Jerome Taylor's hat trick

We didn't really know much about Jerome Taylor before this. We like his style though: A hat trick against Australia with the match in the balance.

Fast bowling's back in fashion.

Ian Bradshaw: We know him now

We think we've got the measure of Ian Bradshaw. We always had problems remembering him and his name before, but now when we look at his name or a picture of him thoughts come into our head. Relevant thoughts.

Yesterday Ian Bradshaw took 3-30 as the Windies beat India after what somehow turned into a nervewracking finale. The West Indies had been dogged in the field. Never letting India get going. Then, when they batted, they seemed to be cruising to their target with only three wickets down.

Suddenly they lost four wickets in ten balls and seemed rather keen to self-destruct, but they just about kept it together and won with two balls to spare. It means England are out, but everyone had pretty much resigned themselves to that anyway - round about the time the squad arrived in India, actually.

Chris Gayle hits his third hundred of the tournament

He's going okay, Chris Gayle: Three hundreds in seven innings. He's always had the ability to get an innings off to a flyer, but he's not stopping there at the minute. He and Shivnarine Chanderpaul seem to be making a rather handy opening partnership.

He bowls as well. He must be up there with the best one-day players around. He's taken 126 one-day international wickets at 31.89, which is no small amount. His one-day international batting average is 40.13 with 15 hundreds and he's an opener. That compares favourably with anyone.

Yesterday he hit 133 not out off 135 balls as the West Indies booked their place in the final of the Champions' Trophy. They're an increasingly handy outfit the Windies. They've got a couple of maturing bowlers who are taking the pressure off the batsmen. The West Indies have always had a decent batting line-up. They've just had a tendency to fold under pressure. Less pressure - less folding.

West Indies collapse massively in Champions' Trophy final

That's pretty much all there is to say. Australia won the Champions' Trophy and now no-one cares again. It's very 'of the moment' the Champions' Trophy. We actually quite enjoyed it in the end, mostly because all the big nations are in one place at once and it would be hard for that not to be a big deal. As soon as it's finished though, it's forgotten.

Shane Watson saw Australia home with the only fifty of the match. The Tonk, on the Sydney Morning Herald site, described Watson as 'a raving metrosexual' the other day. We've always been a bit creeped out by his albino looks. He doesn't have eyelashes or something weird and his eyes are too blue.

Brian Lara's inside-out drive

Any of Brian Lara's drives warrant inclusion for their sheer class. His pristine back-foot flail through the covers is arguably his signature stroke, but it's the inside-out drive - the off-drive to a leg-side delivery - which really shows how this guy bats alone.

As a bowler, the first sign of impending disaster is the backlift. Brian Lara's bat comes straight up behind him. Vertically. Really he should put a sign on the back of it saying: 'Take that, you bastard'. The ball may be spearing towards his feet, but those are no ordinary feet. Those are feet of which even Michael Flatley would be jealous. The feet flutter their owner across the crease.

The ball is pretty much underneath his nose before Lara bothers to move his bat again. You don't think he's given himself enough time to play a shot, but you'd be wrong. The bat whirs through, seemingly only appearing in two places and none of the intervening points - the point where he strikes the ball and then behind his back after the world's biggest follow-through. If you're wondering where the ball is, look between the fielders and then look beyond to the boundary rope. It's somewhere over there.

Some other batsmen and their signature shots

Obdurate Brian Lara shows the way

The West Indies have been rolled over again. King Cricket, Brian Lara, was just about the only batsman showing signs of resistance with 61. Nothing new?

We don't think that the Windies are going to crumble, as you might expect. It might look a familiar scenario for West Indies fans, but we genuinely believe that this side is becoming more competitive. We don't mean that in the way that most people mean it - likely to get beaten by a narrower margin than before. We mean that these players want to compete. They fight. They don't give up.

Mostly these signs have manifested themselves in one-day internationals, but the attitude can't be exclusive to that format. This is a side of increasing belief and resilience. We're putting money (imaginary money, as ever) on a fightback...

