England v West Indies, 2nd npower Test, Chester-le-Street, 5th day

England v West Indies, 2nd npower Test, Chester-le-Street, 5th day

Bresnan and Anderson swing through Windies

May 18, 2009

England 569 for 6 dec (Cook 160, Bopara 108) beat West Indies 310 (Sarwan 100, Anderson 5-87) and 176 (Chanderpaul 47, Anderson 4-38) by an innings and 83 runs

	Tim Bresnan ends his long wait for a Test wicket, as England closed in on victory

James Anderson completed the superb match figures of 9 for 125, and Tim Bresnan finally picked up his maiden Test wickets, as West Indies were hustled to defeat by an innings and 83 runs shortly after lunch on the final day at Chester-le-Street. After resuming on 115 for 3 in the follow-on, West Indies found no way to deal with perfect swinging conditions on a showery day, and the only man who showed any real resistance was Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who endured in typical fashion for 47 from 82 balls.

In the end, however, Chanderpaul's efforts were emphatically trumped by Anderson and Bresnan, who bowled clean through the day's play, booming the ball both ways at will, as the Wisden Trophy was reclaimed after just a two-month hiatus. Bresnan, who had begun to believe he would never claim that memorable first scalp, eventually returned the creditable figures of 3 for 45 in 14 overs, while Anderson once again showed how he has matured as a cricketer in recent months, as he located a full length, zipped the ball off the seam and through the air, and ripped West Indies to shreds in a final-day spell of 11-3-18-4.

England began the day with high expectations, but at first they were thwarted by a combination of Chanderpaul, Lendl Simmons and the skittish Durham weather, which forced two brief breaks in play inside the first hour. They took the field as they had left it the previous evening, without the services of Matt Prior who had injured his ring finger and was rested on medical advice, and Paul Collingwood deputised ably as wicketkeeper, as England strove for the breakthrough.

Understandably enough, Strauss opened with his main man, Anderson, but at the other end he sprung a surprise by calling upon the hitherto anonymous Bresnan, who had been overshadowed by his fellow newcomer, Graham Onions, both here and at Lord's, and must have wondered if his chance to impress had been and gone.

Bresnan began with a tidy but unthreatening line outside off stump, but it was in the second hour of the session, after the second of two 15-minute showers had freshened up the pitch that he and Anderson really began to make the ball talk. Anderson was the first to strike, when Simmons once again gave his innings away when well set, as he hung his bat out to a wide long-hop, and patted a tame chance to the substitute fielder, Scott Borthwick at point.

Then, at last, it was over to Bresnan. In an excellent over, he deceived Brendan Nash with a series of outswingers before flipping the shiny side around, bending a big inducker into his pads, and Borthwick once again was on hand at midwicket to complete a very memorable moment. The breakthrough came with the final ball of Bresnan's 25th over in Test cricket, but it must have felt like a lot, lot longer than that.

He didn't have to wait quite so long for his next intercession, however. Denesh Ramdin had batted with great stoicism for his 55 in the first innings, but Bresnan nailed him only two deliveries later, as he flirted outside off at a booming outswinger, and edged low to Anderson at second slip. Anderson then detonated Jerome Taylor's off stump with a superb late inswinger, and then - with the very last ball of the morning session - produced a similar trick from round the wicket to the left-handed Sulieman Benn.

At 167 for 8 at lunch, there was little prospect of West Indies extending the game deep into the second session, although while Chanderpaul remained, England could not celebrate too soon. In the course of his innings, he put daylight between himself and Sir Vivian Richards in second place on the list of West Indies' all-time runscorers, but he was able to extend that lead by a single run after the break, as Anderson located a perfect length, again from round the wicket, nicked the edge of Chanderpaul's bat, and Collingwood capped his brief stint with the gloves with a very coolly taken catch.

The final catch of the innings was also claimed by a deputy, this time the Durham youngster, Karl Turner, who steadied himself impressively under a swirler at fine leg, as Fidel Edwards slapped Bresnan high and hard but straight up in the air. West Indies' last seven wickets had tumbled inside 14 overs, a sad but apt conclusion. They simply have not been at the races in this series, as England set their sights on stiffer challenges later in the summer.

