Quick Draw

I hope the West Indies lost the fourth test. Not because I want England to win through some patriotic fervour but because of the deplorable way that they set themselves up in this test match.

I have always enjoyed the laborious tactical aspect of test cricket. The way in which the pitch is examined as if an ancient work of art, the manner in which captains tailor fields to certain players and the stringing of six balls together to form a cohesive plan of an over are attractive and engrossing to watch. The Ashes victory for England in 2005 showed me that this nuance could be coupled with incredible action evident in Harmison's dismissal of Kasprowicz with 2 runs to spare, Freddy Flintoff's demolition of the Aussie attack with half an arm and Shane Warne bowling Andrew Strauss by pitching the ball somwhere just outside the boundary rope.

The West Indies have refuted all these memories with their defensive performance in The Port of Spain. Although they haven't won a test series in 5 years and are desperate to do so playing so ardently for a draw doen't make for enticing cricket and could make for a emmbarassing loss. It seems strange for Chris Gayle, such an exciting batsman, to want to play so negatively. The wickets have helped such torpor inducing fare and there has to be some measure of responsibility placed on England's inability to score quickly but all the same: Brendan Nash pootling in for 20 overs? Really?

It looks like it's going to be difficult for England to get anything from the series, mainly because of declaration hesitancies and mattress-like wickets, but also because of Negativity from the Windies. It's not something England are likely to encounter in the Ashes but when Ricky Ponting and Aussie Wunderkind Phil Hughes start putting bat on ball we may just start begging for a bit of restraint.