Mohammad Yousuf's on our side

Mohammad Yousuf hit an unbeaten hundred against the West Indies and then said that he thought the pitch was too flat and that pitches the world over are too flat. He's spot on. And that's coming from a batsman. Imagine how a bowler feels. Imagine how a rubbish bowler feels. Imagine how Jason Gillespie feels.

Mohammad Yousuf's performance did of course make a mockery of our assertion that the Windies are a side of increasing resilience. They conceded 265-4, rather than bowling out Pakistan in a display of determined defiance. We'll forgive Mohammad Yousuf because he agrees with us about the pitches.

Brian Lara's still going

Although not in this innings. He's out for 122, which we think is his first Test hundred in Pakistan. He hasn't played there since his debut in 1990.

Each time Brian Lara scores a hundred we feel elated, but with a soupcon of melancholy. What if this is his last Test hundred? We don't know why we're worrying. He's still the West Indies' best batsman, just as he has been for the last fifteen years. Still, one day he's going to go and it will be a mighty sad day.

The West Indies are still slightly behind with four wickets remaining, as we write. There's one more day to go, so it'll be a tall order to save this Test. Brian Lara has given them the merest glimmer of hope, at least.

Jerome Taylor brings delayed riposte

We wrongly predicted a stunning West Indies fightback in the first Test against Pakistan. It turns out that they were just biding their time until the second Test.

At 212-2 and even 315-5, Pakistan looked well-set for one of their traditionally humungous first innings totals, as is their wont at home. Thanks to Jerome Taylor they collapsed to 357 all out. He finished with 5-91. We still haven't seen him live, but he's quick and he takes wickets, so we can't see any problems. We've previously included a video of the hat-trick he took during the Champions' Trophy.

After that, the West Indian openers made the most of the momentum by reaching 151-0 at the close of play. You see: Bowling's always the key.

We're making a conscious effort to not ignore the whole of the rest of the cricketing world while the Ashes are on. You're with us, right?

Brian Lara: Legend, master, genius

Sporting hyperbole gets devalued over time. The phrase that originally had such bite falls into regular usage and becomes commonplace.

Once upon a time you had to be mythical to be a legend. This was refined in the sporting world and the word came to refer to the greats of yesteryear. More recently, players still plying their trade (or 'art') have been labelled legends. Now all you have to do is hit a resolute thirty and you're a legend in the eyes of the fans.

Enough! It's making it hard to explain the true class of Brian Charles Lara, because here is a batsman who lords it over all others. Today, Brian Lara hit a hundred before lunch - the fifth batsman to do so. Having reached his hundred off only 77 balls, he slowed down, but he's still there on 196 not out, having cut, pulled and driven the Pakistani bowling attack into cowering submission.

Danish Kaneria apparently bowled quite well, but at one point 29 balls to Brian Lara were dispatched for 60 runs, including 26 off one over: The kind of over that divides a great batsman from the rest for longer than just a mere six balls. To think that the other day we were describing the melancholy feeling that came with thinking that each Brian Lara hundred could be the last. He's not finished yet. Not even nearly, judging by his current form.

In light of this softening of the vocabulary of sport, we're struggling to sum this up. We're going to have to revert to more everyday speech. Perhaps that will have more impact in a world where every second cricketer is described in terms that would make Don Bradman blush:

It's very difficult to compare different batsmen, at different times, against different bowling attacks. But insofar as it's possible to do this, Brian Lara has, at times in his career, batted better than just about anyone else has ever batted.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul battles in vain

Shivnarine Chanderpaul is probably the most horrendous looking batsman around. We mean in terms of his batting style, of course. We're not passing judgement on his looks. He looks fine. He's not really our type, but... Er, the batting anyway.

We're not actually sure if Shiv HAS a stance at the crease. At least not one that he uses repeatedly. He stands there and he's got a bat, but it's not what you'd call a 'stance'. As far as his technique goes, he tends to face the bowler and unfurl a visual catastophe of limbs when the ball arrives.

