Twenty20 title-fight worries Symonds

Andrew Symonds has had a successful start to his Twenty20 international career but he wants the fun left in the game © Getty Images

Andrew Symonds believes it is a shame that Twenty20 is being legitimised to the point of staging a World Championship and says Australia would prefer to keep having fun with the concept. Symonds said his team-mates had viewed previous Twenty20 internationals as “a bit of a spectacle” but they would need to take their must-win attitude to South Africa in September.”The thing people love about Twenty20 is that it’s fun and fresh, but it’s also not played that often,” Symonds told the . “It’s a good thing as long as it’s not taken that seriously. Now there’s a World Cup it’s obviously going to be taken seriously. That might be a bit of a shame.”Symonds’s comments have come a week after Nathan Bracken also expressed his concerns about the World Championship and said Australia should not get too stressed over the tournament. Symonds said the players, like the fans, enjoyed the laid-back nature of Twenty20 matches.”The best part is having the captains wired up for TV and being able to play with the kids on the boundaries,” he said. “We’ll lose all that because everyone will take it seriously.”So far Symonds has enjoyed his Twenty20 international experience – he has played four matches and made 125 runs from 63 balls at an average of 62.50. Australia’s World Championship begins with group matches against Zimbabwe and England in Cape Town but to win the 12-team competition they will need to play a further five games.

Harmison and Panesar to the fore once more

Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out

Monty Panesar took the vital wicket of Younis Khan, the only batsman to show any sign of authority against England © Getty Images

What a difference a few weeks can make to a belittled side. Their confidence sapped by Sri Lanka in both the Test and one-day series, England have stormed back into form with the most comprehensive of victories in the second Test at Old Trafford to take a 1-0 series lead.Remarkably, just two men – Monty Panesar and Steve Harmison – shared the wickets in both innings, the pair combining quite brilliantly to take 19 for 169 to crush Pakistan by an innings and 120 runs. After squashing Pakistan for 119 in the first innings, it was déjà vu in the second, too, as the unlikely marriage cut the visitors’ batting apart with controlled, directed aggression. Only Younis Khan, with a fighting 62, showed any semblance of authority; in spite of England’s excellence, Pakistan’s batsmen simply weren’t up for the fight and wilted under the pressure.Every hack and their editor were calling, pleading for Harmison to shake off his midwinter blues, apply fresh Duracell to his radar and finally return to his lethal best. No coincidence, then, that in taking his first 10-wicket haul, England dominated their opponents so well. The vice-like grip they held over Pakistan for nearly every session in this match owes much to Harmison, of that there is no doubt. Equally, however, his and England’s performance would not have been so impressive were it not for Monty Panesar, England’s latest jewel in a crown which, since winning the Ashes, had lost diamonds and pearls aplenty. The pair, in both of Pakistan’s innings, were as irresistible as Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne in their pomp.Harmison was the overwhelming difference. In just his second over today, a violent lifter accounted for Kamran Akmal who fended it awkwardly to Geraint Jones, diving smoothly to his right to take a fine catch. It was the start England craved, if only to see their gangling fast bowler show no sign of the twinge in his back which forced him off the field late last night. No sooner had Harmison put Pakistan on the back foot than Panesar was rightly brought into the attack by Strauss, who hardly put a foot wrong in the Test.Panesar, already so loved by the public in just his eight matches, had his finest performance on the field to date with a beautifully controlled (and at times unplayable) spell of bowling. The remarkable turn he gained – he is, after all, a finger spinner – surprised as many as it delighted. On countless occasions, deliciously flighted balls on the right-handers’ leg-stump ripped and spat past their outside edge; such was the profuse spin of one delivery that it landed in Marcus Trescothick’s lap at first slip. Pakistan were spun out, all the more remarkable given their oh-so-natural ability to play slow bowling.Even Mohammad Yousuf, who only last week demonstrated such impenetrable defence with a double hundred at Lord’s, appeared clueless to the mercurial Monty. Immediately after lunch, much as was the case in Pakistan’s first innings, Panesar struck; this time it was Yousuf when Jones pulled off a slick stumping in what has been a faultless Test for him, again, with the gloves. With Yousuf gone, in strode Inzamam-ul-Haq who Harmison peppered with a selection of well-directed, calculated bouncers. He was decidedly shaken up.

