3rd Test Day 1 Review


By English Cricket
August 13 2004

West Indies won the toss and decided to bat WI 275 for 6 (70.5 overs) [Bravo 77, Chanderpaul 76, Joseph 45, Sarwan 40, Hoggard 61/3, Flintoff 46/2]

3rd Test Match Eng v WI: Day 1 Review

 

England: Michael Vaughan (Capt), Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss, Robert Key, Graham Thorpe, Andrew Flintoff, Geraint Jones (Wkt), Ashley Giles, Matthew Hoggard, Stephen Harmison, James Anderson.

West Indies: Brian Lara (Capt), Chris Gayle, Sylvester Joseph, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo, Carlton Baugh (Wkt), Dave Mohammed, Corey Collymore, Pedro Collins, Fidel Edwards.

 

Thanks to two late wickets from Matthew Hoggard, England is well poised going into Day 2 of the Npower test match at Old Trafford today. England had fielded an unchanged side, with the local boy James Anderson being preferred again to Simon Jones. The tourists on the other hand made as many as 4 changes, an unsurprising move given their position in this series where they have been thoroughly outplayed. 

 

Brian Lara though would have thought his luck had changed when he finally won a toss and was able to have first use of the wicket. Still, given the rain it may have been a risk proposition against an in form bowling attack. Unsurprisingly, though they were greeted with a somewhat benign pitch in terms of pace, albeit with slightly better carry than some of the others played on in this series. Nevertheless, England went about their business again in a most professional and workmanlike manner, the bowling was well thought out and Anderson aside, bowled with a purpose and a plan.

 

Harmison in my mind was the best of bunch, although he did not have much to show in the wickets column, he produced a series of solid spells at lightning pace that allowed England to maintain pressure and take wickets from the other end. This was no better demonstrated in the wicket of Chris Gayle, whom Harmison troubled throughout his stay at the crease. In one over he hit Gayle twice on the body that left the Windies opener wincing in pain. It was no surprise that he was out soon after to a loose shot outside off stump.

 

Harmison’s value to England is unquestioned; however, Anderson is another story. England will need to address the issue of the 4th seamer/2nd spinner before next year’s Ashes series if they are hoping to be competitive. Both Anderson and Jones have been ineffective in the series thus far, and it is not surprising given that both are lacking in pace, fitness and most importantly confidence. One can only hope that either one of them or preferably both can overcome these problems, because England will need to build reserves given their track record in respect of injuries and bowling form when playing Australia.

 

West Indies, for a change, enjoyed a largely fruitful day, and it was more than they could have hoped for at 108/4 with both openers, Sarwan and Lara back in the pavilion, the latter without troubling the scorers. However, the side did not fall over as expected as Dwayne Bravo and the ever-reliable Chanderpaul put together a solid partnership which was filled some wonderful stroke play that one would associate with Windies cricket. Bravo, especially deserves credit given that his batting had looked woeful up to date and coupled with his wicket-taking ability, West Indies now have a very promising cricketer for the future.

 

Going into Day 2, England would be hoping to run through the tail for a cost of 20-25 runs. West Indies like England of old, are fielding 3 no.11’s (and possibly a no.12!), but again they would need to be wary of the jockey-sized Carlton Baugh, who scored a hundred in the last tour match and boasts a century against the mighty Australians. It would not be the first time that England has suffered at the hands of a lower-order assault, but it is something that they have been able to quash in more recent times and one would hope that today would be no different.