Thaindian News

London, May 19 (IANS/CMC) The West Indies bowlers failed to produce the disciplined effort required to limit England on the second day of the opening Test here at Lord’s, assistant coach Toby Radford has said.

The hosts finished the day on 259 for three Friday, with captain Andrew Strauss stroking a composed, unbeaten 121.

They already lead by 16 runs as the West Indies failed to add to their overnight 243 for nine after Shannon Gabriel fell to the first ball of the day without scoring.

“I don’t feel we put enough balls in the right areas to create the pressure on them that we were under yesterday with the England bowling,” Radford said afterward.

“We’d bowl overs where you probably get three for four balls in the right area and then any pressure you were trying to build was sort of taken away - be it a short wide ball or a half-volley - and suddenly a boundary is off it and the batsman is confident.

“He’s not under pressure to play a loose shot so I don’t think we put enough balls clustered in the right area on the right length around off-stump.”

West Indies’ four-pronged seam attack proved relatively ineffective despite the murky conditions, as England’s batsmen played freely to gather runs on both sides of the wicket.

Strauss put on 47 for the first wicket with Alistair Cook (26) before laying the foundation for a big total in 147-run, second wicket stand with Jonathan Trott who scored 58.

West Indies, however, managed to grab two wickets after tea to slow down the hosts’ progress, and Radford said it was the last session where the Caribbean bowlers enjoyed their best period.

“There was a spell late on in the day when Darren Sammy bowled very well and Fidel (Edwards) bowled well and that actually brought the Trott wicket where they went a few overs where they didn’t score … it’s pressure that got that wicket,” he explained.

“But I don’t feel taking the whole day into account that we did that enough and certainly the ball didn’t swing in the same way it did when they bowled to us yesterday.”

He added: “What you have to remember is that the England bowlers are genuine swing bowlers and they’re used to bowling in these conditions whereas the West Indies lads bowl on flatter wickets back home and are more ‘hit the deck’ bowlers.”

West Indies enter the third day facing the daunting task of trying to limit England from posting a huge total and Radford said it was crucial the bowlers were at their best.

“We’ve got to come all guns blazing. We’ve got to try and get a couple of early wickets,” he said.

“The important thing is when we do go into bat again, that that lead is as small as possible. We can’t give any slack runs, we’ve go to make them fight for every single run.”

–IANS/CMC
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