All the while that Lord's was shrouded by this afternoon's persistent drizzle, the television monitors in the press box were showing replays of a rather more classic encounter between these two sides

All the while that Lord's was shrouded by this afternoon's persistent drizzle, the television monitors in the press box were showing replays of a rather more classic encounter between these two sides

In any ordinary circumstances, you'd expect a side to canter to victory in a match where half the team registers either a hundred or a five-wicket haul

This was a day that nobody had quite anticipated, as West Indies fought back from a dire position of 187 for 5 with the sort of ease and poise that would have shocked even their most ardent supporters

Matt Prior always professed that batting was his first love. Today he demonstrated a voracious technique and a showman's love for the centre stage, to captivate a capacity Lord's crowd

The Lord's slope was not the only lop-sided aspect of the opening day of England's international season. Despite the alarming speed with which the summer has tagged along behind an interminable winter, the main man of the match so far has had a leisurely

The former South African fast bowler, Allan Donald, is being lined up as the England team's new bowling coach

Two new coaches, two new captains, an entirely new environment and a change of format to boot. If ever two teams wished to draw a line under the inadequacies of their recent performances, then the first Test of the English season provides the perfect oppo

Matt Prior and Owais Shah are keen to seize their chance to shine

Chris Gayle says that West Indies need to put their disastrous World Cup behind them, but he's unimpressed with the curfew

But the ICC chief executive said that no match official from the final would be sacked

Somehow a team of four of the most experienced officials in the game, plus a former Test captain in Jeff Crowe, managed to fumble hopelessly

The match referee Jeff Crowe took the blame for the farcical finish to the World Cup final

Australia put the seal on the most dominant campaign in World Cup history

After the campaign that Australia have had, it would be wrong to suggest that they are anything less than confident

McGrath is on the brink of, arguably, the most wonderful exit ever achieved by an Australian sportsman

After more than a decade at the helm, Stephen Fleming has resigned the captaincy of New Zealand's one-day team in the wake of his team's defeat in the semi-final of the World Cup against Sri Lanka

Plays of the Day

In the past six weeks, Stephen Fleming has reaffirmed his reputation as the thinking man's leader

On four previous occasions New Zealand have reached the semi-finals but never once have they been able to go on