Notes on West Indies England

The ball, Bairstow, Seales and moon balls

The ball

There was a short ball that Jason Holder delivered to Chris Woakes that sat in the pitch for so long. It was a bit like the ball Kraigg Brathwaite had delivered earlier in the day, which was 67KPH.

Often we analyse things based on the result, but it is important to note that while the West Indies were not perfect after lunch, the pitch and ball played a part. Early on they got good swing, but after the 30th over the ball just died. It's rare a Dukes ball falls apart like this. The balls usually don't do that even on the West Indies wickets - which are clearly a harsher surface than England.

The pitch was not helpful. It might not look like that if you were just seeing the scorecard. But that was almost all in the air. Even early on it may have been slightly difficult; the players talked about the tackiness. And there seemed to be some pace and carry early at that point too. Joshua DaSilva was taken the ball with his fingers pointing up. That was certainly not the case later.

Kemar Roach said at the presser that they weren't tight enough with their lines and lengths. But in truth, I think the sting coming out of the ball/pitch means that the same lines or lengths don't feel as good. A length ball outside off isn't treated the same once the ball stops moving laterally.

But after lunch the wicket did seem to flatten right out. And the tackiness went to slowness. The sameness of their seam attack and the lack of a wrist spinner in these conditions is not ideal either.

But neither was having a ball that looked like it had lost a war with a lawnmower.