England continued their famous Bazball approach after being put in to bat by the West Indies in the second Test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. Despite losing Zak Crawley early, Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope helped England record the fastest-ever team half-century in Test cricket.
England’s 4.2-over fifty is now the fastest for a team in Test cricket, breaking their own record set in 1994 when they achieved a fifty in 4.3 overs against South Africa at The Oval. They also hold the third spot with a fifty in 4.6 overs against Sri Lanka in Manchester in 2002.
Fastest Team 50s in Test Cricket:
4.2 – England vs WI, Nottingham, 2024
4.3 – England vs SA, The Oval, 1994
4.6 – England vs SL, Manchester, 2002
5.2 – Sri Lanka vs PAK, Karachi, 2004
5.3 – India vs ENG, Chennai, 2008
5.3 – India vs WI, Port of Spain, 2023
Both teams had named their squads before the toss, with England recalling fast bowler Mark Wood after veteran seamer James Anderson retired from international duty with 704 Test wickets, a record for any pace bowler, following the Lord’s Test.
The West Indies, planning to field an unchanged side, were forced to make a late alteration when spinner Gudakesh Motie woke up with the flu on the morning of the game and had to drop out. This was a significant setback as Motie was the only West Indies batter to pass 30 at Lord’s and their most impressive bowler.
Kevin Sinclair, a spin-bowling all-rounder, replaced Motie for his second career Test.
