Defeated England out of ideas

Not many people would have expected England's habitually fragile batting line-up to reel off three totals easily in excess of 500; nor the West Indies, having dramatically snatched an early lead, to hold out for another three Test matches and secure a long-awaited series victory. But however surprising the result, a series which featured the odd moment of high drama among much turgid cricket confirmed rather than altered most well-held opinions. West Indies are still a mediocre side, although the excessively flat pitches played to their core batting strength, and capitalised on England's glaring deficiencies.

England possess not one seam bowler who can stride back to his mark all day with the captain's full confidence. The old guard - Flintoff, Harmison, even Sidebottom - all look finished in one sense or another. James Anderson and Stuart Broad both remain on the cusp of genuine utility as Test bowlers, although together they are a serviceable new ball pair, sorely lacking the support of an enforcer, which only Flintoff at full cry - an increasingly distant prospect - is capable of being amongst the present field. In desperation, England gave a debut to Amjad Khan, who brought no-balls aplenty, and more fire in words than deeds. As England cry out for a bowler who can bring express pace or steepling bounce, old Duncan Fletcher nostrums ring loud in the distance. Those who scoffed at his inflexibility in bowling selections, his insistence on ability and potential over domestic performance, may choke now. Look no further than Ryan Sidebottom, the darling of the Peter Moores regime, the anti-Fletcher. England had one good year from him, and in return have carried all winter a battered wreck of a bowler.

And as they finally look to have given up on long-lost causes, Steve Harmison prominent among them, England look around to find no-one ready to graduate to the highest level; somehow the prospects who should have taken flight in the two years since the last Ashes remain rooted to the ground. Where now Tremlett, Plunkett, Mahmood, Onions? Injured, discarded or ignored. Anything but cultivated. And now England are scrabbling on their knees, desperately trying to salvage the scraps of a generation they let slip through their fingers.

England now head into the limited overs segment of the tour with a captain who will don the blue kit by sole dint of the pips on his shoulder, and an acting coach who may or may not soon be permanently appointed to the post. Andy Flower is a demonstrably capable man of cricket, but his links with past regimes and the evidence of the current tour should be enough for the ECB to rule out his candidacy. A new voice is badly needed, a forced re-evaluation of common approach and attitude. The sort of cosy axis Strauss and Flower have apparently formed is ideal in prosperous times, but England in their current state require something more like shock treatment. No matter that there is little time before this summer's Ashes for a new man to make his mark; the resurgence of Ricky Ponting's Australia (that was quick) suggests that ship is well and truly sailing.

Oops I did it again

Collins English Dictionary definition of deja vu: "the experience of perceiving a new situation as if it had occurred before. Sometimes associated with exhaustion or certain types of mental disorder". Sounds about right. New captain, new coach, new series and yet the conclusion is that it went just like those which had occurred before. Exhaustion has long since set in: after all, how long can one muse over the ineffectiveness of the top 3, the inability to take wickets in the middle overs and the utter hopelessness of the death bowling before the mental disorder sets in?

Today's performance by England was like pudding in a posh restaurant. A little bit of everything just to see what it tastes like. And within 94.2 overs, they managed to provide micro-examples of the major problems they face as a one-day team. Just one wicket (a gift) by the 20 over mark and a healthy run-rate of almost 5 by West Indies. Worse, after that same period had elapsed again, the batting team was only 3 down, even though overs 30-40 had yielded just 37 runs. Perhaps now over 100 has been milked from the last 10 overs for two consecutive games, England might come to realise that simply starving off runs in the middle overs is a false economy. It might help if England had any pace bowlers proficient at bowling towards the end of the innings. Talented as today's trio no-doubt are, they do not posses the necessary attributes to prosper at the "death". None are slingy bowlers, like Darren Gough, with a good yorker and from whom a bouncer can be awkward; neither are they big intimidating men like Andrew Flintoff, bustling in and hitting pitch and bat hard, with an excellent toe-crusher to boot. Reverse swing, of which the two above have been amongst the best of England's practitioners, is another crucial factor; England's current crop, Sajid Mahmood excepted, seem unable to produce it, and indeed it has faded from their plans since it was sliced bread and all that in 2005. And last but never to be forgotten, our old friend extras; before play, Allan Donald mentioned that England's "bowling captain" James Anderson had nominated 5 as the maximum acceptable. What he meant to say of course, was 5 squared, in which case today's total of 24 (9 wides, 4 no-balls) is totally acceptable.

