Broad’s so quick on the draw
Stuart runs riot, then Cook takes another step towards history
STUART BROAD rediscovered his pace and form to give England a chance of forcing a victory in the second Test against the West Indies yesterday. In a spell that saw him bowl at speeds in excess of 90mph, Broad took three wickets — Denesh Ramdin, Jason Holder and Kemar Roach — as the West Indies lost four for just 24 runs on the second day. Former England captain Michael Vaughan was impressed with Broad’s pace bowling saying: ‘I always think his bowling is so much more effective when he’s up above 85mph. When he’s down at 82, 83, there’s nothing on it.’ A last-wicket stand of 52 by Devendra Bishoo and Shannon Gabriel took some of the gloss off Broad’s display, allowing the West Indies to reach a first innings total of 299. But skipper Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott boosted England as they posted their first 50 partnership.
ALASTAIR COOK passed another landmark last night on his way to becoming England’s highest runscorer as he pursued the equally important prize of cementing his place as their Ashes captain.
When Cook slapped a Kemar Roach full toss to the boundary in the early stages of his reply to West Indies’ 299, he moved beyond Alec Stewart into second place among England’s great Test accumulators.
Now only Graham Gooch, the man Cook returned to earlier this year to try to restore his batting to full working order, stands above an England captain who is very much fighting for his leadership future in this series.
Cook had watched West Indies’ last pair of Devendra Bishoo and Shannon Gabriel add an unlikely 52 to undo much of the good work provided by a welcome burst of wickets from Stuart Broad. It lifted the hosts to a score that should have been beyond them and left Cook and Jonathan Trott, both under pressure after their failures in Antigua, with the final session of the second day to begin the climb towards a total big enough to press for a priceless victory.
One man who definitely looked back to his best form was Broad, who bowled beyond 90mph for the first time since returning from surgery while claiming three wickets for 19 when rain finally relented here.
Earlier Jimmy Anderson had clenched his fist and roared into Marlon Samuels’ face, earning a rebuke from the umpires, after making a breakthrough England badly wanted. There had been little applause from the England fielders when Samuels, who had clashed with Ben Stokes on the first evening, reached a century that rescued his side from the perils of 74 for four.
The crowd for only the third Test to be staged on the spice island, which included thousands of England supporters, had to display extreme patience as cricket again embarrassed itself in the face of weather problems.
Yes, there was nothing the umpires could do about the squally showers that wiped out the bulk of the morning session but there was plenty they could do as the sun shone throughout the lunch interval. Then they could have avoided an additional 10-minute delay when they were slow in coming back out after an afternoon shower because they said the outfield was still wet. What difference does 10 minutes make?
When play did resume, wickets fell in a hurry. Once Samuels had gone, after his long, 228-ball vigil had dominated a partnership of 94 with Denesh Ramdin, the bulk of West Indies tail soon followed.
When Samuels’ century came, he was understated, perhaps remembering he had been dropped by Cook when on 32, but there was nothing low-key about Anderson’s celebration when the spiky Jamaican edged to second slip.
The sight of his strike partner fired up seemed to bring the best from Broad, who has taken time to get back to his best after knee surgery. But there was evidence he was approaching it here as a beauty clocked at 91mph took Ramdin’s edge.
Broad followed that with the wickets of Jason Holder and Kemar Roach, the heroes of Antigua, but not before we had another example of the limitations of technology and another display of Holder’s rich batting promise.
The Barbadian, who made a hundred in the first Test, really does look like a proper batsman at No 8, as he showed when hitting two mighty sixes off Anderson and Broad.
He also perhaps had a slice of luck when he pulled Broad to deep midwicket only to pick out Moeen Ali, who appeared to take a low catch but admitted he could not be sure he had claimed it cleanly.
There really is little point in the umpires referring low catches to technology because the pictures are
inconclusive and — predictably — Billy Bowden said he could not be sure whether the call had carried or not. This time it cost England just six runs before Holder was undone by Broad but the ICC really should look at this and perhaps go back to Ricky Ponting’s quest for the fielder’s word to be taken on catches.
When Roach fell, three wickets had gone in eight overs from Broad at a cost of 19 runs but any hopes England had of quickly ending West Indies innings were dashed by Bishoo and Gabriel.
The latter had scored just 24 runs in 11 Tests before now and had a first-class average of five. But that did not stop him holding England up in a lastwicket stand of 52 that was full of expansive Caribbean drives.
It left England bitterly disappointed that they could not take full advantage of winning the toss in perfect bowling conditions on Tuesday and running out of time if they were to move into a winning position here. But Cook and Trott survived the odd nervous moment — notably when the captain was missed in the slips off Bishoo on 29 and earlier when Trott Chinese cut one inches past his stumps — as they moved past 70 in reply.