India v New Zealand: World Test Championship final, day four – live!

How about this Jason Holder snaffle! From the West Indies v South Africa Test at St Lucia. Nicely placed with the hosts 15-0 chasing 324 with two days remaining, albeit in a low-scoring match so far.

The TV coverage has started. Isa Guha and Nasser Hussain have confirmed that it’s going to be some time before play today, if at all.

“Evening Adam.” Hello, Phil Withall. “Looking at the weather today, and the forecast ahead, I’m wondering if this situation could lead to the reinstatement of Timeless test matches. The thought of a match slowly building over 12 or so days has me salivating. Forget the Hundred and T20, timeless cricket is the future!”

Be still my beating heart! Let’s get some of that Durban 1939 energy into the modern game – 11 days of the best.

“Good morning Adam.” Tanya Wintringham, always a joy to see your name pop up in my inbox from New Zealand. “Very nice to have you on the OBO while I am still awake! I hear what you’re saying about the final half hour being compelling – which it was – but the first couple of hours were pretty good too (I know you were enjoying working on the last day of the Indian v English women at that time). Could we have more women’s test cricket please – give Suzie Bates just one chance to play a game of the best form of cricket?”

It will be bordering on unforgivable if Bates manages to get through an entire, magnificent international career without being given the opportunity to play a Test. Hopefully, the excellent match at Bristol, and the two to come in Australia this winter, can be the catalyst for many more countries getting on board, including New Zealand.

Back to Tanya: “I got stuck in that just one more over, just one more over pattern for about half an hour or more, as the clock loomed nearer to midnight and beyond. So impressed with the way we took 7 for 71, working as a bowling unit even if Jamieson did take most of the wickets. I hope you enjoyed the Story Time areas with the best career bowling average stats, Jamieson being third behind George Lohmann and JJ Ferris in the all-time list. I am sure that they both have appeared more than once on the pod. Enjoy your spin on the OBO – I hope we get play, for all our sakes!”

That’s a reference to the weekend edition of Geoff Lemon and my pod, where we dig into the history of the game. And you’re right, most pleasing to see JJ and George have some company. The key is for him to reach 2000 deliveries to get on this chart. He’s more than three-quarters of the way there though, sitting on 1580 as of yesterday, taking his 44 wickets at an eye-watering average of 14.14.

Fascinating stuff, this. Jonathan Liew spoke with Nathan Leamon, England’s long-serving analyst, about his new book, co-authored with CricViz’s Ben Jones, Hitting Against the Spin. Well worth it.

This and many other lessons are set out in his new book Hitting Against The Spin, which seeks to explain some of the game’s hidden patterns and overlooked trends. Why India produces relatively few left-handed batsmen (largely because spin is a bigger threat in the early overs). Why Nasser Hussain was (statistically) right to bowl first at Brisbane in 2002. And why the frequent incantations for fast bowlers to “just pitch it up” often do more harm than good.