While the fate of the third Test between England and New Zealand hangs in the balance at Trent Bridge, a community soul band will be providing a soundtrack in a nearby park this Saturday afternoon. The Lady Bay Soul Collective, directed by Richard Coffey-Glover, is playing at Proms in the Park in West Bridgford Park from 4:30 to 5:30pm — a performance that may well be audible to those inside the cricket ground.
The series, tied at 1-1 after England won the first Test and New Zealand the second, reaches its decider this weekend. New Zealand dominated the first day of this match, with Tom Latham and Devon Conway putting on a record opening partnership of 317 — Latham making 151 and Conway 157. England fought back on the second day, led by Ben Duckett’s brilliant century off 88 balls, reaching his fifty in just 40 deliveries, and Jacob Bethell’s composed half-century off 60 balls. Bethell, who made his Test debut for England in September 2024 and became the country’s youngest T20I captain the following year, has already scored centuries in all three international formats. He was mentored by former Warwickshire captain Michael Powell, who called him “the best 17-year-old I have ever seen”.
According to CricViz, England now have a 45 per cent chance of winning the match, compared with 20 per cent for New Zealand — though the analysis acknowledges that England remain “just a collapse away from a first-innings deficit of 100”. Collapses, as the team’s record shows, are “their special subject”. Ben Stokes has returned to bowling with what has been described as “superhuman tenacity”, and England are close to full strength. New Zealand, by contrast, are “nearly as depleted as their hosts were at the Oval”. Their change bowlers are taking the new ball, one of their stand-in players — Blair Tickner — has been ruled out with a possible concussion after being struck on the helmet by Jofra Archer, with Zak Foulkes named as his concussion substitute. Their best batter from the first two Tests is missing, their only spinner has taken a pummelling, and they did not even make it to the Rex Rooms to celebrate their victory. “In this slow old sport of ours, things fall apart very fast,” noted one observer.
Saturday’s soundtrack from West Bridgford Park
The Lady Bay Soul Collective is a community band that started “just under two years ago”, according to Coffey-Glover, when he asked if anyone in the area wanted to meet up and play some jazz. It is now part of the larger Lady Bay Music organisation, which exists to get as many people playing music together as possible. Coffey-Glover said the band is now “playing to thousands of people” and that “playing music together brings out the absolute best in people!” One community musician involved with the group said it had “transformed my life” and helped her feel “rejuvenated and fully part of the local community again”. Lady Bay Music has plans for children’s music sessions and youth bands as well.
Coffey-Glover suggested potential song choices that could suit the state of play in the cricket at the time of their set: James Brown’s “I Feel Good”, Dusty Springfield’s “Spooky”, or “Pick Up The Pieces” by the Average White Band. “I Feel Good”, released in 1965, is a twelve-bar blues with a brass-heavy arrangement and features an alto sax solo by Maceo Parker; it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013. Dusty Springfield’s version of “Spooky”, from 1970, was certified gold by the BPI in 2024 and has been streamed over 280 million times on Spotify. “Pick Up The Pieces”, a well-known funk instrumental, was released in 1974.
The pitch debate and the challenge ahead
The condition of the pitch has become a central talking point in this series. John Starbuck, writing in, noted that the lines “The centre cannot hold / Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world” could be reserved for the Lord’s staff “if their next two Tests this summer are played on such a dreadful pitch as the first one”. That comment followed the first Test, where the pitch at Lord’s came under criticism. In contrast, the pitch at the Oval for the second Test was widely praised: it was flat enough to yield plenty of runs, yet always offered something for the bowler, whether that was Jofra Archer — who could have taken a five-for on the first morning — Matt Henry, or Jacob Bethell. Henry, in fact, took a five-wicket haul in a previous Test at Trent Bridge, restricting England to 291 runs, and added six wickets in the second innings of that match.
The surface at Trent Bridge this week is described as “as dry as Mark Butcher’s sense of humour”, which suggests it may offer increasing assistance to spinners as the match progresses. Historically, Trent Bridge is considered a balanced pitch with good bounce and pace, allowing batsmen to play their shots, though it can slow down in the second innings, aiding cutters and variations. The average first-innings score in Test matches at the ground is 324; by the fourth innings it drops to 160, illustrating the growing challenge of batting last. England will have to bat fourth on a surface that is already dry and deteriorating. Emilio Gay, who made his Test debut for England on June 4, 2026, and previously played for Northamptonshire and Italy in T20Is, showed in the first Test that a cool-headed fifty can be a matchwinner on low-scoring pitches — a reminder that the pitch itself need not dictate the drama.
Yet the fragility of England’s batting order, combined with the dryness of the surface and the pressure of a series decider, means the state of the pitch will remain under scrutiny. New Zealand’s depleted attack — with their change bowlers now taking the new ball, their spinner pummelled, and Tickner out with concussion — may find themselves tested on a surface that could turn sharply. Jofra Archer, whose overs are being monitored after a long injury lay-off that included a torn hamstring in December 2024, has returned to bowling in the IPL for Rajasthan Royals, taking two wickets in March 2026. His presence, along with Stokes’s “superhuman tenacity”, gives England a bowling attack that can exploit any unevenness in the pitch. But with England having to bat last, the slow, dry surface may prove the decisive factor in a match that is already being shaped by the ground beneath the players’ feet.
