England v West Indies: second cricket Test, day one – live

We hear the words often: “It’s called a Test match for a reason”. Well, however you slice it, last week was not remotely testing for England; though West Indies competed in moments, all across the piece they were barely present, and the fear now is that we see similar over the next five few days, then again next week at Edgbaston.

Of course, there is context: a rigged system in which the game’s biggest powers make the most money and play the most matches, the longest serieseseses reserved solely for when they meet each other. What we saw at Lord’s reflected that.

In fairness to West Indies, they bowled well in parts, and who knows how a bit of scoreboard pressure might’ve helped them. But it’s England’s Jimmyless attack we arrive at Trent Bridge excited to see, given the two quicks, Gus Atkinson and Mark Wood, who’ll be taking the new ball, with Ben Stokes, pace back and wobble-ball installed, also looking tasty; who knows, Shoaib Bashir may even get a bowl.

The thing is, this thing of ours has a habit of surprising us – just ask Australia. In recent times we’ve seen Chris Gayle, Shai Hope and Jason Holder all perform superhuman feats against England, and with the talent West Indies have, that possibility must never be discounted – it just shouldn’t be a necessity. But here we are so here we are, which is to say that all we can do is make sure to enjoy whatever it is we get, because even an untesting Test match is better than anything else the world has to offer us. Go well!

Play: 11am BST