Live Test Match Blog: England v West Indies, First Test, day two

18.04 WI 36-2
I've had a brilliant email from CSB. "I'm watching this thinking that England have the best bowling attack in the world? They look unplayable. Am I right?" In a word. No. What you are watching is an attack well-versed in exploiting bowler-friendly conditions casuing problems for a batting side who find them completely alien. I am not trying to take anything away from England. They have done their job superbly. But it is all part of the rollercoaster of watching England in Tests. Up one minute down the next. And the undulations are all because of the conditions. People on their sofas will reckon that England are suddenly a force. But when England go away from home on flat and hard surfaces (or to The Oval or historic surfaces at HQ), they will be baffled as to why the bowlers are toothless. In the Caribbean in the Spring this was exactly what happened. That is why a large salt cellar is the best companion when watching England no matter where they are on the planet.

17.44 WICKET WI 22-2
To continue the trend of a wicket every, oh I don't know, 10 seconds, Ramnaresh Sarwan is the latest man to fall. He chopped on for two totake hismatch tally to the grand total of 15. Anderson is the wicket-taker. He has 2-14 so far in this innings. Simmons, he of the technique with more holes than the Newcastle defence, is in. There are still another 28 overs potentially tonight. Interestingly, no-one emailed to say that West Indies would lose only one wicket tonight. Everything was for 2 or more.

17.29 WICKET WI 14-1
Gayle gone again. Anderson has got one to go across him and the big left-hander, rooted in the crease as if he momentarily forgot how to use his legs, just guided a catch to Swann. That rules out only one person in our 'how many wickets will Windies lose tonight comp'. Take a bow, Tom. He went for "no wickets because they will be so focussed, so desperate to concentrate that blood will flow from their ears and we'll have lengthy stoppages with the physios coming on". I thought the reasoning was fantastic. So unlucky.

17.11 WI 0-0
I didn't bother to post to let you know the follow-on had been enforced because I like to think the readers of this blog are not falf wits. James Anderson has the new ball second time around. Well done Strauss. You're learning. Let's play a game. How many wickets will Windies lose tonight? Just email me at the address above. Be quick mind. You can still get [2.00] that this Test will be over before day four begins.

16.59 WI 152
Well done Onions. Five wickets for him. He gets lots of cuddles from his team-mates, not only because of his five-wickets but there was a few concerned faces with West Indies close to that follow-on. Time for a quick cuppa and maybe a fresh shirt or pair of trousers (or something) before they'll be out there again.

16.53 WI 152-9
Frustration for England. Edwards and Baker are showing the batsmen how to do it. The hosts may start to panic shortly. That follow-on target is not far off. Just 26 needed.

16.44 WI 141-9
You can still get [2.00] that this match will finish today or tomorrow. West Indies have to get to 177 to avoid the follow on. It would be a surprise if they got there. England will enforce it although such is the lack of conviction about Andrew Strauss' thinking after his brain surge this morning, that the Sky commentators have discussed it. There are still 38 overs left today.

16.33 WI 132-9
Apologies for my tardyness in reporting another wicket for England but I had to sort out my anti-virus software. That swine flu really is a worry isn't it? Onions got the wicket of Taylor to give him four and he has just had one dropped to deny him his name on the board on debut. In a mo, we'll try to work out when this game will be done with.

16.18 WICKET WI 119-8
Guess what? Embarrassingly inept this from the Windies. Onions picks up his third wicket in the over. England's catching has been rather good, though. Swann held onto that one from Sulieman Benn, who was apparently at the Nursery End listening to music while the collapse was happening so arrived at the crease in something of a tis.

