Day/night cricket arrived in England to much fanfare but England won so easily we learnt nothing new. England batted first on a good pitch, West Indies bowling, fielding and tactics were appalling, the massive first innings seemed inevitable. With a mammoth from Cook and a ton from Root it was almost predictable. Although Malan made his first half century we learnt nothing new about the batsmen. We know this West Indies side is not in the same school as the great teams let alone the same class but the display on day one was inexcusable. A fit Shannon Gabriel might have made a difference to the duration of England's innings if not the overall result. Kemar Roach was the only seamer who can walk tall. Former West Indian fast bowlers sitting in the commentary boxes were seathing.
West Indies' response to 514-8d was to lose twenty wickets for 305 runs, they didn't even pass the follow on target. Since the great days the majority of West Indian batsmen try to play like the greats; Haynes, Greenidge, Lloyd, Richards, Lara, Sobers, the simple fact is the modern generation of Carribbean batsmen aren't anywhere near as good as those players nor a dozen more I could list. They have to learn to play proper cricket before they can blaze away like the greats. Most of the West Indies' home wickets are slow and dead these days, nothing like the fast bouncy pitches of the past which can't have helped. The wickets were shared around England's bowlers but predictably Anderson and Broad picked up half of the twenty up for grabs. England won easily in three days by and innings and 209 runs, Alastair Cook was man of the match for his 243.
The must frustrating thing for West Indian fans and indeed all cricket fans, is things could easily be different. It is said the Carribbean groundsmen are encouraged to make pitches that last five days so the local economy can eke out every last tourist dollar. There are a great many West Indian cricketers who, for a variety of reasons, are not available or unselected. As far as I know the Bravo brothers, Samuels, Gayle, Sammy, Narine and many others are still playing cricket. Even the veteran Chanderpaul is been scoring runs for Lancashire in recent times. When will the West Indies board and players sit down and do whats right for cricket?
It was a good idea to try pink ball cricket in England, it has pulled the crowds in Birmingham and I'm sure it will do elsewhere. It is also good that England have had a taster ahead of this winter when we will play an Ashes match under lights in Adelaide. Unfortunately the game wasn't competitive enough for the players to gain much experience but its better than nothing.
The second test starts at the end of the week and you'd expect an unchanged side and another comfortable England win, no matter how WI perform. Should that be the case then why not leave out a handful of test regulars from the last test and try a few new faces?
West Indies' response to 514-8d was to lose twenty wickets for 305 runs, they didn't even pass the follow on target. Since the great days the majority of West Indian batsmen try to play like the greats; Haynes, Greenidge, Lloyd, Richards, Lara, Sobers, the simple fact is the modern generation of Carribbean batsmen aren't anywhere near as good as those players nor a dozen more I could list. They have to learn to play proper cricket before they can blaze away like the greats. Most of the West Indies' home wickets are slow and dead these days, nothing like the fast bouncy pitches of the past which can't have helped. The wickets were shared around England's bowlers but predictably Anderson and Broad picked up half of the twenty up for grabs. England won easily in three days by and innings and 209 runs, Alastair Cook was man of the match for his 243.
The must frustrating thing for West Indian fans and indeed all cricket fans, is things could easily be different. It is said the Carribbean groundsmen are encouraged to make pitches that last five days so the local economy can eke out every last tourist dollar. There are a great many West Indian cricketers who, for a variety of reasons, are not available or unselected. As far as I know the Bravo brothers, Samuels, Gayle, Sammy, Narine and many others are still playing cricket. Even the veteran Chanderpaul is been scoring runs for Lancashire in recent times. When will the West Indies board and players sit down and do whats right for cricket?
It was a good idea to try pink ball cricket in England, it has pulled the crowds in Birmingham and I'm sure it will do elsewhere. It is also good that England have had a taster ahead of this winter when we will play an Ashes match under lights in Adelaide. Unfortunately the game wasn't competitive enough for the players to gain much experience but its better than nothing.
The second test starts at the end of the week and you'd expect an unchanged side and another comfortable England win, no matter how WI perform. Should that be the case then why not leave out a handful of test regulars from the last test and try a few new faces?
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