Harmison’s first ten-for destroyed Pakistan © Getty Images

As Harmison put the batsmen on the back foot, Panesar drew them forward and Inzamam clubbed one into his foot, handing England’s resident short-leg, Ian Bell, a simple catch. Yousuf and Inzamam gone, and England’s grip suddenly tightened. Younis briefly flirted with an aggressive counterattack – hooking Harmison with unabashed audacity in a bold, if slightly vain attempt to shift the momentum – before Panesar trapped him leg before and the gates were open.Harmison returned with a glint in his eye and, bowling his fastest spell of the match fired out Pakistan’s lower-order with tremendous venom. In dismissing Umar Gul, he took his first ten-wicket haul for England while also becoming the first since Jim Laker, 50 years ago to the week, to take ten-for at Old Trafford.With the unfortunate injuries affecting Pakistan’s squad, their coach Bob Woolmer has quite a task to lift them in time for next week’s third Test at Headingley. Such a naturally gifted side, they were shellshocked by Harmison in this Test. For England, their summer has begun.

How they were out

Click here to read Cricinfo’s description of each wicket

Pietersen hits out at non-selection

Kevin Pietersen:© Getty Images

Kevin Pietersen, England’s newly qualified South African-born batsman, has hit out at his non-selection for this winter’s tour of South Africa, hinting that politics may have played a part in his omission.”I was disappointed not to go to South Africa because I have scored more than 5000 first-class runs in county cricket at 54 in the past four years,” Pietersen told The Guardian. “I haven’t spoken to the selectors but I have heard that they don’t want to take me back to South Africa, with all the extra pressures.”Pietersen, who was born and raised in South Africa, has an Afrikaaner father but an English mother, and he has already earned himself something of a reputation for plain-speaking. His resentment of non-white quotas in South African sport played a major part in his decision to shift his allegiance to England, and his burning ambition led last season to a major rift with his county side, Nottinghamshire, where he has been spending his four-year qualification period.”You are brought up to be loyal to the country you are in,” added Pietersen, “but I have never been totally patriotic to South Africa. It is a case of how I was brought up at home. My mum ruled the roost and she is English through-and-through. Dad is an Afrikaner but he doesn’t speak Afrikaans at home. If England go to South Africa and win, I’ll be a happy boy.”Rod Marsh, Pietersen’s coach at the National Academy, is adamant that his country of origin played no part in his omission from the South Africa tour, adding that England will benefit from his desire to play at the highest level. “English cricket’s spirit will be strengthened by him, not diluted,” said Marsh. “He has made an enormous sacrifice of leaving his own country. Maybe English cricket’s spirit has been diluted in the past by those English players who have not wanted it enough.”

Knight joins an exclusive club

Middlesex 72 for 5 trail Warwickshire 608 for 7 dec (Knight 303*, Bell 129, Hogg 71) by 536 runs
Scorecard

