It was the type of lbw shout that simply had to be challenged. The ball seemed to hit Jermaine Blackwood right in front of the stumps, Ben Stokes leapt in animated appeal and England had all three reviews left to question umpire Nigel Duguid’s not out decision.
Yet, inexplicably, Joe Root decided to go with Stokes instinct that it was heading down the leg-side. Cue the replay on the big screen showing all three reds, the ball would have smacked leg-stump and Blackwood should have gone for a duck.
Maybe this third day of the second Test would have been different had England shown the nous to question the judgment of an official standing in his first Test and finding life just as difficult here as both bowling attacks.
Ben Stokes was powerless as Kraigg Brathwaite and Jermaine Blackwood racked up runs
That would have been the third wicket to fall in the opening session and the fourth in all, with England making an excellent start to a day which will probably decide whether this would be the long overdue occasion of their first win in 15 Tests.
Sadly the chance went begging, Stokes offering a wry smile and a signal for a review that came far too late, and West Indies did not lose another wicket until Blackwood, by then with a century, inexplicably shouldered arms to Dan Lawrence with the close in sight.
Mind you, umpire Duguid might well have been keeping his finger to himself because he had already given Stokes the benefit of the doubt in a far tighter lbw that, in the days before the Decision Review System, would definitely have gone in the batter’s favour.
Nkrumah Bonner repelled almost all England threw at him in Antigua but here he was on just nine when Stokes hit his pads, higher than Blackwood’s, and Duguid said yes.
A frustrated Joe Root kicks the ground after England failed to take a wicket in the afternoon
Bonner immediately reviewed and it was easy to see why. There was a suspicion of an inside edge onto pad – although TV umpire Gregory Brathwaite could not be sure – and the ball was hitting just enough of the top of the stumps for umpire’s call to come into play.
England could not take advantage of Bonner’s misfortune. Instead, after their self-inflicted Blackwood blow, this became another story of frustration on the sort of surface that might provide five days ‘entertainment’ but will kill Test cricket as a spectacle.
To be fair, there was more in this one than Antigua – there could hardly be less – and the rare sight of appreciable turn at the former fast bowlers paradise of Kensington Oval was in evidence as early as Jack Leach’s first ball of the day.
But it will concern England that, on the day which could have defined Leach’s future, he was unable to step up and take this Test and the series by the scruff of the neck.
Jack Leach was not attacking or penetrative enough as he failed to make good on his chance
It was not that Leach bowled badly. He brought control and found at times that decent turn, but after gaining a slice of luck himself when Shamarh Brooks cut a long-hop straight to Chris Woakes at point he was just not attacking nor penetrative enough.
It does seem odd England have made it clear Matt Parkinson is only here as ‘cover’ for Leach. Clearly they wanted to give a proper chance to a slow left-armer who they never seem to have had faith in before now but day three was crying out for the variation a leg-spinner might bring. In truth, both pitches in the series so far have cried out ‘two spinners.’
Leach was not alone. England wanted Woakes to become the leader of this attack here and prove he could step out of the shadows of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, take the new ball and vastly improve that damning overseas record.
So far, at least, it is not working out that way. Woakes was ineffectual in the first Test and had just as little success here, never really looking like taking a wicket and less economical than his fellow seamers.
Debutant Matthew Fisher was unable to prevent West Indies enjoying a strong afternoon
The time is rapidly approaching when Woakes will have to be considered a home specialist, however much England value his character and his more than handy ability with the bat at eight. He will be lucky to have a final chance in next week’s final Test in Grenada.
At least England have given chances to two debutant bowlers here, if only because of injury to Mark Wood that England said yesterday will rule him out of the last Test and the IPL and illness to Craig Overton, and the newcomers were both given an immediate taste of just how tough Test cricket can be.
Matt Fisher, buoyed by his second-ball success on Thursday, found it tougher going yesterday and by the end of the day his pace was down to the low 80s.
Saqib Mahmood fared a little better. He has long looked the sort of bowler who could thrive overseas and here he got the ball reverse swinging both ways at a decent pace and should have had his first Test wicket when he bowled Blackwood with a perfect yorker.
West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite made his 10th century and first on home soil
But there was good old Duguid with his arm stretched out to signify no ball and, incredibly, Mahmood joined Stokes, Wood, Mason Crane and Tom Curran in having his first Test wicket ruled out by over-stepping. It just about summed up England’s day.
West Indies managed just 43 runs in the morning session but built more steadily as the day went on, Blackwood falling for 102 and captain Kraigg Brathwaite making his 10th century and first on home soil in typically obdurate style.
It will take something special, with West Indies on 288 for four and still 219 behind, for either side to force a result now. And England could at least start by reviewing plumb lbws and avoiding over-stepping.