When chasing a big total such as 290, common knowledge suggests a good start is essential. We'll forgive Matt Prior, who was meant to be getting on with it anyway. But for Alistair Cook to get another start and get out when the anchor role was needed from him was, well pretty idiotic, especially from a man who has rarely seemed flustered in his England career to date. England's two victories against West Indies in the two ICC organised one-day events last winter were both won chasing totals in excess of what they had to reach today. The common thread was Pietersen, who scored roughly 1/3 of England's runs in those two games combined. But after he had an easy time of it in the Test series, he has been royally stuffed in his supposedly better form of the game, slotting in between Broad and Anderson in the series batting averages. In truth, West Indies have bowled excellently to him, exposing a weakness against a short ball to quick for him to play off the front-foot. Daren Powell's salutation today flew harmlessly over the keeper's head for byes, but like Curtley Ambrose at Edgbaston in 1995, it was merely the harbinger of English sorrow, as Pietersen went hard at the next and edged to slip.

Much of England's play this series has been decidedly repetitive; an affliction in most cases, it was a boon to Owais Shah, who has grabbed a lifeline to an international career sinking fast after he copped out on his Test recall in May. His third consecutive score (fourth if you count the 20-20 games) gives credence to the belief, held by some for many years but latterly in danger of never being fulfilled, that he could become a fixture in England's middle order. He alone has made runs (due to his fidgety nature one could never say of him that he looks comfortable), and with some considerable style. It's stretching a point, but with Andrew Strauss chalking up successive second ball blobs for his county in the 20-20, Shah may find himself back in the Test side, unless his Middlesex-fellow can find form in the limited 4-day cricket available to him before the Indian series begins.

Shah once again finished without a really big score to his name, but with the rate mounting he can hardly be blamed. The last two games have followed a pattern illuminating about how batting in one-day cricket should be approached. Scenario: West Indies lose just 3 wickets in first 40 overs; result: they get over 100 in the last 10 overs. Scenario: England lose 3 wickets in the first 12 overs; result: you know the rest. Both those have happened twice, in the last two games as it happens. A no shit Sherlock conclusion to be drawn.

So, can't bat, can't bowl. Can they field Martin Johnson? Dropping equal top-scorer Chris Gayle twice suggests maybe not. In contrast, West Indies have been exemplary in the field, their general sparkiness pervading the previously doleful batting and bowling. The batsmen even did their job with just a 30 from Chanderpaul to help them on their way. The bowling has been in stark contrast to England's; Ravi Rampaul has looked extremely useful; Daren Powell a man reborn after a patchwork-quilt of a Test series. The revelation has been Edwards; extreme pace has finally been joined by accuracy and gumption. A man who can force Pietersen onto the back foot, in real and metaphoric terms, is some bowler. Consistency over a number of series must come before he can be talked about with the world's best, but Edwards is a rising star, one badly needed not only by West Indies but world cricket, crying out for top-drawer quicks to capture the imagination. West Indies are certainly on the way to becoming a one-day side competitive with the top nations, of whom it goes without saying England are not included in, but just like England in the Test series, celebration should be tinged with the realisation that the opposition was substandard.

England's captain Paul Collingwood predicts a "bright" future for his young team. And maybe he's not a long long tunnel away from the truth. Throw Trescothick, Flintoff, Bopara and Jones into the team and maybe things start to look up. But that's a maybe. For now the only bright thing related to England and ODIs is the glint of silverware in the hands of the opposition. And that's something none of them could claim not to have seen.

The well-worn path

Perhaps predictably, the critics have not had long to wait to get stuck in to England's new one-day setup; indeed one game is not really long enough for the knives to have been properly sharpened, but coach and captain will still find themselves forced to do some explaining in the wake of a considerable defeat to a fast-improving West Indies side. Ryan Sidebottom had fallen ill prior to the first game, and the inclusion of Liam Plunkett, trusted by the management to bat at 8, in his stead permitted the selection of premier spinner Monty Panesar. Sidebottom's recovery meant that the pendulum swung the other way today; having made the statement at Lord's that the left-armer was first choice, the selectors felt compelled to draft him back in. They could not drop Anderson or Broad, the two best bowlers from Saturday, and so axed Plunkett, a decision with the result that Michael Yardy had to usurp Panesar, for the sake of preventing an overlong tail. The bottom line is Panesar should have played: however, the management opted for sentiment by refusing to allow a player to lose his place due to injury and in the resulting self-correction process contrived to lose one of their most important bowlers.

Overcast conditions, with rain a constant threat, allowed the selectors further self-justification; you might not have guessed that England had chosen to bowl, Collingwood finally having won a toss, as Chris Gayle and Devon Smith smote the bowling to all parts. If the opening salvo was unexpected, the demise of both openers was sadly predictable; Smith swished his bat while exercising neither feet nor brain, while Gayle decided one six in an over was insufficient and was held at mid-on. The predictable theme continued with the promotion of Chanderpaul to first drop: to say that West Indies rely on him in the absence of Sarwan and Lara is like remarking that Don Bradman could bat a bit, and he let no-one down as he consolidated the West Indies innings accompanied by Marlon Samuels.

