Having laboured hard for no reward in Sri Lanka before Christmas, Michael
Vaughan's promising England team arrived in the Caribbean in February
2004 and performed even better than Australia had the previous year. They
won the first three Tests, then held on for a draw in the final game on a
supine pitch in Antigua, after Brian Lara had regained his Test batting record.
In the course of an astonishing display of skill and willpower, he became
the first batsman to reach 400 in a Test innings.
The feat gained precious time for Lara and his team of ingénus but he
himself said that, in the context of the series, "it was nothing to rant and
rave about". That is a matter of opinion. The fact remains that in all too
short a span - Test schedules these days allow no time for the old slowburning
blue touchpaper that let a five-match series crackle into life - the
dream that his side might bounce back from an embarrassing hammering in South Africa was shattered by a united touring team playing harder, more
disciplined and more thoughtful cricket.
The unexpectedly lively pitches produced for the first three Tests - a
reaction to the bland surfaces on which Australia had built huge totals the
previous year - played into the hands of the best group of England fast
bowlers to have toured together for a long time. Impressively led by Steve
Harmison, easily the most influential bowler on either side, they were
arguably the best pack since the briefly invincible years of the 1950s, and
certainly since John Snow, Jeff Jones and David Brown led the attack on
England's last triumphant tour here in 1967-68.
West Indies' weakness against fierce fast bowling on helpful pitches, a
bitter taste of the medicine doled out in giant spoonfuls by their own teams
of the 1980s and 1990s, had been apparent when they relinquished the Wisden
Trophy to England in 2000. If the events of this tour reflected the continuing
struggle by West Indian cricket to catch up with developments in the rest of
the world more than a sustained England revival, they nevertheless represented
a further step in England's own desperate quest: to win back the Ashes.
The missing elements for England were obvious enough before a ball was
bowled: no established spinner other than Ashley Giles, a reliable bowler
but seemingly limited on pitches outside the subcontinent, and no young
batsmen thrusting from below with unanswerable claims to oust the
established top five. That said, the contemporary tour itinerary gives little
chance to batting reserves unless someone gets injured. In past Caribbean
series, England players expected to get hurt: this time, despite two very fast
and promising 22-year-old bowlers from Barbados, Tino Best and Fidel
Edwards, the senior batsmen emerged with no more than a few bruises. Paul
Collingwood, seen as Nasser Hussain's most likely successor, played only
three first-class innings.
The coach, Duncan Fletcher, had fought for Hussain's inclusion despite
his vain struggle for form in Sri Lanka. In the event, the series would not
have been won by England had it not been for the bravery and professional
know-how of the three thirty-somethings in the middle order: Hussain
himself, Mark Butcher and Graham Thorpe. The first two held the fort in
the pivotal first innings of the first two Tests, and again when West Indies
looked like gaining consolation on the final afternoon in St John's. Butcher
played particularly fluently throughout the series, having almost missed the
opening Test after twisting his ankle in the first warm-up match. But the
best innings was played by Thorpe in the Third Test, at Bridgetown, where
he repeated his hundred of 1997-98 in tougher circumstances. It was a canny,
skilful, gritty performance that won the match award.
That could have been won by no one but Harmison in the first two Tests,
a fact for which Durham's pale-faced assassin deserved most credit himself.
His great natural talent, barely evident in so gangling a figure, might never
have been developed, however, had it not been for the faith and patience
shown by the most recent England selectors and the shrewd promptings of
the back-up staff, led by Fletcher and valuably augmented by the fitness
adviser Nigel Stockill and the bowling coach Troy Cooley. Between them,
they drove home what was at stake, convinced Harmison of the need for
greater stamina, and worked on keeping his naturally high action rhythmic
and simple. Training sessions at Newcastle United FC paid handsome
dividends.
He may never again produce an analysis quite like the seven for 12 that
won the Sabina Park Test with startling suddenness on the fourth morning.
