ENG vs WI | Ageas Bowl Day 1 Talking Points - Cricket ushers into new normal and the big Broad question

07/08/2020

The rain showed Coronavirus who the real boss in England is, but the 106 balls bowled today was enough to bring so much raw emotion out of a cricket fan. In the short span at the Ageas Bowl, we have, however, already seen enough to eagerly wake up tomorrow and wait for the action to resume again.

Brief Scores: England 35/1 in 17.1 overs (Rory Burns 20*, Joe Denly 14*; Shannon Gabriel 1-19) vs West Indies.

Cricket, as we knew it...

Aha, Cricket, how much I missed you! Starting from that incredible Sky Sports Pre-match show, which the broadcaster was kind enough to make it available on their Social Media platforms irrespective of the country, to all the players taking the knee in solidarity for the Black Lives Matter Movement to the first delivery bowled by Kemar Roach, it was an emotional roller-coaster I would savour for a long long time. Of course, I missed that feeling for over four months now but boy was it not worth it?

Everyone doubted cricket would be characterised by a new normal, which it did, but in all honesty, I am happy the basics didn’t go for a toss amidst all the talks of ultra-modern elitist bio-security. Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel, two fine practitioners of the craft, moved the ball like they did against the same opponents some 18 months ago, while Jason Holder used his height to bounce Joe Denly and Rory Burns on a regular basis. The English duo’s batting also bore a throwback to the simpler times as they dug deep in traditional fashion after Dominic Sibley was shouldered arms against a Gabriel inducker.

There were high-fives, yes, but no hugs. There was sweat, yes, but no saliva. All players took a knee to show their solidarity for the Black Lives Matter movement, but there was no team huddle or the national anthem. Yes, Cricket seemed a lot different but the core value of it remained at it is as we usher into a new normal, where the beautiful cherry still dominated the first session, where opening the batting seemed like the most tedious affair and where the No.3 is a gritty technician setting the stage for the charismatic performer. Would you have taken anything else?

Stuart Broad - a career of great distinction but why the pause?

“Is it the time to write the obituary?” asked a Tweet, when ECB released the Playing XI for the first match of the historic #RaiseTheBat series that means more to cricket than just a Test match. Stuart Broad has been dropped from the side to accommodate the fiery pace of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, signalling a new era in the English cricket history. As a matter of fact, Broad has not missed a home Test since 2012, playing a consecutive 51 matches, with the last Test he missed being the Edgbaston Test against West Indies in 2012 where the series was already won. So can we conclusively say that a sweet and handsome Broad has finally aged well to make way for a new generation?

However, that conclusion is far from the ground reality. England will play six Test matches over the course of the next 49 days and the rotation of the pace attack is not just a requirement but almost a mandatory one. Everyone will be rested at some point in time as the ECB will try to shake off the rustiness and keep them fit for the challenges coming up in July and August. Anderson, through a style of seam bowling, might have put the ageing process and slowing down to shame, but Broad remains one of the most confident and charismatic sportsmen in the world for the sheer single-handed impact he can have on the game.

His ability to adapt, which was evident from the way he shortened his run-up and bowled a fuller, more probing line and length, that returned him with 23 wickets at 26.65 against Australia and 14 at 19.42 against South Africa, was the biggest calling card. It will be hardly surprising to see Broad making a comeback at Old Trafford for the second Test and get to the cherished 500-wicket mark to reach pace bowling’s Mount Rushmore alongside Glen McGrath, Courtney Walsh and his partner-in-crime James Anderson. Never write the Stuart off.