The Post Lord's Lie-Down...

Test Cricket can take more than mere blood, sweat and tears.

The best things in life usually take the longest to make – from food to drink and buildings, so it stands to reason that they are also the most satisfying. But they can also be ‘a bit too much’ in the manner of needing a lie-down after a rich meal.

It is either fortunate or prescient scheduling that England and India have a full eight days off to digest the Lord’s Test match having played to the end of the fifth only to be separated by the number of runs now routinely scored in a single T20 over. They are all in need of some time away.

In 1994 England’s captain, Michael Atherton, took three days away from a series against South Africa and disappeared into the Lake District for some of his beloved fly-fishing. It created quite a stir at the time having just been defeated in the Lord’s Test during which he was accused of ball-tampering and lieing to match referee, Peter Burge. He was also fined £2000 by his own team manager, Ray Illingworth.

The English media were outraged at the time insisting that the national captain should remain ‘above ground’ and available to be prodded, questioned and photographed at all hours. But Athers was a little ahead of his time and packed his bags and rods.

Nine years later it was the turn off South Africa’s young captain, Graeme Smith, to step off a tour of England after two Tests. His back-to-back innings of 277 and 259 and 600+ aggregate had created such a media storm that the 23-year-old was unable to sleep or retain a sense of perspective. He described it as ‘other worldly’ so the team management decided, wisely, that a few days in an actual different world would serve him best. He was despatched to Ireland where he went largely unrecognised and could catch his breath.

Shubman Gill scored almost 600 runs in the first two Tests and most likely received even more attention as Indian Test captain but there was to be no escape for him with the Lord’s Test starting just three days after his team’s famous, series-levelling win at Edgbaston. There was, almost certainly, insufficient time to recover emotionally from his innings of 269 and 161. It can take days for even the junior players to disperse the adrenalin and return to feeling normal after an epic, five-day contest. Longer for the captain, especially after an individual performance of such proportions.

Ben Stokes scored crucial runs in both innings at Lord’s, effected the run out of Rishabh Pant to end a partnership of 141 which was threatening to dominate the match and then bowled 19.2 overs on the final day, all the while actively rather than reactively captaining. It needs no confirmation that he struggled to sleep well for five days – it’s part of the package. It came as no surprise to Test playing (and viewing) veterans that he sank to his knees rather than chase the rest of his players when Shoiab Bashir claimed the wicket of Mohammad Siraj with just 23-runs required for an Indian win. One day, hopefully, he’ll take solace from the fact that he didn’t slog one up in the air.

“I just didn't have a lot to give, to be honest, with the celebrations. It's a weird one. I mean, obviously it's a great game. It's a close game. You'd think I should be saying ‘yes’ [it's the most satisfying win], but it's just quite hard to get my head around it at the moment, if that makes sense. I've obviously put a lot in over the last two days. So, when you're physically and emotionally tired, it's hard to know. I reckon in two days’ time I'll be pretty pumped. But just pretty knackered at the moment to be honest. Looking forward to a long lie-down for a couple of days on my own bed,” Stokes said during some of the many interviews he was forced to endure afterwards.

“I'll be absolutely sound for Manchester, it's a big break. I was pretty tired after Headingley but, after we walked off the field here, a whole new level of tiredness hit,” he said. “I've been in games like that before, not as a captain, where I've been given the ball to run in and try and bowl the team to victory. But now, adding the decision making around bowling changes, field placings, how I feel we're going to win…there's the physical element of bowling in the fourth innings, but it shouldn't be underestimated how the emotional and mental tiredness gets you as well,” Stokes said.

https://youtube.com/shorts/Ps94yVdU3rA?si=h95V26W5NMbzU2iB

It even gets to those of us whose only job is to describe it for five days, as you may be able to see and hear from this montage of the final ball from TalkSPORT’s YouTube channel. It’s been good to have a lie-down for a couple of days, although not on my own bed.