England V West Indies, Lords, 1st Test Thread

[Duty281]

First topic message reminder :

Just a little under 15 hours now until the English Test Summer gets underway with the first of three tests against the lowly West Indies. This is seen as little more than a tune up for England, with the bigger obstacle of South Africa to come later in the summer.

Indeed, England are seen as overwhelming favourites for the series despite a disappointing Winter campaign in the UAE and Sri Lanka which saw them just about hold on to their World no.1 ranking. In the red corner, the West Indies are coming over to England on the back of a 2-0 home defeat to the Australians but their captain Darren Sammy remains hopeful of an upset.

Teams

England 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ian Bell, 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Graeme Swann, 11 James Anderson

West Indies 1 Adrian Barath, 2 Kieran Powell, 3 Kirk Edwards, 4 Darren Bravo, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Marlon Samuels, 7 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 8 Darren Sammy (capt), 9 Kemar Roach, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Fidel Edwards

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10 Day Weather Forecast for London

Enjoy!

[alfie]

Not much happening so far ... no swing , and apart from Samuels looking uncomfortable against a couple of short balls , and one woozy bit of running , batsmen have looked safe.

Swann time soon ...

[trebellbobaggins]

These two look well set.

Can't see anything moving them.

Looks like Eng will be chasing 250+ and losing this one. No way they can remove the Windies batting line up (he's called Shiv).

[trebellbobaggins]

lots of chances but the ball isn't carrying.

To be honest Englands batting was very poor again getting less than 400 here. If batting well they should have gone well past 500 and put this to bed.

with their struggles i think anything above 100 will be too much.

[alfie]

On this pitch , England will not be too bothered if they did have to chase 250 ...

Weather and time might be an issue though.

[msp83]

Samuels had trouble defending the short ball, fending short of slip, getting hit....... So he goes on the attack, and hits Broad for back to back 4s through the leg side.

[trebellbobaggins]

i think i might record a shiv innings then watch it when i can't sleep.

safe as houses and twice as dull at the moment. Exactly what's needed mind.

[msp83]

50 for Marlon Samuels, with a boundary against Anderson.

[trebellbobaggins]

Looking completely dominant now. they can't lose.

[msp83]

Another boundary would mean England will have to bat again!.

[trebellbobaggins]

of course they will and they are useless at that sadly.

[msp83]

England just have to keep it going, a wicket will open the doors to WI's pretty weak lower order.
Swann has to be brought on soon, one of those first over wickets from Swanny would do it for England.

[trebellbobaggins]

england getting stuffed out there now.

[msp83]

First hour of the day pretty much belongs to the West Indies.
No first over magic there from Swanny there, in fact he got tonked around a bit. Samuels is playing his shots, Chanders is well, just Chanders, absolutely immovable

[msp83]

50 for Shiv, 2nd time in the match. Not the best of shots to get there though!.

[dyrewolfe]

england getting stuffed out there now.

Indeed. WI to declare on 500-4 with double tons for Shiv and Samuels. England's bowlers, so impressive in the first innings, now look completely impotent.

[trebellbobaggins]

yup. i'd say 700-4. Eng all out for 12.If eng were rushing on because of the weather then they are idiots for ever trusting the met office... wrong more often than right it seems.

[GSC]

Inroads with the new ball essential now. Though Lords pitch does have a tendency to die halfway through the game.

Even if they can't get them here, Trent Bridge should offer much more assistance.

[trebellbobaggins]

I'm throwing some good jinxes but they're blocking everything i try. These two are impossible to move.

[alfie]

Indeed. Chanderpaul is the New Dravid.

Not even trebell's best jinxes can shift him...

[trebellbobaggins]

yup it's another case of Dravid versus Golliath but Dravid is the Golliath.

The giant that is Shiv doesn't even need the slackman to back him up. A God of the game, long with King Marlon, the unmoveable rock of ages.

[trebellbobaggins]

bbc as always loving seeing eng humiliated at Lords.

nobody hates england more than their own journo's.

[GSC]

Might be time for Gary Pratt.

[GSC]

bbc as always loving seeing eng humiliated at Lords.

nobody hates england more than their own journo's.

*Everytime the football team plays a tournament*

[trebellbobaggins]

Fair play to these guys though, they have show just how bad our batting problems are now. We have serious rebuilding to do.

[alfie]

West Indies session all right ... Clearly England will have a few to chase.

Still reckon the new ball will do the trick after lunch and we'll get a result - just not today maybe...

[trebellbobaggins]

so no rain then?

[dyrewolfe]

Indeed. Chanderpaul is the New Dravid.

Not even trebell's best jinxes can shift him...

I've taken to calling him Shivnarine Chander-Wall.

[msp83]

West Indies 212-4, and that's lunch.
WI's session without a doubt, 92 runs, and England just couldn't separate Samuels and Chanderpaul. Their partnership has now getting close to the 150 mark.
England bowlers tried, but on this absolutely slow flat track, they just couldn't find a way.
And Samuels took the attack to Swann, never allowed him to settle down.
The good thing for England though is that the new ball is jut an over away. Anderson and Broad will have another chance to get stuck into the West Indies here. A wicket here, then it will be Ramdin and Sammy and the bowlers.

