Live Cricket Blog: West Indies v England Day One

Live Test Match Blogging / Ed Hawkins / 26 February 2009 / Leave a comment

Fidel Edwards and Daren Powell saved the last Test in the "darkness" and secured a draw but it's a new Test and a new chance for England to win, even though they are without Andrew Flintoff. England have won the toss and are batting. Ed Hawkins talks us through it.

21.09 Eng 301-3 CLOSE
England's day. They can punch on for a declaration tomorrow and they will not be disheartened to see a bit more zip in the surface tonight. West Indies are [19.00], England are [2.40] and the draw is [1.83]. See you tomorrow.

20.30 Eng 259-3
Bit of a delay in taking the new ball. But West Indies have done that throughout this series and besides, Sulieman Benn is getting decent turn. Maybe one more from him and then Chris Gayle will call for the cherry.

20.17 WICKET Eng 259-3
Shah ct Smith b Benn. A misjudgement from the Middlesex man. One spat and turned and Shah's attempted cut just ballooned into the hands of slip. With the new ball imminent, West Indies are on fightback course. Two more wickets tonight and they will consider themselves to have had a good day. Paul Collingwood the new man in.

20.13 Eng 258-2
The new ball is due in three overs. There are 13 left tonight. So it would be pertinent to peruse the match prices. England are [2.32] with the draw steady at [1.86]. West Indies are [20.00] a price which will surely have doubled by the time England have finished batting. It still looks very flat out there.

20.10 Eng 257-2
Brendan Nash is bowling from the Joel Garner End. Nash is barely above 5ft 7in and sending down little dibbly dobblers. Goodness knows what Big Bird would make of it all. He is at the ground today having been named in the ICC Hall of Fame. If you need your memory jogging of Garner, have a look here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiAwNvQOvnw

19.50 Eng 246-2
Pietersen and Shah at the crease. This is an interesting partnership because they must be the two most arrogant, perhaps that should be confident, of all England players. I wonder if they will attempt to outstrut each other? This could make for an interesting final 17 overs.

19.36 Eng 241-2 WICKET
Cook (94) gone. Justice. And it's the pull shot which is the undoing of him again (remember he miscued in Jamaica, I think). Three times he has mistimed it today and it has finally cost him. His wait for another Test ton will go on and on the evidence of this innings it may be a long one.

19.32 Eng 241-1
For perhaps the first time in this series, West Indies are living up to their reputation as a side who could be shambolic. They have looked listless, dropped a catch, missed two more and just now Cook (94) has edged between Ramdin, the keeper, and Gayle at first slip. Shoddy cricket all round.

19.21 233-1
It is possible to see how comfortable Owais Shah has become as international cricketer by watching him in his stance early on. When he began playing for England he was tense, with his neck rigid, and he would look jumpy - like a cat on a hot tin roof. He would smash his bat into the ground, too. Not now, though. He already looks assured. Cook does not look so good, even if he has been in for more than 180 balls. For the second time today he has just mistimed a pull shot. It went straight up in the air but Benn could not get there in time. How Cook has lasted this long is beyond me. Awful, awful innings.

19.11 WICKET Eng 229-1
Andrew Strauss (142) has had his stumps splayed by Daren Powell, of all people. That will bring in Owais Shah to the crease - a long wait for him. Usually, blokes who have had to sit in the pav with pad rash don't last too long.

19.04 Eng 226-0
One would have thought that England will have learned their lesson from Antigua and give their bowlers as much times as possible to take 20 wickets. If they carried on at this run rate for the same number of overs the batted in the first innings at the Rec, they would have 587. More than enough. West Indies get a new ball in 17 overs.

18.40 Eng 221-0
Good stuff from England. Their run rate is an excellent 3.56. If they can push that up to around the 4 mark in the final session then they can begin to think about a declaration. It will be like Antigua all over again trying to second guess how many they reckon they need. 550? 600?

18.28 Eng 216-0
FOBB (Friend of Betfair Blog) Jak has been in touch to discuss Matt Prior's return to England and his reported waltz straight back into the side when he's good and ready. "I bet Ambrose feels `really wanted` in the England set up, especially since he'll being keeping the 'seat warm' 'till Prior can step back in on his return. Best line of advice for Ambrose ... score a ton, take a few catches, couple of stumpings and win man of the match! Still even this may be not enough especially since, the first time daddy's place has been cemented by `Prior arrangement'."

