England Fail and West Indies Rally

One-nil up with just Barbados to come and a series clinching win looked the most likely outcome for England. Even when faced with a modest target of 192, I fancied Anderson, Broad et al to skittle the West Indies batting on that third afternoon. Strike! 2-0!

But the Windies are showing some fight, some resilience, qualities somewhat lacking in Test cricket in their recent past. Well down the ICC rankings and without a win over England in eleven attempts, they had some work to do. It all started so well in Antigua.

Ian Bell, Gary Ballance, Joe Root and James Tredwell had set things up nicely but it took a splendid rearguard maiden century by Jason Holder to salvage a draw. Then on Grenada, that magnificent 182 not out from Root, two fifties from Cook produced a nine wicket victory. Six more victims for James Anderson saw him accelerate smoothly ahead of Botham and the rest at the top of England’s Test wicket table.

The final fixture seemed to be going England’s way when Alastair Cook reached three figures for the first time in more than 30 attempts and two years. However, Jerome Taylor and colleagues stuck to their task and restricted the opposition to 257. Anderson’s 6-42 would have defeated most teams but another counterpunching innings from Jermaine Blackwood at six kept the deficit down to 68.

Buoyed by that, the home attack performed admirably again, and only Ballance, Buttler and Stokes made double figures. Nevertheless, with wickets falling so rapidly on the first two and a bit days, England must have felt confident. The situation might also have been made for Shiv Chanderpaul and Marlon Samuels to knuckle down and plod their way to success. However, this has been a terrible month for the veteran of 164 Tests, and it was Darren Bravo and that man Blackwood again who shared a century stand to win the game and level the series.

So what went wrong for England? The fine performances from Root, Ballance, Anderson and Cook masked deficiencies elsewhere. Hindsight’s a wonderful thing but the recall of Jonathan Trott to the side, especially as opener, proved disastrous. An almost unprecedented three ducks in six innings not only knocked his confidence but has since prefaced his complete retirement fron international cricket. Adam Lyth must surely get his opportunity against New Zealand at the start of an arduous summer on home soil.

Bell’s ‘pair’ at Bridgetown must surely a blip but there was real inconsistency in the batting. And no, I do NOT see Pietersen as the answer. He has barely scored any runs for Surrey in the Championship yet, so I would want James Taylor at perhaps six, unless Moeen Ali is preferred for his extra spin option.

Nevertheless, the overall result isn’t just about England. This recovery spoke volumes for the spirit of the young Caribbean talent. Blackwood, Brathwaite and Holder showed promise, and 30 year-old Jerome Taylor claimed eleven wickets in the two games in which he played. Next month they host Australia, themselves warming up for their own little encounter with England later in the year. Could be interesting…..