England complete 2-0 rout
England has warmed up for the Ashes in style, completing a 2-0 series win over a hapless West Indies with an innings victory at Chester-le-Street.
The win, coupled with the ten wicket thumping at Lord’s, lifts England to fifth in the Test rankings – but the success may just provide selectors with more headaches.
The West Indies, after being forced to follow on, were bundled out for 176 in their second dig with Jimmy Anderson collecting 4 for 38 – including the vital wicket of Shiv Chanderpaul. This was to go with his haul of five in the first innings, to give him rather impressive overall figures – 9-125 – to all but lock in his Ashes place.
Tim Bresnan also made use of his last chance to impress selectors. Not only did Bresnan manage his first Test wicket, but another two followed to see the Yorkshire all-rounder end with 3-45. It may just be enough for him to retain his spot, should Andrew Flintoff fail to recover from a knee injury that threatens to keep him sidelined.
But, despite the convincing win and ranking boost, England should not get carried away. For much of the series, the Windies have looked about as interested as if they were only there because two others couldn’t come – which, of course, they were – an indifference emphasised by Chris Gayle’s comments.
The series does, however, seem to have served at least one purpose (other than the return of the Wisden Trophy to England). Ravi Bopara now seems a certainty to slot in at first drop in Cardiff, on the back of centuries in both London and Durham.
Some of the shine of Graham Onions’ Lord’s debut may have faded as the West Indies batsmen – particularly Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan – were determined to go down swinging. His economy rate of 7.66 from his 6 overs doesn’t make for pretty reading but an overall series return of 10 wickets at 20 keeps him in the Ashes selection frame.
For the Windies, in both departments, this is a Test series best forgotten. No-one, even Chanderpaul, averaged over 40 with the bat and no-one under 30 with the ball. For an alleged frontline bowler, Jerome Taylor’s 2 wickets at 85.50 was well below par.
All that said, you can only beat the team put in front of you and England managed that without it looking even remotely like hard work. It’s likely that won’t be the case when Strauss’ XI are next wearing white.
