Strauss’s men get top marks as England move onto tougher tests

It was, quite frankly, vitally important that England managed to bowl out the West Indies to complete a 2-0 series win on Monday. Yes, the opposition were underprepared and have subsequently underperformed hugely. And yes, conditions at Lord’s and Durham were chilly and completely alien to Chris Gayle and his men. But, there is an old adage in sport, ‘you can only beat the team put in front of you’. And England not only beat the West Indies, but they have done so ruthlessly and with plenty of time to spare. In other words, they have done it like the Australians would have done it.

In the Caribbean, England had The Windies on the rack in 2 of the 4 completed tests but were unable to finish them off. In both Antigua and Trinidad, defiant and obdurate batting displays had frustrated England’s fielders, leaving them just short of victory on both occasions. As Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Lendl Simmons came out to bat on Monday morning, there existed a niggling doubt that the bowlers might fail to grab the win their performance deserved. Could the West Indies hold on long enough for the weather to come to their aid? As rain forced the players off for the second time in the opening session, that niggle began to grow.

But then out England came, and with the ball suddenly swinging the tourists middle order was gone. Five wickets fell in the 11 overs immediately before lunch, for just 25 runs. After that, it was merely a question of how quickly England’s bowlers could finish the job. The excellent James Anderson claimed four of the last 7 wickets. Tim Bresnan, finally given a prolonged bowl, picked up his first three test victims. For Bresnan, it was crucial he took wickets. If he couldn’t succeed against such average opposition, how could Andrew Strauss possibly trust him against the Aussies? Just maybe Bresnan has a future in test cricket after all.

England’s attention now turns to the shorter form of the game. Three ODI’s against Gayle’s side are followed by the Twenty20 World Cup. The West Indies will certainly provide sterner opposition in the coming weeks, starting at Headingly on Thursday. England should be strong enough to claim a few wins, but nothing should detract from solid progress made in the last two games. Test Cricket is a unique discipline, and England can now look forward to the Ashes with confidence.

Anderson, now looking the finished article, has completed the transformation from support bowler to talisman. Stuart Broad reminds one of Simon Jones, tall, athletic and with the knack of taking important wickets at crucial times. Graeme Swann is now the teams premier spinner and capable of regularly troubling the world’s top batsmen. However, the real bonus for England is the cast of support bowlers who are waiting in the wings. Monty Panesar could feature in Cardiff if the rumours of a spin friendly pitch prove well founded. Graham Onions has had a great start to his Test career and will be relishing a possible return to Lord’s on July 16^th. Ryan Sidebottom and Steve Harmison, both look in good form for their counties and will be hungry for wickets if called upon. And with Andrew Flintoff certain to return if fit, England’s bowling options are in rude health.

Equally encouraging is the batting situation. Questions over Alastair Cook’s technique outside off stump must be silenced, for now at least, by the sheer weight of his runs. Strauss is cementing his authority as captain, after a quiet start to the summer he will surely step up when the Aussies get to town. Ravi Bopara has three tons on the bounce and looks confident coming in first wicket down. Matty Prior looks a Test batsman at six while Broad and Swann are both capable of getting useful scores. And with Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood yet to get going this season there is no shortage of runs in this team. Should things go badly in the first couple of Tests, there are batting options in reserve too. Ian Bell is averaging over 93 in first class games this season and was in the squad for the last match. While the suspicion remains that Michael Vaughan, conqueror of Australian teams gone by, has one last hurrah left in him for England.

One glaring conundrum remains unanswered. How can England be judged against opponents as poor and disinterested as the West Indies? England have not yet had to bat on a 4^th or 5th day pitch to chase a win or save a match. They haven’t toiled in the field for two days while the opposition put 500 on the board with only 5 down. But the West Indies arrived and were not just beaten but thrashed, you can’t ask anymore than that. It remains to be seen how good the Australians are. Will they be the team that got beaten at home against South Africa or the side that comfortably defeated same opposition away? Don’t forget, they were also beaten heavily in a Test series by India last autumn. Australia may still be favourites but England are stronger now than people might think. Get off to a good start and we could be in for another cracking Ashes summer, lets hope we get the same outcome as 2005.