Windies v Poms - 2nd. ODI

[Donny]

West Indies boosted by Lara's return

Freddie Auld - Cricinfo


In today's hectic schedule, it seems like an eternity since Chris Read bludgeoned that sweet 17 in the penultimate over to steal an unlikely victory for England in the first one-dayer at Georgetown last Sunday. However, both sets of players will have probably needed some time off to prepare themselves for the remaining six matches, which are crammed into 12 days, starting with the double-header in Trinidad over the weekend.

During their week off, the England players have been relaxing by taking leisurely trips to waterfalls and playing in charity golf days, before they got back to business with net sessions on Thursday and Friday. Even though Read bailed them out in Guyana, England's win was not convincing, with a long and inexperienced middle-order stalling when it needed to accelerate.

The selectors may consider making changes. They went in without a specialist spinner in the last match, but they may turn to Ashley Giles this time to tie up an end, and bolster the batting.

One player hoping England will make changes is James Anderson, the forgotten man of the tour so far. He admitted that he was perplexed at the decision to put choose James Kirtley ahead of him for the first one-dayer, and says he is itching to show that he is a better bowler than when he made his debut. "Once you're out of the team on these short tours it's very hard to prove you're in form to get back into the side," said Anderson. "You're always looking for a chance to prove yourself, so hopefully I will get a chance during the remainder of the series.

"It's been a very long trip," he added, "but that's the way it goes sometimes. You do get bored and frustrated as well, but you can't show that you're down because it will affect the other players - you have to stay happy and jolly around the side and try to gee them up. It's just a question of working hard, training hard and waiting for your chance." With so many games coming up, Anderson is likely to get that opportunity soon.

West Indies, visibly shocked after Read's rampage at Bourda, will be boosted by the return of Brian Lara. He passed himself fit to play having missed the opening match suffering pain from the finger he broke in the first Test, meaning he can now make his much-awaited hero's return to the Queen's Park Oval.

After his epic 400 not out, the Trinidad & Tobago government have heaped honours on him. As well as naming him the their ambassador for sport, the government have promised to create a Foundation Heroes Park, a sporting academy and a new stadium, all bearing his name.

"He's a huge threat, a world-class player, and they'll get a huge lift by him playing tomorrow," said Michael Vaughan, England's captain. "He's on his home ground and he's one of a number of their batters who are very dangerous in the one-day arena. We'll have to be wary about him but there is also Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan to worry about as well.

They are a very exciting batting line-up, and we'll have to be at our best in the field if we are to restrict them. It's going to be a great game with Brian Lara coming back to his home ground having just scored 400, it's going to be some atmosphere, but it's a funny game cricket - the other day he got 400, but he could go out tomorrow and get nought."

On the back of his world-record innings, it's unlikely Lara will be out for a duck, but he and the rest of the top order will need need to fire if West Indies are to hit back in Trinidad.

West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 3 Brian Lara (capt), 4 Ricardo Powell, 5 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 6 Sylvester Joseph, 7 Ridley Jacobs (wk), 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Corey Collymore, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Merv Dillon.

England (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Michael Vaughan (capt), 3 Andrew Strauss, 4 Paul Collingwood, 5 Andrew Flintoff, 6 Rikki Clarke, 7 Chris Read (wk), 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Darren Gough, 10 Stephen Harmison, 11 James Kirtley.

[Donny]

Anderson strikes before the rain

The Wisden Bulletin by Andrew Miller


Brian Lara has enjoyed a week of being feted all through Trinidad, but his adoring fans at the Queen's Park Oval were denied the chance to see him doing what he does best, as a tropical deluge caused the second one-day international to be abandoned after just 16 overs.

Instead what few honours there were went to another, less celebrated, returnee. James Anderson, the forgotten man of England's triumphant Test series, struck with the third ball of his comeback, as West Indies were pegged back to 57 for 2 before the early finish.


Anderson, who carried the drinks all through the Tests, was bewildered at being overlooked for the first match in Guyana last Sunday. But he channelled his frustrations to great effect and ,almost as soon as Michael Vaughan called him into the attack, induced a loose carve from Chris Gayle. Paul Collingwood pulled off a fine low catch at point and a sheepish Anderson had announced his return (34 for 2).

The other man to fall was West Indies' star from the Guyana match, Shivnarine Chanderpaul. On a tricky pitch juiced up by the rain, Chanderpaul started as slowly has he had on Sunday, crawling to 3 from 16 balls. He endured a torrid time at the hands of Steve Harmison, who once again located the ideal line and length to exploit the conditions, and regularly nipped past the shoulder of the bat. But, in his fourth over, he finally had his man, and Chris Read took a simple deflection.

At the other end, Darren Gough struggled a little to find his line. He had conceded 20 runs in his five overs by the time Anderson was called into the attack, including two fours to Gayle - a streaky flash past second slip and a glorious cover-drive.

The eager Trinidad crowd immediately recovered from their disappointment, however, when it occurred to them that Lara was due in next. But, much to their surprise, Lara chose not to make his appearance. Instead, Ramnaresh Sarwan stepped out to clip his first ball from Anderson for four, and later top-edged an Anderson bouncer for another boundary, to reach the close on 11 not out.

Lara's reticence may have been an attempt to deflect attention from his personal achievements, and refocus on the game in hand. But it was surprising nonetheless, especially after he had gambled on batting first on a wicket that had been juiced up by overnight rain, and which had caused the start of play to be delayed by an hour. But ultimately, it didn't matter too much.

West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 3 Brian Lara (capt), 4 Ricardo Powell, 5 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 6 Dwayne Smith, 7 Ridley Jacobs (wk), 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Corey Collymore, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Merv Dillon.

England 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Michael Vaughan (capt), 3 Andrew Strauss, 4 Paul Collingwood, 5 Andrew Flintoff, 6 Rikki Clarke, 7 Chris Read (wk), 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Darren Gough, 10 Stephen Harmison, 11 James Anderson.