Things are going much as expected so far, the West Indies are putting up a fight without really making it count. Barath is a good case in point. He batted very well against the new ball in tricky, unfamiliar conditions, before getting out for 42. Chanderpaul added to the mountain of runs he’s made in England, but the damage he can do is limited if he keeps running out of partners. Sounds like their bowlers aren’t getting much movement, and the slowness of the pitch isn’t suiting them. Wouldn’t be a shock if things came together for them and they took a test off us, but I can’t see them winning or drawing the series unless the weather intervenes.
Really hope Strauss can keep going, and fingers crossed for Bairstow at 6. This is a great opportunity for us to find form and get the team sorted out before the main event of the summer, the South Africa series. Steyn, Morkel and Philander worry me right now.
Had to read the bolded part twice to be sure you’d included the “of”. That was a disastrous miscommunication.
If this is to be good preparation for SA, we’d better hope the WI bowlers get used to the conditions. I’ve every confidence in England’s bowling squad, but it would be good to see batsmen get some practice in against bowling that at least approximated Steyn, Morkel and Philander. (That said, I can’t feel at all bad about Strauss getting a 50.)
I thought it was a real shame when Barath gave his wicket way. I was sceptical of an opening pair who both averaged less than 30 but one thing this series does offer is the potential to see young players step up to Test standard, and he looked like a serious attempt at an opening batter - right up to the point when he didn’t.
Yes, that really cost them, as it was their best chance of making a big partnership.
Looks like you are getting your wish, the WI bowlers are getting more movement this morning. We have a game on now, the lead is only 49 with 5 down.
Good to see Strauss get that monkey off his back. Bell could really do with a score now. Sadly, Bairstow has gone for 16 after making a good start.
Going back to Barath, he made a century on his debut against Australia. Since then he’s been in and out of the side due to injuries, so hopefully with a proper run he’ll come good.
Hints of the England from last year. Solid bowling in less than ideal conditions has made it a real chore for the WI to score and now the the batsmen look something like their old capable selves.
Almost a hundred ahead a lunch and against this WI attack the last three partnerships are all capable of adding substantial runs.
I predict a lead of 175-200 and the WI to get in just before tea. At which point Jimmy decides he like a 5-fer as well.
A handy cameo from Swann to steal the momentum and keep the Windies at arms length. Good 50 from Bell, he had to come in against the new ball this morning and protect the lower order. Think we are outpointing rather than dominating them so far. They have bowled better today and they might well convert their starts better second time around. The match is still alive, if we had to chase 200 it wouldn’t be straightforward.
West Indies four down in the second and still runs in arrears, but Chanderpaul clinging on like a limpet and getting good support from Samuels. Still you’d bet on England to wrap this up.
Who the hell is this “Bairstrow” fellow? They need to get rid of him and add pick another SA reject, that Compton fellow (who incidentally is any relation to Denis??). He has been scoring lots of runs in the early part of the county season.
Getting interesting again, with the Samuels-Chanderpaul partnership up to 144 and a lead of 54. The key will be whether they can get through the 2nd new ball, due in a few overs. They need a real contribution from Ramdin and Sammy, and their averages suggest they aren’t likely to manage it against a new ball.
191 needed, and Strauss gets a good one straight up. A good pitch to be chasing on, but this is going to be a test of nerve. Both opening bowlers are fired up, and they will come out fresh again tomorrow morning.
We can count ourselves a little fortunate that we were gifted a run-out in each innings, or the win might have been out of reach.
Pretty good test match, although it did fizzle out towards the end with Gabriel breaking down and Edwards not bowling (apparantely he has long-term back problems). Biggest positives for us are Strauss and Bell putting their winters behind them.
I have already seen Compton in action, in the flesh, in a Pro 40 game between Somerset and Surrey. What follows needs to be seen through the lense of my seeing only one game, in a limited overs contest where his side were chasing nearly 8 an over.
