England opener Dom Sibley not the most entertaining but he is certainly effective - Chris Waters

Twain, who died in Redding, Connecticut, in 1910, was reportedly still alive when the England batsman began his marathon vigil in the second Test at Old Trafford, although it is feasible that those reports – like rumours of Twain’s supposed death in 1897 – were greatly exaggerated.

Of course, it is easy to mock and poke fun at Sibley; less so to score Test centuries, however many years it feels as if they take, as he has now done twice in eight games since making his debut.

Granted, he might not keep you on the edge of your seat; it is highly unlikely, for instance, that Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack would ever write of him, as it famously did of England’s narrow defeat to Australia at the Oval in 1882 that gave birth to the Ashes, that “one spectator dropped dead from excitement”.

But a batsman’s currency is runs – big runs as opposed to pretty little cameos – and Sibley’s 120 against the West Indies in Manchester, spanning 126 overs and comprising 372 balls, delivered in that most important respect.

A study of patience in challenging conditions, Sibley’s innings helped England to 469-9 declared, Ben Stokes top-scoring with 176 before West Indies reached 
32-1, Stokes emphasising again his right to be considered now as England’s best batsman.

Joe Root might feel that he still holds that mantle, but Stokes’s improvement is hard to ignore.

Back in Twain’s day, batsmen like Sibley were popularly called “stonewallers”; in other words, they blocked the living daylights out of it and were primarily concerned with not getting out.

One of the most famous of all stonewallers was Alec Bannerman, an Australian batsman of the late 19th-century, who was described by one historian in these unflattering terms: “At times, the crowd found him as wearisome to the flesh as fleas in a warm bed.”

Other noted blockers were Bannerman’s English contemporary William Scotton, who opened for Nottinghamshire, and also the Yorkshire opener Louis Hall, who once wearied spectators like fleas himself by scoring 12 against Kent in 165 minutes.

“A strict tee-totaller, non-smoker and lay preacher in Methodist chapels”, in the words of the Yorkshire cricket historian Derek Hodgson, Hall didn’t exactly sound like a barrel of laughs on or off the field.

Levity aside, there is always a place for a stonewaller in Tests, and England were grateful for Sibley’s stickability as they seek to level the three-match series.

After starting day two on 86 out of 207-3, the Warwickshire man crawled to his hundred 15 minutes before lunch and did not hit his first boundary of the day until shortly after it.

Stokes made only 40 in the first session himself, advancing from 59 to one short of his tenth Test hundred. He eventually got there from 255 balls, his slowest in the format, surpassing the 199 balls it took him to reach three figures during last summer’s Headingley epic.

Stokes put his foot down thereafter, signalling a change in gear by effortlessly lofting Alzarri Joseph for six over mid-wicket. Stokes held the pose for the mask-wearing snappers, racing to his third half-century in just 46 balls and achieving his highest home Test score in the process.

Conscious of the need to step on the gas too, particularly with Saturday’s weather forecast less than promising, Sibley attempted to follow suit but fell to pretty much the first shot that he played in anger, lofting off-spinner Roston Chase to deep mid-wicket. It ended a stand of 260 in 95 overs with Stokes, whose contribution to it was 155. Stokes was dropped on 157 by a diving Shai Hope in the gully off Shannon Gabriel before Ollie Pope was pinned lbw on the back foot by Chase.

Stokes finally exited just after tea, caught behind as he tried an audacious reverse sweep at pace bowler Kemar Roach, whose first Test wicket it was for 85.3 overs.

It was a case of London buses for Roach as he struck again with his very next ball, Chris Woakes becoming the second golden duck of the innings - after Zak Crawley - when caught in the gully.

Stokes’s innings had been a veritable pleasure, full of sound defence, crisp attacking strokes and neat improvisation, complementing perfectly Sibley’s ability to leave well outside his off stump and to work nicely off his pads.

Jos Buttler chipped in with a morale-boosting 40 and Dom Bess with a typically sparky 31 not out, Chase finishing with 5-172 as Root chose to unleash his bowlers for the day’s last hour.

Sam Curran had John Campbell lbw on review and, had he opted to review again, would have had nightwatchman Joseph lbw off the penultimate ball too.

As Twain also mused: “When angry, count four. When very angry, swear.”

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