[kemet]

These two look well set.

Can't see anything moving them.

Looks like Eng will be chasing 250+ and losing this one. No way they can remove the Windies batting line up (he's called Shiv).

Erm, this is West Indies we're talking about here.

And I say this as a long-suffering West Indies fan. I have witnessed the West Indies squandering advantageous positions in all forms of cricket far too often to believe that my team is in any position of safety.

[GSC]

Kemet, when England are struggling 606v2's response is to try and jinx the opposing team haha.

[alfie]

Bit of movement for Jimmy with the new one , but these two are well set.

Next forty minutes will be interesting...

[kemet]

Kemet, when England are struggling 606v2's response is to try and jinx the opposing team haha.

It almost worked. Marlon Samuels just had a rush of blood and almost undid all of West Indies' hard work with one stoke, nearly getting caught in the slips. He drove at a delivery that was away from his body.

[trebellbobaggins]

Indeed. Chanderpaul is the New Dravid.

Not even trebell's best jinxes can shift him...

I've taken to calling him Shivnarine Chander-Wall.

very good.

[msp83]

The new ball has not done the trick for England as yet, Anderson and Broad have to attack Chanderpaul's stumps all the time, if there is any chance to leave the ball, Chanderpaul would do that all day, even week or month for that matter!!.

[Carrotdude]

Phew, needed that, decent ball bit of a weak shot from Samuels.

[alfie]

England under the current management have been renowned for their patience in the field , but this partnership must be starting to get under their skin a bit...

Has been a very impressive effort from both Chanderpaul and Samuels. Apart from having to break this pair up , the longer they bat the ...

...well no longer in fact , well bowled Broad

Top innings Samuels...

[dyrewolfe]

BREAKTHROUGH!

Samuels gone. Bowled Broad, caught Swann for 86. My word did England need that.

Very solid, patient innings from Samuels that could yet turn the match in WI favour.

[alfie]

So the new ball has indeed brought about the desired wicket.

Now we shall see if the West Indies later order can support Chanderpaul...

[trebellbobaggins]

New ball did the trick.

[alfie]

Ramdin looks shaky to start with ...

Fine over from Broad.

[trebellbobaggins]

Yup Dyre, Samuels might just have won it for his side. The pitch looks flat but do eng look capable of batting under pressure anymore?

[GSC]

Ramdin Sammy and not much resistance after that. Anything under 200 should be easy enough on this pitch

[msp83]

So that should open things up for England's bowlers. Ramdin can bat although he's been far too inconsistent to bat7 for an international side. Darren Sammy can give it a good thrashing, but he often does it without much sense. But if their sied is to have any chance, then both their games have to come off.
Chanderpaul better play a bit more positively, but its unlikely.

[msp83]

Samuels averages 29.5, Ramdin averages 22.8, and Sammy averages 19.
Think even Bangladesh's 6,7 and 8 are better with the bat.

[alfie]

Broad bowling well here , but Jimmy must be wondering where his next wicket is coming from... After the two wickets early on day one he has bowled about forty five overs without success.
Even when you know you are bowling well it is easy to start fretting when the drought gets extended this long...

Anyway , Bresnan's turn now .

[GSC]

Broad needs 1 more for 10fer

[alfie]

Nearly through the defence then ! Just a little inside edge saves Chanderpaul ... More good bowling from Broad.

Wonder if they should try more full and straightish stuff to him rather than endlessly seeking the outside edge?

Failing that they could just let him hit it and hope for a run out

[msp83]

Ramdin has survived so far, England should let another partnership develop here. Was told the weather may not be all that great tomorrow, has it changed? If there is going to be a weather problem, England has to crash through the West Indies resistance quickly enough so that they will have time to chase down whatever is needed.
Broad bowled better with the 2nd new ball, and Anderson hasn't done much wrong, but this horrid flat track has deflated all their efforts.
Now that Samuels is gone, may be its time to reintroduce Swanny, lets see how Ramdin would go about dealing with him.

[msp83]

HQ over the last few years have seen some absolutely borring draws due to the horrid track that can give a run for their money to the flattest of flat tracks in the sub-continent. Remember a match where South Africa, behind by a huge score in the first innings batted out almost 2 days without any problem to save the match. England had a pretty decent bowling unit then as well, and that included Fredye Flintoff, but there was no way Smith and co going to get out on that dreadful strip.
Think even Darren Sammy and Denesh Ramdin have opportunities to improve their respective batting averages, Ramdin has had a bit of a history, his only test hundred came against England on a terrible flat track.

[alfie]

Lead still under 100 , but with five wickets to take and the pitch flat and getting flatter West Indies chances of escaping are a lot brighter than anyone would have expected this morning.
Would need to bat all day though (I'm sure Chanderpaul will have no problem with that!) and probably a bit of tomorrow - unless the weather intervenes.

Signs of frustration showing in the England ranks : I don't think they really expected this much resistance.

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