Having shown in the 20-20 games at The Oval that the biggest ground in Britain is nevertheless too small to contain him, Samuels now carries a fearsome reputation to the crease. However, no-doubt coerced by the man at the other end, he opted for caution in the first half of his innings, preserving his wicket on a pitch which was not the easiest to score runs on and made 220 look a defensible total. As the run-rate stalled mid-innings, England were lulled and the slower bowlers rattled through their overs, Mascarenhas being particularly impressive and always ensuring he stayed a step ahead of the batsman with his clever changes of pace, making him harder to hit than his sedentary speed would suggest.

But wickets are the key currency in one-day matches and, for all the containment, England allowed Chanderpaul and Samuels to build the largest third wicket stand in an ODI at Edgbaston. Yardy bowled 6 overs, none too expensively, but equally lacking in threat. England missed Panesar as a frontline spinner who would have been a good bet to lure Samuels, especially, into a misjudgement. By the time the middle overs, medium-paced in all senses, were over, West Indies' hydra like line-up had 8 wickets left in hand. England, and Anderson in particular, were made to regret the omission of Panesar and a regulation missed chance in the most unlikely circumstances, by Collingwood off his own bowling, as the previously reticent West Indians blossomed and ripped the English bowling to pieces en route to Chanderpaul's century and a total in excess of 270, about 50 more than England would have reckoned on. After he had waited in line behind Morton and Samuels at Lord's, Chanderpaul rightly went in early today, and lived up to his description by West Indies coach David Moore as the most adaptable batsman in world cricket, unleashing some fearsome cover drives, a speciality, to complement the leg-side cuffs, agricultural, but like his technique, deadly effective. The official "wall" of cricket, Rahul Dravid, will tour later this summer, but even he will struggle to match the feats of Chanderpaul, who has yet to be dismissed in the ODIs, and for whom it would be fitting should he go unbeaten throughout the series to match his unbeaten 1000 minutes in the Tests.

When Peter Moores and Paul Collingwood decided on their opening pairing for this series, it would have appeared obvious to them which roles the two players would assume. While Cook was expected to do his utmost to bat through the innings, it was envisaged that Prior would aim to score as quickly as possible, and take advantage of the power plays. Somewhere, somehow, wires were crossed, and for the second time Cook was first man out, both times to rash shots. It is important that Cook, as a Test match opener, perceived as a slow accumulator, does not go out of his way to try and prove that he does a neat sideline in Adam Gilchrist impersonation. Andrew Strauss has already perished, attempting to replicate the impact England used to get from Marcus Trescothick, and Cook would be well advised to stick to what he knows. Not to say he should not hit the ball when it is there for the taking, and play the shots he does well, but the merits of an aerial drive through a packed cover area were dubious, the misadventure costing him his wicket.

Ian Bell was sold short, both by umpire Brian Jerling, shot out when he was struck outside the line of the off-stump by a ball sailing over the stumps, and in all likelihood in his match fee, if as is likely, the match referee takes his cut. Rampaul then severely dented England's hopes, slipping a yorker under the cross-batted swipe of the charging Pietersen. The rain gods demonstrated what they thought of the shot, and indeed the home side's chances by delivering what had been promised all day, a shower heavy enough to cause a break in play. The game was poised with England's fourth-wicket pairing of Prior and Shah together, as they accumulated efficiently. As the required rate climbed, the inevitable situation arose whereby "something had to give". Unfortunately for England, Prior proved to be the generous soul, trying to flick over short-fine leg's head and managing only to offer an easy catch to square-leg. Collingwood was trussed up by Edwards, his two least favourite deliveries, the throat ball and the full inswinger, utilised in perfect combination to nail the England captain and seal his team's fate. Shah was just starting to give England a glimmer when Yardy was out, preceding his own demise. Broad and Sidebottom dragged the score above 200, but the game was long dead.

For the England fan, the cheer of seeing West Indies show up well, for once throughout a full-game, was quashed by the fact that England saw fit to assume the part of the hapless loser, and yet again a game between these two sides was nothing approaching a contest. Yet that is what this series remains, going into the final decider at Nottingham on Saturday. No doubt the rain, which has amazingly allowed two complete games so far, will have its revenge; a pessimistic outlook, but then melancholy is the overriding humour associated with this England one-day side, something which is still as long way from changing.

Achievement without fulfillment

West Indies' loss of status in the eyes of the cricket world can be tracked in a broad way by the scheduling of their last three tours to England. Once, not so long ago, West Indies played five tests and so, as Glenn McGrath was fond of saying, they expected to win five Tests. They have not participated in such a series since 2000, when an emerging England team wrested the Wisden Trophy from them after 31 years of waiting. West Indies won the first test of that series, at Edgbaston, but lost three more that series and are still waiting for another win against England and an away victory against serious opposition. Three years ago, their share of the seven tests, all of which England won that summer, was cut to 4, while in the series just gone they retained the majority share (although almost by default due to India's wish to fit in more one-day cricket) but toured in early summer, the preserve of the weaker of the two touring sides. A second-division side, it seems, in perception as well as reality.

