Ed Smith
Ex-England batsman on BBC Test Match Special

"Very much England's morning. You would think an England defeat can be eliminated from the possible results list."

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England 224-4 (67 overs) - lead by 328 runs

Batsmen: Ballance 92*, Stokes 33*

Fall of wickets: 15-1 (Trott 4), 20-2 (Cook 13), 52-3 (Bell 11), 166-4 (Root 59)

Bowling figures: Taylor 14-5-42-2, Roach 13-1-47-0, Holder 13-5-39-1, Benn 17-2-65-0, Samuels 10-0-26-0

First innings: England 399; West Indies 295

Full scorecard

Ballance moves into the 90s with a careful dab for two, taking England briefly onto double Nelson in what could be the last over before lunch. A couple of easy singles - and a couple of spurious field changes - mean the clock has ticked around to noon at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium and it's time for lunch.

Nick Soan: An electric fence stopped play for us, as the ball was hit in to a little grass area housing a couple of horses at the bottom of our pitch, our fielder jumped the fence and threw the ball back. Comedy then followed as his first three of four attempts of climbing back over all ended up with his leg hitting the electric fence, his body going into spasm and then his body thumping the floor. Must have been a good 15 minutes until he got back, while we all just watched.

A Stokes single brings Ballance on strike again, but he's batting with the calm equilibrium his surname suggests, leaving or patting back the good balls before turning a looser delivery off his legs for one.

Tom Holmes: The West Indians have Sulieman Benn as their premier spinner. I'm pretty sure they'd kill to have Tredders in their side.

Nick Lovering: Is this the bit when we bat far too long and don't give our (somewhat average) attack enough time to prise out the Crab?

Has Ballance enough time to reach a century before lunch? He cuts Samuels for two to move to 88, but looks content enough to approach the interval unscathed.

Image source, Getty Images

Jez Denton in Banbury: At a game once at Abingdon Rugby Club vs Peachcroft Social Club the game was held up as one of the umpires had fallen asleep drunk on cider in a bouncy castle that then deflated on him. To be fair he'd been caught out on a number of occasions with a golf ball having been dropped in his pint meaning he had to finish the pint in one go. Lbw's were removed as an 'out' due to a lack of accuracy!

After that two-over burst from Taylor, it's back to Benn who has had a change of ends, and a Ballance single brings up the fifty partnership, prompting an understated, manly handshake between the two left-handers. The Seaweed Man is dancing away again.

Kevin McMeeking: On 22 August 2014, our Tipton St John CC game stopped to allow the Red Arrows to fly over the ground in preparation for the Dartmouth Regatta.

Samuels brings in a man under the lid at silly point, but Ballance cuts a single straight past him.

We're about 12 minutes from lunch - when TMS will be previewing the new domestic T20 Blast season in England.

Ian Pollard: Has anyone mentioned the Championship match in the mid-90s between Yorkshire & Derbyshire at Sheffield? A deer appeared from somewhere near deep mid-wicket (not quite cow corner!) then ran across the middle of the pitch, nearly wiped out Anthony McGrath at extra cover before jumping the advertising boards, bouncing off a taxi in the car park and setting off down the drive in the general direction of Dore station.

A well-timed cut brings Ballance his 10th four, while even Jerome Taylor is leaking singles now - even if England declared this minute, West Indies would already be looking at about the fourth highest successful run chase in the Caribbean.

Jack Barlow: During a school game, we returned after tea to find an adder sunning itself on the pitch. Batters weren't that keen to resume.

Stokes smacks Samuels past the lumbering Benn at cover for a comfortable two, as the runs continue to flow with ease for the tourists.

Not a time to be a Windies fan. These two have added 39 in no time at all, and if one of them goes, England have Jos Buttler revved up to come in next.

Chris Daborn: We held, on our farm in Scotland, an annual cricket match of the "Village" versus an "International XI" of overseas veterinary students. One year we found a dead sheep on the wicket. Being one player short we moved it down to third man and play started now having a full complement of fielders.

Jerome Taylor returns for one last spell before lunch. Stokes off-drives and Shiv Chanderpaul - who was showing his 40 years earlier - makes a great full-length diving stop of which any of his younger team-mates could be proud. Another cracking cover drive takes England to 200 and the overall lead to 304. Dominant.

Michael Vaughan
Ex-England captain on BBC Test Match Special

"England have played well. They have capitalised on some poor bowling - Ballance has played some lovely shots through the off side and Stokes has played a couple of reverse-sweeps. Since that 10-over burst with the new ball, West Indies have looked like a team that will just wait for the declaration."

Lee Beale, Wimborne: I was playing in a game in Bournemouth for Pavilion Sports CC against Dorset Police and the start of the game was delayed when the bomb squad blew up a suspect package outside the changing room.

Andrew from Balerno, Edinburgh: I was once playing in a T20 game in Edinburgh for the mighty Currie & Balerno where play was stopped when a shirtless youth cycled across the square with an air rifle slung over his shoulder.

I won't pretend it's an easy situation for the fielding captain in these circumstances - how to balance the need for wickets with leaving gaps open for easy runs. Ramdin tries to ring the changes by introducing Marlon Samuels's part-time off-spin for the first time today.

Stokes reverse-sweeps and misses - the ball hits his bicep and bounces off the keeper into the hands of first slip. Just a single added to the score.

Image source, Reuters