Cow Corner Blog

England swing the mood

Mon May 18 03:23PM

There is one word which leaves a West Indies touring party sweating more than Ian Austin after drilling two Dhansaks during a lunch interval: swing.

England required a further seven wickets on the final day of the second Test at the Riverside, and even two bouts of rain could not prevent their serene progress.

While Shivnarine Chanderpaul was busy surpassing Sir Viv Richards's run aggregate from 120 Tests with a typically gritty 47, the proverbial floodgates were left gaping wide open at the other.

It would be wrong to patronise an inexperienced West Indies side, so let us face facts and say they were an inept and insipid group, led by a captain with all the inspirational qualities of an ECB press release.

England may not possess a Richard Hadlee or Geoff Thompson, but they do have Tim Bresnan and James Anderson.

Bresnan, despite looking like a club cricketer with his bustling, gut-hanging-out, approach to the wicket, bowled with accuracy and conviction as he took his first two Test dismissals.

Brendan Nash and Denesh Ramdin may not be international scalps that earn the Yorkshireman complimentary trips on the Sheffield Supertram, but his confidence clearly soared after breaking his duck.

Bresnan's ability at the top level was questioned, but so too was Saj Mahmood's, until he proved his critics right. The former's consistency may give him an extended run.

Meanwhile, Paul Collingwood went through his full repertoire of impersonations behind the stumps.

First up was the Matt Prior tribute: a casual fumble down the leg side with a broad grin to follow, cursing his luck, his gloves and the prodigious swing from Anderson.

Then the Geraint Jones: an exaggerated Hollywood dive to a leg side delivery from Bresnan, which raced away to the boundary, with a cursory hands-on-hips pose and a look to see if the coach was on the toilet or the balcony.

But when not adopting the role of jester, Collingwood produced a valiant performance in an unfamiliar role, the highlight being his catch to dismiss Chanderpaul off the bowling of Anderson.

When not continuing his blood feud with Fidel Edwards, Anderson was leaving West Indies bewildered with his accuracy and guile with the ball in his hand.

As the ECB officials gleefully accept the plaudits of a series victory from npower girls and corporate Pimms quaffers, Giles Clarke et al should contemplate why two distinguished venues - Old Trafford and Trent Bridge - were not involved in the summer schedule.

A final mention should go to the Mondeo Boys: Ravi Bopara - who was given the accolade of man-of-the-series - and Alastair Cook, who each averaged over 100 in the series, with the former cementing his place at number three.

Adept swing bowling was largely responsible for England's 2005 Ashes triumph, and that will need to be replicated, as the days are counted down until July 8 with the anticipation of Ian Blackwell arriving at a Wurzels gig.

Rarely have so many people been so desperate to be on their way to Cardiff: but unlike the present tourists, you get the sense that the Australians will be equally delighted to be there.

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SHOT OF THE DAY: With Edwards hiding from Anderson at the non-striker's end, the diminutive tail-ender swotted a short ball from Bresnan away for four with the dismissive air of a batsman to whom the pull shot was his bread and butter. He was then out two balls later, to the same shot.

USER COMMENT OF THE DAY: Apart from fulfilling their obligation to replenish the­ bare coffers of the West Indies cricket board, it amazes and stuns­ me how some of the players can be representatives of West­ Indian cricket. The poor excuses apart (overcast conditions, cold­ winds etc), their display has­ been worse than mediocre. I guess in this day and age it­ is only a job that pays the bills, but where does that leave­ the pride of representing West Indian cricket. From a­ very disgruntled Guyanese (Herbert Stewart).

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