In Test cricket, opening batsmen tend to be the ones with the best techniques. In one-day cricket, they're either Test openers or big-hitters. We're not quite sure why Chanderpaul got his chance at the top of the West Indian one-day order, because he's neither of these things. Or at least he wasn't.

In Test cricket, Chanderpaul sort of spoons the ball around at weird angles and spends an age at the crease. He's good, in that he's effective, but he doesn't look good and he doesn't score quickly. For some reason he's been given this chance as one of the West Indies' one-day openers and punch our teeth out and steal our wallet, but he's really pretty damn good at it.

Maybe his effectiveness is why he got the chance. He's an effective yet hideous Test batsman and equally he's an effective yet hideous one-day opener. Suddenly he's smashing the ball to all parts and he and Chris Gayle are really something to be feared.

Today he hit 149 not out off 137 balls against India. West Indies lost, but you can't really blame Shiv, can you?

Small scores are still better - India agree

At least India agree with us today, because they won a low-scoring match. West Indies bowled India out for 189, but India defended it. We were only watching the scorecard and it was nailbiting. Low scores are better. Every run counts.

In hindsight, Dinesh Karthik and Ajit Agarkar's partnership was crucial. India were 90-7 when they came together and you don't win many games from that position. However, Karthik hit 63 and Agarkar a more than handy 40.

In reply, Shiv was the only West Indian batsman to offer resistance with 66. Everyone's favourite uncool spinner, Ramesh Powar took 3-42 for India. He's always worth a mention. In fact, let's make him the accompanying picture.

Being uncool is the new cool. At least that's what our girlfriend tells us.

Brian Lara v Australia, 153 not out - 10 Great Innings

There are a number of Brian Lara innings that could be included. Some are quite obvious. You can spot those ones easily enough. They're the ones that have huge numbers after his name. Big, team score kind of numbers. We've taken an alternate route and gone for a less widely-known innings.

To be honest, while Lara's contribution was essential for the West Indies victory in this match, it wasn't a one-man show. At one point in their first innings, the Windies were 98-6 replying to Australia's 490. It wasn't Lara who rescued them then, it was Sherwin Campbell with a hundred and Ridley Jacobs with a stout 68.

They were all out for 329, so they were still bloody miles behind Australia. Then Courtney Walsh took 5-39 and Australia were out for just 146 in their second innings. The West Indies needed 308 to win, but scores had been dwindling as the match wore on with the pitch increasingly difficult to bat on. Australia had selected both Warne and MacGill, so they were very much favourites.

Again West Indies collapsed. At 105-5, Jimmy Adams joined Brian Lara at the crease and in the next hour the pair added just 20 runs. But it got easier. They blunted the pace bowlers, indeed Jason Gillespie had to leave the field injured for a period, then feasted on the spinners. Lara found his feet and if you're bowling at Brian Lara, you'd much prefer him to be footless. He advanced with purpose, moving from 50 to 100 in 51 balls.

Eventually, Glenn McGrath bowled Jimmy Adams. He had contributed 38 to a stand of 133. 238-5 became 248-8 and Lara was left with Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh. Two players near the top of everyone's list of great bowlers, but who occupy a similar position in a list of utterly crap batsmen.

The West Indies won. They got home by one wicket.

10 Great Innings

How to get Shivnarine Chanderpaul out

That's a joke, because of course it can't be done.

His latest masterpiece resulted in a West Indian win however. 116 not out leading West Indies to a winning total of 278 in the second one-day international. England managed just 217 in reply.

England may have won the vast majority of the matches during the West Indies' visit and the West Indies themselves may have occasionally plumbed some previously unseen depths, but if there's one image that sums up the past few weeks, it's the one below.



Shiv, you're the most wince-inducingly-horrendous-looking, undismissable, adamantium-willed KING we've ever seen.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul has taken permanent residence at the crease. He might as well get his sodding fanmail delivered there.

Dwayne Bravo should aim higher

By the standards of this West Indies side, Dwayne Bravo has had a decent series, but those standards aren't good enough.

