First Test
England win the historic daynight Test against the Windies
Pages 8-9
THE landslide victory at Edgbaston may have left some English cricketers rightly feeling pleased with themselves, but the ugly truth is that the match devalued the currency of Test cricket.
There have been few contests in this country as one-sided as this in recent years. Perhaps Sri Lanka’s three-day defeat at Headingley at the start of last summer. Even then the margin of victory was only an innings and 88 runs. This annihilation, by an innings and 208 runs, was a rout.
No wonder the cluster of West Indian greats watching this performance were united in their condemnation of what they had witnessed.
The strongest criticism came from Curtley Ambrose, who said: “In the end it was totally embarrassing. I never saw any aggression from the West Indies players.
“There was no belief that they could compete, let alone beat England.They seemed to be waiting for England to make mistakes. Trust me, it was painful to watch. It does hurt.”
England were utterly ruthless in securing victory in three days, with 19 West Indian wickets falling on the last. And for them, there was much to feel good about.
Joe Root hit a wonderful 13th Test century on the opening day to further bolster his fledgling leadership. Indeed, this was the 11th successive Test in which he had made a 50-plus score – beating a 46-year-old England record held by John Edrich.
Alastair Cook also hit a fourth Test double hundred, his innings of 243 that spanned nine hours and 22 minutes the bedrock of a mammoth first-innings total of 514-8 declared that laid the foundation for this landslide victory.
Then there was Stuart Broad, whose spell of three wickets in 11 balls on the final day saw him overtake Sir Ian Botham on the alltime list of Test wicket-takers.
Now James Anderson, who also starred in taking five wickets at Edgbaston, is the only Englishman who has more than Broad’s 384 Test victims with his staggering 492.
Of the West Indian players, three can be excused from complete condemnation.
Kemar Roach may not be the bowler he was a few years ago but he was the best here, taking the wickets of debutant Mark Stoneman and Root.
With the bat, Jermaine Blackwood, who scored his only Test century against England in Antigua two years ago, was the only player to offer resistance in West Indies’ first innings. Indeed, he was denied a second Test hundred when left stranded on 79 not out after running out of partners as his team were routed for 168 in 47 overs.
Kraigg Brathwaite also showed some application when his team were asked to follow on, the opener making 40 of the 137 runs West Indies managed in their second innings.
Overall, a shocking team performance.
Despite these shortcomings, though, nothing could take away the pride felt by Broad.
His dismissals of Roston Chase and captain Jason Holder in successive deliveries drew him level with Botham and he could have overtaken the England great with his hat-trick ball to Roach for which Roach produced a solid forward defensive.
However, Broad didn’t have to wait too long to move into second place on England’s all-time list as he claimed Shane Dowrich two overs later.
Broad, presented with his Test cap by Botham on debut in Colombo ten years ago and whose father Chris played alongside Beefy on England’s triumphant 1986-87 Ashes tour, said: “Ian Botham has been a hero of mine. I used to watch him play, especially when he played with my dad.
“He had a great influence on me. His performances against Australia are inspirational. It’s a special day.”
On the spell that saw him overtake Botham, Broad added:“It was probably the nicest feeling I’ve had this summer on the hat-trick ball. I thought,‘Could this happen, could this be?’
“It was a great atmosphere running in and I just said,‘Right, just try and hit the stumps’. And unfortunately, Roach kept it out.
“It was probably the best 40 minutes of bowling I’ve had this summer. It was great to get a little clump of wickets in a little period of play that dragged us closer to the victory.”
Cook’s epic innings, his 31st Test hundred, earned him the man of the match award. And Root said afterwards he feels fortunate to have England’s all-time leading runscorer in Cook and the country’s two most prolific bowlers in history in Broad and Anderson in the same team.
“We all know the class and skill
these guys have, and we’re so fortunate to have them rolled into one era,” he said. “All three of the senior guys, the record-breakers, set the standard.
“They lead the way.To have the two leading wicket-takers and the leading runscorer in the side, you have to be careful not to take that for granted.
“I’m extremely privileged to play in the same team as them - and what a place for young guys to learn, with that great experience and so many runs and wickets behind them.”
There were mixed fortunes for the three players making just their third Test appearances.
Tom Westley’s dismissal for eight in England’s only innings was a real missed opportunity for the new No3 batsman.
Dawid Malan, at No5, did register his maiden Test half-century but will feel he should have gone to three figures after reaching 65.
And Toby Roland-Jones backed up the decent start to his England by taking four wickets as he dovetailed nicely with the two senior seamers.