But the performances that followed, notably a crucial spell before lunch on
the opening day at Port-of-Spain after Chris Gayle had batted superbly for
the first 25 overs, proved Harmison to be 14-carat rather than a mere flash of brass. Few cricketers have been so misunderstood, especially by the media.
As a bowler, although everyone recognised his unusual pace from his teenage
performances in north-eastern cricket, he was seen as hopelessly inconsistent.
As a character, having married young, he appeared gauche, and unhappy to
leave home and family. It was marvellous to behold the emergence not only
of the most awkward English fast bowler since Bob Willis but also of a
man whose quintessential English modesty was underpinned by a competitiveness
that was never meretricious.
Matthew Hoggard had much the same qualities: a willingness to work
hard and two large feet planted firmly on the ground - in wellington boots, to judge by his walk. His hat-trick on the Saturday of the Barbados Test, in
humid conditions ideal for his out-swingers, was the second example of how
one spell can decide a Test match.
In between, in Trinidad, came a first five-wicket Test haul for Simon Jones,
a performance in which all cricketers could rejoice. The charismatic young
Welshman's long and lonely fight for fitness, after suffering a serious and
appallingly unlucky knee injury in the field at Brisbane in November 2002,
was admirable. He was a marginal choice in the Test attack in front of
Lancashire's James Anderson, who could, however, be all the better for a
spell on the sidelines, after his swift rise from league to Test cricket the
previous year and the inevitable fallow period that followed.
The fourth member of the fast-bowling quartet, Andrew Flintoff, had his
most commanding all-round series yet. Using his great strength unstintingly,
he was at once hostile and controlled. His catching at second slip was
magnificent and by the end, although there were still technical faults to be
worked on, he had justified his promotion to No. 6 in the batting order.
The series' most disappointing feature from an English viewpoint was the
failure of the captain, Vaughan, and his opening partner, Marcus Trescothick,
to give the team a stable start. They finally produced a partnership of
substance in the second innings of the last match but, like Lara's record,
saving the final game had to be seen in the context of a pitch that would
have lasted for all of the 12 days that it had taken to decide the other
three Tests.
At St John's, an all-Bajan West Indies attack bowled well together,
especially the exuberant Best and the loose-armed Pedro Collins, to take
advantage of opponents dazed and wearied by Lara's remorseless excellence.
Flintoff 's resolute if fortunate third Test century in the first innings and
Vaughan's 140 in the second were the most important contributions in
denying them.
Vaughan averaged 35 in the end but this was only his second hundred in
13 Tests since taking over the captaincy, both made in the cause of saving
a game. Not surprisingly, it took him time to learn how to give as much
thought to his own batting as he had to all aspects of leadership. Vaughan
had averaged 31 in his first 16 Tests, 72 in the next 15, and 29 as captain
before this innings. The hope was that this century might mark the start of
the fourth phase of a career surprisingly mercurial for so classical a player
and equable a character.
Trescothick finished the series in the paradoxical situation of needing runs
in the one-day internationals to underpin his Test place, yet needing to bat
less like a one-day cricketer in the five-day game in order to score more
heavily and consistently. His sharp reactions at
first slip and an innings of 88 at St John's - after
being reprieved by an unsighted umpire before
he had scored - only partially atoned for another
disappointing tour.
Much the same could be said of Lara's extraordinary
innings in relation to the earlier performances
of his team. Playing on a neighbouringstrip on the same square against the same opposition ten years to the monthafter the flawless 375 that first propelled him to stardom, he, too, might have
been given out caught behind for nought (television replays were inconclusive
about whether he had got a thin edge off Harmison). What followed, over
the 13 hours in which he bent all bowlers to his will, was confirmation that,
although he may seldom dominate like Viv Richards, Lara is the finest
Caribbean strokemaker since Sobers. In this mood, too, his concentration and
ability to eliminate risk bore comparison with Bradman, the only other batsman
to have scored more than one Test triple-hundred.