Test cricket may be the long-haul version of the game, played out over five days and, supposedly, 450 overs, but in reality the direction of any particular game tends to rest on the outcome of just a handful of the scheduled 15 sessions. Australia, top dog for 12 years, have made a habit of flattening opposition, but even they cannot dominate every team through 5 days (or in their case usually 3 or 4) of cricket. The great value of Gilchrist is not his ability to come in at 400-5 and blaze away, but his knack to rescue his team when, on occasion, they are slipping. Warne was the same; with the bat he seemed to succeed when all others failed, while with ball in hand he had the ability to transcend even the most insipid team bowling performance and nip out a few quick wickets to change the appearance of a game.

The rather tired line which has been trotted out at every post-match interview this series since Headingley has been that losing has become a habit for this West Indies team. And just as the hallmark of a champion team is to seize the initiative in moments of crisis, that of a struggling unit is to lose composure when somehow the chips fall their way. West Indies found themselves in such a position on Monday, having removed both Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell early to leave England 165-6 and one wicket away from exposing a tail which began with Steve Harmison. Far from being buoyed by their first position of real dominance in the series, West Indies chose that moment to produce their worst. Fidel Edwards, the only bowler in the side with any real fire, was left kicking his heels as ultimate trundler Collymore and Daren Powell at half-pace allowed Collingwood and Prior to bring England back to parity and beyond. The absurdity of the situation was crystallised by the spectacle of Marlon Samuels, heavily swathed in his entire collection of sweaters, lobbing up the cricket ball (we shan't call them off-breaks) for the English batsmen to do as they pleased. The new ball at least brought an end to that, but the sight of Matt Prior advancing down the pitch to lift Corey Collymore, a dobber from the islands said never to have produced a medium-pacer, for an effortless six, said more about the state of West Indies cricket than any of the great fast bowlers in the various commentary boxes could.

Having relinquished the initiative, the roadmap for the second innings was a predictable one: the top order disintegrated to the swing of Hoggard, Devon Smith by no means the first to be palpably leg-before preceding the demise of an enfeebled Ganga, who, if the selectors have any sense, will have played and captained his last Test. Chris Gayle entertained for a bit longer than he has tended to this series, making it past 50 for the first time before falling in customary fashion. Brim-full of talent and with an eye few in the game can match, Gayle, on his third tour of England, should be leading from the front. But with every fatal swish and swipe, the credibility of his laid-back beyond the perpendicular approach to the game, especially in the field, declines. He has been made captain of the one-day series, and it will be interesting to see how this alters his approach; as we stand, he could hardly give less to his team's cause. Then came the one partnership that West Indies have been able to rely on this series, the strong attraction between polar opposites Chanderpaul and Bravo. The latter is almost a throwback, flamboyant but with the application to match. He has seldom looked in much trouble with the England bowling and most of his dismissals were self-inflicted, a disappointment, as was his inability to go far beyond his customary 40. An electric fielder to boot, his bowling was nevertheless a let-down, 6 wickets at just under 70 was 10 fewer than he collected in 2004, although he didn't really bowl at Durham having sustained an injury. West Indies might have missed a trick in not making him captain for the one-day series; unlike Gayle, he has shown desire and will on the field of play. In the long-term, especially if Darren Sammy can continue his rise, he might consider a move up the batting order and a shift to concentrate on that side of his game; sadly for his team, there is only one other batsman on whom they can rely.

But in terms of reliability, they do not come much more sturdily built than Chanderpaul. His statistics for this series are extraordinary, yet in some way do him no justice at all. Just twenty less runs than England's most successful plunderer Pietersen were achieved in two fewer innings, while he passed 50 five times (each visit to the crease) , once more than Cook, who also had two more attempts. His two centuries were unmatched by his colleagues, who could only manage a highest score of 60 between them, while his average of 148.66 was more than 100 greater than next man Bravo. On the way, he became the first man to occupy 1000 minutes undefeated at the crease in a series for an astonishing third time in his career. With Lara retired and Sarwan quickly injured, responsibility for the batting fell uniquely upon his diminutive shoulders. Had his knee injury kept him out of more than one Test, one dreads to think how West Indies would have fared. Classical is not a word that could be ascribed to his technique, but neither is ugly. Indeed there is a peculiar aesthetic quality to his largely front-on stance, the shuffle, and the idiosyncrasies - piratical eye-patches; marking his guard with the bail; kissing the pitch upon reaching three figures in a way which, unlike Mohammed Yousuf last summer, seemed wholly unpretentious. In the face of good, occasionally excellent bowling, on pitches which varied from a bouncy, cracked turner at Old Trafford to a slow seamer at Durham and with the rest of the batting crumbling around him, he did all he could do and set himself to bat, like the greats with an unquenchable thirst for runs and unbreakable powers of concentration. Several pundits have lamented the quality of cricket in this series, and it will be remembered as another chapter in a sorry period for West Indies cricket. It should however go down in history for one man, his bat, and a 16 hour protest which shamed every other player to don maroon in the series.

