by John Wisden
The most significant innings of the match, and indeed of the series, came from Strauss, who admitted to having removed a “monkey from my back” in recording his first Test hundred since the start of the 2010-11 Ashes, 18 months and 26 innings earlier. After leading his side to four Test defeats out of five in the winter, and turning 35 in March, he recognised the need to silence those who doubted his continued stomach for the role, even if he was still some way from any votes of no-confidence within his team.
Strauss’s home ground – the venue of his century on debut against New Zealand in 2004, and of his most recent hundred on home soil, against Australia in 2009 – was the perfect place to staunch such anxieties. Run-scoring was rarely straightforward against an attack featuring not only Roach but the powerful Shannon Gabriel, who picked up four wickets on debut (followed by a back injury). On 95, Strauss was dropped at slip off a no-ball from Fidel Edwards. But a cathartic cut through backward point off Sammy settled the issue.
From 259 for three overnight, England fell away slightly on the third day as West Indies settled into a disciplined off-stump line – although Bairstow’s working-over on Test debut by Roach was immediately noted by video analysts everywhere. But an unruffled 61 from Bell, and Swann’s carefree 30 in 25 balls, massaged the lead past 150, and the loss of three West Indian wickets for no runs in nine deliveries immediately before tea reasserted the imbalance.
Strauss was eventually pipped to the match award by Broad, whose haul was the best by any bowler at Lord’s since Botham claimed 11 for 140 against New Zealand in 1978. It was, by his admission, a less-than-perfect performance: he was guilty of over-pitching in his early overs, before hauling his length back to cramp West Indies on the drive. But by the end of the first innings he was back in his element, scalping six wickets in his last 50 balls – he claimed the sixth with the first delivery of the second morning – for a Test-best seven for 72.
Despite chasing the game throughout, West Indies found the will to dig in after learning that no tickets had been printed for the fifth day of the match; no one had told them this was standard marketing policy. Trott fell early to Roach on the final morning and, when Pietersen bottom-edged a pull off Gabriel, West Indies were briefly dreaming. Cook’s resolve and Bell’s elegance soon woke them up.
Man of the Match: S. C. J. Broad. Attendance: 108,842.
Anderson 25–8–59–2; Broad 24.5–6–72–7; Bresnan 20–7–39–0; Swann 18–6–52–0; Trott 2–0–7–0. Second innings—Anderson 36–11–67–1; Broad 34–6–93–4; Bresnan 36–11–105–1; Swann 18.5–4–59–3; Trott 6–0–14–0.
F. H. Edwards 25–1–88–1; Roach 25–3–108–3; Gabriel 21.3–2–60–3; Sammy 28–1–92–2; Samuels 14–3–38–1. Second innings—F. H. Edwards 8–0–24–0; Roach 13–2–60–3; Gabriel 5–1–26–1; Sammy 10–1–25–1; Samuels 10.1–0–51–0.
Umpires: Aleem Dar and M. Erasmus. Third umpire: Asad Rauf.
ENGLAND v WEST INDIES
Second Investec Test
JAMES COYNE
At Nottingham, May 25–28. England won by nine wickets. Toss: West Indies.
West Indies came to Nottingham, where they had never lost any of their 22 first-class games – and suffered a few more stinging blows to their regeneration project. The headless rabble that emerged from Caribbean cricket’s crumbling empire had at last been succeeded by a united, workaday team fighting for the badge. Unfortunately, they were also fighting against their own limitations: you don’t win too many Test matches from positions of 63 for four in the first innings, or 61 for six in the second. The contest between England’s four leading bowlers and West Indies’ top four batsmen looked like one of the most uneven in Test history.
Following his tenth defeat in 21 Tests as West Indies coach, Ottis Gibson said he had noticed as many mental as technical flaws in his top order. The task of facing Anderson, Broad and Bresnan with their juices flowing would have been taxing for batsmen of experience; for the tourists’ callow line-up, it was thoroughly disorientating. There was, of course, no guarantee that Chris Gayle’s approach would have served West Indies better. But onlookers could not help wondering what he might have done on the first morning, when they batted in the most amicable conditions imaginable, or on the third evening, when a few crisp blows might have sped them past their first-innings deficit. Instead, a crude collection of swipes and prods left England with only 108 to chase for their record seventh consecutive Test series victory at home.
