Strauss praises 'outstanding' Bell for seeing his side home

 

Stephen Brenkley
Tuesday 22 May 2012 09:59 BST
Comments
Kevin Pietersen heads for the pavilion after being dismissed
Kevin Pietersen heads for the pavilion after being dismissed (Reuters)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

England left Fortress Lord's yesterday with a deceptively simple win to start their first summer as the world's top Test side. They will regroup in Nottingham tomorrow for the second match of a series which is beginning to promise much more than looked possible a week ago.

Although England achieved what was universally predicted by five wickets in the early afternoon, they were made to fight. It took a fifth-wicket partnership of 132 between Alastair Cook and Ian Bell to ensure that England survived early wobbles which seemed to threaten a day of drama.

West Indies could be satisfied with their endeavours, playing with a spirit that has not always been evident on recent tours to these shores. But the discord that has split their cricket in recent years seemed to have returned with some stinging remarks by their former captain, Ramnaresh Sarwan, who was overlooked for this trip.

Andrew Strauss, England's captain, said: "When you're chasing in Test cricket there is always pressure on your shoulders, which is why it was an outstanding performance from Cook and Bell to see us home. They played in a professional and classy manner and in the end it wasn't that difficult."

For West Indies, it was disappointing after they had made early inroads. But as so often in their recent past, disharmony continues to stalk them. Sarwan, who was not selected for this tour and is instead playing for Leicestershire, was lacerating in his criticism of the present regime in an interview with BBC Radio.

"The coach said some negative stuff that hurt me mentally and emotionally," he said. "I was broken down, not from the stress of playing, it's just certain individuals have drained me mentally. It took a toll on my confidence and the way I play."

It is not difficult to work out he was talking about the West Indies coach, Ottis Gibson. The tourists' captain, Darren Sammy, said they would welcome anyone into the dressing room – with speculation mounting that another former captain, Chris Gayle, may hotfoot it from the Indian Premier League and could be available for Friday.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in