Pope (121) leads England to 416 on opening day against West Indies

Kevin Sinclair, playing in place of the ill Gudakesh Motie, brought out his iconic celebration after taking a wicket in England for the first time (Photo: Getty Images)

England take initiative on action-packed day

There was enough action and incident on a sun-soaked first day in Nottingham to fill an entire Test.

It marked the start of a new England era, this is their first home Test without James Anderson and Stuart Broad since 2012. Anderson is part of the England staff and Broad was honoured by the Pavilion End of his old home ground being renamed after him.

Trent Bridge is where Bazball was born with the thrilling run chase against New Zealand in 2022. When the Windies won the toss, they gave England the chance to score quickly in beautiful conditions, albeit if Stokes said was undecided over what he would have chosen.

The tourists’ decision looked a good one as Zak Crawley was out to the third ball of the match, but apart from Sinclair’s somersault to celebrate his removal of Harry Brook – Sinclair is playing in place of the ill Gudakesh Motie – it was mainly downhill for West Indies from that point.

Shamar Joseph again struggled with a leg injury (Photo: Getty Images)

The visitors’ pace bowling was wayward, their catching wasteful and ground-fielding sloppy, while Shamar Joseph again struggled with a left-leg injury.

England had their share of poor moments, most glaringly the shots to get out by Joe Root and Brook, the latter who had also been dropped by Alick Athanaze.

In between was some glorious strokeplay, not England going at full throttle, instead skilfully taking advantage of West Indian generosity, small boundaries and a lightning outfield.

It was breathless stuff and terrific entertainment as England gained the platform for their new-look attack to examine the fragile West Indian batting on Friday. (BBC)

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