Nick Knight: one of only five men to score 300 at Lord’s© Getty Images

What a difference a change of innings and a few clouds can make. After Warwickshire had rattled up a daunting 608 for 7 midway through the second afternoon at Lord’s, thanks largely to a triple-century from Nick Knight, they reduced Middlesex to 72 for 5 by an early close.The pitch seemed as spiteful to Middlesex’s batsmen as it had benign to Warwickshire’s. The only discernible difference was that sunshine had given way to increasingly low cloud by the time they batted, but that did not entirely excuse an abject performance. Neil Carter’s opening spell reduced Middlesex to 22 for 3 by tea, with Owais Shah’s already wretched match compounded by a first-ball duck when he inside-edged into his middle stump.Before the carnage, Knight had finished with an unbeaten 303, the second time in successive matches at Lord’s that a Warwickshire batsman has made a triple ton and only the fifth man to do so at Lord’s (see list below). The last – Mark Wagh, who hit 315 in 2001 – was the only man to fall yesterday, and how he missed out. On that occasion, when Warwickshire also passed 600, Middlesex batted out a draw. After their abject display this evening, they will be extremely hard pressed to do so again.Knight made well-paced progress, as he had done throughout the first day, accumulating quietly and efficiently rather than spectacularly. In all, 119 of his runs were singles and his only acceleration came against the new ball on the first morning and when the declaration – and his own landmark – were in sight this afternoon.Middlesex’s bowlers showed more purpose than they did on Wednesday, although sadly Shah’s captaincy was again unimpressive. If Andrew Strauss is absent for long periods on England duty, then Middlesex have to hope that Shah improves, and does so pretty quickly, or much of their progress this summer could be squandered.The persevering Nantie Hayward, who removed Ian Bell for 129, Jonathan Trott (3) and Jim Troughton for a duck in a hostile opening spell, got due reward for his efforts. Bell, reprieved several times yesterday, added only 10 to his overnight score.

300 at Lord’s
333 GA Gooch (England) 1990
316* JB Hobbs (Surrey) 1926
315* P Holmes (Yorks) 1925
315 MA Wagh (Warwicks) 2001
303* NV Knight (Warwicks) 2004

Warwickshire’s collapse continued when Dougie Brown fell for 19 to the South African one-two, Hayward holding a top-edged hook off Lance Klusener, and they had then lost four wickets for 36. They had past 400 and were still in the driving seat, but Middlesex had dragged themselves back into the match.Brad Hogg’s arrival upped the tempo and snuffed out any Middlesex revovery. With Knight he added 150 in 100 minutes, Hogg hammering 71 from 75 balls. Jamie Dalrymple and Paul Weekes, Middlesex’s far-from-frontline spin twins, suffered the most, and only the declaration prevented Dalrymple from joining Weekes in conceding three figures. Why Chris Peploe, Middlesex’s young left-armer, warranted only ten overs, none of them yesterday, remains a mystery. As it was, Knight brought up his 300 with his 32nd four, and called off the torture.Carter’s opening burst meant that Middlesex were there for the taking, and shortly after tea when Dewald Pretorius had Ben Hutton caught by Bell at third slip for 17, it was 28 for 4. As the gloom descended over Lord’s, both meteorologically and among the few home faithful who remained, Weekes (who finished unbeaten with 32) and Dalrymple stopped the rot somewhat.But as the umpires prepared to offer the light, Brown struck the final blow of the day when Dalrymple went walkabout and was stumped by an underarm throw from Tony Frost.