West Indies can take precious little from this series: perhaps only 5 or 6 in the team have what it takes to succeed at test level, while a few looked little more than club standard. An obdurate opener is needed, while the middle-order should be alleviated somewhat by the return of Sarwan and the promotion of Bravo. Ramdin improved, and his derided keeping was not so bad considering it was his first tour of England, a notoriously difficult place to keep wicket, and where young wicket-keepers, as Kamran Akmal will attest, can hit the rocks. Fidel Edwards looks the man to lead the pace attack, especially if someone works with him over sorting out his no-ball problem. His back-up was disappointing, especially Jerome Taylor, who promised the most and delivered just 4 wickets at 90 in three tests. Daren Powell was alright to begin with, but did not take to being discarded and his batting, twice skying from horrible attempted hooks, was a prelude to some insipid bowling. Corey Collymore, alas, gave his all, but lacks so much pace and did not make up for it with accuracy, which was sporadic or lateral movement, a rarity. Bowling like a man who had been already put out to pasture, surely that is the only place for him now. But the gaping chasm in the West Indian attack was that highlighted by the stellar performances of Monty Panesar. They can probably not hope for a bowler as canny as the Englishman, but to tour England without a spinner in the party of 16, or rather to consider Chris Gayle a frontline test spinner, was folly.

But as much as West Indies could take little from the series, the same could be said of England. Despite the expected easy series victory, the lack of genuine opposition was such that there is little to celebrate. There were many landmarks; Steve Harmison's 200th Test wicket (and yes Bearders, not including that "other" test); Matthew Hoggard usurping Alec Bedser on the all-time list of English test wicket takers; Michael Vaughan rising to the top of the list of most successful captains; Monty Panesar's first 10 wicket haul, 50th test wicket and ascension into the top ten of the test bowling rankings. Not to mention Kevin Pietersen with a maiden double-century in Tests and Alistair Cook, a record number of test centuries for a man his age.

But despite all of these achievements, there was a hollow ring to the victory. Other than Andrew Strauss, who could do with a break and the rest of the summer in county cricket, all of the batsmen made runs without being much tested. Still, a few innings, notably Bell's 97 at Old Trafford and Collingwood's century on home turf were in pressure situations, albeit against bowling which rarely ranked in the threatening class. Furthermore, the lack of quality spin bowling to face meant that any flaws against slow bowling were left unexplored, with a diet of unrelenting, mediocre seam to feast on.

Still, it was good to see Michael Vaughan returning to captain, and he proved that England have missed both his purposeful leadership and elegant batting. Now freed from one-day cricket, it should only be injury which could prevent him from leading England into the next Ashes series. Further, Matt Prior temporarily put and end to the wicket-keeping debate which had tiresomely rumbled since Alec Stewart's retirement, although more taxing examinations of his ability remain, which will prove one way or another whether he is the man who can finally nail down the position. After a century on debut in fairly untesting circumstances, two innings in particular: a 40 at Old Trafford and a 60 at Durham both in support of a rearguard action proved his mettle.

On the bowling front, the series started with the seam attack in crisis, Hoggard limping off at Lord's leaving just Plunkett and Harmison, erratic to understate the case in support of the excellent Panesar. Plunkett got worse and is rightly now back in county cricket, where he needs to remain for a good season or two. Harmison, mercifully, improved, and bowled what was universally recognised as an excellent spell, reminiscent of his best, in West Indies' second dig at Chester-Le-Street. Still, the true test will be when India tour, to see if he can retain his rhythm built up over four tests or whether it is back to square one again. Depending on the operational status of his "non-serious" hernia, he may not have any more first class cricket behind him before he plays tests again, and that will prove whether he and Allan Donald have finally cracked his mental block, or whether it was another temporary resurrection. Ryan Sidebottom, a necessary antidote to Harmison and Plunkett blossomed on recall, doing what none of the left-arm seamers tried over the last 15 years or so (think Mark Illot, Mike Smith, Simon Brown) ever did by swinging the ball back into the right-hander. He also persevered in less favourable climes, and earned himself the chance to prove whether he is a long-term option. Matthew Hoggard, returning for the last test, once again proved that he is far too good for top order players wet behind the ears in seaming conditions.

