The anthems are dusted off rousingly. Joe Root leads out England for the first time in four years. Bright sunshine here at the Oval and a bit muggy, Jofra Archer is going to start off with the ball. Let’s play!
“Hi James. Thanks for the Camus piece.” I wouldn’t call it a Camus piece per se, Peter Salmon. Don’t want to get the Philosophy crowd’s hopes up…
“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free. your very existence is an act of rebellion” might also suit Stokes..
Root back as captain though, does feel like normal service resumed. My favourite detail of the ‘blazer in the garage’ story is that he had 30 team sheets in the pockets. I had no idea this still happens at international level. That simple joy of tearing off one of the serrated sheets at the back of the scorebook, filling it in (first initial if you can’t remember their name). handing it to the opposite number - love that captains at this level still get to do it. Presumably they also still have to phone around on the day before the match to check everyone is still available,. to organise lifts? “Jamie’s wife’s gone into labour, but James Rew is available and has a van, so can take six..”
Nick Wiltshire has my back. I wouldn’t mess with him..
.com/live/TqXhD0hxPfk Though if they can’t do the first thing, I wonder how on earth they’ll manage clicking on a link…”
The stumps are being put in place and there’s blue skies above. We’ll have some actual cricket in about ten minutes.
A follower who wishes to remain incognito “I’m following on the sly…” gets in touch. I dare say you won’t be the only one A.Nonymous.
“Hi James, looking forward to an excellent Test and following the OBO. Is this the lowest number of combined letters in the England XI surnames since the Flower XI with Bell. Root, Cook, Trott etc (No wonder Pietersen felt left out)? Surely an indication that supremacy is once again due?”
I’m going to say yes and leave it at that.
Chris Lintott is in Paris and needs furnishing…
“Looking forward to this as a Somerset fan who has enjoyed the rise of Rew (and we’ll claim the very likeable cricket badger Baker too). Unfortunately I find myself in a shared office in the suburbs of Paris. Anyone got the overseas TMS link?”
If the blazer fits… Joe Root tosses the coin and Tom Latham calls… incorrectly. A cheer goes up around the Oval as Root confirms he’s going to unleash his green pace attack.
“I want to make first use of this surface. I think it’s a great opportunity for our attack to get out there. carry on the great work we did last week” he says.
“It’s probably a bit tighter than it was!” he says of the blazer.
“Tired and blue blazered, fill yourself with… pound coins ”
There has of course been all sorts written about ‘the situation’ in the last week. Some good, some bad and some downright ludicrous.
I tried to articulate my own thoughts here. By way of Albert Camus. I know. La-di-dah.
double quotation mark There’s a funny bit at the end of the 2022 Ben Stokes documentary Phoenix From The Ashes where host. self-confessed cricket obsessive Sam Mendes quotes Albert Camus to a nonplussed Stokes.
After a confusing. good-natured knockabout on some tatty astroturf on the outfield, both men stand on the balcony of Stokes’ boyhood club, Cockermouth CC, as Mendes paraphrases the Nobel Prize-winning philosopher. Pre-empting the quote by explaining to Stokes that it is one that he himself has found meaningful in the context of a life spent writing. directing film and theatre.
‘A man’s work is nothing but the slow trek to rediscover those one or two great. simple images in whose presence his heart first opened.’
Stokes stares at Mendes for a second, and then with perfect timing punctures the lofty atmosphere that has momentarily descended.
‘I’ve got no idea what you just said,’ he says with a small smile. ‘Cut that.’”
The sun is out now at the Oval, we’ll have the toss in ten minutes.
Just enough time to read this from Andy Bull, the piece to read on the Stokes farrago for mine.
double quotation mark The problem here isn’t so much that Stokes broke a curfew. It’s that to begin with, England’s management decided to set one. This Cinderella rule was brought in so they could be seen to be doing something after their own bad management during England’s winter tour, in particular their failed attempt to cover up that situation with Brook,. their decision to send the players away for four nights of rest and recuperation in Noosa, a place best known for its beach, bars, and craft beer scene. This England. Wales Cricket Board (ECB) regime may be the first in history whose biggest failing seems to have been that they could organise a piss-up in a brewery.”
