Test cricket can be pretty absurd at times. Take the example of Jamie Smith, who on the second day at Edgbaston had a beer-soaked capacity crowd eating out of the palm of his hand with an innings of rare quality, only to trudge off the field five runs short of a maiden Test century and thus look utterly crestfallen.
Smith looks too promising not to get there one day; so promising, in fact, that it feels close to a given. But such thoughts were far from the 24-year-old’s mind when, at 5.10pm, he was mugged by a canny slower bouncer from Shamar Joseph and heard the clatter of stumps. As he left the stage amid warm, almost apologetic applause, no amount of back slaps in the England dressing room were going to make up for it.
Consolation was instead to be found from the match situation which, by stumps, had swung firmly in England’s favour. Powered by Smith’s 95 from 109 balls, and a typically silken 87 from Joe Root that featured his 12,000th Test run, the hosts had turned a troubling 54 for five first thing into 376 all out and a lead of 94. And in the final hour overs they struck twice with the new ball to leave the tourists teetering on 33 for two.
It was pretty fitting that Chris Woakes should kickstart this surge in late sunshine when, with the final delivery of his opening over, he pinged Kraigg Brathwaite’s off-stump with a beauty. Woakes had been one half of a pivotal stand of 109 alongside Smith; the yin to the wicketkeeper’s yang with a typically steadfast 62 from No 9. Gus Atkinson, who also sprinkled some fairy-dust on England’s innings with a couple of biffed sixes late on, then put an end to Kirk McKenzie’s sorry series.
All of this was pretty hard to stomach for West Indies, not least given the events in the morning session. They had positively flown out of the traps, Ollie Pope chopping Shamar Joseph on to his stumps and Harry Brook the second Englishman to suffer a lapse outside off when he tamely tickled Jayden Seales behind for two. England, five down and still 228 runs in arrears, were in a fair old spot of bother.
But just as the wickets column was slightly deceptive from England’s perspective after the failed deployment of Mark Wood the night before, West Indies could similarly point to distortion after a chance to remove Root for three went begging. Seales had pinned him in front and after the umpire Nitin Menon shook his head on the field, Brathwaite opted not to review. Had he done so, three reds on Hawk-Eye would have followed.
It was a sliding doors moment and one that grew increasingly significant as Root set about relaying the foundations for his side and moved to seventh in the all-time Test run-scorers list, leapfrogging Brian Lara. First came a stand of 115 with Ben Stokes in which the England captain purred his way to 54. Stokes was on here, slotting straight drives down the ground for four like he was potting balls at the Crucible and also sending the left-arm spin of Gudakesh Motie into the Hollies Stand for one mighty six.
After Stokes had fallen to Alzarri Joseph after lunch amid a sustained short-ball plan, it was time for the arrival of Smith and the innings of the day. Much like that glossy 70 on debut at Lord’s, the attributes that caught England’s eye at the start of the summer were on show here, Smith allying his sharp eye with some serious power at times. Early on there was a six off Alzarri Joseph that cleared the Hollies Stand, forced a change of ball and left Root’s jaw practically on the floor at the other end.
Not that England were out of the woods when Root eventually fell lbw to a straight ball from Motie. At 231 for seven, they were still 51 runs behind and a further clatter of wickets would have blown the match wide open. Who better to calm things down than Woakes? Striding out on to his home ground, he offered the ideal foil for Smith. Few know Edgbaston’s dimensions better than the all-rounder, who rode out of a barrage of short stuff – his supposed weakness – and guided his seven deft fours.
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It made for a lively time of it either side of tea, the crowd growing increasingly vocal as the totaliser grew and enjoying some good-natured fun with Mikyle Louis on the boundary’s edge.
Not the first time in the series West Indies slightly creaked, their plans to Smith and Woakes confused at times and the former utterly ruthless with his stroke play. Every time West Indies erred, the middle of Smith’s bat punished them.
In the end it took a fine piece of bowling from Shamar Joseph to end the fun, the sinking feeling instantly hitting Smith when he heard his off stump rattle behind him. Still, the way the Surrey man played here suggested the wait for three-figures is unlikely to be a long one.