It's not the passport

Now then, has John Geoffrey Wright, that infernal Kiwi, the Canterbury interloper, that foreign fellow, prostrated himself before our own BCCI president, just got right down on his arrogant knees and thanked His Dalmiyaness for giving him a one-year extension? I mean, there he was, sometimes on a two-month extension, unsure about his future, just how we like it, and we go and give him 12 months. Talk about indulgence.We Indians are hospitable to the point of hysteria, still hauling along our tedious colonial baggage. So many pontificating pundits and garrulous gurus with Indian passports, and we still choose Wright? So what if these former cricketers have no real coaching resumes; so what if they can go three days nonstop without a pleasant word to say about the team (and then they expect the players’ respect!); so what if they promise us a retreat into a cricketing stone age? They’re Indians, aren’t they?What does Wright know about us Indians? ask some former players. Indeed, what does he know? Instead of Aamir Khan videos to relax with, he bungs in tapes of opposition batsmen at work (what bhai, they don’t see enough of them on the field?). Instead of a chai piyo first and a Kapil Dev-like `Enjoy, boys’, he runs them into the ground and has them dirtying their whites (Remember Chris Evert who said no shot was worth diving for? Well that’s us). Instead of players looking for the nearest Indian restaurant when they enter a hotel, they’re first checking if it has a good gym.Our Indian way is going to hell.What were we thinking?Wait a minute, hold your horses and those Dilip "Why do we need a foreign coach?" Vengsarkars for a moment. Maybe we’re finally thinking.Maybe we figured it out (or we should have): this guy is good for us. This guy whose father is dying of cancer in New Zealand, but who still finds the concentration and courage to not just hang with his team at the World Cup but help take them closer to the promised land than we dared imagine, really cares.This guy, who embraces everything Indian, who Javagal Srinath says "thinks about the team all the time, his focus is 100 per cent, and that sort of dedication is rare", may be the real McCoy.This guy, who strangely enough retreats from headlines; who Rahul Dravid says has made a difference in planning and organisation and has "created an environment where everyone is made to feel comfortable to give his best, and that only an attitude to improvement will be tolerated", has had a telling effect.This guy, who former player Arun Lal says "has with the support staff brought in professionalism, is first at the nets, sees the wicket is okay, the nets are okay, knows what to do with each player and is tremendous for the team", is doing a decent job. Maybe that’s the problem.He was supposed to fail. He was supposed to be proof (to some of us) that we know best. Forget the fact that the Indian team’s an improved side; forget that they actually win Tests abroad these days; forget that they won the NatWest Trophy while under pressure about contracts, and also the ICC Trophy. What’s incredible, says Lal, is that at the World Cup, after an indifferent start, they didn’t fold like a cheap pack of cards as Indian teams usually do, but found the nerve to scrap their way back. Still, the foreign coach is no good? (No one’s forgetting Sourav Ganguly’s considerable contribution; it’s just that this isn’t about him).So sure, there are lacunae, and we’re about a million miles away from Australia in consistent excellence, and the players are sometimes overtly touchy; but the incremental improvements are obvious. Running between wickets, fitness, focus, discipline, attitude, shouldering responsibility. A once-disparate team full of cliques and cabals is now actually huddling, and not just to decide which sponsor pays most.Funny thing is, ask the former Indian coaches and players, some who slag Wright off, and they say they never had enough time with the team to put their plans into action. Yet Wright doesn’t deserve any? They want him to turn a team arriving from an amateur system into world-beaters by tomorrow – something they knew they couldn’t do. But they’ve had their chance; now let Wright have his.As Ravi Shastri says flatly: "No one else but John Wright should be coach. No one (in India) has the qualifications or delivery (and follow-through). No Indian is a patch on him. He comes without baggage, he’s honest, he’s sincere, the boys like him and he has done wonders. If there’s a criticism – but I know his hands are tied – it’s that I’d like to see him crack the whip more".You think every former player in Australia likes their present team? You think everyone in the Australian team is so cuddly-close they’d marry their sisters off to the next guy? Still, they understand that the cause they’re fighting for – i.e. Australia – is bigger than any pettiness. They pull together. We tear each other apart.So these fellows, KD and gang, great players no doubt, who see no value in Wright, do they ever think, `Maybe, instead of shooting from the lip every time I see a microphone, I could contribute a few original ideas, travel to Australia to do a coaching course, ask John, "Hey, is there any way I could help at the nets?" ‘ Or is Anshuman Gaekwad saying that the boys are swallowing some illegal elixir the best we can do?How many times should we say it: great players don’t necessarily make great coaches. Coaching is not about grandstanding; it’s not about how many Tests you played or the continent-sized reputation you own or the fact that you can come up with seven cringe-inducing similes in five minutes flat. It’s about interest and detail and humility and ideas and homework and subjugating your ego and patience.But what bothers me most is why some people don’t like Wright. If the statistics showed we were going backward, then okay. If the team said he sucked, then fine. But that’s hardly the case. A former player says there are agendas at work, that people are pulling Wright down because they want the job. Earning the post is clearly too time-consuming. But more worrying is this. Could it be that some of us, the very same people who feel discriminated against by western nations (and we’re not always wrong, mind you) are now guilty of an ugly xenophobia? How pitiful that would be.No one’s saying Wright’s beyond criticism, or that he’s some messiah, but let’s treat him like any other coach. And that’s the key. Don’t judge him on colour, passport, accent; judge him on performance. Thing is, are these former players who are doing the sniping primarily concerned with the primitive idea of a foreign coach showing us up, or are they interested in us being a better team, whatever it takes?Let’s remember why so many of us thought foreign coaches might be a good idea. Not because they’re better, but because they’re different. Because a foreign coach might bring a fresh mindset; because we’re high on flair but need discipline; because he wouldn’t care if a player was from Mumbai or Meerut; because too many Indian coaches have come and gone without any effect; because we want a system and direction, not platitudes. And, oh yes, because the team thought we should have one too. They were reasonable reasons and they’ve been borne out.We live in a time of internationalism, where a Swede coaches England’s soccer team, an Australian was asked to help the West Indies cricket side, and an American baseball coach works with the Australian cricket team. Sport is a better place for such exchanges, for knowledge should never have borders. John Wright is learning every day about, and from, our country and he will be a more rounded man for it. To not learn from him (Why isn’t he coaching coaches, he feeding off them, they feeding off him – like maybe Ashok Malhotra hopefully did as assistant coach?) would be arrogant.One day, sooner than we think, Wright will be gone. And the greatest compliment we can pay him is by not missing him. By having a bevy of trained, ambitious, humble, dignified, tough, literate-in-modern-cricket Indian coaches ready to take his place. Endless pontificating and uselessly undermining him is not the prescription; hard work is. Alas, that’s something we’re not always too familiar with.

