England vs West Indies, First Test Ratings

England.
Andrew Strauss 7. The captain found form at the beginning of a challenging summer to reassert his authority over the team and his own position in it. Got out early in the 2nd innings to Roach, but only he and Shivnarine Chanderpaul made good use of the rather flat track on the first 2 days. Was decent captaining.
Alastair Cook 7. Missed out in the first innings, but guided the chase in a fine way 2nd time round. Scored at a fair clip to take away the pressure of 4 wickets.
Jonathan Trott 6. Got out when set in the first innings that was a chancy one, and didn't stick around 2nd time around.
Kevin Pietersen 4. Missed out after getting set in the first innings, and didn't quite deliver 2nd time either. Sure some of the English supporters would be gunning for his head as usual!.
Ian Bell 7. Bell is getting back to form, 2 significant classy half-centuries in the match.
Jonny Bairstow 4. Got off to a good start in the first innings before getting undone by Kemar Roach, but he did show great promis in his short stay, and he was quite sharp in the field.
Matt Prior 5. Kept well in tough conditions, but played a bad shot to get out in the first innings when England needed consolidation.
Tim Bresnan 4. Bowled OK without many wickets to show for, but failed with the bat. Steven Finn is waiting in the wings, and he presents a greater wicket taking threat for the opposition, although he may not have Bresnan's control over runs.
Stuart Broad 8.5. Splendid figures for Broad, he could walk away with far less wickets after bowling better on other days. Wasn't at his best in the first innings with the new ball, and struggled at times, but always came back with quick wickets in the next spel.
Graeme Swann 6. Swann had nothing much from the pitch. But he made a significant contribution with the bat coming in at 10 in the first innings, and in the WI 2nd innings, picked up 3 wickets, including the big ones of Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Darren Bravo.
James Anderson 6. The way Jimmy bowled, a 7 may not be more, but he wasn't lucky enough to pick more wickets. After getting 2 early wickets in the match, Anderson had to hold on long for the 3rd one. Although this really doesn't count against him, he failed in the overnight protection duties, generally he has been so good at it!.

West Indies.
Adrian Barath 5. Got starts in both innings, played a stupid shot to get out first time, got a good ball 2nd time round.
Kieran Powell 2. Despite his hundred against the England Lyons, Powell couldn't do much in the test match.
Kirk Edwards 2. Failed in both innings of the match, involved in a terrible runout 2nd time around.
Darren Bravo 4. Decent starts, again failed to convert. Involved in 2 terrible runout, ones getting runout in the first innings due to Shiv, then running Edwards out later.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul 9. Well, no explanation needed, although that Bravo runout, and may be even that last over single should also be factored in.
Marlon Samuels 7. managed to throw away a start in the first innings, but batted really well 2nd time round, his non-turning off spin accounted for KP in the first innings.
Denesh Ramdin 5. Ramdin batted alright in the 2nd innings, but failed in the first, and his keeping wasn't up to mark.
Darren Sammy 6. Bowled within his usual limitations with some effect, batted well for his 2nd innings 37. Played bad shots to get out both times, and his onfield captaincy wasn't really the greatest.
Kemar Roach 7. Roach was the pick of the WI attack by a long way, bowling well in both innings.
Fidel Edwards 3. Wasn't quite threatening, might have to give way to Ravi Rampaul when he gets back to fitness. Also didn't seem a hundred %.
Shannon Gabriel 6. Bowled alright, has a decent action and good attributes to turn into a quality fast bowler. Hopeless with the bat though, could be involved in some funny moments, his moments with Graeme Swann were absolutely entertaining!.

my ratings

England

Strauss-8
Cook-7
Trott-7
KP-4
Bell-8
Bairstow-2
Prior-5
Bresnan-2
Broad-10
Swann-6
Anderson-7

Winides

Barath-6
Powell-5
Bravo-5
Edwards-2
Shiv-9
Samuels-7
Ramdin-8
Sammy-6
Roach-9
Edwards-3
Gabriel-6

ENGLAND

Strauss 9 - A ton, and captained his team to victory.
Cook 8 - A rare failure first time round, but a calming head in the run chase.
Trott 7 - Scored runs in the first innings, as we have become accustomed to seeing him do.
Pietersen 5 - Could have waited until the third morning to play in such an aggressive manner, and got himself out in the process.
Bell 9 - A fine match. Only got out in the first innings in the pursuit of quick runs, with the lower order in.
Bairstow 5 - Looked assured before being given out lbw. Fielded well.
Prior 7 - Pretty faultless keeping display from memory.
Bresnan 5 - Not his best match, but still worked hard.
Broad 9 - Probably not quite at his very best, but still took 10 wickets in the match, and caused problems for West Indies.
Swann 7 - Not that much to do, but did his job when required with both bat and ball.
Anderson 7 - Great new ball spell on the first morning. Broad took centre stage after that.

