West Indies v England: first Test, day four – live

55th over: England 176-1 (Crawley 95, Root 69) West Indies held a conference in Permaul’s previous over and it pays off now as he concedes only three and beats Crawley outside off with another one that keeps low. You wouldn’t want to bat last on this pitch. The question now is whether England can keep going in top gear and buy enough time for a declaration.

54th over: England 174-1 (Crawley 94, Root 68) Root plays and misses! Beaten by Joseph’s reverse-swinging nip-backer, but also by the lack of bounce. And again! Missing that late cut of his, which is like Charlie Watts missing a beat. Joseph completes a maiden, a good effort after the carnage of the past few overs.

53rd over: England 174-1 (Crawley 94, Root 68) Permaul continues, which is fine by the batters, who continue to tuck in. Root sweeps, authoritatively, in front of square, for four. That’s the fifth boundary in 12 balls. Then he laps for a single to take the partnership to 150, which is magnificent in one way, and regrettable in another – as it means that England’s highest second-wicket stand of the past five years no longer belongs to Jack Leach. His partner, almost equally improbably, was Jason Roy, in the one-off Test against Ireland at Lord’s in 2019.

52nd over: England 169-1 (Crawley 94, Root 62) Just when he’s going so well, Crawley plays an ugly waft at a lifter from Joseph and is relieved to see it fly over slip for four off the top edge. Next ball, he remembers how good he can be and nails a cut. The ball after that, he very nearly plays on, as he did in the first innings. England’s lead is 105.

51st over: England 160-1 (Crawley 86, Root 62) Permaul continues, aims for the rough outside Crawley’s leg stump, strays too wide and gets swept for four. Crawley now has 28 off his last 32 balls, which is no mean feat on this narcoleptic pitch. Root adds a very Rootish late cut for four, and Permaul is rather living up to his name – permitting himself to be mauled. Eleven off the over, and England’s lead is 96.

50th over: England 149-1 (Crawley 81, Root 56) Brathwaite needs to take himself off and he does. Back comes Alzarri Joseph, who, along with Roach and Holder, has been able to keep the plug in. After Root pulls a single, Crawley clips to midwicket for two, and he’s into the 80s for only the second time in Tests. The first time, he made 267.

“Can I nominate as scorer for the quirky XI,” says Brian Withington, “the so-called Bearded Wonder, Bill Frindall? Although relatively subdued in his on-air TMS role, as a luxuriously bewhiskered guest player for the strolling Chelmsford Clergy, he was borderline alarming.

“He adjusted fielding positions for his bowling via a combination of semaphore-like shrugs and high-pitched Clangeresque whistles. Almost as distracting for my fellow 1970s schoolboys was his strikingly blonde and long-legged chauffeur (presumably). Different times.”

A confession to make: Frindall is the only person to whom I have ever sent a fan letter. In my defence, I was only 12. In his, he sent a very kindly letter back, and signed his name with a circle rather than a dot on the i. I guess he had seen enough dots in his life.

“Regarding quirkiness,” says Timothy Sanders. “What kind of all-rounder was Jonathan Trott? Was he a quirker who batted, or a batter who quirked?”

That’s the line of the day so far.

49th over: England 146-1 (Crawley 79, Root 55) Another single for Root, another cut for four from Crawley, off Permaul this time. And that is tea, with England winning another hour. In the session, they made 74 for none off 25 overs. They’ve been almost as watertight as Nkrumah Bonner, and a lot more fun to watch. At 122, this is already England’s highest second-wicket partnership of the 2020s, but this is a game in which wickets have fallen in clusters, so these two need to cash in while they can.

48th over: England 141-1 (Crawley 75, Root 54) With a fifty in the bag – his 77th in Tests – Root feels it’s reasonable to try a reverse sweep off Brathwaite. He doesn’t middle it and settles for a single. Crawley, cutting, does get hold of it and reaches his three-quarter century.

47th over: England 136-1 (Crawley 71, Root 53) The West Indians think Permaul has got Crawley as the ball pops up to slip. It goes for an umpire’s review, there is an inside edge, but the ball kissed the ground before it looped up off the boot. Fine margins.

Permaul comes back, so it’s spin at both ends, which is just how Joe Root likes it. He late-cuts for four to reach his first fifty since Boxing Day. “Rooooot,” go the crowd. The move to No 3 has worked after all.