Bruyns quits Boland

Andre Bruyns has resigned his position as Director of Cricket with the Boland Cricket Board.According to the South African Press Association, Bruyns cited personality clashes among his reasons for leaving.”There was not a lot more I could contribute to Boland cricket. I reached a stage where I felt I was restricted in my duties because there are too many amateur structures in place,” Bruyns told Sapa. “I tried to run the affairs strictly along business lines which was important given the financial position of Boland, as well as the run up to the World Cup.”In particular, Bruyns said he was “astounded” by a decision to turn down an offer a a cash injection from Sail (South African Investments Ltd).”It would have worked brilliantly for the Board and it would have helped to develop the facilities in the region so that it would compare with the best in the country,” said Bruyns."If somebody wants to try a new direction, it’s his right. There is nothing sinister in his decision," the Boland president Henry Paulse told the Afrikaans newspaper Rapport

The 20 Premier League ‘Bosman Deals’ worth taking a gamble on

As the season draws to a close, many of the endless talents in the best league in the world become available on the Bosman ruling at the end of their contracts. With many Premier League clubs now unable to compete in the transfer marker due to financial constraints, turning to the list of players who are available free of charge can pay dividends can the end of the season. For teams who have just been promoted to the league, a cheap way of finding Premier League experience is to look towards players who are out of contract. The importance of the Bosman rule was indicated perfectly last year when Newcastle signed Demba Ba for absolutely nothing and received one of the most lethal strikers in the country. On this list of 20, you will find players with International experience, from Canada to Jamaica, from Senegal to Columbia, Champions League winners and players who were once signed for over £20 million.

You will find players who have been plagued by injuries, players close to retirement and players who are just starting their football careers. Have a look at who has made the list and see who your club could be signing for free this summer.

 Click on Diame below to unveil the top 20

Dour Yorkshire grind through the wet

Scorecard

Michael Vaughan was watchful on the opening day against Nottinghamshire © Getty Images
 

