Approximately 20 minutes into the match, England found themselves in a precarious situation. With two more wickets down in their first innings, they were now five down, trailing by 223 runs, while Ben Stokes, positioned at the bowler’s end, had yet to get off the mark. Joe Root played the ball towards long leg for the 14th run of his innings and the 11,954th in his Test career, elevating him to the rank of the seventh highest run-scorer in Test cricket, surpassing the watching Brian Lara. Each run brought him closer to history.
This is a run chase Root claims he doesn’t care about, yet his progress has been impressive: starting the series in 10th position, he has already surpassed Mahela Jayawardene and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. With an average of 72.75 this summer, Root is poised to surpass Kumar Sangakkara and may even overtake Alastair Cook, the highest-ranked Englishman on the list, by the end of the final Test in September. With the recent retirement of their most successful wicket-taker, Jimmy Anderson, the length of time this England team spends without their all-time No. 1 could be measured in weeks.
For the second consecutive innings, Root exhibited remarkable skill to pull his team back from a troubling position. Vital to this was a stroke of luck. Should England secure victory and complete a clean sweep, many may dismiss this West Indies team as underperforming, using the series as a further example of the decline of Test cricket. However, the tourists can argue that they were competitive at Trent Bridge, aside from one chaotic session. Conversely, if they lose, it could hinge on a critical moment related to an unfavorable umpire’s call and a decision not to review.
In the day’s second over, Jayden Seales aimed the ball at Root’s pads. The 33-year-old attempted to flick it to midwicket, but his technique and head position were slightly off, causing him to mistime the shot. Neither the umpire nor, after consulting, the fielding side thought the ball would hit the stumps, but HawkEye revealed it would have clattered into leg stump. Root was on three runs.
Ollie Pope was dismissed the next over, followed by Harry Brook in the one after, which could have left England at 54 for six, 228 runs behind, heading for disaster. Instead, a reprieved Root stabilized their batting, and by the time he was out, they faced a 51-run deficit with Jamie Smith just beginning to find his stride.
The passage of play had still been rather disjointed for this sometimes reckless England side, which has steadily honed its approach but still has improvement to make. Many matches feature periods where the most aggressive strategy is to shut everything down, where the necessary step before seizing momentum is to contain it, even if it contradicts the instinct for entertainment.
Perhaps there was an influence in the Edgbaston atmosphere. Three years prior, the local council adopted a new motto: “Be bold, be Birmingham.” As described on its website, “The dictionary definition of bold is a person, action, or idea displaying a willingness to take risks; confident and courageous. Birmingham, as a city and its citizens, embody these characteristics.”
Another B-word has become linked to this England team, yet they too are aiming to embody Birmingham. They seem to have grudgingly recognized that sometimes it’s better to be a little calmer and more measured—still adjacent to Birmingham, of course, but simply toned down a bit. Occasionally, it’s acceptable to be Solihull.
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Leading up to this Test, Ben Stokes discussed his team’s growing discipline, their newfound ability to navigate through a cricketing rush hour while savoring the occasional slower pace. Yet, in the frenzied opening hour of their first innings—split across the end of day one and the start of day two—it was challenging to see this development. At one point, five wickets fell for just 25 runs, with Ben Duckett and Pope playing aggressively, Brook edging one to the slip, while players rushed toward danger and took it all head-on.
At Trent Bridge, Root had formed a match-defining partnership with Brook, guiding England through the toughest period of the game. Here, he performed a similar role alongside Stokes, gradually relieving the pressure on his side and shifting it to their opponents, setting the stage for Smith and Chris Woakes to seize control, turning the unlikely into reality.
On that note, Sachin Tendulkar—the greatest of all time—is still 3,960 runs away. On days like this, it feels just like a matter of time.