But, unusually for an early-season series, it was not the seamers who dominated the bowling stakes. Before the Lord's test it had been mooted that Monty Panesar should make way for an extra seamer; but in the wake of Hoggard's injury, Harmison and Plunkett's total lack of direction and a flat pitch, Panesar shone, using what little the surface offered to lure four into his web in the first innings, with the help of bowler-friendly umpire Rauf, before rain denied him a chance to try and win the game on the last day. Not really needed at Headingley, it was on a hard, cracked pitch in Manchester where he really came into his own. Extracting turn and bounce, the chief allies of a good spinner, he was too good for a whole succession of West Indian batsmen, with the notable exception of Chanderpaul. 10 wickets in a test was the first by an English spinner since Tufnell a decade ago, while Panesar's attitude and sense of permanence suggests that the wait for the next will not be so long. On a much slower, less helpful Durham pitch, it was same again, as he swept through the middle-order to pick up another 5 wicket haul and complete the series with a bag 0f 23 at 18.69. This was his first really significant series as a test bowler, but we should probably stop short of proclaiming him as the messiah just yet. Remember that three years ago, Ashley Giles achieved a similar feat in four tests against the same opposition. Panesar has become an extremely skilful bowler, now a given in almost all conditions. A series against the Indians will prove a better barometer for his progress, while he should look forward to touring Sri Lanka in the winter.

After a winter without a test win, resuming where they left off was the most important thing for England, who looked galvanised by the return of Vaughan. Of course West Indies were weak opposition, but England still made sure they never got a sniff, taking charge of games in crucial periods of flux. The India series will be a surer test of where the team stands, but as far as Peter Moores and Michael Vaughan can be concerned, the rebuilding process after the Ashes debacle has begun and the foundations are solid.

Carelessness has been a hallmark of this Test Match, something reflected in the fact that three innings have been completed in as many days on a pitch which has pace and offers some lateral movement, but is by no means unplayable, and a significantly diluted version of last year's trampoline.

Michael Vaughan got the ball rolling in the build up, making a hole for himself by criticising Andrew Flintoff in the national press (although he was partly justified, and this formed only part of an honest and engaging interview) and kept on digging over the issue of whether he had used the name "Fredalo" in vain. As a did he didn't he saga, it was not quite of Bill Clinton stature, but it was a rare misjudgement from Vaughan, usually impeccable in his dealings with the media.

His next error of judgement proved a little more fatal, as he aimed a wafty drive a a ball from Corey Collymore which was nowhere near full enough to be driving at, and nipped back through a gate four fathoms wide. Similar laziness pervaded the rest of the England innings, Kevin Pietersen and even the normally inscrutible Alistair Cook failing to play the bowling on its merits and paying with their wickets. It was only a partnership between the flourishing Bell and the less ethereal Prior, who combined to steer England through a troubled period, before Prior fell into the same not-so well concealed idiot-trap as Pietersen had before him.

The next day it was West Indies who were hampered by sloppy cricket. Although Bell's hope of securing yet another century from No.6 was snuffed out by one from Collymore which spat off the surface, it was not before Steve Harmison had helped him to take England past 300, laying the platform for England's two tail-end left-handers, hair and patka tails trailing from their respective helmets, to slap a merry 30 and get England to 370, about 100 more than West Indies would have hoped at one point.

With the Test being played at Old Trafford, scene of Steve Harmison's 11 wicket haul against Pakistan last year, and it also being the first for England's new bowling coach, Allan Donald, there was much interest in the performance of Harmison and co. Anticipation was heightened by the sight of Harmison being struck twice on the helmet, evoking memories of Devon Malcolm, Fanie De Villiers and 9 terrified South Africans on a fast Oval deck in 1994. Harmison, as usual, succeeded in evoking memories of Malcolm at his mercurial worst. Matt Prior may be glad to have finally got a chance as England's stumper, but he will be thanking no-one for being made to keep wicket to fast bowling which is probably some of the most erratic ever seen from a front-line England bowler. Harmison did get a few right, the element of surprise at receiving a good ball being enough to get rid of Ganga and Morton, but while his ratio of on-target deliveries remains equivalent to Glenn McGrath's percentage of bad ones, he is of limited use to England, despite his ability, shared with precious few, to put the wind up even top batsmen with pace and bounce.

Liam Plunkett, bowling like a man with "needs to bowl more overs in order to learn how to bowl properly on a consistent basis" tatooed across his forehead, was similarly frustrating, and even Ryan Sidebottom bowled too short in his opening spell. At 219-4, the West Indies threatened a contest for the first time in a long time as far as Test Matches against England are concerned. Then Sidebottom, upon return, found his line and produced a corker to dislodge Dwayne Bravo, as, for the second time in a day, West Indies collapsed in a heap to the oddest of odd couples: the snarling, neolithic-looking Sidebottom and the graceful, leaping Panesar. A collapse of 6 for 13 effectively ended the game as a contest and epitomised the general slide of West Indies cricket.