Geoffrey Boycott would have approved of it: dour batting by Yorkshire against quality seam bowling in helpful conditions, with only one wicket falling in two hours play. Nottinghamshire’s four-man seam attack bowled 30 overs and the hosts made it to 51 for 1, with Michael Vaughan on 25 and Anthony McGrath on 14.It was a surprise that Yorkshire chose to bat against the only other Division One team to win a match so far this season, but their batsmen performed creditably in the best Yorkshire tradition. Most pleasing would be the innings of Vaughan, who had survived for 81 balls at the close.The sun shone early on, which meant that play on a damp outfield started after an early lunch, but more rain fell before tea and forced a premature end. Importantly for Yorkshire they only lost one wicket, that of Joe Sayers, who made 9 off 72 balls. Slow it may have been, but it was an intriguing battle.The main points of interest were the batting of Vaughan and the bowling of his England team-mate and former county colleague Ryan Sidebottom, although they rarely came up against each other. Sidebottom moved the ball away from the left-hander Sayers, tying him down with seven consecutive maidens and the batsman only got off strike with a leg-bye in the last.Vaughan mostly handled the bowling of Charlie Shreck and was off the mark secondball, with a neat dab for three past gully. He was beaten several times, but broke through every now and then with strokes of pure class, such as when he flicked Shreck past square leg for four and then drove the next ball to the cover boundary.He ruined Sidebottom’s opening figures with two more boundaries – an edge through the slips and a classic extra-cover drive – leaving Sidebottom with 8-7-9-0. Vaughan did at times show impatience at being tied down, flashing on a couple of occasions, but Sayers was the one who fell, playing on to Mark Ealham with the total at 32.Stuart Broad, in his first championship match for his new county, also bowled well, getting lift as well as movement. His seven overs cost 14 but he was unable to make a breakthrough.There was a brief and unusual interruption at one stage when a fox seemingly thought it was required as a substitute fielder, straying onto the outfield before disappearing as mysteriously as it had come. Presumably it had been wearing a media pass, or else the gatekeepers had been lax in allowing it in without paying. Perhaps they thought it a costume-day participant who had got his Test dates mixed up.Sidebottom had just returned for a second spell before tea when bad light closed in, quickly followed by rain, and the day’s play was over. More of the same on the second day may frustrate fans who have become used to Twenty20, but it will be strongly competitive in the best traditions of the northern game.

Flintoff furore won't stop England

Steve Harmison and Allan Donald: a potent pairing for England? © Getty Images

Given that this is the eve of the Old Trafford Test match, England’s captain Michael Vaughan might have preferred to be concentrating on such matters as personal preparation and team selection. Instead he was being forced to justify his controversial comments earlier this week, when he seemed to lay the blame for England’s World Cup disaster at the feet of his colleague and team bon viveur, Andrew Flintoff.Whatever the motives or otherwise behind Vaughan’s “despicable” comments (as they were branded by Jim Cumbes, the Lancashire chief executive), Flintoff will not be on hand to provide his own riposte – except when the pair sit down for a peace-making lunch today. Last week he underwent his third bout of ankle surgery in as many years, and could yet be missing for the entire summer. But despite the furore, Vaughan said his position with the rest of the England team hadn’t been affected. “The team looked at it and laughed,” he said. “We’ve all been very honest about our own performances at the World Cup and they didn’t make that article. It hasn’t affected our preparations at all.”For what it’s worth, the saga has distracted from what is otherwise a pretty unappetizing contest. Last week at Headingley, West Indies were routed by a record margin of an innings and 283 runs. This week they are still facing up to the loss of their captain, Ramnaresh Sarwan, who has flown home after damaging his shoulder in a fielding accident. In fact, England are so confident of a series-sealing victory that on Sunday, they took the unusual step of naming not only their squad of 12 but an unchanged starting 11, with Ryan Sidebottom rightly retained after his matchwinning eight-wicket haul.It’s a dismal state of affairs. West Indies were once the biggest drawcard in the game, but now their decline seems nothing short of terminal. Daren Ganga, Sarwan’s replacement as captain, spoke of his pride as he prepared to lead the region for the first time, but no-one truly believed him when he insisted his side were still in with a chance in the series.

