The all-rounder can sometimes make Test cricket look easy but England have made things feel very complicated
It was early in the day but late in the game when Moeen Ali got to the middle. England were 116 for seven, and 365 runs behind. They had lost four wickets already that morning, and they made for painful viewing. Tied up in knots by India’s spinners, their batsmen seemed to have adopted a new team policy of trying to play positively. Dan Lawrence was yorked charging down the pitch, Ollie Pope and Ben Foakes both caught playing the sweep. It all came off a little unconvincing. Like they were practising mantras they had just read in a self-help book: “I am a strong and confident player of spin, I am a strong and confident player of spin.”
Even Ben Stokes struggled. He spent 52 minutes trying to find a way into the game, was beaten over and over again, was almost caught once off a top edge, then again down the leg side, and nearly out lbw too. It was like watching Clark Kent scrabble around the bedroom trying to find his boots and cape. Caught at slip, Stokes walked off shaking his head back and forth in bewilderment.
