United front puts tourists firmly in the driving seat
WEST INDIES were deservedly showered in praise just for agreeing to turn up in England to restart global cricket. The plaudits centred on their bravery in signing up for the tour to hell at a time when England was the sick man of Europe.
That was where the pats on the back were expected to stop. Sitting eighth out of 10 in the World Test Rankings, not a great deal was expected of Jason Holder’s depleted side. But they have shown over the past five days they can play – and not necessarily in a way that might be expected of a side from the Caribbean.
Flair is part of West Indies cricket’s DNA but Southampton was a
performance which elevated control above fireworks.
It was there to see with the ball in bowling England out twice and it was there in the way they closed out cricket’s first Test for four months yesterday.
If one man personified the discipline of the West Indies it was Jermaine Blackwood, whose 95 was his highest Test score for four years.
Ordinarily, if Blackwood reaches 95 there has been some damage done to the pavilion windows and a couple of replacement balls called for but yesterday he held himself in check admirably to provide a titanium rod for the West Indies middle order.
England had them on the rack at 27-3 with John Campbell retired hurt when Blackwood walked to the crease. When he departed 154 balls later as his self-control finally ran out, they were 189-6 and just 11 runs short of victory.The job was all but done.
Blackwood did offer up a couple of chances and there was some hairraising tip and run with Holder – judgment is difficult when one man needs three times as many strides to take a single as the other – but the diminutive Jamaican was outstanding. All the more so as he was struggling with his vision during his innings and twice needed treatment to his right eye.
If Michael Holding was the popular man of the match for his gripping deconstruction of racism while the rain fell on day one and Shannon Gabriel a decent official choice, Blackwood ran them close.
This is a West Indies team shorn of three players who opted not to tour. Those who did so committed to a fortnight in quarantine and to spending the rest of their two months in this country in a biosecure bubble.
They have not come for the neon. The only nocturnal illumination the tourists have encountered are the reading lights in their rooms at the on-site hotels at Old Trafford and the Ageas Bowl.
What the enforced period together appears to have done is to pull a side drawn from four different islands together and help forge them into a coherent unit.
The last time the West Indies won a series in England was under Viv Richards 32 years ago when Malcolm Marshall caused havoc. They do not have individuals of that calibre to call upon in this series but, tight and organised, they are in the driving seat as the teams head to Manchester.
There was a script for this series but it had just been ripped up.