46th over: England 129-1 (Crawley 70, Root 47) Crawley shows Brathwaite’s lobs a respect they scarcely deserve, then seizes on something leg-stump-ish and paddles for two to reach 70.

45th over: England 127-1 (Crawley 68, Root 47) Seales goes a bit too straight, giving Crawley an easy single and Root an easy two. Strange the way even the best bowlers stray onto the pads.

44th over: England 124-1 (Crawley 67, Root 45) Brathwaite again. His lollipops helped Jonny Barstow reach his century on the first day and now they see these two to their hundred partnership, as Crawley greets a full toss with a hockey shot, swished to midwicket for a single. It’s been both watchable and watchful. It’s taken them 33.3 overs, so the run rate has been three an over, which is motoring by the standards of this match.

43rd over: England 122-1 (Crawley 66, Root 44) Seales to Crawley, mostly angled in and patted back. But then there’s a hint of a half-volley, on fourth stump, and Crawley whips it through midwicket for four. A shot worthy of Sir Viv, unlike most of the strokes played at his stadium.

“I can’t believe we’ve got this far into the Quirky XI,” says Pete Salmon, “without a mention for either Alan Knott or Jack Russell. My favourite thing about the latter was going to a pub to see the wonderfully underwhelming Severn Bore, and on every wall there were Jack Russell paintings – a number of them of Alan Knott and Jack Russell. Something truly beautiful in that, although for the life of me I don’t know what.” I do hope Jack included the hanky that Knott had spilling out of his pocket, and the teabag that he himself kept to use, again and again, for an entire tour.

42nd over: England 118-1 (Crawley 62, Root 44) Kraigg Brathwaite decides to bring out his secret weapon: himself. He bowls floaty off-breaks so slow that if one goes wrong, he’ll be able to run after it and catch it before it reaches the batter. Crawley, adjusting to the lack of pace, plays a pull so early that it goes straight back past the bowler.

41st over: England 113-1 (Crawley 58, Root 43) Roach gives way to Seales, the only bowler in this match to manage more than a two-for. No joy for him now, though: Crawley flicks another yorker for a single and Root reels off an elegant on-drive that deserves more than two.

40th over: England 110-1 (Crawley 57, Root 41) Jason Holder continues, tucking Root up on middle-and-off, then going round the wicket to test his patience with some wider ones, and collecting a maiden. Root, by the way, has his highest score in seven innings, since he made 50 on Boxing Day at the MCG, as wickets fell all around him.

39th over: England 110-1 (Crawley 57, Root 41) Joshua Da Silva decides to stand up to the stumps for Roach, as Ben Foakes did for Woakes and Overton. The main consequence of this is that we hear every encouragement Da Silva offers his fielders. If he says “C’mon boys!” one more time, I’m going to have to turn the telly down.

And that’s drinks, with England winning that hour, and (whisper it) the day so far – but if you apply the Boycott test and add two wickets, they’re not out of the woods by any means. They lead by 46.

38th over: England 109-1 (Crawley 57, Root 40) After being the cheerleader-in-chief, Holder now has to bowl again and he starts, uncharacteristically, with a nothing ball down the leg side. Root tickles it for four and soon adds a single in the same direction. He’s outscored Crawley two to one in the past ten overs, despite having less of the strike – though there’s a compliment to Crawley in there somewhere, as the bowlers have tried harder to tie him down.

37th over: England 104-1 (Crawley 57, Root 35) Roach ushers England into three figures by bowling a no-ball, and then Crawley, after being patient for five balls, picks the right one to caress past mid-on.

West Indies, as Steve Harmison observes, are making a lot of noise, led by Jason Holder. The role of the ex-captain is an interesting one, not talked about enough. Joe Root could be a natural.

36th over: England 99-1 (Crawley 53, Root 35) Joseph to Crawley, joining the dots. The cameras find Mark Wood, in a blue singlet, testing out that swollen elbow of his – not with the ball but with the bat. He plays a few phantom pull shots, shakes his head and winces. I’m no expert but I’d be surprised if he played any further part in the series, sad to say. Back on the field, Crawley plays an actual pull and gets a single.

Another candidate for the Quirky XI. “Simon Katich and his left arm wrist spin,” says Sam Gair. “To give it its proper name, it was lush. I always bowled as him on Brian Lara Cricket. He looked like a pterodactyl drinking a yard of ale.”