Trent Bridge was a blissful sight, filled for the first two days by a near-capacity crowd enticed by glorious sunshine and tickets £10 cheaper than the previous year’s Test against India. This beautiful ground will never be the same again: over the 2012-13 winter, the old scoreboard (the first in England to display precise bowling figures upon its completion in 1974) was knocked down to accommodate a second permanent electronic screen, in line with ICC recommendations.
Anderson had a hand in all four early wickets, just one hand in the case of Barath, whose flashing edge lodged in his outstretched left palm at third slip. Even as West Indies were being dismantled, it was clear what a good toss this should have been to win: the ball was doing so little for Anderson that he simply abandoned the outswinger and became a seam bowler for the day.
Bravo drove at Anderson’s first ball from round the wicket, to his cost; Chanderpaul was more fortunate when the next, a well-aimed bouncer, brushed his armguard and whirled safely over the cordon. Four decisions made by Asad Rauf in this match were overturned by technology. The second could easily have killed the contest: Chanderpaul had scuttled to within four of a third successive fifty when he propped forward to Swann and was clipped on the back pad. England’s review showed the ball crashing into off stump, and Swann’s first Test wicket on his county ground, after 24.2 fruitless overs in three matches, was the world’s No. 1 batsman.
At 136 for six, Gibson’s critics were sharpening their cleavers. They reckoned without Samuels, now a 31-year-old father of two – and on the brink of fulfilment. His habit of shuffling across his stumps encouraged England to bowl straight, but he played the ball late with a feather’s touch, unlike the youngsters before him. He shared some delicious verbal jousting with Anderson, who grew frustrated with both batsman and pitch for yielding nothing. “I haven’t found too many bowlers who can bowl and talk,” said Samuels later. “I can bat and talk all day.” But the fact that it had taken this talent nearly 12 years and 70 innings to achieve three Test hundreds did not reflect well upon him or West Indies cricket.
Sammy diced his way to a century, only his second at first-class level, without quashing the suspicion that he was a one-day cricketer in charge of a Test side; one heave across the line against Trott would have shamed Welbeck Colliery’s No. 8. But with a keen eye and strapping forearms, he sent length balls thudding into the boundary boards and kept his team in the match. When Sammy eventually fell to the leg-side trap on the second morning, he and Samuels had put on 204, a seventh-wicket record in Tests on this ground, and for West Indies against England anywhere.
Many blithely assumed that, if West Indies could score 370, England might make 730. It was not that simple. Twice in Roach’s opening spell, Cook nicked deliveries slanted across him, only to be saved by no-balls. His continuing uncertainty outside off stump soon drew him to edge Rampaul, who was conjuring more conventional swing than anyone after missing out at Lord’s with a stiff neck. But Shillingford, added to the side to bowl long, tidy spells of off-spin, was thwarted by batsmen eager to sweep away nasty memories of Saeed Ajmal in the desert, and started pushing the ball through too quickly.
Strauss had cast off his burden with a drought-breaking 122 at Lord’s, and was now climbing into cover-drives as in the glory years. He had passed three figures by the close, only the second instance of opposing Test captains reaching centuries on the same day, after Jackie McGlew, of South Africa, and Peter May at Old Trafford in 1955. It was Strauss’s sixth against West Indies and 21st overa
ll, yet he still had an unwanted reputation to shift: morning-after syndrome. Six times Strauss had slept on a hundred, and never added more than six runs the next day. This time he managed another 39, but it took him nearly three hours, with two sweepers posted on the off side to shackle him. It didn’t help that he had lost Trott, the rampaging Pietersen and Bell – all when set, all lbw playing across their front pad.
Reinvigorated by the second new ball, Roach unleashed an exhilarating barrage at Bairstow, clearly exposing a weakness against fast, short-pitched bowling of which he had seen little in county cricket. West Indies looked more focused in the field than for many a tour to England, and scooped up the last eight wickets for 161.
But honest professionalism and smart bowling plans could not alter the cold reality: to beat good sides you must win the big sessions. West Indies’ recent second-innings performances did not inspire confidence and, when the damage came on the third evening, it felt irreparable – even with Samuels in such sumptuous form. As Kirk Edwards was back at the hotel with flu, Chanderpaul was forced up to No. 4 and out of his comfort zone. He should have known better than to hook Broad’s lifter; had the ball been ten overs softer, though, his top edge would probably have landed tamely in no-man’s land rather than down fine leg’s throat.