England v West Indies, 2nd npower Test,

England v West Indies, 2nd npower Test, Chester-le-Street, 4th day

Windies fight against rising tide

May 17, 2009

West Indies 310 (Sarwan 100, Anderson 5-87) and 115 for 3 (Chanderpaul 18*, Simmons 3*) trail England 569 for 6 dec (Cook 160, Bopara 108) by 144 runs

	Stuart Broad produced a superb over to remove Ramnaresh Sarwan for 100 and push West Indies towards the follow-on

England closed in on a 2-0 series clean sweep on the fourth day against West Indies at Chester-le-Street, as West Indies slumped to 115 for 3 in their second innings, having been asked to follow on, 266 runs in arrears, shortly after tea. By the close, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Lendl Simmons were fighting hard to stave off the innings defeat, but their hopes of the draw were dealt a huge blow when their first-innings centurion, Ramnaresh Sarwan, and their captain, Chris Gayle, were dismissed in the space of three deliveries from Graham Onions - Gayle having rampaged to 54 from 43 balls in an innings of massive intent.

Despite the one-sided nature of the scoreline, England were made to fight hard on what was comfortably the most entertaining day of the series so far. In addition to Sarwan and Gayle, West Indies' stand-out batsman was Denesh Ramdin, whose 55 from 82 balls helped rescue his side from a flaky 216 for 7 in the first innings, the bulk of those runs coming during a sparky eighth-wicket partnership of 70 with Sulieman Benn. For England, James Anderson wrapped up a richly deserved five-wicket haul, but their main man of the day was Stuart Broad, who bowled with thuggish intent and set England on course for victory with the pre-lunch scalps of Chanderpaul and Sarwan

Up until the moment that Broad had Chanderpaul caught behind for 27 with a well-disguised offcutter, England had toiled with little luck or reward for an hour and a half of the morning session. Under clear blue skies, West Indies' fourth-wicket pair extended their partnership to 99, with the only real moment of discomfort coming when Sarwan, on 58, was struck a painful blow in the nether-regions. He upped his ante after Chanderpaul's departure, however, and rushed to his hundred with a blazing straight drive off Broad followed by a cracking pull in front of square.

But those strokes merely stoked Broad's ire, and in a brilliant response he blasted Sarwan from the crease with a trio of vicious lifters, the third of which ballooned off his glove to Tim Bresnan at slip as he attempted to ride the bounce. England were jubilant, an opening had been forged, and when lunch was taken ten minutes later, West Indies were rocking on 188 for 5.

But Brendan Nash and Ramdin dug in as best they could during an attritional post-lunch session, during which time England's seamers made a point of banging the ball in short, to test both the surface and the mettle of their opponents, but perhaps most of all, their own stamina levels. The policy eventually forced the breakthrough - but only as a side-effect - when Nash, hanging back in his crease in anticipation of another short ball, failed to transfer his weight into a front-foot drive, and under-edged Anderson onto his leg stump for 10.

Jerome Taylor then came and went in a flurry of adventurous swipes, as Onions pinned him with an arrow-straight lbw, and at 216 for 7, the stage was set for another West Indian capitulation. Ramdin and Benn, however, had other ideas, and frustrated England for an hour during an enterprising 70-run stand for the eighth wicket.

Ramdin was the principle aggressor, particularly against Swann, who produced one of the least effective spells of his brief Test career as he was mowed over the top for five fours and a six in 15 deliveries. At the other end, Benn took a while to get going, perhaps assuming that England were aiming for his helmet every ball, but he took his chance when the luckless Bresnan was brought into the attack. On 4, he feathered an excellent delivery from round the wicket, but Prior behind the stumps didn't flinch as the ball zipped through the gap with first slip.

It's not impossible that that was Bresnan's best chance of claiming a Test wicket this summer. Hard though he tried, he was unable to produce the breakthrough delivery, and Benn was really beginning to enjoy himself when his demise was engineered in somewhat farcical circumstances. Another slog against Swann looped down towards Pietersen at long-on, who declined to go for the catch but instead pinged down the non-striker's stumps with Benn well short of his ground.

With three balls to go until the new ball, that paved the way for the confrontation that the entire crowd had been waiting for. In came Edwards and back came Anderson, armed and dangerous after the peppering he had received while batting on the third day. Edwards was unbothered, however, and a visibly wound-up Anderson had the worst of the battle in their solitary over before the break, as he conceded two boundaries and earned a contemptuous pat of the pitch from Edwards as a misdirected bouncer whistled down the leg-side.

On the stroke of the break, however, Broad clanged Edwards on the grille with a well-directed bouncer, and he claimed his wicket with the very next ball he faced, as Andrew Strauss did well to keep his eyes on the ball at first slip as Edwards climbed into a swipe across the line. His removal allowed Anderson to get his focus back to what he does best, and he needed only three more deliveries before Ramdin fenced outside off to complete superb figures of 5 for 87.

By this stage, England's wicketkeeping duties were being carried out by Collingwood, after Prior was sent to hospital for an X-ray after taking a blow on his right ring finger. The injury was not serious, and he will resume his duties after a night's rest, but England were off the pace as they began the second innings. Gayle took full toll with a remarkable cameo that went some way towards silencing his critics.

