The pitch may have been as flat as a well-ironed pancake, but Andrew Strauss has continued his spectacular winter form. This was his fourth hundred for eight times out.
He attacked as well. Strauss scored 142 of England’s 301-3 and he was out almost immediately after tea. He batted so well that after three hours of the first day, the West Indies looked like they were playing for a draw and we’re a strong believer that if you adopt that mentality, you lose, no matter how friendly the pitch is.
In truth, the Windies scrabbled back a bit of ground later on. The recovery began with Daren Powell’s blinding ball to Strauss. If you’re going to lose your wicket, do it in style. It was a spectacular fountain of stumps and limbs and a great way to end a great innings
That’s not the way to end an innings in style. In a match I played in I was batting and the batsmen at the other end received a yorker, he craftily decided that the best way to play it would be to jump over it. I can only assume he likes the sound of stumps splattering. Oh and the sound of howling laughter.