Daren Ganga: West Indies’ new leader © Getty Images

Everywhere this current squad turns, there are memories of their predecessors to haunt them – from the giant replay screens that delight in showing footage of former series, via the omnipresent Brian Lara, through to the luminaries lined up to pass judgment from the commentary boxes. “Brian spoke to us before the first Test, and I had discussions with Desmond Haynes, Viv Richards, Michael Holding and Ian Bishop,” said Ganga. “The former players giving their advice to the team, that’s very important. All the younger players need a role model and some guidance apart from the coaching staff.”It’s very difficult to compare eras in terms of players,” said Ganga. “We have a great legacy as a West Indian people, a West Indian team and we understand that as players but a lot more than that is necessary to move forward.” But quite how they hope to move forward is less obvious. Although the team has been boosted by the return of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who missed the Headingley match with a knee injury, they have been badly hindered by a stomach injury to their most potent remaining player, Chris Gayle, who is likely to play as a batsman but may not be able to bowl his offspin.If that happens, then Marlon Samuels, Sarwan’s replacement in the squad, could be parachuted into the middle order, but it’ll take something special for West Indies – who were bowled out twice at Headingley in less than a full day’s play – to survive on an Old Trafford pitch that is green, hard and expected to be lively. “We didn’t deal with the English conditions well and we need to adapt better,” said Ganga. “We need to think about the process of partnerships, the process of bowling in partnerships and the process of creating chances for us to get 20 wickets. The series is not beyond us. A lot of people have written us off but cricket is played on the field.”Given the popgun nature of their new-ball attack, West Indies are likely to trade one of their job-a-day seamers – probably Jerome Taylor (for all that he took a five-for against MCC at Durham) – and opt for the extra pace of Fidel Edwards. But either way, they will be hard-pressed to restrain an England batting line-up that has helped itself to seven centuries in just three innings of this series. They have shown neither the accuracy to contain, nor the incisiveness to dismiss, and England have declared in every innings they have played.Aside from the embarrassment that could be headed Vaughan’s way when he leads his team out in front of Flintoff’s Lancashire faithful, there’s little cause for unease in the England camp. Steve Harmison showed glimpses of a return to form when he wrapped up West Indies’ tail at Headingley, and the arrival of Allan Donald could just provide the spark of confidence that has been missing from his game ever since the departure of England’s former bowling guru, Troy Cooley.Harmison memorably grabbed 11 wickets in his last Test at Old Trafford, against Pakistan last summer, and a similar display this week would enable his captain to become England’s most successful leader of all time, overhauling the record of 20 that he currently shares with Peter May. And if that happens, then even the Lancashire boo-boys might afford him a grudging cheer.England 1 Andrew Strauss, 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Michael Vaughan (capt), 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Ian Bell, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Liam Plunkett, 9 Ryan Sidebottom, 10 Steve Harmison, 11 Monty Panesar.West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Daren Ganga (capt), 3 Devon Smith, 4 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 5 Marlon Samuels, 6 Runako Morton, 7 Dwayne Bravo, 8 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 9 Daren Powell, 10 Corey Collymore, 11 Fidel Edwards.

Taylor bundles India out for 200

Scorecard and ball by ball details
How they were out

In the wake of the legends: Jerome Taylor generated searing pace and left Wasim Jaffer clueless© Getty Images

