A graphical view of England vs. West Indies, 2nd Test Match, Birmingham, played 29 July - 1 August, 2004 by Jack Solock

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Scorecard:

England v West Indies

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England's summer to remember and West Indies era to forget continued, as England again destroyed West Indies, this time by 256 runs to retain the Wisden Trophy. After West Indies had held the trophy through a period of 13 series, England have held it through 3 series, and the complete tally for the Wisden Trophy is now 15-5 West Indies. Of equal if not more importance, England have now won six home Tests on the trot, their best return since the eight in a row they won in 1959-60 against India and South Africa (see more below). With two more matches against West Indies, followed by two next spring against Bangladesh, that record could easily be eclipsed by the time Australia arrive next summer with the Ashes on the line. England are also now undefeated in their last nine Tests, a remarkable spell of play. For West Indies, it was their 30th defeat in their last 40 road Tests.

 

 

The game graph shows a different kind of dominance than was seen in the 1st Test at Lord's. There the graph of England's 1st innings resembled a huge plateau (the gigantic upward slope of the 2nd and 3rd wicket partnerships bringing the total to almost 500, the line then flattening away to a mere 568). Here we see what might be called a "bull market" slope, an innings that resembles a purple patch on the stock market. Although West Indies bowled much better at Edgbaston than at Lord's, they showed another classic sign of a poor attack and a poor team. Here, in relative terms, they had England "on the carpet" at 262/5, only to be destroyed by a 6th wicket partnership of 170 between Andrew Flintoff and Geraint Jones. Amazingly, since Jones came into the side in the recent series against West Indies in the Caribbean, the two have shared the following partnerships: 84, 105, 118, 170, 19, for an average of 107.2. For Flintoff, it was his 6th Test match 50 on the trot, the first time that has been achieved by an England batsman since Alec Stewart in 1996-7. Flintoff's total of 167 was his highest 1st Class score. The partnership, along with other useful (and embarrassing for West Indies) lower order partnerships, made certain that England would score more for their last four wickets than for their first five. Steve Harmison's reverse sweep four, part of an unbeaten tenth wicket stand of 41 in 25 minutes with Matthew Hoggard, spoke volumes about the quality of West Indies attack.

 

After the loss of two quick wickets, West Indies fought back with a brilliant 209 run 3rd wicket stand between Ramnaresh Sarwan and Brian Lara. But once they were gone, the typical West Indies plateau line was traced out again. From 221/3 to 336 all out they went, giving Captain Michael Vaughan the option to enforce the follow on.

 

Wisely, he chose not to, and avoided over bowling his attack at the tail end of back to back Tests. As the pitch deteriorated, England were able to add 248 to their lead, setting West Indies a target that was one run larger than the one they were set at Lord's. As can be seen in the graph, the innings pivoted on a crucial 132 run 4th wicket partnership between Marcus Trescothick and Graham Thorpe. Trescothick got a hundred in each innings, just as Vaughan had the week before. And so, a milestone reached only seven times before this (by six batsmen) in the entire history of English Test cricket (127 years, 823 Tests) had been achieved twice in two weeks. A tribute to a side in great form (and perhaps also a tribute to the worst attack in the history of West Indies cricket).

 

The fourth innings of the match was stamped with the name Ashley Giles. The formerly innocuous journeyman left arm spinner tore out the heart of the West Indies lineup, achieving his 2nd 5 fer in two matches. Some 5 fers are more valuable than others, and this one was as valuable as they come, as Giles ripped out the number 2 through 6 wickets, leaving the Caribbeans in tatters. One of the most interesting moments in the match was a brilliant piece of captaincy by Vaughan (perhaps inspired by Giles). Realizing that, in spite of his continued heated appeals, Giles was not going to get an lbw decision from Simon Taufel (Taufel perhaps still smarting from the howler that saw him give Brian Lara out) no matter how long Shivnarine Chanderpaul played ice hockey goalie to balls flighted up outside his off stump, Vaughan switched his spinner to the end where Darrell Hair was umpiring. Hair is well known to be less sympathetic to these type of tactics, and Chanderpaul should have known that. Chanderpaul's shaking head and look of true disbelief at being given out revealed his lack of preparation, as well as an almost unbelievable naivete that is another characteristic of a poor side. Most of this side is young and still learning, but Chanderpaul should have known better. It was a moment that etched the whole series so far in miniature. England is better, smarter, and more resourceful than West Indies at the moment. As for Chanderpaul, his latest streak of undefeated batting was stopped at 17 hours and 11 minutes in West Indies 1st innings, a staggering figure, but still far short of his record undefeated streak of 25 hours and 10 minutes set against India two years ago.