He’s clearly got the temperament and his numbers indicate talent but he’s got the odd technical fault, that county bowlers can’t exploit, that Test bowlers probably will capitalise on. The main one is that he’s quite heavily bottom handed and this results in him putting quite a few shots in the air - though he perhaps needed to do so given the target he was chasing, there are plenty of ways to skin a cat - he could have played more classical, less chancy strokes and the outcome would likely have been the same (he didn’t hit too many 6s but quite a few 4s). He’s also quite a leg sided player, so I suspect that the book on him would be written pretty early by crowding the leg side field and sticking a man on the hook and another at 3rd man to him and then seeing what he can do. The other thing is he is a) 28 and b) born in Natal, SA (as most of our players seem to be), so he might be serving a residency qualification and may already be being passed in the selectors’ eyes for younger men who can be in the team for more than a decade, talent and injury permitting.
As I said though, he looks the goods in terms of temperament and he can score runs, and do it quickly. Definitely one to watch. Someone asked whether he is related to Denis Compton in another thread I think - he is his grandson.
28 is not too old, you can get 10 11 years or 100 plus tests out of him. I think he has what England need. A guy who is determined to dominate the bowling and has an aggressive outlook. England have finally in the last 5 years started to move away from the “lets coach the errors and class out of him” approach. England in the 1980 and 1990’s and early 2000’s were full of technically proficient batsmen; who could not cut the mustard at International level (Steve James, Graeme Hick, Ramps) and it was not until Trescothick that the change began. England tried to be “technically proficient” against Pakistan and look where that got them. I really hope England do not revert to type.
You must be reading different stuff to me regarding England and their batsmen. Cook, Trott and Bell are all technically proficient players and put a large amount of their success down to hard work with Thorpe, and subsequently, Gooch as the batting coach. Cites:
One bad series against Pakistan in the UAE does not make them bad players. The only batsman in the team who tries to do it on talent is Pietersen - and I’d bet he works his nuts off trying to reduce the errors that the makes too. Morgan is the last bat that we tried on pure talent and he has been sent away to work on his game (as was Bell and for a time earlier in his career, Strauss).
To say England have moved away from “coach the errors out of them” seems a misreading of the situation to me. I am happy they have had the errors coached out of them - it has made them a generally more successful side.
As for 28 not being old - you’re right, it’s not. But if you have a player of similar ability who is younger, you’ll get more years out of him won’t you? Again, I’m not convinced England have got this wrong - and their success suggests otherwise.
Interesting to hear your thoughts on Compton Cumbrian. He’s obviously on the selectors’ radar, as he played in the recent Lions match. His age won’t disqualify him, Trott was the same age when first picked.
A lot of our problems in that series were technical. They kept getting stuck on the crease, there were a lot of lbw dismissals to balls they could have gone forward to. Of course, it’s difficult to get forward if you can’t read the flight of the ball. On English pitches, it’s easier to get away with this kind of thing. Few of our batsmen play quality spin well, as they don’t grow up facing it. It’s no surprise we lost to a good Pakistan side. It was surprising just how ineffective our batsmen were, and that they were completely unable to cope with the pressure your bowlers exerted.
There is no magic formula for judging which players will be a success at international level. There are many paths to success, and it’s good to have a blend of players. You wouldn’t want a team with 6 Cooks or 6 Pietersens. In recent times our selectors, who see far more of the players than us armchair experts, have done a very good job. In the past there have been accusations that we tend to over-emphasise the importance of technique, Atherton for one has said this, but I’m not convinced that’s the case anymore. They seem to value the ability to perform under pressure at least as much as technique. They picked Morgan despite his poor first class record, because he proved he is a limited overs match winner. In Bairstow, they’ve gone for an aggressive player. On his ODI debut, he hit 41 off 21 balls to win the game, and he’s also won a T20 international for us. It’s not a conservative selection.
A good morning for England. Broad and Anderson getting two wickets apiece. (And Anderson being nice enough to take both catches of Broad, to boot.)
The Guardian described Edwards as a walking wicket; it generally sounds as if the WI batsmen were playing loosely, rather than falling to unplayable balls. However Chanderpaul’s in now, and the shine will be off the new ball, so I expect some of the damage to be repaired in this session.
… or Swann could get Chanderpaul LBW for 46, leading to a score of 136/6 when Ramdin goes quickly. WI could well be out for <200.
You need to wait for England’s 1st innings to judge of course, but in these conditions you’d expect them to get 300+. Basically, I wouldn’t buy a 4th day ticket at face value right now.