It has not been a series for the stand-in captain: Andrew Strauss, who led England at Lord's, is now in such a bad trot that his performance in the next Test could have serious implications on his Test career. He and fellow second-choice leader Daren Ganga both suffered the same fate both times, trapped plumb lbw, feet immobilised by indecision and pace. The statistics show that Strauss, whose lack of form has been particularly obvious in light of the poor bowling feasted on by every England batsmen except him, has actually been in decline for some time. In his last 25 Test matches he averages 34.80, with half of his ten centuries, the other five having been brought up in just 13 games. It is becoming increasingly difficult to refute the suggestion that Strauss is a player whose Test record has been inflated by an excellent start, and that he has never been the same since England won the Ashes. The assumption has been that Strauss, as a perceived class operator, would come through in the end. Now 30, time is not on his side, and if he fails again at the Riverside, he could find himself an early casulaty of the new regime when the India series comes around.

Strauss' struggles have been highlighted by his blooming opening partner, Alistair Cook, who yesterday became the youngest Englishman to bring up 6 Test centuries, with 7 more Tests before his 23rd birthday to emulate Don Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar who had achieved 8 before that age. There will be far sterner tests for Cook than the anodyne West Indies bowlers can provide, but his lowest score this series is 42, the first of two times he has been snared lbw, slightly unfortunately by Chris Gayle. The one thing to have eluded Cook is a really significant score: for someone with such deep reserves of concentration, a highest of 127 is surprisingly low. Nevertheless, he will have one more chance this series at Durham, and in view of his maiden List A century for Essex last week, a berth at the troubled top of England's one-day side awaits him. Ironically it will probably be to replace Strauss, for whom Cook's excellent start to international cricket, not too disimilar to his own, must be fairly galling.

After Cook departed adjudged leg-before to Gayle, it was England who were guilty of a calypso-collapso, with debutant Darren Sammy enjoying West Indies' highlight of the series, bagging a 7 wicket haul with some jarring bounce from a large frame and useful movement away from the right-hander. The West Indies fielders will be grateful to Sammy for stealing the headlines, as they produced by far the worst cricket of what has been a match low on quality. Three regulation catches were spilled; fumbles were all-too frequent and Jerome Taylor suffered the ultimate ignomy for an international cricketer of having a not-so well hit Pietersen drive go straight through his legs and trickle away to the boundary. They need a fielding coach, some more bowlers like Edwards and Sammy and, more relevant to the game in hand, a gutsy batting performance. It's time for Chris Gayle, in particular, to front up: laconically easy on the eye, he has not made a score in this series, and has not reached three figures in Tests since his triple-century against South Africa, 25 months ago. If West Indies are to reach the 455 needed for vicotry, it would require something similar, although in view of England's bowling and with over 100 extras having already been leaked, two days of Harmison and Plunkett might be enough to win it for them.

West Indies plunged into bleak midwinter

People find it hard to pinpoint quite how this West Indies cricket team has sunk from such great heights to once unthinkable depths in recent times. They wonder how the confederation of islands, nurse of so many of the game's greatest and most enduring talents can now muster eleven men who at one point would have disgraced a team representing the smallest island. But surely no place can be more symptomatic of West Indies' decline and fall than Headingley cricket ground. If the defeat inside two days of a team which could still call upon two fast bowlers, Walsh and Ambrose, who could rightly call themselves torch-bearers of a rich heritage of quick bowling, back in 2000 was a sign that West Indies were on the downward spiral, then today's defeat, the worst ever suffered by a West Indian team, surely signifies their lowest ebb.

Any schadenfreude felt by opposing teams so often crushed, oppressed and utterly defeated by the all-conquering West Indian sides of the late 1970s through to the early 1990s, has long since melted into sympathy. Perhaps the only way one can put into perspective their fall from grace is to imagine the Australian team of today, fresh from going through the double-header of an Ashes series and a World Cup without being so careless as to lose once, twenty years down the line being under the heel of Bangladesh.

Even with Chanderpaul, Sarwan and the now departed Lara, this was a poor West Indies team. But, scratch away the surface, as fate did over these last few days, with the injuries to the first two, and there is nothing. Three years ago when West Indies suffered an equally dispiriting tour of England, Dwayne Bravo emerged as the only highlight, the sole player to rise above the gloom. The fact that nothing has changed in the intermittent years must surely be as loud an alarm bell as any; today, Bravo was the only one to show anything approaching resistance, showing that he, alone amongst the young players, has the necessary technique and heart to stand up to proper examination at Test level. When it became apparent that Sarwan's injury threatened his participation in the entire series, about the only name which surfaced was that of Brian Lara; living proog of the total and utter famine of talent from the islands which once produced enough fast bowlers not only to spoil the national team for choice but stock the English county game to boot.