 

The graph of this match also shows the effects of a wearing pitch that provides variable bounce and considerable turn toward the end. Note that, graphically, each day gets "longer" (5 wickets falling the 1st day, 6 the second, 11 the third, and 17 the fourth). England batted more overs in their first innings than both teams combined batted in their second innings.

 

And so England marches on. The break in the series allows us to examine the fortunes of the new captains of each side. Both Michael Vaughan and Brian Lara are part of the "great shake-out" in the wake of the 2003 World Cup which saw 6 of the 10 captains in international cricket replaced.

 

 

Lara has captained his side in 20 matches since being appointed to his second term in April 2003. Vaughan has been the English Captain in 17 matches (not including the 1st match of the recent New Zealand series, where Trescothick captained due to a Vaughan injury). As can be seen in the graph, which can be used to count the record of each (Lara--4-11-5, Vaughan--11-3-3), the trajectories of these Captains are almost mirror images. Lara not only has a young, inexperienced team with a poor attack, but has also faced Australia (four matches), England (six matches), and South Africa (four matches), 14 of his 20 matches against the three strongest teams in the world. Vaughan showed that he might be something special almost immediately, leading his side in crawling out of two holes against South Africa to draw a fascinating series last summer. Since then, with the exception of a mediocre performance against Sri Lanka on the road last winter, he has been at the controls of a team that has suddenly become rampant, wiping out all opposition. Only Brian Lara's incredible 400* (and Andy Roberts' refusal to allow an English whitewash by preparing a St. John's pitch for Lara's remarkable innings) has prevented England from winning nine in a row.

 

For West Indies, it seems increasingly likely that Lara will no longer be Captain after this series is over. For him, that might be a blessing in disguise. Most think Vice Captain Sarwan will replace him. But don't be surprised if the recent move to replace Ridley Jacobs with Courtney Browne for the ICC Champions Trophy doesn't have captaincy implications for West Indies in the future. Browne has been Captain of a Barbados side that hasn't lost a West Indies domestic 1st class match in two years, and is known to be a no nonsense leader whose teams are noted for preparation and working harder than other teams. Browne's indifferent form at international level in the past could mean that his sudden promotion is for something more than form.

 

As for Vaughan, the road gets a bit tougher after September. A five match series in South Africa, a two match breather against Bangladesh at home, and then the big one, a 5 match Ashes series against the unimpressed Australians. England's great run of form under Vaughan has a caveat. Since the great series against South Africa last summer, English opposition has read: Bangladesh (two matches); Sri Lanka (three matches); New Zealand (without Shane Bond) (three matches); West Indies (six matches). Arguably, 11 of his 17 matches have been against weak opposition.

 

Interestingly, a similar situation happened to Sri Lanka two years ago. Going into their first full Test series in England, Sri Lanka was coming off a run of eight victories on the trot (Bangladesh, three against West Indies, three against Zimbabwe, and the Asian Test Championship against Pakistan). Not surprisingly, the English press was unimpressed prior to the spring series, and England won it 2-0. Since then, Sri Lanka have had a mediocre record. Time (and some stiff opposition) will tell for Vaughan and England.

 

Sources for this article:
Derek Pringle and Scyld Berry--London Daily Telegraph
Tony Cozier--Barbados Daily Nation (Bridgetown)
Andrew Miller, Steven Lynch, and Liam Brickhill--Wisden Cricinfo
Wisden Cricinfo ball-by-ball commentary and Stats Guru

 

(Article: Copyright © 2004 Jack Solock)