Lara as leader was less of an open-and-shut case. He was polite and
articulate with the media, supportive of his young team in selection meetings,
and often very clever in his direction of them in the field - though after
dislocating the little finger of his right hand in missing a slip catch in the
First Test, he was unwilling to field close. Just occasionally, however, his
tactics were unfathomable.
Still suffering pain from the finger, he dropped down the order in the
second innings at Port-of-Spain. To some it looked like a retreat, which
was nonsense, but it gave out negative pulses. More baffling was his
reluctance to use Best and Edwards in tandem, particularly after lunch on
the second day at Bridgetown when England, struggling at 73 for four, were
allowed to settle down while Gayle bowled 11 overs in succession. Gayle
is a steady enough off-spinner but Lara, not a Trinidadian for nothing, would have been happier throughout the series had he been given a specialist
spin bowler.
The lack of one good enough to demand inclusion was only one of a
multitude of problems troubling the latest group of West Indian cricket
administrators. During the series they replaced one manager, Ricky Skerritt,
with another, Tony Howard, but frequent changes of captains, coaches and
executives have done little to arrest the decline since the 1990s. This said,
one sensible change for the near future would be a foreign coach of sufficient
stature, experience and clarity to rise above regional differences, establish
priorities and plot a sensible course.
Like their English counterparts (less so Australians), West Indian
administrators seemed too much concerned about making money and too
little about making cricketers. Talk of lavish new stadiums for the 2007 World Cup was heard almost everywhere. Generally, there would be more
sense in updating and enlarging existing venues like Sabina Park, the Bourda
and the Antigua Recreation Ground than in sinking millions of dollars into
new ones where pitches might not bed down in time.
The levy of £160 on Test tickets for English visitors was another case in
point. It did not prevent an invasion of some 10,000 England supporters, a
good many of whom bypassed the surcharge by getting their tickets in the
Caribbean from local buyers paying the proper price. There was a time when
West Indian fans would not have been so happy to make a profit at the
expense of missing the match.
In letters' columns and phone-in programmes, the home team was accused
of lethargic practice routines, poor leadership, a lack of pride and passion,
too much pay and too little hard work. There may be some truth in all of
these, but they are familiar barbs against defeated cricket teams. The essential
problems for Lara's side - as for many years they were for England - were brittle batting, fallible catching and a lack of penetrating bowlers of sufficient
experience and fitness.
The 3-0 result in the Tests did not reflect any great difference in natural
ability between the sides, a fact emphasised when, with several changes in
both squads, the one-day games that survived poor weather produced two
wins each.
For England, the distinctions between 50-over and five-day cricket were
highlighted by the efforts of their two most influential players, Trescothick
and Chris Read. For West Indies, Dwayne Smith demonstrated again,
especially by his effortless six-hitting, an exciting talent that needs to be
both tutored and encouraged by regular selection. Ramnaresh Sarwan, who
had enjoyed that necessary faith from the selectors, batted with intelligence
and authority, notably in St Lucia and in making a virtually faultless hundred
at Bridgetown. Read, having lost his wicket-keeping place to Geraint Jones
for the final Test despite immaculate work behind the stumps for eight Tests
in succession, proved he could perform with the bat too. He won a game
in Georgetown, reduced by rain to 30 overs, by means of three timely
boundaries in succession when West Indies seemed to have capitalised on
Shivnarine Chanderpaul's shrewd hitting.
Both matches in Port-of-Spain and one in Grenada were abandoned
because of rain, the latter two without a ball bowled, but the sun shone on
true pitches and a perfect outfield in St Lucia. The consequences were two
successful run-chases by West Indies, ecstasy for capacity crowds on the
most modern ground in the Caribbean, and the restoration of some lost pride.
Appropriately, however, it was England who had the final word when
Trescothick's barnstorming strokeplay on another good pitch in Barbados
ensured that the side batting second won every completed game.