Live Test Match Blogging / Ed Hawkins / 28 February 2009 /

After England's batsmen posted a massive first-innings score yesterday, can the bowlers press home their advantage? Ed Hawkins is in place to bring you the action as it happens...

21.32 WI 398-5 CLOSE
WI are three runs from avoiding the follow on. Ramnaresh Sarwan is unbeaten on 184. A shame his knock will be overshadowed by the referral controversy. It has to be said that this looks like stalemate. England are [6.20] and the draw is [1.20]

21.22 WI 387-5
Six overs left of an ambarrassing day's play. Feel a bit sorry for Daryl Harper. He is a decent bloke. He took fearful stick in the first Test over a referral and during the North Sound farce he spoke with journalists about it. "I didn't have all the replay angles that you guys saw on TV so I couldn't make a decision," he said matter-of-factly. "But you guys wouldn't know that so thanks for the criticism."

21.06 WI 371-5
That leg slip is back. What a waste of space. Appeal for a stumping. The ump says not out. Oh refer it, go on! Meanwhile, I am not sure who Marge would be for our Simpson fun. Someone who grumbles a lot. Probably Sidebottom again. Bart would have to be Ian Bell because both are little squirts who fail to take responsibility.

20.48 WI 351-5
JC has been on to point out that the most obvious Simpsons-England player lookalike is Sideshow Bob for Ryan Sidebottom. Good work, fella. He also seems to have the same personality. The bloke appears perpetually peeved.

20.42 WI 3477-5
All five wickets in this innings have been leg befores. Three of them have been wrong thanks to the referral system in my opinion. I don't think Gayle should have been given out. As for Chanderpaul and Nash, well, they were quite disgraceful.

20.30 WICKET WI 335-5
Well, chaos. Nash has been given out. At the risk of sounding like I am repeating myself, that was clearly going over the top. Daryl Harper taking fearful stick from the commentators. "All the cock ups have one thing in common ... D Harper," says Michael Holding. Let's remind ourselves that there needs to be strong evidence for the third umpire to change the decision of the umpire. There wasn't. There was strong evidence the onfield ump was correct.

REFERRAL
Nash leg before to Swann. Umpire says not out. Swann says "that's out, that's out"

20.20 WI 330-4
Nash survives. It was England who referred it. And it was quite obvious it was too high. Daryl Harper did not overrule the onfield umpire. He didn't overrule for the Chanderpaul dismissal either. There's a trend there

REFERRAL
Nash leg before or caught to Swann. Can't be sure

20.07 WI 324-4
Tim Ambrose has a rather annoying habit of doing a Homer Simpson impression for every Swann delivery. "Doh!" you will him hear exclaim when Swann sends one down. That raises an interesting question. Which Simpson characters does each English player most resemble? Let me know your thoughts hawkeyeview@hotmail.co.uk.

19.54 WI 312-4
West Indies trail by 288. Their first target is 401 to avoid a follow-on, not that England would enforce it with just four bowlers who would be knackered. It is the turn of BP Nash to frustrate England now. Another gritty left-hander. Mike Atherton reckons a new ball swings for only 12 overs out in the Caribbean. That gives England three overs. There are 23 left tonight. England will be weary for the final half of those.

19.37 WI 289-4
The Swann or Panesar debate. I have to admit to having changed my mind over whether England need Monty against Australia. Initially I reckoned that Panesar's left-arm turn would be a crucial weapon, particularly as the Aussies have been known to have a weakness against twirl. But now I'm not sure. Swann offers so much more in the field and with the bat than Panesar, that his value surely outweighs Monty. Besides, England won the Ashes in 2005 with Ashley Giles. Swann could easily do as good a job as old Wheelie Bin.

19.28 WICKET WI 281-4
Chanderpaul gone. And it just was not out. I cannot believe what I'm seeing with these referrals. We'll have sides bowled out for under 200 all the time if this is the precedent. The third umpire could clearly see that the trajectory of the ball would take it over the stumps.It would have had to start coming down again to hit. Incredible rick.

REFERRAL
Shiv Chanderpaul leg before to Anderson

rong>19.20 WI 277-3
We know this wicket is flat. That's a given. So when a side gets a new ball, they have to make it count. At the moment, England are not giving themselves a chance. Only two slips in place and one gully. They have to have a more attacking field. It beggars belief at the moment. This, coupled with the decision to play four bowlers, is a damning indictment on their intelligence levels.

