Nasser Hussain could hardly contain his excitement. "Very, very grey skies welcome the first morning of the English summer of international cricket." So went his introductory gambit from the commentary booth for day one of the England versus Bangladesh Test series. Note the repetition of "very" to emphasise just how gloomy it was. These were very, very moody conditions. Slate grey sky. Blocks of empty seats. High-pitched squeals from the schoolkids making the most of the knock-down admission fees, as well as a day off from lessons.
Layers of cable-knit jumpers on the away team's players. Windcheaters and woolly hats for the patrons in the lower tiers of the Compton and Edrich stands at the Nursery End. This was more like it. Cricket had finally come home. To be fair to Hussain, all those sixes under the azure sky of the Caribbean had been getting rather monotonous. And this is England. Never mind fours and sixes - what about a bit of weather-watching?
It soon brightened up, and when it did, the cumulonimbus clouds immediately looked a good deal sharper on Showsports HD than the Bangladesh attack. When the Bangladeshis play, it is probably the only time in Test cricket when a bowling attack is actually less frightening than the net-bowlers who are employed to get the batsmen's eye in before the day's play. It was ironic, then, that Andrew Strauss, the England captain, eventually fell to a bowler who was one of those net-bowlers at Lord's not so long ago.
As part of his cricket apprenticeship, Mahmudullah, the all-rounder whose off-spin looked as potent as anyone in the touring attack yesterday, had a spell on the MCC groundstaff. His duties back then would have included bowling to Strauss and Co on Test match days. David Gower was wise to it. He immediately asked if his co-commentators knew what Mahmudullah had in common with Sir Ian Botham, another of the Sky punditry team and former all-round great. Past the groundstaff link, the duo probably do not share too many similarities.
It was one of those days when those paid to describe the play had to be creative. Unlike during England's uproarious success in the World Twenty20 earlier this month, they were not able to leave the pictures to speak for themselves. It was a world away from that glory in Barbados. Alastair Cook struck the first boundary in the third over - a neat, compact checked-drive straight back past the bowler.
It was like something out of the Dark Ages. In the eighth over, Strauss clubbed a just-short-of-a-length delivery, the usual Test length delivery, for six. But that was about as T20 as the day was going to get. Jonathan Trott saw to that. While Andrew "Freelance Freddie" Flintoff was enjoying life in the corporate boxes, the man who made his name in the last Test Flintoff played was trying his hardest to secure his place in the side.
Despite the Ashes-clinching century he made at The Oval last summer, Trott's place is in jeopardy, thanks to the emergence of Eoin Morgan. Trott could have done no better than the unbeaten 175 he managed yesterday. Pop-gun attack or not, it was a signal of intent from the Warwickshire batsman, and laid the platform for England's powerful total of 362 for four. This century will have bought Trott an extended run in the side. Whether it assures him of a place in the line-up for the first Ashes Test in Brisbane in November is less certain.
pradley@thenational.ae
England, 1st innings Strauss b Mahmudullah 83 Cook lbw b Shahadat 7 Trott not out 175 Pietersen b Al Hasan 18 Bell b Rubel 17 Morgan not out 40 Extras 5w, 7lb, 10nb 22 Total (4 wkts) 362 Fall of wickets: 1-7; 2-188; 3-227; 4-258 Bowling: Shahadat 17-2-66-1; Islam14-2-80-0; Al Hasan 19-1-71-1; Rubel 16-0-74-1; Mahmudullah 23-3-59-1; Ashraful 1-0-5-0
