Anderson to Roach, no run, full down the leg side, there’s a cry for a strangle and given out! Bowden raises the finger but West Indies want a review There is no Hot Spot or Snicko for this series so it’s all on the replay and the noises and this first replay looks like Roach has missed it by a long way. We need conclusive evidence to overturn the call but this is conclusive enough and the decision is overturned.

More to follow later, but this amused.

For what I saw of the test I saw two teams searching for a bit of an identity. The West Indies have had a terrible time of it, they have seen most of their most famous players off lording it up in the IPL, and had a chastening World Cup to follow up their withdrawl from the Indian series last year.

There are still major frailties in the top order, with the reversion to Devon Smith as an opener evidence of many of the problems that the WIndies face. But in Jason Holder they have a real star in the making, It remains to be seen if he’s a flash in the pan, but lord, he looked good in saving the game yesterday. His composure was immense, and even his seeming carefree attitude to Kemar Roach facing deliveries seemed fine to me. He’s a good looking player. If his bowling goes up by 10%, then there’s a real all rounder in the mix, and West Indies need heroes.

Jerome Taylor, and to a lesser extent Kemar Roach, bowled well with the new ball and caused our openers trouble. Now a lot of balls appears to have been spoken about balls, but the Caribbean boys certainly looked more threatening up front than we did. The back-up bowling looks limited, and there must be a better man than Benn out there. I think we might see Bishoo in Grenada.

So to England. A quick player-by-player focus:

Alastair Cook – Same report for the past year. Excuses, excuses. Reasons. I’m no technical guru, I just look at results. You can get technical about 95 not being hundred, but that’s his only score over 80 for nearly two seasons too. Pretend all you want. This is wretched stuff. But, on the flip side, the declaration was fine, and he captained quite well in the 4th innings from what I saw.

Jonathan Trott – A chastening return to the test team. Already his place is under threat, not that sticking a number three in the opener slot was going to go well. If England go to form he’ll be given these three tests, and if no good, Lyth might come in for New Zealand.

Gary Ballance – A superb second innings hundred banished some of the demons from the World Cup and the rest of this winter. His fourth hundred in his ninth test is welcome as he has nailed the number 3 slot for the time being. People talking about him being dropped really need to see some sense. However, I’m going to be watching him behind the sofa with that technique against Australia and New Zealand’s top bowlers. I wish him well.

Ian Bell – Another top innings from our form senior pro, and all the praise in the world is due. At the time it was easy to take the 143 for granted, but its worth was shown with the game panning out as it did. A dozy second innings run out gave us reminders why he makes us tear our hair out, but he’s our man and he is going to be vital this summer. Dare one say his 143 was a captain’s innings?

Joe Root – Really, really impressive. Both innings were perfect in their context. He was busy, positive and pressured the opposition. This attitude has to be infectious for this team to reach its potential. His bowling is also a more than useful outlet that he has to keep going with for as long as possible. A livewire, who did much to hurry us along.

Ben Stokes – Bowling was useful if not that potent, and his batting seemed to hark back to the man who burst onto the scene in Australia. Of course, he offers the opportunities to the knockers to keep reminding us of his locker-punching exploits when we should be looking at how to bring this talent on.

Jos Buttler – I missed his putrid first innings, and didn’t see his impressive second dig. Keeping, from what I saw, was a bit scruffy but he’s not the first to suffer there if that was the tale throughout. Jack Russell regularly had horrors in the WIndies.

Chris Jordan – Decent, but I get the feeling he’s akin to a Phil DeFreitas of the 90s. A worthy cricketer, does lots of things well, but maybe a touch short of test class. His tools seem to promise a lot, but there’s not enough for me. Yes, his fielding is amazing. I’d prefer more wickets.

Stuart Broad – Didn’t see a lot of his bowling until the end, where he tried gamely if a bit down on pace (but we are playing on slow surfaces). His batting appears a major concern because we’ll need lower order runs in any series we play and we hope to get some from him. Loved the bit where he bit his tongue when Anderson misfielded off his bowling, and then next ball screamed out loud when Trott saw a pull shot fall short of him….

James Tredwell – Bowled well in the first innings, but not a threat in the second. A real game cricketer who won’t let you down, but he is in the team because this is his role – a replacement squad player if one of your main spinners is injured. However, many would say this was a safe choice given the more exotic Adil Rashid’s leg spinners were available. Many will say Rashid has been bowling nonsense in the warm-ups (well, the press did). Doubt he’ll play on Tuesday.

James Anderson – the record breaker took the four wickets needed to pass Sir Hindsight, but he looked off the ball when it came to the new nut, and I’m petrified we are working him to exhaustion. While many are arguing over his legacy, I see a player I’ve never really taken to, but who has never really let us down. What is noticeable is his batting is improving again, and his last wicket partnership with Jordan was useful to stop a really demoralising second day going into the books.

On to Grenada for the second test. Have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the match and bring on the next one.