Five times in seven innings he's been out between 40 and 60. At least one of those should have been a hundred. The stage was set yesterday when West Indies were trying to save the game and he was batting alongside Shivnarine Chanderpaul - a man who likes getting out as much as he likes being kicked in the balls.

For some reason, Dwayne Bravo started playing a load of shots after lunch England hadn't felt like they could remove either batsman before the break, but now they were given hope. That hope was justified and once Bravo had departed, the procession began. Bravo was as culpable as anyone for the West Indies' defeat. He was actually in a position to prevent it.

If someone else other than Shiv starts taking some responsibility, perhaps some of the other players might follow suit. Dwayne Bravo seems the most likely to lead the way.

Despite never quite making the most of his chances, Dwayne Bravo will have learnt a lot on this tour. He's only 23 and this was his second Test tour to this country. On this occasion he spent a long time batting with Chanderpaul throughout the series and we dare say he'll learn more from that than any coaching or theoretical exercise.

We're presuming that Shiv actually shares information at the crease. If he does, then Bravo will have benefited hugely. Shiv knows what the bowling side are trying to achieve at any one time and he knows how to foil them.

Shiv hasn't really had the opportunity to pass on any knowledge to the likes of Runako Morton who didn't stay at the crease long enough to acknowledge a 'hello'. If Chanderpaul retires without helping at least one player, then the West Indian batsmen will be totally cut off from a line of communication that supports every Test side.

England v West Indies, fourth Test, day five at Chester-le-Street
West Indies 287 (Shivnarine Chanderpaul 136 not out, Ryan Sidebottom 5-88)
England 400 (Paul Collingwood 128, Andrew Strauss 77, Matt Prior 62, Fidel Edwards 5-112)
West Indies 222 (Shivnarine Chanderpaul 70, Chris Gayle 52, Monty Panesar 5-46, Matthew Hoggard 3-28)
England 111-3

England win the series 3-0

Paul Collingwood hits a hundred at home

It was Paul Collingwood's first Test on his home ground of Chester-le-Street and he hit a hundred - which is only right. We all hit hundreds at home.

Of course Paul Collingwood had to deal with other people when he made his hundred at home. He wasn't either of the umpires, other people bowled at him, they actually tried to get him out and even more terrifyingly, there were multiple ways of getting out - not just by breaking the greenhouse, which was the ONLY way of getting out when we played at home.

All-in-all Paul Collingwood's 128 was perhaps superior to our own 507 not out from back in 1987. On that occasion we had cleverly used a sponge ball in order to combat the only potential method of dismissal.

That gargantuan innings was only cut short when, following a rain break, the sponge ball started spattering us with dirty rain water when we tried to hit it for six. Its super-absorbency had also rendered it heavy enough to threaten the greenhouse, so we felt threatened enough to declare.

England v West Indies, fourth Test, day four at Chester-le-Street
West Indies 287 (Shivnarine Chanderpaul 136 not out, Ryan Sidebottom 5-88)
England 400 (Paul Collingwood 128, Andrew Strauss 77, Matt Prior 62, Fidel Edwards 5-112)
West Indies 83-3 (Chris Gayle 52 not out)

Chris Gayle to captain Windies in one-dayers

Brian Lara was captain at the end of the World Cup, then Ramnaresh Sarwan was captain for a Test and a half, then Darren Ganga for two and a half Tests. So it's Chris Gayle's turn now.

Gayle's caricatured as laid-back, cool and disinterested. We think the last one's harsh. No-one gets to where he is without a bit of passion, surely.

We know where he's coming from. We're not one for 'smiling' when we're happy or 'talking' when we're upset about something. Better to remain expressionless, like the man in the Hong Kong Phooey annual we owned as a child, who could look like anyone, but was later revealed to have no face of his own.

The front of his head was just blank. No features at all. Doubtless it was meant as a joke, but it chilled us to our very core as a child. How would someone with no mouth or eyes or anything live their life?

Hong Kong Phooey seemed unfazed by the phenomenon. That's canine martial artists for you.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul's hundred not enough for him

We've just got back from day five of the Old Trafford Test. We've never been to the Monday of a Test before. It's the missing link between county cricket crowds and Test match ones. It had the attendance of a Test match, but everyone was watching intently.

