going to find the runs to put England under pressureWith uncertainty comes excitement. So it must be a good thing that we don’t quite know what to expect at Edgbaston over the next few days. We do know that the ball is pink, that ticket sales are good and that it might be a good idea to bring a jumper (and maybe a blanket and a balaclava for the final session, which will probably end around 9.30pm every evening). Even better: get an invitation to a swish, warm hospitality box.We are less sure about how the pink...