35th over: England 98-1 (Crawley 52, Root 35) Roach keeps Root quiet by a tried and tested method: aiming at the off bail. The only runs in the over are two byes from another grubber, let go by Root and missed by Joshua Da Silva.

34th over: England 96-1 (Crawley 52, Root 35) Crawley, facing Joseph, goes on the pull and fails to connect. He may have to work on his chat-up lines. But then he gets his act together and digs out a testing yorker.

33rd over: England 95-1 (Crawley 52, Root 34) Root nudges Roach off his hip for a single, and then Crawley gets a ludicrous daisy-cutter, which would pin him LBW if it was straight. Luckily for him it’s on sixth stump and he can watch it go by with mild alarm. This is such a big moment for Crawley: we know he can unfurl the odd stylish fifty, but he really needs to reach that second Test hundred, the one that eluded his mentor Rob Key.

32nd over: England 94-1 (Crawley 52, Root 33) Thanks Jim, you will go far. I feel like one of those grumpy old bowlers who suddenly find a pacy whippersnapper racing in at the other end. But enough about us. Just as the TV commentators are showing that 83pc of Zak Crawley’s runs today have come on the leg side, he takes their point and eases Joseph for two, Root-style, into the covers.

31st Over: England 92-1 (Root 33, Crawley 50) Crawley reaches his half ton from 100 balls on the nose.

That’s me done, Tim de Lisle is about to take the controls, you’ll be in very safe hands.

We’ve had Lance Cairns, Stuart MacGill and Marnus (obvs) suggested for the Quirky XI. Keep em coming, I’m sure Tim has some suggestions up his sleeve too. Have a good one, bye!

30th Over: England 86-1 (Root 28, Crawley 49) A maiden from Joseph.

29th Over: England 86-1 (Root 28, Crawley 49) Root picks off Holder as he gets too full. Gliding, clipping and whipping, the England captain keeps the scoreboard ticking over.

28th Over: England 81-1 (Root 24, Crawley 49) I didn’t mean to scare any England fans with that last ellipsis by the way. Holder’s final ball was safely negotiated by Crawley. Apologies if that particular piece of punctuation gave you the willies or suggested there was a wicket in the next post. I’m learning this OBO lark.

The rain has gone away and the players are back out there. Jason Holder has one ball to finish off his over…

“Afternoon James”

Afternoon to you, Geoff Wignall.

“May I offer some further candidates for the Quirky XI?” Fire away Geoff!

A middle order built around Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Peter Willey, whose stances didn’t even resemble each others, let alone anything, anywhere in any coaching manual; Abdul Qadir, for an action that could only be copied by the three-armed; and Mike Proctor for bowling at around half the speed of light, chest-on off the wrong foot.”

Shiv would make it in for mine, the reflective eye plaster things and the bail tap to take guard… that’s before we even get to his stance/technique. I note Bonner took guard with the bail at the start of his innings in this Test, how common is this now? Was it done before Shiv? Forgive my ignorance BUT I’m sure the OBO hivemind can get us the skinny on bail tappin’. Go go go!

Good news. A WhatsApp pings in from Ali Martin in Antigua. “The covers are already being peeled off”

(England 81-1 Crawley 49, Root 24) The players scramble from the ground as if shooed by the be-tabarded dinner ladies of my youth – who used to be able to sniff a drop of rain from 50 miles away.

Hopefully this will blow through quite quickly. I’ll see if I can tap up Ali for a weather report from the ground. For now there is a lot of tarp grappling going on courtesy of the ground staff.

Speaking of Mark Wood, here’s a bit of an update from fellow Ashington lad Steve Harmison:

27th Over: England 81-1 (Root 24, Crawley 49) Root and Crawley continue to accumulate.

Wood has imaginary tethered his imaginary horse for a few years now. I did like his imaginary ‘team hug’ yesterday. I’d have him down for a Mirth XI rather than a quirky one though.

26th Over: England 77-1 (Root 23, Crawley 47) Joseph from t’other end and Root works him away square for a single to bring up the fifty-partnership between these two. Batted. Crawley and Root tick over, both have looked busy at the crease.

Ade Couper emails in with another player for the OBO Quirky XI:

“I’m nominating Peter Willey, purely for that rather odd stance at the crease- if I remember correctly, he was pretty much facing square leg when on strike?