Gayle slapped his second ball, from Anderson, down the ground for six, and didn't look back after that. Anything too short or too full got the treatment, as he smoked six fours and two sixes in total, with Onions in particular getting some tap as he failed to locate his optimum length. At the other end, Devon Smith continued his woeful run against Swann as he was trapped lbw by the second ball he faced, but Sarwan began with intent, racing to 15 from 10 balls as England were made to work for their wickets.

But their policy of banging the ball in short continued to pay dividends, and Onions - still fresh from the memory of his four wickets in seven balls at Lord's - showed a timely ability to repeat that sort of form. Sarwan had been pushed back into his crease when he was pinned lbw for 22 by a full-length ball, and then, one leg-bye later, came the big one. Gayle misjudged a back-of-a-length delivery, Strauss at slip pouched the chance off the shoulder of the bat, and England were left needing seven more wickets on the final day.

England v West Indies, 2nd npower Test,

England v West Indies, 2nd npower Test, Chester-le-Street, 3rd day

England declare on 569 for 6

May 16, 2009

Tea England 569 for 6 dec (Collingwood 60*, Broad 28*) v West Indies
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary

	Matt Prior batted with increasing freedom in a free-flowing 63 from 83 balls © Getty Images

Matt Prior hit a quickfire 63 from 83 balls, and added 94 for the sixth wicket with Paul Collingwood, as England made up for lost time after the second-day wash-out at Chester-le-Street. By tea, they had marched on from their overnight 302 for 2 to reach 569 for 6, with all eyes on the England captain, Andrew Strauss, who confirmed the declaration during the interval.

After an entertaining morning session, in which a fired-up Fidel Edwards provided the impetus for his team in an 11-over spell, the second session was more a case of waiting for the inevitable. With the honourable exception of Sulieman Benn, who bowled with flight and variety and added the prize scalp of Kevin Pietersen to his earlier extraction of Alastair Cook, West Indies were once again bereft of attacking intent, and any pre-tea declaration would have been a mercy.

All of England's batsmen made starts, even the nightwatchman, James Anderson, whose mere presence coaxed Edwards into his most hostile spells of the innings, late on Monday night and again when play resumed this morning. Edwards eventually got his man after he had been gifted two lives - one via a bad drop down the leg-side from Denesh Ramdin, the other from a no-ball that was fenced to second slip - but instead of carrying that intent forward for the rest of the innings, Edwards and his team-mates rather shrunk from view once Pietersen got into his stride.

Pietersen got off the mark second-ball with a clip through midwicket off Edwards, but it was the next over he faced, from Jerome Taylor, that really set him up for his innings. Taylor has been woefully short of form and confidence since his five-wicket heroics in Jamaica three months ago, and Pietersen was gifted three fours in five balls - plus four byes down the leg-side - as he struggled to locate his line, length and optimum pace.

By lunch, Pietersen had added six further fours, all of them from the pace of Edwards, who aimed full in an attempt to find some swing, but was met more often that not by a full and flashing blade. The one man who did stifle Pietersen's attacking intentions was Benn, in a continuation of his strange weakness against left-arm spin. Locating a hint of extravagant turn from an otherwise blameless surface, Benn suckered Pietersen soon after the break when - on 49 and with another milestone in his sights - he swished wildly outside off, and skied a leading edge straight into the hands of backward point.

By this stage Benn had already accounted for Cook, who had progressed with utter anonymity during the morning session. He began the day on 126 not out, and while Anderson and Pietersen attracted the attention at the other end, he ground onwards and upwards with a range of clips into the leg-side. He duly posted the first 150 of his Test career and looked set for a massive total when, with lunch looming, he played around his front pad to Benn, and chipped a leading edge to a fumbling Chris Gayle at mid-off.

At 419 for 5, the stage was set for Prior to play his shots. Paul Collingwood, in front of his home fans, accompanied him diligently, and his penchant for leg-side shots, coupled with Prior's off-side repertoire, caused West Indies' radar to become totally scrambled. By the break they had sent down a total of 61 extras, 14 of which were Edwards no-balls.

Prior's eventual dismissal meant regular glances towards the England dressing-room, where Andrew Strauss must have been contemplating an early declaration. Instead he decided to push onwards and upwards, with Collingwood adding a half-century of his own, and Stuart Broad enjoying more valuable time (and luck) in the middle with a 25-ball 28.