19.13 WI 276-3
There is a bit of shape with the new ball but it seems to be swinging late, well after going past the batsman. Sidebottom has the cherry, rather surprisingly. But only two slips. Odd.

19.04 WI 269-3
England have not taken the new ball. Bop-ra is bowling. I don't know what's going on

19.00 WI 265-3
England have a new ball due in one over. It should swing for them so it would be reasonable to expect wickets to fall. James Anderson had it on a piece of string last night and England will hope he can reproduce that form. They will be nervous about throwing it to Ryan Sidebottom, though. He has looked innocuous and Stuart Broad may instead be given the nod. Might be worth a dabble on England on the match odds because the likelihood of a wicket has probably quadrupled from before tea.

18.43 WI 265-3 TEA
No surprise to see Chanderpaul and Sarwan still at the crease as the players make their way off for a cake. As expected out have come England and in has come the draw to [5.40] and [1.25] respectively.

18.35 WI 261-3
Pietersen is having a bowl. Every time I see KP bowl I think he should try to do a bit more. He gets turn, even if sometimes his big 'spinner' comes from a bit of a suspect action. He got a few to spit and bounce earlier. His three overs have gone for nine runs so far, which is fair enough. By contrast, Bop-ra has gone at five an over.

18.23 WI 250-3
The Swann or Panesar debate. Captain_S can't wait for England to jettison Panesar for Swann for the Ashes, even if his reasoning is a little wooly. "I'm sick of Full Monty headlines in the papers so Swann gives the headline writers extra ammunition. Say he got a boring 50 we could have "Ugly Swann frustrates Australia." Mmm, I think you're getting confused with ugly ducklings there, pal.

18.13 WI 240-3
Swann is not helping his Ashes aspirations as far as our debate is concerned. He is bowling wide of Chanderpaul, to try to frustrate him. The crowd don't like it. Nor do I. England need to attack. They've got 600 for goodness sake

18.08 WI 240-3
A rather predictable half-ton for Shiv Chanderpaul. Gosh, England need to break this partnership.

18.04 WI 234-3
Bit of desperation for England as Ravi Bop-ra replaces Anderson with the ball. He could get some shape, though, a bit like Nash did for WI. Bop-ra has a rep as a man with a golden arm for Essex.

17.52 WI 229-3
Graeme Swann had a tremendous match in Antigua and he is looking dangerous again. Monty Panesar, however, is more a genuine wicket-taker and has dismissed better batsman than Swann in his career. So it is time for our heated debate. Who should play in the Ashes? Swann or Panesar

17.46 WI 223-3
Just a bit more on Sarwan's restaurant in Canada for you. From the man himself: "After Guyana won the Stanford 20-20, I went over to Toronto to open the restaurant, which I named 'Windies' (and no I wasn't tempted to call it 'Sarwan's'). No doubt, the money I won in the 20-20 will pay for another couple of waitresses! It's basically a sports bar and restaurant. I suppose a little bit like the one Sachin Tendulkar has in Mumbai (Tendulkars), though I've not been there but I've been told about it. I will be asking the guys in the team to donate some of their kit so that I can display cricket memorabilia inside." Lovely stuff

17.37 WI 219-3
Yet another Test century for Sarwan.His third of the series. His 14th in all. Well played. He grew up in the rainforests of Guyana you know. Another interesting fact: he owns a restaurant in Canada. You're welcome.

17.27 WI 214-3
Technically Sarwan has never made a century in back-to-back Tests. I say technically because we had the abandoned Test at North Sound sandwiched between his toms in Jamaica and St John's. Let's hoe that doesn't put the kybosh on him. He has 95.

17.18 WI 204-3
There is a beach at this ground in Barbados. And a pool, too. It appears to be frequented by fat, sweaty Englishmen drinking beer. Now, I don't know about you but I don't like to be surrounded by that ilk when they are fully clothed and in the open air. I shudder to think what is swilling around in that water.

17.07 WI 196-3
We should expect Chanderpaul and Sarwan to push on here. Their partnership is already worth 37 runs. It would not surprise me in the least if they notch another 100-run partnership. The ball is not swinging and a new ball is way off (56 overs bowled). Sarwan is into the 90s, by the way so we should have news of his ton soon. If there are going to be runs, England will drift and the draw will shorten. You can play the market either by laying England or backing the draw. Simple.

