Boiling point

SPARKS FLY IN TEST OF NERVE

- by MIKE WALTERS

ON the 40th anniversary of Live Aid, England will need someone to take centre stage like Freddie Mercury when Queen stole the show at Wembley.

And as the third Rothesay Test erupted in acrimony, Zak Crawley’s time-wasting drove Indian captain Shubman Gill to tune into Radio Ga Ga.

India, 387 all out, matched England’s first innings exactly so a nip-and-tuck Lord's showpiece now boils down to a one-innings shootout over two days.

Given six thankless minutes to negotiate before the close, England made two without loss.

But Gill lost his rag when Crawley called for treatment after being rapped on the bottom hand by Jasprit Bumrah as England blatantly tried to run down the clock. Gill's finger-pointing and meaningful stares were the first signs of any bad blood in a tight series.

Both sides have contributed to 32 overs of playing time being lost and let's call that out for what it is - a disgrace.

But now the stage is crying out for a matchwinner.