After two chastening international debuts last year, this was very much third time lucky for Hampshire fast bowler Sonny Baker.
Handed Test cap No 721 before play by former England international Steven Finn, Baker put a one-day hammering at the hands of South Africa and another profligate showing in a Twenty20 against Ireland behind him with a pair of prized New Zealand wickets on day one of the Oval Test.
The 22-year-old felt ‘very down’ after being belted for 76 runs in seven overs as Aiden Markram made mincemeat of a target of 132 at Headingley last September. He reflected that it was a ‘pretty rubbish’ way to take his first steps in an England shirt. Later that month, he went for 13 an over in Dublin.
His character shone through on his first Test outing, though, as in two spells either side of tea, he lured the silky Rachin Ravindra into a loose drive for his maiden scalp, later doubling his tally when Daryl Mitchell – a thorn in England’s side in the series here four years ago – got in a tangle over a short ball.
‘He’s quite a confident person anyway and so afterwards was about reinforcing what he does well,’ Graeme Welch, bowling coach at Hampshire last season, tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘Let’s face it, he’d worked hard to get there and as a player if you want to stay there, get more opportunities, you have to build up resilience.
‘Watching him this summer, he seems to be a lot more at peace with himself and it looked like he’s been able to calm his emotions in the match.’
Sonny Baker celebrates his first Test wicket as New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra is caught by Jacob Bethell
Baker is congratulated by his England team-mates after his debut wicket
A healthy portion of the credit for Baker’s maturation as a bowler, according to the highly-rated Welch, who returned to Warwickshire over the winter, should be given to Hampshire veterans Kyle Abbott and Keith Barker constantly talking about the strains of seam bowling.
‘All the hype of him bowling 90 miles per hour was making him go faster and faster, but those chats helped him develop an understanding of how to go up and down the gears and how important it is to make your body robust enough to back up spells over a four-day game,’ Welch says.
In the absence of Mark Wood, arguably the world’s fastest bowler, England have lacked speed through the air. And so, with the 36-year-old Wood across London seeing a knee consultant at the Fortius Clinic in Marylebone on Wednesday, assessing where his body is at in his latest comeback from injury, Baker provided some high-end pace alongside the returning Jofra Archer.
‘I think the country is going to get behind him because he plays games a little bit like Mark Wood,’ was England coach Brendon McCullum’s pre-match assessment.
‘He’s got good air speed, he swings the ball, he’s got great skills, but he charges in and he’s got wild celebrations. You can just see that cricket is what he wants to do.’
Skiddy pace from a relatively low trajectory has drawn comparisons to Darren Gough and caused plenty of problems for Division One batsmen in the County Championship this summer. Just ask Yorkshire’s Australian Sam Whiteman, who had only just passed a concussion check after being struck by a Baker bouncer when a second blow to the box left him sidelined for a month with a testicular injury. Baker’s 22 wickets have come at 25 runs apiece.
Roared on by a 30,000 full house at the Oval, Baker thought he had added to his season’s scalps when his sixth delivery, the final one of the 12th over, made a woody sound as it passed Henry Nicholls on its way through to wicketkeeper James Rew. Swayed by the enthusiasm of the team’s newcomers – in addition to Baker and Rew, leg slip Jordan Cox was also consulted – Joe Root burnt a review, replays showing contact with the bottom of Nicholls’ thigh pad.
But his ability to extract false shots from opponents reaped reward in his second spell when Ravindra chased one angled across him and sliced to Jacob Bethell in the gully. Leaping into the air, as he does at the beginning of his run-up, Baker landed into a throng of celebrating team-mates, including Rew, a former Somerset team-mate.
The Hampshire quick made a highly-anticipated return to England colours in a very inexperienced bowling attack
Baker had made a rough start to his England career last year in the white-ball games against South Africa
Baker was joined on the field at the Oval by his family as he was presented with his Test cap
That delivery was clocked at 87.7 miles an hour and his second success was almost an identical speed: banged in outside off stump, Mitchell spliced it tamely to midwicket.
It came during a tricky period for Baker, who was struggling with the footholes after switching from the Vauxhall End. Moments before the dismissal, he was spreading sawdust around his landing area following advice on the boundary from England bowling coach Tim Southee.
Planting his front foot a foot behind the line disrupted his rhythm, but the erratic nature of that spell did not appear to dilute his enthusiasm for what is just a 14th first-class outing.
But a cricketer who does things his own way – drinking bone broth daily to stave off the threat of back trouble and writing notes on opponents in a little black book – did not look out of place in a four-pronged seam attack of just 29 previous caps, making it England’s most inexperienced seam attack this century ahead of the 33 of Matthew Hoggard, James Ormond, Andrew Flintoff and Craig White in India back in 2001.
And after his sorry September showings last year, this was a much more encouraging display.
