Second Test: West Indies v England, April 21-25

[Gingerfinch]

The pitch is the main reason England should be congratulated on winning the test.

[Arthur Crabtree]

They got much the best of the bowling conditions in the first innings...

[Gingerfinch]

They got much the best of the bowling conditions in the first innings...

The game looked dead, as did the pitch near the end, so it was a very good win, considering most had money on a draw.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Yes, very good effort in the first session of day five.

[greyblazer]

The point was about gauging whether Anderson is a strike bowler or not at present. It was in 2010 that he truly became a strike bowler and stats back that up as since then he has mainly averaged in low 20s. Even in 2009 he lacked that control. The overall average suggests he isn't a great bowler, but never tells you the consistency with which he has bowled for the last five years.

[Arthur Crabtree]

For me, his two best series were the home one v Pakistan in 2010, when he showed his ability to make the most of advantageous conditions and the 2010-11 Ashes when he showed determination and perseverance and intelligence. I think overall though, he has shown a bit more of the former than the latter.

[Dr Cricket]

LOL Cook had a talk with Agnew because agnew was praising KP World cup stint for TMS.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... e-out.html

[Slipstream]

My feeling is that the press in uk has been very pro Flower, and Flower decided to lead with pace in that series. The narrative that it was Anderson's swing that won it was an attempt at face saving. My impression is that, among many virtues, he's quite a smart bowler, and makes quite a lot out of what he has, for example, his very limited reverse swing. But I can't say he stands out for his skillfulness, compared with contemporaries Steyn, Harris and Asif, to name some obvious examples. I also think the uk press is frequently Anglocentric in its views.

[greyblazer]

With very limited reverse swing or whatever you don't get wickets in most places. He is no Steyn in that regard, but better than some very limited reverse swinger. Underrated seamer and now you can add underrated reverse swinger. Yes, I know Atherton has already said Mark Wood is the best reverse swinger in England

[Arthur Crabtree]

He gets talked up a lot for his reverse swing, which I reckon mostly goes from the arm and is a bit weedy because he doesn't deliver it with enough pace. But he's not underrated in that regard, he gets good press for it. My vote goes for him being overrated, though he makes a lot of it by using the crease well. He's certainly no Gough, Jones, Flintoff in my view.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Cook calls Anderson England's best bowler of all time...

Bit over the top. But the sort of thing grateful skippers are inclined to say when a bowler has worked some magic to win them a Test Match...

I'll forgive him a bit of over enthusiasm in the afterglow of victory. Though I'm sure some others won't :)

Might have been a man management thing I guess. So fair enough.

[KipperJohn]

That was WI best side, save Taylor. But still not a strong side. The sentiment that the opposition wasn't high quality is right, even though WI can be competitive at home.

Shame they fought for most of the game but lost it in a session.

Whilst a good and much needed win for England the West Indies rather shot themselves in the foot with some pretty iffy decision making- it was head down, keep them out time and they rather lost the plot - but good from England nonetheless.

However, the hyperbole over one game -and particularly one session - is irritating. There's a lot more cricket to come this year and judgements on England's 'improvements', both individually and collectively, should be deferred until it's over

[alfie]

Have people really gone over the top about it though , KJ ?

Naturally the team and those around it were delighted ; both from the point of view of coming back from a poor run and a lot of heavy criticism , and also with the unexpected nature of the win - after the game looked a nailed on draw at the start of day five. And supporters are happy to have something to celebrate after the horrors of the World Cup.

But I'm not sure that anyone has declared that this puts them on the road to world domination...most of the comment has been on the lines of "a step in the right direction" ...and of course some satisfaction in several young players doing very well and one or two older ones apparently regaining a bit of form.

I think the players themselves are well aware there are tougher trials ahead ; and that they will be judged more on how they handle them...rightly so. Doesn't mean we can't enjoy what was a pretty remarkable session , regardless of the questionable quality of the opposition.

[Aidan11]

Joe Root on the second test -

http://www.ecb.co.uk/news/articles/joe- ... e-geoffrey

[Arthur Crabtree]

That was England's first win away since Kolkata, 2012, and their fourth since Sydney 2011.