Things are going according to plan at the end of the first day of the 1st test between England and West Indies. Whilst there was a lot of focus on the man of the moment: James Anderson, who is playing his last test match for England, the team as a whole produced a stellar bowling performance led by Gus Atkinson to roll over a largely hapless Windies batting lineup.
Having put into bat under overcast conditions at Lords, after a somewhat decent start, where West Indies reached 34 for 1, the Caribbean side lost wickets at regular intervals. The star performer of the day, Guy Atkinson produced a dream outing bagging seven wickets in 12 overs. This spell knocked the wind out of the West Indies batting as the rest of England attack cleaned up the rest of the team, giving the England batsman an early opportunity on day 01 to pressure on the opposition, which they did.
Gus Atkinson – The Man of the Moment
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Whilst all eyes are on James Anderson, the England fast bowling legend who is playing his last game for his country, the young talent from Chelsea produced a sparkling performance that settled any doubts over England’s bowling future. Atkinson in a fiery spell of pacing bowling knocked over both West Indies openers cheaply. Mikyle Louis who made top scored with 27 was one of only three batsmen to cross the 20-run mark, with a total of six players not getting to double figures.
Gus Atkinson made a mark for England with a bang with his stellar performance against New Zealand on debut. A T20 game in which he grabbed four wickets for 20 in 2.5 overs. And now with a great outing in his first test, the young man is proving himself to be an all-format bowling option for England. Not too different from the great man’s shoes he is likely to replace if he can maintain his consistency.
Clueless West Indies Batting
A batting collapse is a familiar sight in Test cricket for the West Indies. Despite having a team that contains several match winners, the Caribbean side has been known to go down nine pins from time to time. This time it was one of those days. Maybe it was the conditions, maybe it was a lack of application, or maybe it was just good bowling from the opposition. Whatever the reason the Windies batsman had no answer to England’s bowling.
This is a problem for more reasons than one. The decline of West Indies cricket in ODI cricket is well documented. Having failed to reach last year’s ODI World Cup in India. Whilst certainly a force to reckon with in the T20 format, in the longer versions of the game this team lacks consistency and the quality players to go. And on the first day at Lords, they were found out.
James Anderson – A Quiet Game So Far
We’ve said before but we’ll say it again: this is Jimmy’s last test match for England. A great occasion but also a poignant one. A great player is closing the door on a great career. In the game’s first innings, he picked up 1 wicket in 10 overs. A decent performance. That puts him seven behind Shane Warne. Will he go for it? Can he manage it? These are questions we will have to wait for an answer. But whether he gets it or not, England is now well-placed to secure victory in his last test match for England.
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