WEST INDIES

Barath 6 - Fluent start, but could and should have kicked on.
Powell 2 - Not yet ready for Test cricket.
K Edwards 2 - Beaten in the first innings. Unlucky with the second innings run out.
Bravo 6 - Showed his class at times, but like Barath didn't make it count.
Chanderpaul 9 - Just got on with his own business of run-making. Cost Bravo and K Edwards their wickets in the process though.
Samuels 8 - An improved display from an often disappointing player. Composed second innings knock might have deserved a ton.
Ramdin 6 - Not a bad game behind the stumps, and contributing with the bat.
Sammy 6 - Did his job, and generally captained well.
Roach 8 - Slightly off colour in the first innings; brilliant in the second.
F Edwards 6 - An honest trier, but knows he can bowl quicker.
Gabriel 7 - A pretty promising debut. Strong and pretty quick.

Would care to explain some of those? Why should Denesh Ramdin, who clearly struggled to keep, and scored not even a half-century get 8?
What is that I didn't notice about Kieran Powell? Don't think he got 25 runs in the match.

Powell 5 and Bairstow 2 CF? Powell scored less in both his innings combined than Bairstow did in his one dig, and Bairstow is comfortably the better fielder? Also Ramdin 8? Really? Keeping was poor (great catch off KP aside, and it's true that Lords isn't an easy place to keep wicket, but still), and one decent knock in two attempts isn't that much of a redeemer to me. Personally think msp's ratings are about right, I'd go:

Strauss - 7.5: great hundred in the first innings, captained pretty well (in his solid but unspectacular style - thought Swann was a little under-used second time around). Got a good ball in the second innings, which can happen to openers.

Cook - 7: failed to press on in the first innings, but his second innings was a very sensible knock (played at a good enough pace that England stayed ahead of the game), and guided England home.

Trott - 6: decent score in the first innings (though he'll be disapointed he didn't make a century), got a fine ball in the second innings though maybe he didn't need to be playing at it.

KP - 4: got a decent start first time around before gifting his wicket away, his aggression got the better of him on the final morning.

Bell - 7.5: looking much happier at home, two very pleasant fifties, his partnership with Cook was excellent.

Bairstow - 3: fielded well with a sharp catch and a run-out. His innings promised much, but didn't quite deliver. Will get more chances.

Prior - 5: kept very well I thought, but didn't cash in on a good batting pitch.

Bresnan - 2: while his figures may not flatter him, he didn't look all that threatening to me. Did a good containing job on day 1, but England may look to Finn's greater wicket-taking ability sooner rather than later.

Broad - 9: average first session, but bounced back superbly to take 11 wickets in the match, continued to show the virtues of bowling that fuller length.

Swann - 7: decent containing job in the first innings, and picked up key scalps second time around. Entertaining cameo pushed England close to 400. One bad miss in the field.

Anderson - 7: may not have got the wickets, but his partnership with Broad continues to prosper, the wicket of Powell was a particularly magnificent piece of bowling. Fine fielder.


West Indies:

Barath - 5: two starts, on both occasions threw it away.

Powell - 1: done like a kipper by Anderson first time around, didn't fare much better in the second dig.

Edwards - 1: failed twice, including a bad mix-up. Didn't look all that equipped to deal with the swinging ball TBH.

Bravo - 4: got going, got out. Twice. While the first innings wasn't entirely his fault, the second was pretty careless.

Chanderpaul - 9: I was critical of his "selfishness" in the first innings, but there's no denying he's a magnificent batsman. England need to find ways of getting him out.

Samuels - 7: threw away his first innings start, but very fine second innings knock. Off-spin accounted fr KP, but didn't exactly look threatening.

Ramdin - 5: one decent knock, but sub-standard keeping (read earlier comments).

Sammy - 6: did OK with the ball without ever looking life-threatening, and a decent second innings cameo. Captaincy uninspiring, and a particularly odd choice to bowl Samuels after lunch on the final fay.

