Anderson swings it
JIMMY ANDERSON celebrates the removal of Shane Dowrich as his stunning haul of 4-32 puts England in control in the first Test in West Indies, who were 264-8 at close.
JIMMY ANDERSON rolled up his sleeves and put in the hard yards on a day of both attrition and success in the dirt for England’s bowlers.
The veteran struck four times to remove two of the three half-century makers in the West Indies’ line-up, becoming the first England bowler to take 200 Test wickets away from home.
With Ben Stokes playing his role as a man who has a way of making things happen, England reduced the home side to 264-8 and perhaps did not miss the wicket-taking threat of Stuart Broad as much as many had feared after he was axed.
Stokes got through plenty of work himself, finding a way to cut through the sluggish pitch and take three wickets of his own when England needed them.
Steve Harmison presented Stokes with his 50th Test cap before play and the retired seamer would have been pleased not to be trying to generate pace on this pitch after Joe Root had lost his first toss in nine matches.
The Windies batsmen played the conditions well and unsurprisingly it was the two stars from their Headingley win in 2017, Shai Hope and Kraigg Brathwaite, who again thwarted England for a handy 73-run partnership.
But Anderson was eventually too good for Hope, who had seemed set for a giant score until the ball nipped back enough to take his inside edge through to Ben Foakes behind the stumps.
With the second new ball in Anderson’s hand, Roston Chase edged to Root at slip and Shane Dowrich played the short ball horribly, before the paceman also removed Jason Holder with a superb caught and bowled.
The man England chose to open the bowling from the Joel Garner End could not have been more different to his senior partner, with the diminutive left-armer Sam Curran operating at 79 miles per hour.
Understandably there would have been nerves for the 20-year-old, who was being asked to do the job normally reserved for the 124-cap Broad.
But when it comes to team selection Broad, unlike Anderson, is no longer a guaranteed firstchoice pick, even when conditions and the Dukes ball are in his favour. He had already been cast aside for LATE HOPE: Jimmy Anderson’s dismissal of Shai Hope sparks a late flurry of four scalps while Ben Stokes, right, celebrates the wicket of Darren Bravo two Tests in Sri Lanka in unhelpful conditions, but here in Barbados Broad would have fancied a run, so his axing was a big call and came to the astonishment of former team-mates Matt Prior and Harmison.
“Joe said he has gone on a hunch and there is a bit of nervousness about whether this is the right team,” said Prior. “I believe it could have been better with Broad playing. I don’t agree with the decision. He thought he would get the chance to put that new Dukes ball in his hands and let fly in Barbados, but instead they’ve said, ‘Cheers mate, go and mix the drinks’.”
Harmison added: “I’m finding it hard to understand why Stuart Broad is not playing. I could understand it in Sri Lanka, but here with a hard new Dukes ball with which he has taken hundreds of Test wickets, it seems strange.”
To compound misery, it was also Broad’s revealed he had to move rooms in the team hotel owing to a suspected infestation of bed bugs, although no other player had been affected.
With Broad unable to set the tone, neither England seamer managed to make an early breakthrough as Brathwaite dropped anchor and debutant John Campbell got stuck in.
Campbell was presented with his cap by Sir Garfield Sobers in front of the pavilion bearing his name, and the 25-year-old’s attacking play was in keeping with so many left-handers from the region, until he fell lbw for 44 trying to sweep Moeen Ali.
It was a bright start for Moeen, who is out to banish the memory of what he called his “worst ever” bowling performance on the ground four years ago, but things got worse for the off-spinner as he was hit for three sixes and went at nearly five runs per over.
While the Windies were hit by the loss of three late wickets, they still have Shimron Hetmyer at the crease, unbeaten on 56.