“Shout out to Sky” emails a B Murdoch emails John Plunkett. “Surely the first time the same player has got the most caps, most runs, most wickets. most catches in the same team. Guess three out of four on a fair few occasions, but maybe never the full house?
Also has one player ever had so many caps compared to the other 10 players?”
Remarkable isn’t it? Fancy another cortex tickler? Joe Root is the only player playing in this Test match who played in the first Test under McCullum back in 2022.
I interviewed Joe before the first Test. Pure class.
Another exciting debutant in this match is Sonny Baker. England have been comparing his speed through the air to Mark Wood. I see a certain amount of Darren Gough in him too, not least in his ebullient, almost puppyish enthusiasm for bowling.
Taha did a nice interview with him a while back:
“What does Rehan Ahmed need to do to get in this team?” ask Ian Batch. “I thought he’d be an ideal replacement for Stokes. Instead, we’re playing a specialist batsman at 7? Why pick Bashir at Lord’s but no spinner here when the Oval has been flat this year?
I get it’s been a chaotic mess since Lord’s. Baz/captain selections to me have been baffling since he took over. Anyway, here’s hoping we get 5 good days of cricket. I’ve optimistically bought a day 3 ticket, madness!”
They definitely like Rehan and I fancy we might see him later in the summer on a drier wicket. Surrey have’t been playing a spinner here at the Oval. despite the weather being set to heat up England want to bolster their batting and feel like they can get overs of spin out of Root and Bethell.
Jordan Cox is a hugely exciting talent to have coming in at seven, he’s in electric knick too.
Hard to know how to feel after the last week but despite everything that has happened there is a real buzz at the Oval, debutants always have that effect. England have three of them. They are also fielding their most inexperienced bowling attack for two decades.
Joe Root is out in the middle with his pads on chatting away to Michael Vaughan and Brendon McCullum. He spoke really well yesterday:
The slightly annoying news is that it has been mizzling here in South London. the covers were all the way across the square when I arrived half an hour ago. The tentatively better news is that it is brightening up. the groundstaff are dragging off the tarpaulins as I type. We should still get the toss in about fifteen minutes.
Scratch that, the man on the tannoy announces that the toss has been delayed until 11am.
Gus Atkinson flattened.. Matt Henry’s middle stump. Lord’s witnesses England’s first Test win since the crapshoot in Melbourne just after Christmas. Is this another reset? Maybe, maybe not. There’s a nagging feeling it is more a re-emphasis of the end. The following day the text comes though, Stokes and Atkinson, drinks taken, curfew broken, punches thrown. Shock, confusion, despair. Both men dropped. Investigation pending. Cricket regulator, rugby players, Rex Rooms. Stokes sacked? Stokes retired? Stokes silent. Rob Key talks, Stokes not backed, prohibition mooted. Harry Brook as captain? After Wellington? Not likely. Joe Root digs his old blazer out of the garage. It’s crumpled but still fits. Of course it is Rooty, there’ll always be Rooty, won’t there? McCullum speaks, he’s worried about Ben. We all are. Come on. We can’t lose Stokes, over this? We still might lose Stokes over this. Ollie Robinson scan, Ollie Robinson out. Injured again. Bad luck or bad conditioning. Or both? Kane Williamson retires? Not now Kane! Well played Kane. A World Cup starts. Not that one. Edgbaston, are they… singing witches? Why not. A win and a Wyatt-Hodge ton. Distraction from the distraction. Then back. Jofra back, Matthew Fisher back. Debuts for Sonny Baker and Jordan Cox. Jamie Smith swaps his gloves for nappies. Debut for James Rew. Five changes, three debutants. New captain, old captain. 1-0. Remember? The Oval. Deep breath. On we go.
Welcome to the fever dream that is English cricket.
Welcome to the Guardian’s OBO. Play begins at 11am.
Wonder what we’ll talk about until then?
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