It says a lot about the state of these two teams that England, having been put in to bat, raced to 416 all out at the close and still both captains will feel mildly pleased and annoyed in equal measure.

Given the way the West Indies batted at Lord’s this could end with another innings defeat. And yet it could have been a whole lot worse as several English batters chucked their wickets away or fell to soft dismissals.

Ollie Pope’s century was the highlight of the day and he proved that this is a deck with plenty of runs in it for those able to keep their head. Starts for Harry Brook (36), Ben Stokes (69), Jamie Smith (36) and Chris Woakes (37) could not be converted.

Some credit to the West Indies bowlers is due (even if they were let down by their fielders at times). Alzarri Joseph was the pick with a three-for with Kevin Sinclair – who has put his name down for best celebration in world cricket – bagging a couple. Kavem Hodge also got himself a pair which will encourage England’s young spinner, Shoaib Bashir, who didn’t get to bowl at Lord’s.

I’d love to be able to promise you a day of fierce resistance from the tourists, with just the right amount of one-legged pull shots and flailing drives through the covers. I fear we may have another troubled reply.

But you never know. Perhaps this is the day that the Windies turn up.

First ball at 11am BST. I’ll ping a couple of bits and bobs on the blog til then. Feel free to drop me a line and share any thought you have with the group. I’d love to hear from you.