At a venue that has traditionally been a West Indian citadel, their pace bowlers brought back memories of the long-gone glory years with some menacing, incisive and disciplined bowling that left India in disarray after they had elected to bat first. Jerome Taylor evoked Jamaican legends like Michael Holding with a consummate display that fetched him figures of 5 for 50. Only a magnificent 81 from the redoubtable Rahul Dravid, and a typically gritty 45 from Anil Kumble, spared India more ignominy as they were bowled out for just 200.Corey Collymore, whose love affair with Sabina Park continues, was the unfailingly accurate tourniquet, while Taylor was the blast from the past, discomfiting every batsmen with searing pace and variations in line and length. In an exceptional burst during the second session, he beat both Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif for pace, and only Dravid’s tremendous technique and obduracy prevented abject humiliation.Pedro Collins had started the slide as early as the third ball, as Virender Sehwag played one off his legs for Ramnaresh Sarwan to pouch an outstanding reflex catch. Unfortunately for Sarwan, a meaty pull from Wasim Jaffer then struck him just below the left knee, prompting lengthy attention and a stretcher off the field. By then, India had already had a reprieve, with VVS Laxman edging a Collins delivery just short of Chris Gayle at slip.Collins continued to beat the bat with angled deliveries, but it was Taylor’s turn to celebrate next when Jaffer was too late to bring his bat down. The crowd loved what was once a common sight – a West Indian fast bowler in full flow, and a batsman looking back to see his stumps splayed.There was to be no collapse in the wake of that though. Dravid came in and was right away into straight-dead-bat mode, and with Laxman also in a defensive shell against some top-notch bowling, the scoreboard operator could put his feet up and snooze. Collymore’s introduction, after Taylor and Collins had combined for 12 overs that cost eight runs, ratcheted up the excitement but Brian Lara’s failure to hold on to an edge off Laxman’s bat rather dampened the spirits.It took 19 overs for the first four of the innings – a Dravid push down the ground off Dwayne Bravo – and apart from a delicate Laxman glide down to third man, that was as good as it would get when it came to aggressive intent in the first session.Laxman, who had struck a superb century in the last Test, resumed after lunch with a peachy on-drive off Bravo, but a dart outside off stump then sent him on his way. Yuvraj Singh, who replaced him, promised much, with a couple of splendid flicks through the on side and a gorgeous back-foot square-drive off Bravo, but Taylor’s return signalled the end of that particular purple patch.The perfect yorker dismissed Yuvraj, and there was twice the injury with the bruised foot forcing him to limp off. In his wake came Mohammad Kaif, who appeared to be auditioning for a role in the remake of . The sharp bounce off a good length had him in all sorts of bother, and he was extremely fortunate to see Daren Ganga tip over an edge to gully.

Virender Sehwag went as early as the third ball of the day having played one off his legs for Ramnaresh Sarwan to pouch an outstanding reflex catch© Getty Images

But Taylor was far from finished, consistently clocking near 90mph. After Kaif had struck notes of defiance with a fluid cover-drive and a powerful pull, the lethal weapon – the perfume ball – delivered the inevitable breakthrough. By the time a Dravid edge fell just short of Runako Morton, the substitute fielder, India were on the ropes. Collymore then sent them one step closer to the canvas, as an irresponsible cut from Mahendra Singh Dhoni only delighted the slip cordon.Kumble sparked the revival with some trademark deflections to the third man fence and the heart of a fighter. Dravid cut and drove Gayle for four to ease past 50, and as the shadows lengthened, the pitch appeared to be easing out. Lara tried Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s legspin, but neither Dravid nor Kumble was remotely fazed by it, and it was left to the pace bowlers to halt the 93-run recovery.Bravo accounted for Kumble, and after the new ball had been taken in the 82nd over, Collymore and Taylor dealt the final blows. A beautiful delivery from Collymore ended Dravid’s 215-ball resistance, and Taylor saw off S Sreesanth and Munaf Patel before wheeling away to savour what could be the first of many five-wicket hauls. On a day exemplified by his 95mph yorker to Kumble, who somehow kept it out, it was only fitting that Taylor had the last word.How they were outIndiaVirender Sehwag c Sarwan b Collins 0 (1 for 1)
Wasim Jaffer b Taylor 1 (3 for 2)
VVS Laxman c sub (Morton) b Bravo 18 (34 for 3)
Yuvraj Singh lbw Taylor 19 (58 for 4)
Mohammad Kaif c Lara b Taylor 13 (78 for 5)
Mahendra Singh Dhoni c Bravo b Collymore 3 (91 for 6)
Anil Kumble b Bravo 45 (184 for 7)
Rahul Dravid c Ramdin b Collymore 81 (197 for 8)
S Sreesanth b Taylor 0 (200 for 9)
Munaf Patel c Ramdin b Taylor 0 (200 all out)

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