Test rivals put on a game to savour - despite biosecure conditions - Chris Waters

THIS biosecure cricket lark could catch on.

After four months without any international action, England and West Indies served up a classic to compensate for the enforced hiatus, West Indies winning by four wickets deep into the final session of an engrossing game.

There might have been no spectators at the Ageas Bowl, no atmosphere, no saliva allowed on the ball, and so on, but there was no shortage of entertainment in another magnificent advert for the five-day format.

West Indies were deserving winners, but so indeed was everyone who ensured that this match – and this series – became a reality: not least the respective governing bodies of the two countries.

Some of us are quick to criticise the England and Wales Cricket Board for concepts such as The Hundred, but we should not be slow to praise them for their efforts in this case.

So well played to ECB chief executive Tom Harrison and his team.

Those points established, this was a terrific victory for a West Indies side ranked eighth in the world against the team ranked fourth, one that sends them into the final two Tests in Manchester in excellent fettle.

An exciting group is starting to emerge under captain Jason Holder, whose six-wicket haul in the first innings set them on the road to a famous win in what might be termed the inaugural biosecure Test match.

It was already apparent that West Indies had a pace attack worthy of the name, with Holder, Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel and Alzarri Joseph a formidable quartet.

To the key question as to whether the tourists’ batsmen could thrive against England’s own pace attack came an emphatic answer too, the visitors negotiating a tricky chase of 200 against the hosts’ quartet of Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, James Anderson and Ben Stokes, complemented by the emerging off-spin of Dom Bess, with Archer at his most lethal, challenging and watchable best.

After West Indies fell to 27-3 and with opener John Campbell forced to retire hurt after being struck on the toe by an Archer yorker, many would have fancied England from that point, the hosts having added 29 runs at the start of day five to finish on 313 all-out, Gabriel capturing the last two wickets – those of Wood and Archer – to finish with 5-75 en route to the man-of-the-match award.

But a brilliant 95 from Jermaine Blackwood and an important contribution from Roston Chase (37) saw West Indies home, Campbell returning to hit the winning run off Ben Stokes on a sunny summer’s evening.

It spelled disappointment for Stokes in his first Test as captain, the all-rounder standing in for Joe Root while the Yorkshireman was on paternity leave, and scrutiny will invariably fall on his decision to bat first beneath overcast skies and also on Stuart Broad’s omission from the XI.

In truth, though, England simply did not bat well enough in either innings, with too many soft dismissals, and their first innings score of 204 was well below par on a dry pitch.

Where most scrutiny should fall, however, is on National Selector Ed Smith, whose perseverance with batsman Joe Denly and wicketkeeper Jos Buttler defies explanation.

Denly made little impact again and has now played 15 Tests and not scored a century, while Buttler’s drop of Blackwood on 20 yesterday, down the leg-side off Stokes, was a pivotal moment, with Buttler’s own batting yet to convince in the five-day arena.

Denly will surely make way when Root returns for the second Test on Thursday, with Zak Crawley set to keep his place after top-scoring with 76 in the second innings. Stuart Broad may also come straight back in given the swift turnaround.

Buttler’s dropped catch was one of several chances that England blew yesterday, with Crawley missing an opportunity to run-out Blackwood and Rory Burns failing to hold on when the same batsman flashed Stokes through the gully.

At one point, it looked as though Blackwood might become the first cat to make a Test hundred, so many lives did he seem to have, but he played a cool and composed hand before being denied that hundred when he drove Stokes to mid-off.

Ultimately, it was the result that mattered for Blackwood and his colleagues, no doubt galvanised by their time together in quarantine and, of course, the Black Lives Matter campaign that provided a powerful backdrop to this match.

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.

Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.

If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.

Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Editor