16.15 WICKET WI 117-7
West Indies reach pathetic status. Two wickets in three balls for Onions. Gosh, this Test could well be over by Saturday. Jerome Taylor is the Durham man's second wicket. A gimme. He gloved it down the legside. England [1.13]

16.07 WICKETS WI 117-6
What do I know. Nash has gone. Poor shot from the leftie. Drove loosely at a Swann ball which was only going to move away off the pitch. Collingwood again took a sharp catch at slip. England are [1.31] ... Hang on. Scrub that. WICKET. Graham Onions has picked up his first Test wicket. Simmons gone now. Ha! Knew he was no good. Complete and utter collapse by West Indies. They'll do well to get the follow on here. Ramdin and Jerome Taylor are the new guys

15.54 WI 104-4
Simmons and Nash resume. Not convinced about Simmons. I'm hoping Nash might find a partner in Denesh Ramdin, who is a real battler. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself Simmons is still there at the moment. Nash has just whacked a four. I'm very keen to get with him in some way.I've had a scoot around the markets for you. If you want a bet (Mahavir take note) then you could do worse than back Nash at [3.00] to be top WI bat. Smith is leading the way with 46. Nash is [2.08] to score 50. The latter makes the former value if you see what I mean.

15.38 WI 99-4 TEA
Mahavir has been on the email. Good to hear from you friend. "What do you predict for this Test and at what rate should we back or lay the draw?" Well, with West Indies struggling, and more importantly Chanderpaul back in the hutch, our options have been limited. The Chanderpaul-Nash axis had potential to frustrate England and create value but that will not happen this time around. England at [1.41] are plenty short enough and ordinarily you could make a case for a lay because a couple of batsmen should be capable of hanging around. But remember what we said earlier about unhappy dressing rooms and batting collapses? At the moment we are relying on the Windies to produce some value. I wouldn't like to rely on them to give the correct time of day at the moment. Meanwhile, the weather for the next few days is pretty good. Only light rain is forecast for Sunday.

15.29 WICKET WI 99-4
Two in two balls as Swann claims the biggest wicket of them all. Shiv Chanderpaul. It was a lovely delivery. Chanderpaul drove flat-footed at one that spun sharply from the block hole and Collingwood held onto the edge nicely. Our fears about West Indies getting up to 300 looked justified, particularly as their stellar man for such conditions has gone. Brendan Nash is the new man. He is not a bad replacement because he will thrive in this backs-to-the-wall situation.

15.26 WICKET WI 99-3
Smith's old failings have returned to haunt him. He has played down the wrong line against Graeme Swann, losing concentration in horrible fashion. He made 46. It is the fourth time Swann has removed Smith this year. England as short as [1.61] now.

15.12 WI 94-2
Let's have a look at this West Indies first-innings runs market then. Here are some stats. Since 2000 West Indies average 317 in their first-innings abroad. To be more specific, when they have been two down for 70 runs or less on the board, they have gone on to average 229. With such knowledge the lay at [1.69] for West Indies to score 300 or more is tempting. Devon Smith, though is looking solid. The caveat is that Smith, who has 43, has passed 50 only five times in 52 innings and Simmons has those technical problems that we spoke about earlier. Mmmm. It's a poser that's for sure. James Anderson is bowling nicely, too.

15.01 WI 76-2
Here's a conundrum. Lendl Simmons is West Indies' top runscorer on this tour with 173 runs in five innings. But having watched him in the Caribbean, his technique suggested he would be vulnerable to sideways movement. He tends to play to leg when the bat should be straight. Can England expose this fault? Can Onions expose it? He is getting his first bowl now

14.51 WICKET WI 70-2
A big wicket for England. Ramnaresh Sarwan has nibbled one behind to Matt Prior. It's Stuart Broad again. With his blond hair and blue eyes he is proving to be an Arian beauty for England. England's price collapses to [1.87]

14.44 WI 62-1
Bit of drizzle falling. They are playing on for the moment, however. In other news, Rajasthan beat Bangalore and I will sit down shortly to give you a steer on WI's runs market. But first I'm going to have an eclair and a cup of tea.

14.32 WICKET WI 46-1
England needed that. It is Chris Gayle who has chopped on from a Stuart Broad delivery which he didn't get on top of. Broad has been firing them down consistently at 90mph. A surprise? Well, sort of. He has rarely touched those speeds in international cricket but in his early days with Leicestershire he quite regularly bowled at these speeds. England are [2.04].