18.15 Eng 198-0
Alastair Cook has by one run surpassed his highest Test score since his 76 v South Africa at Edgbaston last July. Given his poor record for going on to three figures, you may be interested to know that he is [1.44] to score a century. He is also [5.50] for top England first-innings runscorer honours. Andrew Strauss is [1.30].

18.01 WI 183-0
439-548-419-355-449-650. Those are the first-innings of the sides who have out on more than 170 for the first wicket. That should point you towards England's first-innings runs market. Only one of those teams have lost (WI v SA in 2005) but only two have won - Australia last year and England in 1994.

17.41 Eng 169-0
So back to that Michael Vaughan interview at the lunch break. Who does this guy's PR? Whoever it is must be a genius. Quite what relevance Michael Vaughan's Ashes aspirations had to do with the fourth Test in Barbados I'm not sure. As a journalist, I like to think I know a thing or two about angles for stories. And Vaughan saying he would 'love to play in the Ashes' would just not sell to newspaper sports editors. It's a non-story and Sky should be ashamed for giving the guy publicity. For a start Owais Shah, Ravi Bopara and Ian Bell are all ahead of him in the pecking order. Secondly, Shah, the incumbent, need only a couple of centuries between now and the Ashes and there is no debate, and thirdly, Vaughan himself needs to score a weight of runs. That doesn't seem too likely when he averages only 46 for Yorkshire.

17.31 Eng 162-0
Back-to-back match centuries for Andrew Strauss for the second time in his career. In 2004 he scored consecutive match centuries in Port Elizabeth and Durban. We could count his two in match in Chennai last year, too actually. Well played, sir. And it all looked so unlikely when he couldn't remember the team he had picked at the toss. Chris Gayle dropped him early on. Gayle also dropped him on his way to 169 at St John's. He went to three figures with a six, by the way.

17.26 Eng 151-0
Spin bowlers operating in tandem now. Very little turn, though. There could be further problems for WI with Jerome Taylor being warned for running on the pitch. Imagine if he was banned for this innings for another offence? In my opinion that would effectively leave the hosts with only two 'proper' bowlers - Edwards and Benn.

17.12 Eng 138-0
Another 50 for Alastair Cook. Given his record (see 16.56) I'm not going to get too excited. Besides, I find him unpleasant to watch as I've written mant times before on this blog. He looks like he's trying to fish out a dead rat from the water tank with that initial bat lift.

16.56 Eng 124-1
Alastair Cook will be getting nervous, particularly as he edged through the slips a few moments ago. He has 42. Cook has not made a century for 26 innings, during which he has been 'struggling with his technique' say the commentators. Here's a thought. Is he 'struggling with his technique' because he actually isn't good enough? Anyway, of those 26 innings Cook has failed to make it past 76. He has been out five times between 30 and 50. And he has been out nine times from 50 onwards.

16.49 113-0
Alas, I am some way off the world record for sleep deprivation if this story is to be believed http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cornwall/6689999.stm
It doesn't say much for Cornwall, does it? One gets so bored that amusement has to be found by staying awake for 11 days and 11 nights. Interesting that the World Record books refuse to recognise the acheivement, though on the basis of 'health'. I reckon the real reason was because Norris McWhirter would turn up and his boring montone would send the competitor to sleep prematurely, scuppering their chances.

16.42 Eng 112-0
We're back. I have done some fascinating stat work while munching on some pasta. I've also got something to get off my chest with regard to that Michael Vaughan interview at the break. Did anyone see it?

16.02 Eng 108-0 LUNCH
England must punch on. They cannot afford to be timid and they need to increase their run rate to pile the pressure on West Indies. I'm talking to you Cook. Another plod from him and it was interesting to note that he took criticism for his deathly slow batting when England were setting the declaration in Antigua. Anyway, that's in the past. Here's a good stat: in the last 8 Tests when a side has put on more than 100 for the first wicket in the first innings, only once have they lost.

