Sunrise starts, Bash, Queues...
And the inaugural Dudley Platypus Award
Hidden amongst the industrial scale pile of records the England Test team has broken or been a part of in the last two years is ‘most consecutive days without a dull one.’ It is a tricky one for statisticians to quantify but somebody will produce an analysis metric in time, no doubt.
Test cricket in the East of India at this time of year requires a 9:30am start and even that isn’t early enough to ensure a full day’s play on many occasions. It also means a 6:45am drive to the ground, which is counter-intuitive with the sun just rising. Today delivered the rarity of three extra overs above the rarely-met quota of 90. England took their sixth wicket in the 91st to swing the day marginally their way. Hard work pays off, extra work even more so.
The first day in Vishakapatnam was another screamer, grumbler and growler, Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 179* holding together another display of profligacy in which numbers 3, 4, 5 and six were all dismissed between 25 and 35 for the first time ever in Test cricket. In the first Test three of the top six were dismissed in the 80s, another Test record. It’s been a masterclass of how not to cash-in, apart from Jaiswal. Who was the first of the 80’s men last week.
Shoaib Bashir was England’s man of the day, the 20-year-old off-spinner serving up 28 overs of controlled, varied and attacking tweaks for a return of 2-100. Apart from Indian captain Rohit Sharma as his first Test wicket, it was a day he should be proud of forever. “Unbelievable really,” he said with a shake of the head afterwards. “I knew I’d get here after the problems with the visa but I wasn’t sure I’d play. When Ben and Baz patted me on the shoulder the day before and said I’d be getting my cap the next day, I couldn’t believe it.”
Nobody wants to moan about the realities of watching Test cricket in India having paid for the privilege to do so, but the facts are just that. It took almost an hour for many supporters to gain entry to the stadium this morning with security staff taking an eternity to scan and search pockets and bags for those life-threatening, secretly concealed sandwiches and tubes of sunscreen. To be fair, the Visag Police were much more reasonable than their Hyderabadi colleagues; they just took longer to be so.
Before the Test began a small, informal presentation took place. Long-serving photographer and outstanding book publisher, Philip Brown (aka ‘Dudley Platypus’) was sufficiently moved by Mark Wood’s heroically unrewarded bowling efforts during the first Test to seek out a trophy as compensation for his aching limbs. Warning: Some readers, if able to read the citation on this 300 Rupee statuette, may be offended. Sorry for that.
“That is outstanding,” said Wood upon receipt of his unexpected accolade. “I look forward to passing it on the next poor bugger who deserves it.”