Willow Rourke
Grade: B-
Half an hour into the second day of this second Test, I’d yet to see a single wicket taken. Had any New Zealand batter ever been dismissed in Test cricket? All evidence suggested: no.
Even Will O’Rourke, terrible batter and pointless nightwatchie from the previous evening, had suddenly transformed into something competent - ‘Willow’ Rourke, perhaps - as he quadrupled his previous Test best.
With the mercury rising beyond anything previously seen, like some kind of historically acclaimed Live Aid set, a very real prospect arose of one of the England bowlers dissipating into a gas at some point. Now, when I say ‘very real’, I mean, of course, ‘blatantly fanciful and false’. But the point stood that if it did happen, Willow Rourke’s stubborn refusal to be dismissed would be to blame.
Realising this, he had a wild slog and skied a ball where he was competently caught. Will O’Rourke. A good man. A kind man. A decent man. A tall man.