If you want to hear some guy shout to another three rows in front of him: "Graham: Show us your tats. Graham, Graham, show us your - oh... you're not Graham..." then attend a Test on a Saturday. If you want to hear a heartfelt standing ovation for a magnificent fourth innings hundred, go on a Monday. Both are good in their own ways.

That magnificent fourth innings hundred was of course that of Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Any batsman could learn a thing or two from Shiv. He's got one of the clearest batting minds in the game. He's forever weighing up the field, the pitch, the state of the game and how many balls he can let his partner face.

It was no mean feat to pass 100 on a pitch where consecutive deliveries from Monty Panesar bounced over the wicketkeeper's head and ran along the floor, despite pitching in roughly the same spot.

After the last wicket fell, we glanced at the big screen. In the background, Shiv was walking off the field shaking his head vigorously. It could have been about that final wicket, but more likely he was dissatisfied at having fallen short in what would have been a world record run-chase.

If you've watched much of the West Indies' last two tours to England, Shivnarine Chanderpaul will be a familiar sight. He now averages 68 in 10 Tests in this country.

England v West Indies, third Test, day three at Old Trafford
England 370 (Ian Bell 97, Alastair Cook 60)
West Indies 229 (Shivnarine Chanderpaul 50, Monty Panesar 4-50)
England 313 (Alastair Cook 106, Kevin Pietersen 68, Darren Sammy 7-66)
West Indies 394 (Shivnarine Chanderpaul 116 not out, Runako Morton 54, Monty Panesar 6-137, Steve Harmison 4-95)

England win the Test and hold an unassailable 2-0 lead with one Test to go.

Darren Sammy takes seven wickets

Darren Sammy must have the tallest head in cricket. He's quite tall anyway, but a good proportion of that's just his head. It's a very tall head. Take a look.



Ah, DJ Sammy, a shining light on a day of unrelenting shod from the West Indies. What a debut.

As far as we could tell from the stands, Darren Sammy bowled some good deliveries in taking his seven wickets. They weren't wild heaves from the batsmen, for the most part.

What worries us, however, is that he will now be undroppable for a period on the basis of this one good day. It seems that many of the West Indian players can hold their places on the basis of one-off performances when things went their way. Really it should require more consistent achievement to warrant more Test appearances.

The players aren't doing a lot, so it doesn't take much to stand out from the crowd, but if you're in the team, you can live off past (minor) glories, so the crowd remains. This is why sides always hanker after 'competition for places'.

England v West Indies, third Test, day three at Old Trafford
England 370 (Ian Bell 97, Alastair Cook 60)
West Indies 229 (Shivnarine Chanderpaul 50, Monty Panesar 4-50)
England 313 (Alastair Cook 106, Kevin Pietersen 68, Darren Sammy 7-66)
West Indies 22-1

West Indian fielding

What was going on out there yesterday?

Three streakers, a batsman's helmet getting him out, a wicketkeeper getting hit in the face and fielding that made you want to cry for about a year, whether you were West Indian or not.

It was summed up quite well when Darren Powell came over to bring a drink to Fidel Edwards, who was fielding in front of our stand. The previous hour had contained a good percentage of the day's joke fielding. Someone in the crowd shouted: "Hey Darren. How do you get dropped from this team?"

Powell laughed, but it was a good question really.

The slow rolling ball that went straight between Jerome Taylor's legs and for four was our favourite. That happened immediately before lunch and the stand-in West Indies coach, David Moore, must have spent the next 40 minutes bollocking Taylor. In a fair world, Taylor wouldn't have reappeared after the break and Moore would still be bollocking him now, not having drawn breath at any point.

England v West Indies, third Test, day three at Old Trafford
England 370 (Ian Bell 97, Alastair Cook 60)
West Indies 229 (Shivnarine Chanderpaul 50, Monty Panesar 4-50)
England 313 (Alastair Cook 106, Kevin Pietersen 68, Darren Sammy 7-66)
West Indies 22-1