Unlike his fellow debutant wicketkeeper James Rew, who was told he was replacing Jamie Smith in the sauna on Tuesday, Baker had a couple of days to prepare for his Test bow after Ollie Robinson’s knee scan on Saturday.<\/p>\n
A keen note-maker, Baker has a book with pointers to remember for each battle but also how to deal with the stress that comes from a debut on cricket’s biggest stage.<\/p>\n
A lot of it is about embracing the occasion.<\/p>\n
“Even last night I was struggling to eat, and fuelling as a fast bowler is super important,” he said. “This morning I felt the anxiety build up in my stomach.<\/p>\n
“I was pretty honest with people that I was pretty nervous going into the day. Once you start warming up, everything goes away and you get stuck in.”<\/p>\n
With England naming three debutants in their XI for the first time in nine years, the pre-match huddle went on longer than some first dates.<\/p>\n
Rew received his cap from a fellow Somerset batter Marcus Trescothick, while Jordan Cox got his from Essex legend Nasser Hussain.<\/p>\n
Baker, a self-proclaimed fast-bowling geek, was handed his by a predecessor – former England quick Steven Finn.<\/p>\n
“The cap presentation was more emotional than anything else, seeing how proud my parents were,” he admitted.<\/p>\n
“I was trying not to get emotional in front of the rest of the lads, but I was struggling a bit.”<\/p>\n
When Baker’s first wicket-taking over was complete, perhaps with the emotion bubbling, he initially headed the wrong way, turning for deep third rather than his fielding position of long leg.<\/p>\n
After correcting, he was greeted by a section of The Oval crowd rising to applaud him.<\/p>\n
“That was proper,” said Baker. “In T20s and stuff, when there’s music on you don’t really sense the crowd quite as much.<\/p>\n
“When it’s silent and there’s just a trumpet in the background, you really feel the crowd getting behind you.”<\/p>\n
It is not lost that Baker’s Test debut came on such an unusual day.<\/p>\n
Three debutants, one man holding more caps than the rest of the team combined, and the captain more than 250 miles away with his career in the balance.<\/p>\n
Far from ideal, but England appeared upbeat and tight-knit throughout.<\/p>\n
“It’s actually been great,” added the Devon-born Baker. “The lads have tried to put that behind us and deal with the situation as it is.<\/p>\n
“The relaxed nature of the environment really helps from a nerves point of view.”<\/p>\n
Soon after, Baker’s duties on day one were done as he turned to another sporting event.<\/p>\n
“The rest of the lads will be fuming if I take much longer,” he said as he left the stage.<\/p>\n
There was World Cup football to watch.<\/p>\n