Today could be The Day. Brace yourselves. Of course the ridiculous thing is that a Cook return to form would be extremely welcome and definitely needed. It’s the response from the usual suspects that’s the problem.
As for the match, time is just starting to be an enemy of a potential result. Plenty left of course, but today is moving day. We’ll have a good idea where this match is going by the end of it.
LOL UPDATE : Carry on. We may be finished by this afternoon. ….
Oh, and comments below. … 😈
I’m driving for much of tomorrow so I’ll do this now.
I think I may be slightly against the grain after day one, as I think the West Indies did pretty well to get it to 188-5. The ball was swinging and seaming a lot early on – it could have been easily a 50-6 outcome. And with it being such a slow, attritional surface, strokeplay is not easy – though Samuels had a rather good go late on.
The overhead conditions day two are going to be fairly crucial. If it’s more of the same, then England will find it just as hard. So clear skies are needed.
What do you all think? Happy with England after the first day, or disappointed?
LCL update. All comments on day 2 below, as usual. … cheers Vian. Saved me a job!
There is going to be a fundamental change to the blog in the next day or so.
Yes, this is the Dmitri Old persona back on the blog. Makes it easier to blog from more platforms by doing it, but that’s not the change – it was a test to see how invitations work.
As soon as he sets up a WordPress ID, I will be sharing some of the duties on here with Vian. This is still “my blog” but I do need some help with posts and comments, and Vian has kindly offered to help me out as my workload rises and availability in the next few weeks in particular is seriously limited. I am off on holiday from the middle of the week after next for a fair old while with internet connection not totally guaranteed, so want this to continue!
I’d like to thank Vian for his assistance, and hope you lot don’t mind that the blog will go in a slightly different admin direction!
Cheers.
Comments on the concluding day of the test below. Should be around later but have a funeral to go to first.
Can England take 8 wickets? Can Devon Smith get his first test ton in 11 (?) years? Excitement if it doesn’t rain.
Oh, and Freddie. It ain’t my job to be a professional cheerleader.
Comments as per usual. Not going to be round much today. So I’ll leave you in Alastair Cook’s capable declaration hands if it comes to that.
Jermaine Blackwood – 112 not out v England at North Sound, Antigua
Jermaine Blackwood’s first century in test cricket enabled the home side to remain in the game somewhat, and then had me thinking how many players with a colour in their name have made big test scores. Gordon Greenidge has three double centuries to his name, and it looks like his 226 v Australia in Bridgetown is the highest score with a colour in his surname.
So to Jermaine’s 112. This is the 5th score of 100 by a West Indian at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. His is the fourth highest behind Gayle, Powell and Sarwan. This is the 79th score of 112 in test cricket, with his being just the seventh unbeaten effort. The first 112 was made by Charlie McLeod in 1898 for Australia against England in Melbourne. The last one was made by Sarfraz Ahmed in the series v Australia in November. A good number of players have made two scores of 112 including Steve Waugh, Doug Walters, JT Tyldesley, Mohammed Yousuf….
Possibly the most famous 112 was made by this man.
Jeff Stollmeyer later wrote: “Andy’s innings in its later stages was not in keeping with the state of the game and his captain [Gerry Gomez] was forced to send a message out to him to ‘get on with it’.” Stollmeyer did concede that Ganteaume was unlucky to miss out on selection for the tour of India the following year.
According to Statsguru this was the 466th century by a West Indian, the 232nd by a West Indian at home, and the 36th by a West Indian in Antigua.
Jermaine Blackwood’s century came up in 205 balls with 14 fours and 2 sixes.
Comments on today’s play below, as England try to take a substantial first innings lead and then spend 8 hours batting to get Cook a career-saving hundred 🙂
I’ll be home a bit earlier today as the car is in for its MOT (#prayingforastra) and so should be able to watch the post-lunch session. The bits of the game I’ve seen so far have been interesting in their own way, but also sad to see what has happened to the West Indies. Remember when Darren Bravo came on the scene and he was viewed as the next big thing? He’s really not gone on. Shiv Chanderpaul now seems to eschew scoring runs as a matter of importance and now seems to concentrate on saving the game single-handed. I don’t think that swagger and attitude, the sort of bravado that now seems more Australian than the WIndies I grew up with, can come back that easily. There is not a lot of hope, not even Shai, in West Indies cricket.
One of the points made is that the IPL now clashes with the West Indies season, but is this true? I remember England playing series there in February and March, not April and May. Until they go back to that time, it will always clash. Yes, I get it in World Cup winters, but there won’t be one of those for 8 years now.
England still have a lot more questions than answers. Ben Stokes did well at 6, but I’d be getting worried if that’s where he stays against Australia. Trott as opener can’t be called a failure after one go, but it does appear we are ramming a square peg in a round hole. Watch us try Ballance there in the not too distant future. As for Cook? Well, 32 and counting. But by doing so we are disloyal. I got “Captaincy” by Graham Gooch out of the loft this weekend, and read the bit about how it was vital for him to score runs at the top of the order as captain or else the players would question his legitimacy to lead. But if we point that sort of thing out, it’s heresy. Well, there you go…….
Ian Bell made a very nice 143. OK, not a small enough ton to anger my senses, but still. He has a relative shortage of 150s for a man who has passed 100 on 22 occasions. I think I pointed out that 119 makes his top ten. This is picking on the man who pulled our arses out of the fire with a splendid innings, but I wanted more. There’s nothing much in this wicket, and the bowling is no better than decent. Our propensity to make big scores overseas is not great, and what a statement a double would have been. That said, Bell in flow is a decent old sight, although I’m not going into the paroxysms of ecstasy I was reading BTL. This blogger has been frustrated at his performances in the past, but now worries he is our rock (along with Root). Seems there is room for one other high performer, with a bit of swagger in there to me!
Didn’t see a lot of the bowling. Can’t help thinking that Chris Jordan is going to be the Phil De Freitas of his generation, and Stuart Broad is not going to be here for the long haul. Anderson, I understand, bowled well, but he’s no spring chicken. When I saw Tredwell, he looked like he posed no threat, but did take a wicket.
Happy to hear more, and will be along later.
All comments on today’s play below please. Not going to be around much today.
IAN BELL 143 v WEST INDIES at NORTH SOUND, ANTIGUA
The return of the series started on HDWLIA, which we left with Virat Kohli’s 147 in SCG.
Our last visit in 2009 saw Bell dropped after a dismal shot in Jamaica. Now he completes his first century in the Caribbean, his 22nd in all, and his second against the West Indies (his other being an unbeaten 109 at Lord’s in 2007). This is the 7th test century to be made at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, and the first by someone other than an Aussie or a WIndies man. He is the 45th different player to make a test century in Antigua (Lara has a few), and this is the 64th test century made on the island. The highest score by an England player is 175 by Robin Smith in Brian Lara’s 375 game in 1994.
Other England players to make test tons at the old ground were Andrew Strauss (169), Michael Vaughan (140), Mike Atherton (135), Paul Collingwood (113), Geoff Boycott (104*), Andrew Flintoff (102*) and Peter Willey (102*).
Ian Bell’s hundred came up in 194 balls and contained 15 4s and 1 six.
Being Outside Cricket 