At Lord’s, Bresnan’s inclusion had caused some debate. That looked bewildering now. It was he who had stretched out England’s lead and, when it mattered most, he was their canniest bowler, hiding the seam from view and finding reverse swing, apparently from nowhere. Edwards, a quick mover neither to or at the crease, was obliged to trudge out to face Bresnan at 61 for five with eight balls of the third day to see out. No one, least of all Edwards himself, thought he would get that far; two excruciating writhes later, he was crawling back to his bed, poorly, crestfallen and with a first-class tour average of 2.85. For West Indies, so long the sick man of world cricket, the path to full recovery looked steep.
Man of the Match: T. T. Bresnan. Attendance: 51,921.
Anderson 30–12–73–2; Broad 27–4–81–2; Bresnan 27–4–104–4; Swann 20.2–4–62–2; Trott 5–0–24–0. Second innings—Anderson 20.1–6–43–4; Broad 17–5–58–1; Swann 6–1–24–1; Bresnan 17–5–37–4.
Roach 25–1–90–2; Rampaul 32–8–75–3; Sammy 34–3–120–2; Shillingford 26–4–110–1; Samuels 6.4–2–14–2. Second innings—Roach 5–2–16–0; Rampaul 6–2–12–0; Sammy 6–0–32–0; Samuels 5.4–0–18–1; Shillingford 8–1–28–0.
Umpires: Aleem Dar and Asad Rauf. Third umpire: M. Erasmus.
ENGLAND v WEST INDIES
Third Investec Test
JULIAN GUYER
At Birmingham, June 7–11. Drawn. Toss: England. Test debuts: A. B. Fudadin, S. P. Narine.
For a while it seemed the only history this match would make was of the meteorological variety: not since 1964, and Australia’s visit to Lord’s, had the first two days of a Test in England been washed out. But on the fourth morning, with the game going nowhere, came an unexpected Sunday best – or rather Tino Best, who rescued the match from watery obscurity with an astounding innings of 95, the highest by a Test No. 11.
All series, the talk had been of West Indies missing some illustrious names. Now, they shuffled their existing pack: Sunil Narine – finally part of the tour after helping Kolkata Knight Riders win the IPL – and Assad Fudadin were handed Test debuts, and Deonarine and Best drafted in; Kirk Edwards and Shillingford were dropped, while Roach had been ruled out of the rest of the tour with a shin injury, and Chanderpaul was said to have suffered a side strain. But none performed half as entertainingly as Best. His innings – part of a West Indies record last-wicket stand of 143 with Ramdin – was also used as evidence that England had erred in resting both Anderson, left out of the squad entirely, and Broad, omitted shortly before play eventually started on the third day.
Neither was thrilled by the decision, though it had been defended with some passion by team director Andy Flower, and created room for the recall of Finn and Onions, playing his first Test since January 2010 after recovering from a career-threatening back injury. But after Strauss won the toss, England were soon missing Anderson, if not necessarily for his bowling. Barath had made only four when he edged Onions to Bell at third slip, Anderson’s regular haunt between overs: down went the chance. Then, in the second over after lunch, Bell dropped Barath, on 40, in the same position, this time off Finn.
Onions quickly took Bell out of the equation, trapping Barath leg-before in the next over. England’s seamers – headed by Bresnan, soon to surrender his record of winning every Test he had played – belatedly located a better length and began to chip away at the batting. But as at Trent Bridge, Samuels responded well to the bowlers’ chatter and completed an elegant fifty by striking Swann for six and four off successive balls, then pointed his bat at Onions in recognition of their ongoing joust. He eventually fell to Bresnan for 76, and the end of the innings appeared nigh when Rampaul was caught behind off the third ball next morning.
But Best promptly cracked Finn through mid-off for four, then held the pose, paving the way for an unreal session in which he drove England to distraction and the ball to the fence in equal measure. Relatively unnoticed at the other end was Ramdin, who had 63 when Best came in, was dropped on 69 by Pietersen in the gully off Finn, and completed a wicketkeeper’s hundred, full of cuts and deflections. It was his second in Tests, both against England – and was immediately overshadowed when he produced a piece of paper from his pocket bearing the scrawl: “YEA VIV, TALK NAH”.
