ENG vs WI - Old Trafford Day 4 Talking Points - The Old Trafford betrayal and Wondrous Chris Woakes
From Stokes and Buttler opening the batting to Alzarri Joseph hitting an impeccable 32 as a nightwatchman, Day 4 of the Old Trafford Test had it all and it set up the game for a nerve-wracking finish on the final day. The day also saw all three of Woakes, Broad and Curran prove their worth.
Brief scores: England 37/2 (Stokes 16* and Roach 2/14) and 469-9 dec lead West Indies 287-all out (Brathwaite 75 and Woakes 3/42) by 219 runs
The Old Trafford betrayal: England’s shock on the morning of Day 4
It was a bittersweet morning for England as the players took to the field. Yes, after being betrayed by the Manchester Weather on Saturday, they were glad to ‘finally’ get some cricket, but on the contrary, the sun was shining and that didn’t really help their cause of needing to take 19 wickets in 196 overs. So they put their blind faith on the Old Trafford wicket - that showed signs of crumbling on Day 2 - only to get royally betrayed and backstabbed for the second time in as many days.
In the very first session, at least, the pitch looked like an absolute belter. And quite honestly, it was something that very few saw coming. The Windies scored 86 runs in the first two hours for the loss of just the nightwatchman Joseph, and at no point were the specialist batters even remotely troubled. Both Brathwaite and Hope cut, pulled, drove and swept with absolute comfort and, without exaggerating, it did look like one of the most batsmen-friendly sessions we’ve witnessed in the whole series.
CricViz’s ‘pitchviz’ of 6/10 (higher the rating, tougher to bat), also suggests that the wicket did not deteriorate to the extent England would have expected it to; the subsequent rating on Day 2 was 6.2/10. The pitch did do its tricks later on in the day - especially after the second new ball was taken in the 81st over - but by then it was too late already, as the Windies had bridged the follow-on gap to just 34 runs.
Shamarh Brooks is a pillar
What is so special about Sharmarh Brooks that made even Rahul Dravid take note of him? Well, there is no one thing you can pinpoint in his batting and say with confidence that “Yes, this is where he stands out”, but when you watch him bat, it is clear that he belongs to this level. Certainly a 1,3 and 0 in his first three knocks - all against India - didn’t suggest that, but he has quickly adjusted to this level since the 2nd innings at Kingston where he scored a fine fifty against Shami, Bumrah and Ishant.
His 68 today was another indication that he’s someone who is improving by the day. There is a lot to admire about his batting, not least his tendency to be unphased by the situation. Mind you, the Windies were virtually batting to save the Test today and it was his positive approach - he hit 11 boundaries - that both helped his side edge closer to saving the follow-on and enabled his partner Kraigg Brathwaite to bat more freely. He was, in many ways, unlucky to have been dismissed on 68; he had batted flawlessly until then and he was undone by a ball that kept low. The way he handled the short-ball barrage from the English bowlers courageously was a sight in itself.
Either way, his performance gives a lot of hope for the Windies going forward as now with Chase adding consistency to his game and Brathwaite re-discovering his form, it looks like they have a somewhat solid and reliable Top 6.
Can we start talking about Chris Woakes, please?
The word ‘underrated’ is thrown around way too often inaccurately, but if there’s one guy who has genuinely been a star without his achievements getting acknowledged, it’s Chris Woakes. And it’s not just Test cricket, mind you. We all praise Stokes, Archer and Roy for delivering England the World Cup but what always flies under the radar is Woakes’ contribution in the tournament - 16 wickets in total - where his impeccable new-ball spells dented and hurt opponents.
Ahead of the series, all talk was about Broad, Anderson, Wood and Archer but Woakes sent a timely reminder today that his name should be right in the mix. Whilst Broad was erratic in his first spell - he conceded 32 runs off his first 8 overs - Woakes was on the money from the first ball and throughout his 21-over spell, the right-armer created opportunities aplenty and kept the batsmen under check. He finished with 3 wickets to his name and an economy rate of 2.00 - the best amongst English bowlers - and if not for a Stokes-Crawley goof-up, he would, in all fairness, have had at least one more scalp to his name.
It’s time that Woakes get the due credit he deserves. Since the start of 2019, he averages a remarkable 23.23 with the ball - the second best behind Wood amongst English bowlers (min 20 wickets) - and you wonder if there’s a better ‘captain’s man’ in world cricket than the Birmingham-man.