You remember corrrectly, Ade. Although Willey wasn’t quite as quirky as this:

25th Over: England 73-1 (Root 21, Crawley 45) Just a single to Root off Holder’s first over back.

The players are headed back out. I caught a snippet of the talk in the BT studio during the break, Matt Smith was chatting about garlic sauce at the time whilst Ramps, sat opposite, just glared at him. No comment necessary.

For the Quirky XI, I nominate Kim Barnett to open the batting.

Go for your life, Steve Hudson. As a son of Derbyshire I am all ears…

“Kim played in 1989 with a trigger movement that involved him strolling from short leg to the batting crease while the bowler ran in, playing the ball when he got there.”

Kim makes an appearance on this list, I think. Fill yer boots with lovely weirdness.

Peter Metcalfe is putting Boycs up for selection in the OBO Quirky XI:

“Geoff Boycott, certainly quirky if if he is picked for his bowling. Reversing the peak of his cap like some youth with a baseball cap. I saw him years ago in an ODI vs Pakistan. England needed two wickets but were on the way out. The Headingly crowd started baying for Geoffrey who was brought straight on and immediately got a caught behind. The crowd went mad. Then the last man smashed him over his head only for Mike Hendrick to take a stunning catch running back to the boundary. Serious crowd hysteria. Mind you, Geoffrey did walk on water at the time…”

“Good afternoon Jim”

Afternoon Marcus Abdullahi.

“The opening bowler has to be the hirsute 1970s Pakistani paceman Asif Masood.”

Ah yes, Marcus is talking about the OBO Quirky XI first mooted at 15:38.

“In the words of Wikipedia, Masood, “Used to begin his run-up with a backward step before a loping approach to the wicket which John Arlott likened to “Groucho Marx chasing a pretty waitress”

Sterling work being done (and avoided tbf) here:

Hotten’s campaign starts here:

24rd Over: England 72-1 (Root 20, Crawley 45) The game is moving on apace compared to the last couple of days. Root glides one away down to third man for a boundary and picks up a single too.

23rd Over: England 67-1 (Root 15, Crawley 45) Crawley picks up a couple off Permaul and we’ll get one more in before lunch. My better half has just wheeled our 11 month old out into the rain, I should add that she is leaving with her and they have the correct waterproofs. I think the local library is about to be descended upon. All of which is to say I’ll have fewer distractions and more capacity to delve into your emails during the tea break.

22nd Over: England 65-1 (Root 15, Crawley 43) An edge falls safely and runs away to bring Root a boundary.

“Another busy day in Nuclear Medicine, embarrassed to say I have only just tuned in to the OBO” Welcome to you, Charles Sheldrick.

“Middle of the morning on Day 4, still behind the Windies first innings score and one down… Are we in pushing to set a target or hanging in for a draw territory?”

Hmm I’d say England will be looking to bat the whole day and then see where they are. If they are in the position to start thinking about enforcing a victory then they will have done very well.

21st Over: England 61-1 (Root 11, Crawley 43) Crawley is showing his full array here, a throaty cut for four is followed up by a pre-meditated sweep for for, the big man getting down into position swiftly and executing the shot perfectly. Permaul is not being allowed to settle here, ten runs leaked from his first over.

20th Over: England 51-1 (Root 11, Crawley 33) Four runs from Joseph’s over reduces the deficit to 13. Fifty up for England And we are going to have some spin from Permaul. We’ve got about ten minutes to lunch, which is delayed by five minutes for some reason I can’t fathom.

19th Over: England 47-1 (Root 9, Crawley 31) Seales continues and ooooh a pea roller! That’s the first time the pitch has properly misbehaved, Mark Butcher on comms is getting excited that this could be the start ‘things happening’ if it does start to go then it will certainly make the rest of this game intriguing viewing. Crawley then creams a drive on the up for four as if to immediately show that it is anything but a minefield.

18th Over: England 42-1 (Root 8, Crawley 27) Alzarri Joseph is into the attack and Root clips him away for a solitary single.

17th Over: England 41-1 (Root 7, Crawley 27) Root keeps the runs ticking off Seales, a couple and a single to the England captain who is as busy as ever. Crawley then launches into another fine pull shot, not as polished as the last perhaps but no matter the ball flies away to the boundary. Decent over for England, seven runs from it.