That followed criticism from Viv Richards during the Second Test, when he had described Ramdin as looking “totally lost”. Given that Richards still seemed in the physical shape of his playing days, Ramdin could hardly be said to have chosen a soft target. Unimpressed by his bravado, the ICC fined him 20% of his match fee.
Meanwhile, boundaries flowed from Best: Bresnan was upper-cut for four and driven for a six. England’s hope was that, like the Australians here in 2005, the closer Best got to an improbable target, the more nervous he would become. So it proved: on 95, he slashed at a wide, slower ball from Onions, and Strauss ran back from the slips to hold on. The manner in which he threw the ball away told of Strauss’s frustration, despite equalling the England record of 120 Test catches, shared by Colin Cowdrey and Ian Botham.
Best had faced only 112 balls, cruising past the highest score by a Test No. 11: Zaheer Khan’s 75 for India against Bangladesh at Dhaka in December 2004. His partnership with Ramdin fell eight short of the tenth-wicket Test record of 151, held jointly by Richard Collinge and Brian Hastings, for New Zealand against Pakistan at Auckland in 1972-73, and Azhar Mahmood and Mushtaq Ahmed, for Pakistan against South Africa at Rawalpindi in 1997-98.
The canny Rampaul quickly removed Cook, before Trott and Strauss – superbly caught by Bravo at first slip off a joyous Best – followed cheaply. At 49 for three, England were in a spot of bother. But Pietersen, in his first innings since announcing his retirement from limited-overs internationals, and Bell batted sublimely, while the only mystery surrounding the Test debut of the feted off-spinner Narine appeared to be why he had failed to live up to the hype. Pietersen looked determined to bring him down to size before, equally unsurprisingly, falling to the less celebrated off-breaks of Samuels.
In the midst of their fluent stand of 137, the umpires twice took the players off for bad light, even though the floodlights were on. At Lord’s, the match had carried on under artificial light when it had been far darker, but that was now forgotten. Umpire Tony Hill lamely justified the decision by saying spectators wouldn’t wish to bat against Best in such conditions, and that his colleague, Kumar Dharmasena, was struggling to see the ball from square leg. On the final day, however, despite a downpour, the officials didn’t call off play until well into the afternoon. To England the series, but to Best imperishable glory.
Man of the Match: T. L. Best. Attendance: 54,620.
Men of the Series:
England – A. J. Strauss; West Indies – M. N. Samuels.
Umpires: H. D. P. K. Dharmasena and A. L. Hill. Third umpire: Aleem Dar.
Series referee: R. S. Mahanama.
THE HIGHEST TEST SCORE BY A No. 11
Oh yeah, Tino!
ALAN TYERS
Tino Best fixes me with an intense, earnest look. “I went out there, and I told myself I’m going to play for Denesh Ramdin to get his century,” he says. “I’m going to play sensibly.”
We glance over at the hotel-room TV, which is playing a DVD of his 95 in the Third Test. Best is aiming an enormous slog at his third ball, and missing. “Well, it was a beautiful miss,” he says. “I think I followed through very well on the shot. Very entertaining for the crowd.”
Best laughs heartily. He laughs and smiles a lot, an animated, straightforward face atop a physique of broad-shouldered, gym-dedicated power. “After I got going, Ramdin told me to express myself. I told him if it’s close enough to me I’m going to lick it.” He chuckles with satisfaction on reviewing a joyous drive on the up through mid-off, complete with a showboating, hold-the-pose flourish for the benefit of the photographers – and the affronted bowler, Steven Finn. His company is as infectious, and as guileless, as his batting.
If part of sport’s delight is watching athletically gifted people do incredible things we could never ourselves achieve in a million years, perhaps the most satisfying cricket fantasies have at least a tiny element of plausibility. OK, you definitely wouldn’t be able to bowl like Tino Best in a Test but, given a bit of luck, you might have a chance of batting like him. For two hours and 18 minutes at Edgbaston, Best was living the dream of every club slogger and village hopeful: he was giving it some porridge in a Test match – and it was coming off.