England v West Indies, 2nd npower Test, Durham

England v West Indies, 2nd npower Test, Durham

Amber lights at the Riverside

May 13, 2009
Chris Gayle has claimed he was misquoted, but has not denied that Test cricket is not his priority .
Although ticket sales for the opening day of the second Test have improved since yesterday's figure of 3000, Chester-le-Street won't be bursting at the seams when the action starts on Thursday. The punters are clearly beginning to pick and choose which matches they attend and, if Chris Gayle's comments are anything to go by, some players will soon be following a similar path.
His interview with a UK national newspaper has set another warning light flashing about the future and primacy of Test cricket. Although he attempted to downgrade his view that he "wouldn't be so sad" if Tests vanished in favour of Twenty20s, by saying his comments were meant from his personal point of view, it is another damaging blow for a sport that is battling to maintain a relevance.
The fact that Gayle has had to leave his IPL deal to play in cold, early-season English conditions, in a Test series shoe-horned into the calender, has clearly not gone down well, despite his latest effort to convince otherwise. "I'm happy to be here right now to try and retain the trophy," a rather weary-looking Gayle said as he responded to his comments.
He claimed the interview in The Guardian had been "misquoted and misinterpreted" which is the usual response from a sportsman who wants to back himself out of a corner. However, he didn't try to alter his comments, rather just clarify that he was talking about himself and not Test cricket as a whole.
"I don't see myself playing Tests for any long period of time, but I think Test cricket will always be there. Twenty20 has come on board and it's made a huge impact on the world, it's brilliant, games have been sold out and it has taken the place by storm. I look at Test cricket differently, I don't see it as long term for me, just for me, I'm just speaking about myself."
What should come as a concern for those running the game and trying to cram in endless international fixtures to justify television deals is Gayle's reasoning. "There's a lot of cricket being played and I've started to develop a lot of injuries," he said. "It takes a toll on your body and your mental strength so at some stage you aren't going to go on forever. You have to choose what you are going to do as a person.
"It's something I've discussed before, maybe not in the media, but I've talked to friends and players about it. It's not like I've just thought about it overnight."
However, as one of nine current Test captains in the world game, Gayle needs to remember that his role goes beyond the personal. It shouldn't just be about the here and now for him, but also the bigger picture. Not everyone is going to make it as a millionaire Twenty20 star and Gayle, as one of the most flamboyant batsman of his generation, should be able to play a role in promoting the five-day game.
Andrew Strauss is one such player who is likely to miss the Twenty20 revolution and made comments before the Lord's Test that he wouldn't allow an England player to arrive 48 hours before a match. Gayle hit back in the newspaper interview, but tried to ease any potential tensions by saying no disrespect was meant.


"There's a lot of cricket being played and I've started to develop a lot of injuries. It takes a toll on your body and your mental strength so at some stage you aren't going to go on forever. You have to choose what you are going to do as a person." Chris Gayle ponders his Test future

"It wasn't his concern," Gayle said. "I respect Strauss, I would never have any conflict with him. I just find it a bit strange that he touched on that sort of point and he should leave it alone. "Maybe he's under a lot of pressure. The Ashes series is huge.
"Maybe he tried to put the pressure on me to try to take a bit of pressure off him. I have respect for Strauss it's not like I'm trying to degrade him, I would never do that. Sometimes you just have to stand up for your rights."
Strauss maintained there were no tensions and suggested that any problems the West Indies captain had were not his problem, but admitted he had concerns about the health of Test cricket. "We haven't been sitting in the bar telling tales of our lives but our relationship has been pretty good. I've had no problems with him up until now. If he is uncomfortable with what's gone on in the last couple of weeks that's an issue for him rather than myself.
"It [Test cricket] is under pressure," he added. "I think it is important we play good Test cricket to make people aware of what a good format it is and how entertaining it can be. It's the only game that really tests out your temperament, your technique, your hunger, your bravery, all those aspects of the game."
That seems an opportune moment to bring this back to the actual game; a Test match, the ultimate format. West Indies' game fell away so rapidly at Lord's that it was difficult to recognise the team that fought so hard in the Caribbean. Now with Gayle's comments ringing in their ears it's hardly the motivational stand they needed from their captain. "The guys know the situation. It won't affect us, we are all big men," he said.
Strauss, however, was hoping the furore will take Gayle's mind off the serious matter in hand. "He is always dangerous. He always plays the same way, hopefully he'll be slightly distracted tomorrow."
Gayle clearly won't be playing Test cricket much longer, although he laughed off the idea that this would be his final game. He said he still had a job to do in rebuilding this West Indies side and now would be a good time to show he really means it. At the moment Gayle's opinions appear the minority view, but the game needs to work out what it wants to be in the future. If players don't want to play, and people don't want to watch, then there really is trouble ahead.