Saturday 18 April 2015 00:55, UK
So England couldn’t quite get back to winning ways with a drawn first Test against the West Indies in Antigua. There are plenty of positives for both sides to take into the second Test in Grenada but also the odd concern.
Here’s what we learned from England’s return to Test cricket…
Once England’s biggest strength, the top order has been an obvious weakness ever since the retirement of Andrew Strauss in 2012. Alastair Cook’s form has gone missing since his last Test hundred in May 2013, while Jonathan Trott – missing since leaving the Ashes tour of 2013/14 with a stress-related illness – looked desperately out of sorts on his return to Test cricket. Both fell cheaply in both innings, poking and prodding at the ball with some dodgy footwork. The top three were under scrutiny in fact until Gary Ballance’s brilliant 122 in the second innings reminded everyone of his class after his 10 from 46 balls in the first had many concerned that England’s top order is too one-dimensional.
Ben Stokes was wicketless with the ball thanks largely to a no-ball that cost him the first-innings scalp of Jermaine Blackwood and sparked a little Twitter rant from the Durham all-rounder. But his bowling was hostile and quick in spells and his batting was at its blistering best with 95-ball 79 in the first innings, that deserved a hundred. Chris Jordan too had a good game, with two wickets, two incredible catches, and a couple of cameos with the bat. Plus, there’s Moeen Ali to return, Adil Rashid in the squad, and Chris Woakes in reserve for the summer. Imagine a potential England lower order from six to 11 of Moeen, Stokes, Buttler, Rashid, Jordan, Anderson. Unlikely, but it beats Andy Caddick, Alan Mullally, Phil Tufnell, Ed Giddins.
Have the West Indies uncovered a true gem in their middle-order in Jermain Blackwood? Honestly, it’s hard to tell. While Blackwood was terrific in reaching his maiden Test hundred with a score of 112no in the West Indies first innings, it was full of baffling displays of shot selection and strokes of luck. But it was also full of character, with the occasional loose shot belying the grit displayed when standing up to a testing spell of short-pitched from Stuart Broad in particular, before lunch on day three. Speaking of character, Jason Holder showed a shed load of it as he hit his maiden first-class century to help West Indies hold on for the draw. These two should be entertaining the Caribbean crowds for a long time to come.
Joe Root twice saved England’s blushes after early collapses to 34-3 and 52-3 in the face of some outstanding opening spells of quick swing bowling from Jerome Taylor. With knocks of 83 and 59 respectively – and in quick time too – he provided the perfect counterpunch rather than retreating into his shell like some England batsmen when faced with such adversity. It was the kind of steely, determined and counter-attacking innings we’ve grown to expect from him in England’s middle-order. Plus, two wickets in a more than handy few spells with the ball in the West Indies second innings adds further to England’s ammunition with the ball.
It wasn’t a vintage performance from Anderson, with match figures of 4-139. He struggled to swing the ball for extended spells and was outclassed with the new ball in particular by his West Indies counterpart, Jerome Taylor. But he still bowled a couple of crackers in the Test, to dismiss Devon Smith in the first innings with one that pitched outside leg and moved away from the left-hander, taking his edge. Plus his dismissal of Denesh Ramdin in the second innings was another beautiful delivery and more importantly it saw him pass Sir Ian Botham as England’s leading Test wicket-taker. So that’s at least one less thing to worry about as we head to Grenada.
Special mentions for Ian Bell – who scored a magnificent first innings hundred – and James Tredwell who bowled beautifully, particularly in the first innings, with figures of 4-47. But Bell’s classy knock is the kind we’ve grown accustom to from him in Test whites over the years and taught us nothing we didn’t already know. Sadly for Tredwell, his performance is still likely to see his Test career halted as abruptly as it was after his debut in Bangladesh five years ago, with Moeen re-joining the squad for the remainder of the series.