It is in the fast bowling that the dearth of talent bears most acute comparison with that which came before. While the likes of Michael Holding and Colin Croft pontificate from the commentary box, the English batsmen play the Taylor, Powell and Collymore with the sort of ease which is enough to make the likes of Gooch and Boycott who suffered the real thing simultaneously want to weep and reach into the attic for their cricket bags. Rarely can a batsman have brought up a double-century as easily as Pietersen did and not often will even a man who is as capable of dominating bowling as he is have such a trouble-free stay. None of the trio who have played in these first two Tests have genuine pace; no great bounce is extracted and barring the odd spell from Collymore and Powell there has not been much evidence of swing and seam. Even Dwayne Bravo, who caught the eye in 2004 with his lively medium pace, bagging some big hauls, seems to have lost the fizz from his bowling. In three attempts, they have failed to bowl out England and they show no sign of improving on this: only two bowlers, one the spinner Gayle, are averaging under 50 with the ball from the two games. Opening bowlers Powell and Taylor average 77.5 and 125.5 respectively. At the current rate, when Wisden is published next year, the entire attack will rank under the "also bowled" sideline supposedly the preserve of the part-timer. Just one West Indian batsman (barring Chanderpaul who has batted only once) averages over 40 with the bat; barring Strauss and Shah, each of England's top seven are selling their wicket at over 50 runs a throw, three at more than 100.

While West Indies took one look at a wintry Headingley, on one of the coldest days Test cricket has been played, and literally froze, England did their job. They may have won by their third highest margin when an innings is concerned, greater even than that they inflicted upon Bangladesh in 2005, but it was far from a perfect performance. Ryan Sidebottom continued to do precisely the job he was brought in for; swinging the ball late, moving it both ways off the seam and presenting no end of problems to a procession of batsmen ill-equipped to deal with him. He ended with 8 wickets and has probably booked himself a slot for at least two more Test matches, while England would be foolish not to take heed of Nathan Bracken's illustration of the value of a medium-fast left armer at the World Cup and include him in the struggling one-day side as well.

Without Sidebottom, West Indies would still be in this match, and the weather would probably have allowed them to get away with it a second time. For once again, Plunkett and Harmison were models of inconsistency, something which the steady bowling from the other end only exaggerated. The dismissal of Chris Gayle today crystallised Plunkett as a bowler. With two balls of one over, he appeared to be providing Matt Prior with a goalkeeping trial for struggling local side Leeds Utd. The next was the perfect ball for this Headingley wicket: pitched full, on the off stump, it forced Chris Gayle to play, while the slight but sufficient seam movement off the pitch induced a good old outside edge to the slips. That is one weapon he possesses; the other is the surprise in-swinging yorker, which nailed Adam Gilchrist a few times in the winter one-dayers and almost cleaned up Devon Smith today. Plunkett has a potent armoury, but one delivered from a firearm with the wonkiest of sights. The obvious and simple remedy is county cricket; a year or two to develop and hone an action which is so mechanical that it renders itself unrepeatable and unreliable. You would not have given a young Michelangelo a set of poster paints and told him to go paint the Sistine Chapel; so send Plunkett back to the county game and allow him to add the sort of accuracy and experience that served Sidebottom so well in this game to his raw talent. If he is lucky in avoiding injuries, he could return to international cricket a much mote complete bowler by the age of 25 and one capable of taking over the mantle which by that time, the likes of Hoggard and Flintoff will be considering relinquishing.

Alas the way forward for Harmison is less clear. While he showed some signs of improvement, he was still operating well below his best, although he at least gave the speedometer its first real exercise of the series with some 90mph+ missiles. It seems no amount of wickets in county cricket will cure Harmison's Test match ills. The frustration remains that, for the last few years, he seems to start every series, cricket behind him or not, from the same dismal low, before dragging himself somewhere back to parity in the duration. There seems to be no power to retain lessons learned, and each series appears to be a rebuilding process, for a permanently self-collapsing structure. That is why, barring his one match-winning performance against a petrified Pakistan team on an Old Trafford trampoline, his returns over the last 18 months have been so meagre. For a bowler in his 29th year, with over 50 Tests experience and nearly 200 wickets, the Plunkett excuse doesn't really hold water. Harmison now has two Tests against a West Indies team who may have already had their spirit broken, one on his home ground, his panacea, to prove his worth to a team which lacks direction as long as he continues to err in his line of attack.

The rather pitiful silver lining for the West Indies is at least they have an extra day to prepare for the Old Trafford Test, which mercifully does not begin in the same week as this one has ended. They have only their second non-Test fixture of the tour, against MCC, when they will, no-doubt, test drive some of their reserve bowlers. Meanwhile, the likes of Flintoff and Hoggard have the chance to prove their fitness with their counties and give the selectors a few headaches. The sort of problems that, sadly, the current West Indies management can but dream of.