16.53 WI 179-3
Has anyone noticed how football never finished at quarter to five anymore? They're still playing around the country. Tut. It's not what it used to be. Of course the big game of the day is Oxford v Torquay, live on Setanta at 17.45. Alas, I will be unable to watch the mighty Yellows (that's Oxford, by the way) in action because I will be blogging for you. However, it is repeated at 02.00 so I shall be staying up well past my bedtime. Please refrain from getting in touch to let me know the score in the big one. You will be black balled.

16.40 WI 164-3
Back after the break. England will be desperate to prise Sarwan and Chanderpaul apart. Remember that these two put on 148 in the second innings at Antigua - a partnership which ultimately cost England victory. West Indies are [1.72] for 400 runs or more which would take them past the follow on. Not that England would probably enforce it.

16.00 WI 163-3 LUNCH
Two wickets in the session for England and they have to be happy with that. They must now break the stellar pair that is Sarwan and Chanderpaul, who have denied them before. Just on that note: why do WI insist on batting Hinds ahead of Chanderpaul? Surely they would be better off getting this pair together as quickly as possible. Anyway, lunch now.

15.53 WI 159-3
Ryan Hinds is out, leg before to that man Swann. Refer it man! Where are you going? He's walking off. Well, it would have hit leg stump and I suppose if they gave Chris Gayle out yesterday, then they would not have overturned that one.

15.48 WI 159-2
Chelsea and Middlesbrough are 1-0 up against Wigan and Liverpool respectively. We are not shy to mention other sports on this forum. As you know I love my stats and I would love to see the correlation between Liverpool's results before Rafa Benitez had a silly beard and after he had a silly little beard. I would suggest they are worse as players have struggled to take the man seriously.

15.37 WI 152-3
Nice loop, drift and spin from Swann. He really is looking comfortable at this level. Move over Panesar. It will be difficult to bring Monty back if Swann keeps performing as well as he has. Don't forget he took five wickets in Antigua and he adds something with bat and in the field.

15.23 WI 143-2
I've worked out what the cricketing equivalent of failing to mark Tim Cahill at a corner is. It's picking only four bowlers on a flat wicket when you absolutely must win after failing to take 20 wickets in the previous game when you had five bowlers. That sounded a bit bitchy didn't it?

15.11 WI 126-2
I see Everton have beaten West Brom 2-0. An unmarked Tim Cahill scored the first goal. I wonder what the cricketing equivalent of failing to mark Cahill at a corner would be? Going out to bat without a pair of gloves perhaps?

14.58 WICKET WI 121-2
Out. It had to be. Devon Smith was hit in line. It could have been going onto miss the off stump but a precedent was set yesterday with the Chris Gayle decision.

14.52 REFERRAL
Devon Smith has referred a leg before decision. Swann hit him in front. Looks out to me.

14.34 WI 113-1
50 for Devon Smith. A surprise that he has scored well considering this is only his fourth half-ton. Mind you, the wicket is so good that maybe my mum could have been raising her bat by now.

14.28 WI 107-1
Only 12 times in their history have West Indies, at home, batted second and had 100 on the board for the loss of only one wicket. That is surprisingly few isn't it? 2003 was the last time they did so - against Australia in ... Barbados. They lost by nine wickets. Previous to that they managed it in 1998, which is irrelevant because it was so long ago. Devon Smith has just punished a short and wide one from Ryan Sidebottom. England have not looked like taking a wicket this morning

14.16 WI 101-1
107-94-106-50. Those are Ramnaresh Sarwan's scores so far against England in this series. So it would be fair to say that he is a thorn in the side. It is the first time he has scored four consecutive half-centuries in Tests. twice before he has managed three in a row.

14.05 WI 93-1
Just the two slips for England as Stuart Broad takes the first over. England will be aware that Sarwan and Smith will be starting all over again. Having said that, Sarwan has just creamed Broad through the covers.

14.00 WI 85-1
Good afternoon and welcome to betting.betfair's coverage of the fourth Test between West Indies and England from Barbados. Lots of work for England today. Even more for West Indies, who trail by a whopping 515. England are [2.52], the draw is [1.69] and West Indies are a forgettable [40.00].

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