WELL, IT’S GOOD FOR MORALE!
England cruise in warm-up
England must have played against worse teams than this St Kitts Invitational XI but, after a day that descended into near farce, it is difficult to think of any.
Warm-up games can be low-key affairs but there cannot have been many times when an international side have been pitched against a team as bad as this.
St Kitts were simply shambolic, so bad that Chigwell Cricket Club could give them a decent game, and an almost tragic example of the steep decline of Caribbean cricket. They were simply not fit for purpose.
The statistics will say that England, having bowled St Kitts out for 59 on the first day of their opening two-day tour match, rattled up 379 for six declared with both alastair Cook and Ian Bell retiring out.
Then St Kitts, given just one sessioni t to h hang on, capitulatedit l td again and finished on 76 for seven, narrowly avoiding handing England a hollow victory. The match was drawn, just about, and it should also have been hung and quartered.
For what it is worth, Bell and Joe Root made untroubled half-centuries yesterday after Cook had moved to his first hundred for England since the ashes warm-up in Hobart 18 months ago and promptly retired.
Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler then had a bit of a bash before England declared at the fall of Stokes just before tea, the small matter of 320 ahead.
Then, in a move which further devalued the authenticity of the ‘contest,’ England brought liam Plunkett and Mark Wood into the match for a work out. Wood, the durham fast bowler, looked lively in his first outing for England using his minimalist run-up and earned his first wicket when he bowled Shane Jeffers but it is unlikely to be enough to earn him a first Test cap just yet.
When St Kitts plummeted to 24 for six and almost had a batsman timed out before he emerged with the Velcro on his pads barely fastened, the home side’s embarrassment was almost complete.
at least they regained a semblance of pride by holding on as England gave their two spinners a decent bowl, akeem Saunders and leon Clarke doing most to keep the tourists at bay.
The only place in England’s first Test team yet to be decided, it seems, is between those two spinners competing for the spot vacated for now by the injured Moeen ali.
James Tredwell clearly edged his nose in front here by taking three wickets yesterday while the less accurate adil Rashid could chip in with just one and needs a very good second practice match to edge out the 33-year-old now.
Tredwell clearly did not want to offend his hosts afterwards. He said: ‘a bit of a sterner contest would have been handy but equally we have spent some time in the middle. You don’t want to start a tour with a long day in the dirt. Confidence that you are doing the right things can do you good. You play the cards you’re dealt with and make the best of it.’
The only concern for England will be the form of gary Ballance, who looked out of touch before falling for 16 — the legacy perhaps of a World Cup where he somehow became a symbol of England’s unimaginative one-day thinking.
England’s desperate attempt to get as much as they can from the second of these two warm-ups will today see them bowl 90 overs at St Kitts, whatever happens, and then bat for 90 overs tomorrow.
The first cricket score of 225 for 25 could be recorded at Warner Park today and the once proud reputation of Caribbean cricket will most likely take another hit. Truly, it is a sad state of affairs.