Sonny and scare England's Baker can take heart from cricket's rich history of dismal debuts

On Tuesday the screen at Headingley was showing Sonny Baker's bowling speed. They were impressive figures - 87, 86, 88mph - and you wonder if the bowler himself caught a glimpse. Probably not.

- Emma John

On Tuesday the screen at Headingley was showing Sonny Baker's bowling speed. They were impressive figures - 87, 86, 88mph - and you wonder if the bowler himself caught a glimpse. Probably not. Big numbers emblazoned in pixels probably felt like the runs he was leaking. England's newest one-day bowler bore the pummelling with good grace, even as South Africa's Aiden Markram levered him for sixes behind square on the offside and over deep square leg in his second over.

Happily, Baker is a phlegmatic sort, because the one record a box-fresh paceman doesn't dream of achieving is his country's worst ODI bowling figures on debut. He was dropped for the second match of the series at Lord's. But you couldn't have asked for a much trickier start to an international career than the one he was handed. His cap probably still smelled of its plastic wrapper while he watched England's batting lineup shed seven wickets for 49 runs. The No 11 found himself walking to the crease in the 25th over, which must have felt like Donald Duck handing Pluto the wheel just as the car's speeding towards the ravine.

Then - when the stumps had barely stopped rattling from his own first-ball dismissal - he had to open the bowling in defence of a total of 131. There were only two possible outcomes at this stage. Either he helped Jofra Archer scythe down South Africa's top order in a hot minute, or England lost. England lost.