12th over: West Indies 44-0 (Brathwaite 30, Louis 14) Wood greets Brathwaite with a sharp bumper; the captain is left in a tangle, trying to duck but still hanging his bat out … he somehow manages to get the ball over the keeper’s head for four. Runs for the batter but a win for the bowler. Louis fends one down the leg side, the ball running away for four … until Shoaib Bashir pulls off a terrific diving stop at fine leg.

11th over: West Indies 37-0 (Brathwaite 25, Louis 12) Louis punches Woakes behind point for four and then lands another boundary, clipping through midwicket, the ball trickling to the rope. The opening bat, playing just his third Test, has recovered well from a difficult start.

10th over: West Indies 29-0 (Brathwaite 25, Louis 4) And we have our first change of the day: Mark Wood is in to deliver his 90mph+ heat. Louis suddenly looks more comfortable despite the extra pace, perhaps just emboldened by finally getting off the mark. He gets himself a couple of singles, while Brathwaite finds three behind point. Smith takes a terrific leg-side grab as Wood loses control. A yorker completes the over, well dug out by Brathwaite.

9th over: West Indies 24-0 (Brathwaite 22, Louis 2) Woakes goes fuller … but Brathwaite punches down the ground for four. A fine drive through the covers follows a couple of balls later, Woakes going too wide this time.

8th over: West Indies 16-0 (Brathwaite 14, Louis 2) Louis’ wait for a run continues, half an hour into this match. Atkinson thuds the ball into his pads, but he can’t seize upon it. And then, finally, he gets some runs, punching off the back foot into the covers for two.

7th over: West Indies 14-0 (Brathwaite 14, Louis 0) Woakes is still struggling to turn his movement into something more definitive, though he still nabs a maiden.

6th over: West Indies 14-0 (Brathwaite 14, Louis 0) Atkinson is growing into his spell, pitching the ball up and letting it dance, his line now attacking off stump … and just as I type that he goes too straight, allowing Brathwaite to flick down the leg side for four. Another ball on the pads gives Brathwaite an easy single.

5th over: West Indies 9-0 (Brathwaite 9, Louis 0) Woakes continues to find swing that beats Brathwaite’s bat. Ian Bishop wonders if he needs to go fuller to get the breakthrough. I reckon so.

Steve Pye writes in:

Although I am an England fan, I’d really like to see the West Indies battle hard for at least four sessions. They showed at Trent Bridge that the talent is there, and that should give them a bit of confidence looking to the future.

The fact that I have day four tickets has nothing to do with what I’ve just said above.

4th over: West Indies (Brathwaite 4, Louis 0) Atkinson is going a bit too straight at present, though Louis still can’t find himself a single, without a run after 13 deliveries. Make that 14: Atkinson decides to copy Woakes, unfurling a wonderful away swinger to square up the right-hander. A 15th dot for Louis follows.

3rd over: West Indies 4-0 (Brathwaite 4, Louis 0) Woakes delivers a maiden, offering a very different proposition to Atkinson at the other end. The senior bowler is arriving wide of the crease, hoping to bend it round corners. Atkinson is all straight lines and wobbling seam.

2nd over: West Indies 4-0 (Brathwaite 4, Louis 0) Close to calamity for West Indies. Louis wanted a single after diverting the ball down the leg side with his thigh; Brathwaite wasn’t having it. Louis was forced to turn back, and would’ve been walking back to the changing room if Jamie Smith’s throw had taken down the stumps. Louis survives. Three runs off Gus Atkinson’s opening over.

1st over: West Indies 1-0 (Brathwaite 1, Louis 0) Chris Woakes takes the new ball at his home ground, ready to examine Kraigg Brathwaite’s forward defence. The West Indies captain nabs a quick single off the opening ball, dropping it into the offside as Woakes goes a touch too short. An outswinger beats Mikyle Louis’s bat, and one jag backs in moments later, not far away from off stump. There’s some very decent swing on offer here; Woakes is in the game.

The players are out for the anthems. It looks a gorgeous day. Jealous of all those in the crowd.

To those asking, here’s an overseas link to listen to TMS.

The teams

West Indies have won the toss and will bat first

Scott Oliver, the finest storyteller on club cricket, has done something on Sobers. Enjoy.

Some chat about Mark Wood potentially clocking 100mph. Always been kinda funny how the fastest recorded delivery, Shoaib Akhtar’s 100.2mph effort against England in 2003, was dealt with pretty calmly by Nick Knight.

Here’s some pre-match reading. First, Ali on how England are refining their Test game.

Preamble