The lifeless pitch at Antigua did no favours for either the batters or the bowlers on day three, turning the day into a 90-over test of patience for both players and spectactors alike.

England – without Mark Wood for much of the day – shuffled the pack and tried different avenues of attack but were more often than not blunted by a resolute West Indies side that slowly nudged and nurdled their way to a significant lead. Bonner didn’t deter from his approach when accompanied by the tail, trusting both his and their defence on a docile pitch.

Bonner and co. made England toil on a surface with no real pace. It was Bonner’s second Test hundred – the other also came at Antigua – and it was the latest chapter in a remarkable late-career emergence. The surface should take nothing away from a special display of patience and resolve, one that left West Indies in the ascendancy.

Now 33, Bonner only made his Test debut last year when West Indies were without several first team players for their successful tour of Bangladesh. 10 Tests into his career, Bonner now averages north of 45 in Test cricket.

In many ways, Bonner’s is an unlikely Test career. His first foray into international cricket took place more than a decade ago, where he played a pair of T20Is – one against England in 2011 and another against Australia the following year – before going nine years without another West Indies appearance.

His first-class record in the intervening years was mediocre. Even after his pair of Test hundreds, his career first-class average still languishes below 30. Bonner’s selection was earned after a standout 2019/20 campaign that saw him finish fourth in the domestic run-scoring charts in the Caribbean, scoring 523 runs at 58.11.

Since then, he hasn’t looked back. On debut, he scored a crucial 86 in the fourth innings of West Indies’ famous run chase at Mirpur. The following week, he struck a first innings 90 that help give West Indies a lead that eventually proved critical.

A maiden hundred against Sri Lanka soon followed and while he struggled in the drawn two-Test home series against Pakistan, he soon bounced back with a string of impressive scores in Sri Lanka.

His route into the side has been an unlikely one but he has quickly established himself as one of the most important figures in this West Indies side that has struggled for runs in recent times.