England are again sweating on the fitness of Mark Wood after he pulled up on a soporific and punishing day three with an elbow injury.
He is all but certain not to bowl again in this match, while the second Test less than a week away already looks like it might be too much too soon.
And with West Indies late blooming batsman Nkrumah Bonner presenting the broadest of bats and showcasing the calmest and most patient of temperaments to score his second Test ton, England’s bowlers had yet another tough old day in the dirt, even if the scoreboard moved at a glacial pace.
Across 90 overs, the home side added 171 runs to finish the day 373-9, giving them a lead of 62, and control of the game.
Wood is England’s fastest bowler and had become the mainstay of their attack after four lung bursting, and back breaking Tests Down Under.
But for all the credit he left Australia with, for the way he stepped up to bowl over after over at such high velocity, the exertion may well have caught up with him.
On a placid, slow pitch, Wood’s extra speed through the air was largely nullified after the ball bounced, but the cost of asking him to fire it up for a fifth Test this winter, after feeling poorly during the warm up match too, may well be far greater than England could have imagined.
Wood complained of soreness when he arrived at the ground and was being treated by England medics when play began, causing him to join his teammates a little later on the field with strapping on his right arm.
The 32-year-old sent down four overs with the old ball, and then 40 minutes later he could only manage one with the second new ball before leaving the field, not to be seen again.
In Wood’s absence it was left to the rest of the attack, including the redoubtable Ben Stokes, to pick up the slack, even though the plan was for the all rounder to ease back into his bowling workload.
Stokes sent down a full bowler's complement of overs, and at times was seen feeling and stretching his side, but that didn’t stop the warrior from continuing to push for wickets, and he did remove Jason Holder early on.
Craig Overton and Chris Woakes put in a shift too. Don’t worry about that, but they were largely ineffectual apart from a brief period when the short ball tactic worked.
Overton took on the enforcer role and it paid off with Alzarri Joseph getting caught at long leg by the sub fielder Ollie Pope for two.
Joseph though was the only Windies batter to fall cheaply in terms of both runs and balls faced with Joshua Da Silva, the brave Kemar Roach and Veerasammy Permaul all batting round Bonner with cussed commitment.
Dropped on 73 off the bowling of Leach by Zak Crawley at slip via an inside edge into his pad, Bonner made England pay in the most obvious and traditional way in making 123 before Dan Lawrence coaxed a fine tickle down the leg side.
For all the torture and the toil of England’s bowlers, it took the part time spin of Lawrence to prize him out, but the job had been done.
“Woody’s pretty sore at the moment,” said interim head coach Paul Collingwood. “It is one of those that we will have to asses overnight and get the anti inflammatories into him and see where he is in the morning.
“He gave it a good go after feeling sore in the morning. But he came off saying he didn’t feel so good.
“You need those kind of guys in these conditions who can bowl at 90 miles per hour and reverse swing the ball.
“When you get on a pitch like that it is a blow not to have that, but I thought the boys were outstanding.
“That was one of the best efforts I’ve seen in an England shirt. It was tough hard work on a placid pitch but the attitude from the lads was exceptional.
“Of course it is disappointing not to bowl them out but sometimes you have to put in a big effort and they did that and Ben was at the heart of that too.
“He always wants to put his body on the line for England and this was no different. He declared himself fit to bowl more and that was great because he is such an important player for us.
“We are monitoring him and looking after him but he knows his body and was good to go.”
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