14.26 WI 43-0
I feel tremendously sorry for any punter who, with good reason, reckoned England were worth backing at [1.90] at the break or laid West Indies' runs. They have been completely put away. The decision by Andrew Strauss to open the bowling with Graeme Swann defied belief. Nor does it reflect well on the English public school system. Radley, clearly, is not what it was. It goes back to our earlier discussions about how with good faith you can identify a value wager but be let down by incopmpetence. This isn't incompetence. It's Strauss not knowing his ABCs. Swann bowling is Plan C. James Anderson bowling is Plan A. He is their best bowler. He is most dangerous in these conditions. He had a new ball. Instead he was given one roughed up thanks to Swann and Broad spraying it around. WI run rate is a whopping 5.7.

14.06 WI 10-0
West Indies' batsmen average the following runs per first-innings in the first Test of a series: 53 Chanderpaul, 39 Gayle, 30 Sarwan. They are the big three as far as the top innings runscorer is concerned. Sarwan's average is not good enough and Gayle is probably still on SA/IPL time. Chanderpaul looks the call at [3.00] then. He has top-scored twice in his last two visits to HQ for West Indies. And he did the same in the Friends Provident Trophy for Durham a couple of years back. Good knowledge that eh? The real value call could be Brendan Nash at [8.00]. He is obdurate and has great powers of concentration. When it is nibbling around, people like Nash come into their own.

14.01 WI 1-0
Ridiculous. Graeme Swann has taken the new ball with Stuart Broad. What did Strauss have for lunch? Bloody angel dust? You've got a new ball in overcast conditions on a wicket which gets easier to bat on. Use it.

13.56 WI 0-0
The big question on everyone's lips is: do you know your Onions? Luckily for you, I do. I've seen quite a bit of this Durham fast bowler. He gets front on, stands up nice and tall and really works through his action, generating his pace by working the left shoulder. He'll hit top 80s but I would be surprised if he manages to fling any down in the 90mph region. You will also spot that he gets pretty close to the stumps, meaning he will be a threat to these two Windies lefties, Chris Gayle and Devon Smith. He'll get the ball to straighten for leg befores. Smith is particularly vulnerable for no other reason that he ain't very good. He averages 25 in Tests and 11 on this tour.

13.44 Eng 377
Six wickets for Edwards. Smashed Onions' stumps with his first ball didn't he? Still, England will be happy with their work. They'll be raring to go with the ball.

WICKET 13.43 Eng 377-9
A breakthrough for Windies immediately after the break. Anderson, unsetteld still after his prang on the bonce, edged one behind off Fidel Edwards. That was Edwards' fifth wicket and he will get his name on the honours board for the first time at HQ. A special moment. Well done him. Good for us watchers, too because the last thing we want is to have to put up with tailenders plodding. This moves the contest along nicely.

13.03 Eng 377-8
England in command. They have drifted from their earlier position at odds on but at [2.02] they are not far off. James Anderson took a nasty blow on the head from Fidel Edwards before getting the single he needed for his 47th innings without falling for a duck - he still holds the world record. Anderson may be feeling a little groggy so there is a possibility he may be looked at in the dressing room for concussion. West Indies do need their heads reading. They had an opportunity this morning with the new ball to bowl out England cheaply but ran in with an alarming lack of vigor.

12.44 Eng 374-8
West Indies really don't look as if they want to be out there. Arms folded, hands in pockets, kicking the turf. If there are problems in a dressing room they always rear their ugly heads in two ways: poor felding and batting collapses. We've had the first one. Of course, the Windies are an unhappy lot most of the time. Since time began they appear to have been in dispute with their board about sponsorship, contracts and anything to do with earnings so perhaps we shouldn't ready too much into it.

WICKET 12.33 Eng 368-8
Bopara gone. He's failed to time a drive on the up and Brendan Nash, who dropped him last night, holds on to give Jerome Taylor the wicket. A fine innings from Bopara, who has put England in a winning position in this game. He made 143.

12.30 Eng 366-7
Who said Twenty20 was better than Test cricket? England's run rate over the last 10 overs is 5.3. In the IPL this morning, Bangalore's run rate is 4.8. Having sung England's praises it is, however, worth noting that you can lay 425 runs or more at [1.90] currently. Sure, Bopara and Swann - who has his maiden Test 50 - are going well but 425 still looks a way off, particularly with only Onions and Anderson to come.

