When Ben Stokes insisted on the eve of the third Test that England were not 'stuck in our ways', he was talking about the toss. But it was his team's batting that hinted at open-mindedness.

This was an old-school day that the Little Master would surely have luxuriated in during his playing days, a good – if slightly slow – surface providing enough to encourage batter and bowler and England eschewing some of their extravagant electronica to harmonise with India on a gentler,

Joe Root and Ollie Pope dug in and led England to 153-2 against India after a gritty wicketless afternoon session in the Lord's test on Thursday. They inched England from 83-2 at lunch, adding 70 runs in 24 overs at 2.