15.45 Eng 87-0
I have now been awake for 27 hours. What is the world record for sleep deprivation? I might be onto something there. I am still on Antigua time, so this morning (your middle of the night) I was by the pool desperately trying to catch those last rays so I could ensure I returned with that all-important tan. Funny isn't it how the risk of skin cancer is outweighed by the fear of someone saying 'huh, you haven't got much of a tan'? Funny probably isn't the word actually.

15.36 Eng 81-0
50 for Strauss.Gosh he looks in tremendous nick. Moving on at a pace now, too as he goes to 58. Back-to-back tons for England's captain?

15.31 Eng 64-0
There is already a noticeable difference between this Test and the previous one in Antigua. And it's not that I'm not there. At the Rec Chris Gayle kept his three slips in for much of the time but as early as 20 minutes ago, we saw him switch the field with catchers in front of the wicket for a lofted drive.There is a deep square, too. It proves the lack of demons in this surface.

15.22 Eng 61-0
If there were concerns about England being a bowler short, what about West Indies? Another woeful spell from Daren Powell - I've lost count how many he has delivered throughout the series. His five overs have gone for 33, which will only worsen a series strike rate of 90 before this game. That is the worst of the Windies fast men. It is as much a mystery, as a damning indictment, on how England find themselves chasing the series.

15.13 Eng 52-0
This could be the start of quite a quick spell from Fidel Edwards. He has just hurried up Strauss with a short one. Meanwhile, back to the Prior debate. He was not there for the birth but left a few days before this Test to go and see his newborn son. I understand he wasn't present at the birth because there were fears he might drop it.

15.03 Eng 48-0
Some debate over whether Harmison should have been included or not. Here's a stat to make up your mind. Since his recall for the Oval Test v South Africa in 2008, Harmison has an average of 41 and a strike rate of 79. Not good enough. So that's that sorted. Now what do you all think about Matt Prior missing the Test to go to see his newborn? Email me at hawkeyeview@hotmail.co.uk

14.46 Eng 40-0
The average first-innings score in the last 10 Tests at Kensington Oval is 335. There is currently little cash in the England runs market but having seen how the pitch is behaving, they should score more than 400. A fluirry of runs have come thanks to the inaccuracy of Daren Powell. Goodness me he really is awful. Have West Indies really not got anyone better?

14.31 Eng 15-0
Let's take a look at the top England first-innings runscorer market. Here are the prices: [3.50] Pietersen, [4.50] Strauss, Cook, [5.00] Shah, [7.00] Collingwood, [7.20] any other batsman. There is limited historical ground form to go on here. Indeed, not a single England player has played Test cricket on this ground before. KP has a century against West Indies from the World Cup in 2007 - when the sides amassed 601 runs. It looks as good a batting wicket again, which makes it a wide open market. I would not be averse to a dabble on Owais Shah because he is excellent touch and is desperate for a big score to cement his team. Ravi Bopara has good credentials too - he scored a century in the warm-up match and is a class, class act.

14.17 Eng 6-0
Some controversy over England's team selection for this match. Remember they are without Andrew Flintoff through injury and Matt Prior through, er, paternity leave. I must admit it does seem odd that when a side absolutely has to take 20 wickets, it decides to go with only four bowlers and one of them a swing bowler on a flat, hard Barbados surface. By all means drop Steve Harmison - it would appear he has shirked his last shift for England - but would it not have been better to bring in Amjad Khan? He has good pace, can reverse swing it and took 5 wickets in the recent warm-up. Sidebottom could still have played with Ravi Bopara missing out. That would have meant Tim Ambrose batting at No. 6. Risky. But England can't afford to be timid.

14.00 Eng 0-0
I am not in Barbados. West London instead. Oh well, you ca't have it your own way all of the time. I am jet lagged, however having flown back from Antigua in the early hours of this morning so I apologise if I do anything weird. The England selectors are possibly suffering from something, too it would appear. Ryan Sidebottom in, Steve Harmison out. The wicket is hard and fast and should have bounce. Lucky then, that they have won the toss and will bat. Here are the prices: WI [4.300], England [2.74] and the draw [2.34].