12.11 Eng 347-7
This Bopara-Swann axis has been worth 70 runs so far. A real bonus for England, who played with style this morning. No grit, though. They haven't needed to. West Indies have been woeful and I'm not too sure about their body language. The speed of the pacemen has been down and there are a few glum faces. I wonder whether the late arrival of Chris Gayle has played a part? England, fairly, are now odds on at [1.97].

12.00 Eng 339-7
Just a pointer for you on this IPL: Rajasthan, who have just claimed their second wicket, are as sharp and canny in the field as they have ever been. They are the in-form team at the moment and Shane Watson could be back next week to bolster their batting. As holders they should never be written off but you get the impression that a few tried to do so. They are [3.05] to reach the final and [5.04] to win it.

11.54 Eng 331-7
The state of world cricket has been encapsulated for me in the last minute. I switched over briefly to the IPL game between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore and heard the commentator screech: "In the air! That a DLF maximum!". I immediately turned back to hear a nasal Nasser Hussain offer: "That's edged down to third man."

11.43 Eng 321-7
My rant seems to have worked. We are back on. That break could prove costly to the reputation of the Test game, though. It was pathetic. England could regret it, too. Bopara and Swann have to start again. During the IPL (topical) we have seen how that sort of break disrupts a batsman's concentration with wickets regularly falling after the ten-over strategy break.

11.38 Eng 313-7 BAD LIGHT STOPPED PLAY
I've switched the IPL on instead. Take that Test cricket. Of course I'll be keeping an eye on what is happening at Lord's but how many more out there will be doing the same. What I've done there is personify the action of millions of cricket watchers in the world: they are switching off from Test cricket in favour of the more thrilling Twenty20 version. Tests are a bit like your grandad: stuffy, need time to warm up and averse to too much excitement. Twenty20 is some hot young chick with blonde hair and a figure out of a cartoon. Literally. Look at those dancing girls! They don't come off for bad light in the IPL. Why? Because, rightly or wrongly, it is recognised that sport is no longer sport. It's entertainment. Test cricket is entertainment as well. Look at the corportae boxes which a re sold out at HQ. They don't care about the dusty rules and regs or the spirit of the game. They want to be entertained.

11.28 Eng 313-7 BAD LIGHT STOPPED PLAY
This is what is wrong with Test cricket. Hugely under threat from the upstart Twenty20 and needing all the good publicity it can get, we have players offered the light and taking it. Bonkers. Not just from a 'Test future' argument, either. England have scored 24 runs in five overs this morning. They have been completely dominant. So why go off? It wasn't as if they were struggling to see the ball (see previous stat about the runs they've scored). The draw is [2.50]. Now, what time does the first IPL match start?

11.17 Eng 307-7
Our first shot of the Betfair blimp today. I wonder if we could arrange for me to blog live from the blimp for a day? Okay, it doesn't look big enough for me to do so in comfort but surely they could tag on some sort of gantry? Probably too expensive. Indeed, I'd imagine hiring a blimp could itself be quite costly, particularly when you fasten a TV camera to it. Why not just hire Fern Britton for the day, stick her in a Betfair t-shirt and give her a camera? The principle is the same. She would still be a Betfair blimp. England's score has rattled along thanks to consecutive fours from Graeme Swann off Fidel Edwards

11.06 Eng 295-7
New ball taken. I had almost choked on my cornflakes when Sulieman Benn was given the first over with the old ball, reckoning Chris Gayle was up to his old tricks again. But no fear, it was merely to ensure Fidel Edwards got the end he wanted with the red cherry.

11.00 Eng 289-7
Morning all. I am back in front of the telly to bring you all the market moves from the first Test at HQ. Having slept on it, I am sure West Indies are going to mop up pretty quickly this morning. Remember, they've got a new ball and both Ravi Bopara and Graeme Swann start afresh. Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor, the two quicks, should be well rested, too. Windies are [5.00]. England are [2.74] and the draw is [2.86].