Ben Stokes had seen enough. Once Ollie Pope was stumped the very next ball after sealing the fastest Test double-century on English soil with a six, the captain called time on an innings as one-sided as Blackadder’s battle of Mboto Gorge and Ireland’s batting lineup was sent back into the bright sunshine at Lord’s.
Faced with a deficit of 352 runs, still dizzied by the 524 for four England amassed through Pope’s 208-ball 205 and Ben Duckett’s 182 from 178, the visitors held as firm as they could, reaching 97 for three at stumps. This looks likely to be four down in effect, however, opener James McCollum forced to retire hurt after getting his studs caught in the pitch while evading a short ball and twisting his ankle.
This eye-watering injury came amid a fiery eight-over spell from Josh Tongue that delivered all three strikes and underlined the debutant’s promise. Peter Moor was pinned in front by a full ball for 11 and a maiden Test wicket, while Andy Balbirnie nicked off in the same over to the shot of a distracted captain. When Paul Stirling was out on review, struggling to evade a short-ball to the armpit and gloving behind, England might have pondered a two-day finish in a Test match scheduled for just four.
Instead a three-dayer beckons, Harry Tector, 33 not out, and Lorcan Tucker, on 21, offering stout resistance and the odd touch of class before the close. England, in full control, will no doubt be booking tee times for Sunday, an early start to the heavy diet of golf that comes between now and the first Ashes Test on 16 June.
This was a remarkable day of runs and despite the lack of a contest, the spectators appeared happy enough. Duckett added 101 to his overnight 60 before lunch, while Pope, 97 not out at this juncture, then added exactly 100 to his during the afternoon. Both sessions saw Ireland’s 172 all out on day one surpassed, England cruising from 152 for one to 325 for one by the first interval, then 503 for two by the second.
And here’s the thing, England’s bumper run-rate of 6.33 – the first time a Test innings of more than 25 overs in this country has gone quicker than a run a ball – was not some frenzied tornado. In largely benign conditions, it was a case of simply reaping every run on offer through the sustained assertiveness that has become the default ever since Stokes and Brendon McCullum came together.
Better attacks have struggled to contain England in this time and it was hard not to have sympathy with Balbirnie. Mark Adair dragged his economy back from eight an over on the first evening but still shipped 127 runs from his 20 overall, while his fellow right-armers fared little better. Perhaps fearing the worst, the Ireland captain held Andy McBrine until the 40th over and though the spinner did pick up a couple of wickets to savour, the expected heavy punishment came with it.
Duckett does not seem the type to care if the quality of opposition is brought up in years to come. The diminutive opener may have joked about feeling inadequate when unfortunately stationed between Zak Crawley and Stuart Broad during the anthems, but looked anything but upon reaching three figures inside the first hour. This is his first Test match at home, six and a half years on from a debut in Bangladesh, and he can already say his name is up on the honours boards at Lord’s.
Starting out first thing with an ominous cut behind square off Graham Hume first ball, Duckett punched and pulled his way to the landmark in 106 balls. His 150, brought up from 150, was also the quickest witnessed at Lord’s. Given a strong start to the season with Nottinghamshire, who have accommodated his desire to open, he will now meet the far greater challenge of Australia feeling in pretty decent order.
Duckett did inadvertently contribute to his eventual downfall half an hour into the afternoon, however, forcing a change of ball by clattering McBrine with a flurry of sweeps and sending the old one out of shape. The replacement suddenly offered a smidgeon of movement for the visitors and five deliveries later, an in-swinger from Hume cannoned onto the stumps via an inside edge.
While Duckett purred from the outset up until this galling demise, Pope took a little while to find his flow after resuming on 28. There was some early jerkiness, the odd waft at fresh air. But eventually the newly-confirmed vice-captain settled into a groove, sealing his third century at No 3 from 126 deliveries and then toying with the bowlers en route to doubling this from just 81 more. This beat Ian Botham’s 220-ball double century against India in 1982, the previous fastest in a Test match in England.
Pope spent much of the afternoon in the company of Joe Root who made a 59-ball 56, passed 11,000 Test runs and finally got some time in the middle after a two-month spell warming the bench in the Indian Premier League. The declaration suggested Stokes wasn’t too fussed about either himself or others following suit, however, with Harry Brook called in on nine not out and Jonny Bairstow not appearing at all.
As well as his desire to get on the golf course early, it probably said a bit about his view of the challenge out there. Instead, Stokes preferred to take a second look at Tongue and Ireland found him particularly sharp.
