Key events
So let’s talk turkey: how many runs will India want? My sense is that, though the Headingley track generally gets better to bat on, the unusually clement will mean it’s crumblier and flakier than usual – ideal for Bumrah and not bad for Jadeja either. I reckon India will want 350, but my sense is England will either successfully chase almost any target they’re set, or get nowhere near anything sub sub sub sub substantial.
It’s windy and chilly in Leeds this morning which makes sense – generally speaking, the east of the country is cold, the west is rainy. Ian Ward has his anorak on, while Stuart Broad is in blazer and off-white drainpipe chinos. Just as well he’s got 604 Test wickets.
Do these two handsome devils look alike?
There’s something very sweet about one Little Master repping for another but … have you heard of the alphabet?
Preamble
So, four-day Tests, then: who’s up for those?
I can’t lie, it’s tempting to leave this preamble there – and not just to avoid writing any more words because really, what kind of people would seek to curtail the world’s greatest sporting format? But the format itself and this particular iteration of it deserve better than a pithy line directed at those who would happily ruin it for money, so let’s also wonder about the actual contest.
It’s impossible to predict what’s going to happen from here. India look the likelier because Bumrah and a wearing day-five pitch sound like the most unpleasant double-act imaginable … except the ability of Baz n’ Ben’s Testvangelists to chase previously ungettable targets is like nothing we’ve ever seen before. It’d be no surprise to see India bat too long , just as it’d be none were the greatest bowler in the world to tear through England in a session.
In other words, it feels like the direction this match takes is up to the tourists. Of course, it’s possible England knock them over then knock off the runs, but far more likely that India set a testing target with all three results possible well into tomorrow.
And though a result some time on the final afternoon is part of the perfect Test pro forma, it’s not actually the most powerful argument in favour of keeping things as they are. Many great matches end sooner than the fifth day, but the potential existence of that fifth day necessarily impacts those which come before it. Our society primes us to constantly be seeking better and different, which is fine – as long as we can also recognise that sometimes, things are great as they are. And make no mistake, this is, and is going to be that.
Play: 11am BST
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