By Tony Becca, Contributing Editor
West Indies bowler Tino Best admires his handiwork after bowling England's Nasser Hussain for 58 runs during the third day's play of the second Test match at Queen's Park Oval, Trinidad yesterday. Replying to the West Indies' 208, England reached 300 for six. - Dellmar
PORT OF SPAIN:
FOR CRICKET fans who enjoy nothing but the sweet sound of bat hitting ball and the wonderful sight of the ball racing away to the boundary regularly, Queen's Park Oval, as lovely as it is, was not the place to be on yesterday's third day of the second Test of the Cable & Wireless Series between the West Indies and England.
However, for those who enjoy the battle for supremacy between batsmen and bowlers on a pitch favouring neither, the Oval was definitely the place to be on a day that saw England, batting in overcast conditions, bright sunshine and then overcast conditions, replied to the West Indies first innings 208, fighting their way to 300 for six and leaving themselves in the driver's seat with two days to go in the Test match.
TORRID FAST BOWLING
Resuming on 54 for two off 24.2 overs with Mark Butcher on 25 and Nasser Hussain on 20, England struggled all day against torrid fast bowling by Tino Best; good seam and swing bowling by left-hander Pedro Collins; tight, accurate pace bowling by Corey Collymore and in contrast to his performance in the first Test, good bowling by pacer Adam Sanford.
England scored 246 off 96.4 overs after going to lunch at 123 for two with 69 runs coming off 33.4 overs, to tea at 197 for four with 74 runs coming off 27 overs.
The Englishmen scored 103 off 36 overs in the final session, during which Graham Thorpe, for the benefit of those to whom that is cricket, reeled off some glorious strokes, including eight that sped away to the boundary and one, a magnificent hook off medium-pacer Dwayne Smith, that flew over the backward square-leg boundary.
As a contest, it was cricket at its best, and based on the cheers that rang around the ground after each good delivery, every positive stroke, the fans, half English and half West Indians, enjoyed every minute of it as Butcher, 61 in 274 minutes off 190 deliveries, Hussain, 58 in 355 minutes off 223 deliveries and Thorpe, 81 not out after batting for 268 minutes and facing 196 deliveries.
England didn't parade their usual exciting stroke play but instead displayed grit, determination and their patience against a set of West Indies bowlers who were at their best before a long day's play that started at 9.35 a.m. and ended at 5.55 p.m. left them tired and easy pickings for the left-handed Thorpe and Ashley Giles, 28 not out, who stepped in at 230 for six and posted an unbroken seventh-wicket partnership of 70 off 26 overs.
WELL-TIMED BOUNDARIES
Coming together on the previous morning with England on the run at eight for two, Butcher, the London-born son of an English father and a Jamaican mother, and Hussain, the Madras-born son of an Indian father and an English mother, battled like tigers and lifted their beloved England with a stubborn third-wicket stand of 115 in 58 overs before the left-handed Butcher was adjudged caught by wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs at 123 for three after stroking seven well-timed boundaries and scoring 61 off 190 deliveries.
Thorpe and Hussain, who scored one run in the first 48 minutes of the day's play, pushed England forward run-by-run with a pain-staking fourth-wicket partnership of 43 in 22 overs before, after facing 223 deliveries and stroking six boundaries, he was bowled off-stump by Best for 58 at 186 for four in the speed merchant's second over with the second new ball.
Big Andrew Flintoff, striking the ball like Ted Dexter of years gone by, threatened, new ball or not, to deal with the Windies pacers when he drove Best to the cover boundary, slipped his left-foot forward and drove Collins to the long-off boundary and in the over after tea when he went back and disdainfully pulled Best to the mid-wicket boundary.
SLOWER BOWLER
Unfortunately for England, captain Brian Lara replaced Best with Dwayne Smith, Flintoff, playing through the line, tapped a return catch to the slower bowler and departed the scene for 23 at 218 for five.
Just 12 runs later, Chris Read, going back and across his stumps, was leg before wicket to Collins at 230 for six and the West Indies, after looking in serious trouble with England on 183 for three and Hussain and Thorpe coming out of their shell and playing a few lovely strokes, were back in the game.
Thorpe, however, despite being hit on the right hand by a full toss from Best, was as solid as a rock, and Giles, who played a few confident strokes on the offside, was not beaten even once as England batted to the end of the day without further loss and tilted the balance in their favour.