Roach - 8: the leader of the WI attack, his burst on the fourth evening gave them hope.

Edwards - 2: looked short of fitness, and didn't swing the ball which was surprising.

Gabriel - 6: looks a decent prospect, I'm sure he'd rather play on pitches with more life in them, but has a strong action and picked up some good wickets. Guilty of striving too hard for the wicket-taking ball at times.

England
Strauss - 8
Scored a century to relieve pressure from the media (but not Team England!).
Cook - 7
Scored about a hundred runs, but got out in both innings when looking good.
Trott - 6
Played well in the first innings, managed to see off some of the new ball in the second.
Pietersen - 4
Looked in good form, but didn't score enough.
Bell - 7
Scored 60 in both innings, but could have perhaps stuck around a little longer in the first innings.
Bairstow - 5
Good run out of Edwards, batted well, but didn't score enough. Fielded very well, saved a couple of fours iirc.
Prior - 5
Kept wicket well, could have perhaps batted more responsibly in first innings. Docked a mark for that *horrible* throw during Bravo's run-out in WI first innings.
Bresnan - 6
Bowled well at times and kept the pressure on, but didn't take many wickets.
Broad - 9
Deserved MotM performance, bowled very well, has proven he can contribute massively to this attack.
Swann - 7
Got Chanderpaul out, added a valuable 30 in the first innings. Bowled well without help from the pitch.
Anderson - 8
Bowled well without reward, kept the pressure up and beat the bat regularly.

Windies
Barath - 6
Batted well on the first day to get 42. Decent effort for his first Test match in the UK.
Powell - 2
Failed in both innings. Took two good catches, though.
Edwards - 2.5
Didn't play much part in the Test, apart from catching Cook at the very end. Gave 2.5 because I thought he could have gone on to score well, but for that run-out.
Bravo - 5
Batted very well, but fell prematurely in both innings. Docked a mark for his parts in both run-outs.
Chanderpaul - 9
What can I say? Batted very well in both innings.
Samuels- 8
Well deserved 8, batted with Chanderpaul to frustrate England on the 4th day.
Ramdin - 6
Frustrated England for a few hours on the 4th day, kept well.
Sammy - 6
Batted well and took a few wickets.
Roach - 7
Took 6 wickets, showed aggression. Best of the bowlers this match.
Edwards - 3
Not too much impact on the match. Took 1 wicket and scored 10.
Gabriel - 7
Bowled well for his debut on a flat pitch and frustrated England for a little while. Picked up 4 wickets for his efforts.


Edit: Dropped Powell down to a 2.

Agree much with what MFC said really. Fair ratings.

England

Andrew Strauss 7: A timely century from the skipper.
Alistair Cook 6: Contributions of 79 and 26.
Jonathan Trott 5: Average performance with one half-century.
Kevin Pietersen 4: Will be disappointed with only 2 brief cameos.
Ian Bell 7: Mature display, 2 innings of 60+, one unbeaten.
Jonny Bairstow 4: Only made 16 and didn't get much of a chance in the second innings.
Matt Prior 4: One innings of 19 and kept well.
Tim Bresnan 3: Bowled with control but only 1 wicket and 0 runs contributed.
Stuart Broad 9: Wonderful 11 wickets on a flat deck and rightly MOTM.
Graeme Swann 5: Decent knock of 30 and 3 2nd innings wickets.
James Anderson 4: Deserved more than 3 wickets as he swung it massively in the first innings.

West Indies


Adrian Barath 4: Got two starts but never got a score above 50.
Kieran Powell 2: Made 8&5, a test match to forget for him.
Kirk Edwards 1: Um yeah, 1 whole run in the Test.
Darren Bravo 3: Two knocks of 20 but Chanders did sell him down the river in the first innings.
Shivarine Chanderpaul 8: Bit selfish but two knocks of 87 and 91 gave the Windies hope in this test.
Marlon Samuels 7: 36 in the first but batted well with Chanders to make 86 in the second. Also took the wicket of KP.
Denesh Ramdin 4: Made 6 and 43, nothing too memorable.
Kemar Roach 6: Took 6 wickets and gave England a fright in the second innings but also conceded 18 no balls during the test.
Fidel Edwards 2: Only 1 wicket throughout the test and barely made an impact, poor display.
Shannon Gabriel 5: Took 4 wickets on debut, promising display.

Duty, what about 'Captain Superb'?