CRICKET ENGLAND v WEST INDIES: ENGLAND LEFT themselves 14 overs last night to take control of the third Test after Paul Collingwood's eighth Test century, with good backing right down the order, had allowed Andrew Strauss to declare at 566 for nine.
They threw the kitchen sink at the West Indies openers, Chris Gayle and Devon Smith, with umbrella fields of a kind seen when the boot was on the other foot. Steve Harmison got rid of Gayle in his first over, the ninth of the innings, rifling to extra cover for a rapid 30, but Smith and the nightwatchman Daren Powell survived to the close which was reached at 55 for one.
Collingwood’s 202-ball innings, dominated as ever by the legside with the occasional square slash should keep the bailiffs at bay for a while now.
Yesterday’s 113, ended only by the need to hit out as the declaration approached, was his third in the last nine innings. He is nothing if not competitive and hit 14 fours. There was 51 from Kevin Pietersen, a scrappy effort, but it ensured that each of the top five had made at least as many as they managed collectively in the last innings, a triumph of sorts.
England’s best chance of taking a hold on the match may rest with the psychological advantage that should have been gained by the runs accrued in their first innings having been put in to bat, and a small but significant area of an otherwise blameless pitch that might have been prepared by Rip Van Winkle using liquid mogadon.
Flintoff hammered away at it last night to discomfit Gayle and the contribution of the bowling coach Ottis Gibson could be crucial this morning providing he remembers to take his tape measure to the practice strip, sets his patent “good areas-ometer” at precisely seven paces from the popping crease and instructs the fast men to hit it.
That is the distance from the popping crease at the north end that the half way line of the football pitch crosses that of the cricket surface. To the naked eye, the heavy rolling during the brief preparation allowed had hidden it. But there it remains, a slight indentation, but sufficient at this level for the faster bowler whose natural length is a fraction shorter than most to exploit. This means you Steve Harmison.
But with such a small target for the bowler to hit, they have to concentrate their minds totally on assuming that each delivery will be one of the 99 per cent that miss the area and behave normally. They simply have to play the percentages, while mindful of the need to get forward if possible.
After their generally dismal showing on the first day, West Indies needed to show more interest yesterday. Overall, they performed much more creditably, posing more problems for the England batsmen as a result.
The primary mover in this was Fidel Edwards, who had finished the first day in bristling form, bowling with rapidity and intent, and continuing that into a magnificent morning spell that deserved more than the wicket of the nightwatchman James Anderson.
Jerome Taylor, too, maintained a high standard, and his post-lunch burst that got rid of Pietersen and Flintoff within three balls at the start of a new spell, had the potential to turn the innings.
Pietersen had not been at his fluent best, hanging in for dear life at times while being outscored by Collingwood and rarely looking entirely comfortable. His dismissal, spectacular as it looked, was via an inside edge and, if there was a hint of low bounce, the batsman’s response, as if he had had his legs cut from beneath him, exaggerated it.
As for Flintoff, he was undone less by low bounce than Taylor’s skiddy speed. There would have been more chance had he been forward, although it is a brave fellow who can manage this against pace when first at the crease without worrying about the dentistry bills.
GuardianService
