England Lose Wisden Trophy
England in the West Indies – Reflection on a Test Series
Mar 16, 2009 Sebastian Egerton-Read
A 1-0 series defeat to the West Indies saw England lose the Wisden Trophy for the first time since 1997, a mark of decline that has seen them win just four of twelve test series since the famous 2005 Ashes. Gone are the glory days of cricket in the Caribbean as the West Indies are without a win in a test series against opposition other than Zimbabwe/Bangladesh for five years. Meanwhile, England entered the series in turmoil after a dispute over the running of the side led to the double resignation/firing of Coach Peter Moores and Captain Kevin Pietersen. Andrew Strauss did an admirable job marshalling the England side under difficult circumstances, for his part it is only fair to credit Pietersen as being mature and sensible in not disrupting the dressing room in spite of what had gone before.
West Indies Resilience Wins Series
The series itself was markedly unspectacular. A combination of a good all-round bowling and fielding effort from the West Indies and an inept English batting performance saw the Windies take a remarkable win in the first test by an innings and 23 runs. A shambles of a pitch at the Sir Vivian Richards stadium meant the second test was abandoned and a fifth test was hastily scheduled. England dominated the third test but let the initiative slip in a weak second innings batting effort, which also included a bizarre decision to send James Anderson in as the night-watchman while holding a huge lead. A desperate last ditch batting effort saw last pair Fidel Edwards and Darren Powell survive the last half hour to save the test match.
Two huge first innings scores meant that the third test was drawn without incident leaving England no chance at winning the series but still the opportunity to defend the Wisden Trophy with a win in the fifth test. The final test looked set to be a fitting end to a series that was frankly a poor advert for test cricket, first innings totals of 546 and 544 made a draw seem all but inevitable. However, a superb batting effort from England including Kevin Pietersen scoring an incredible 102 from just 92 balls, set West Indies 240 runs to win and two sessions to survive. England’s bowlers set up a thrilling finish taking 8 wickets but once again the Caribbean side’s resilience shone through to claim victory in the series with Denesh Ramdin the hero this time.
Issues of Poor Pitches
The biggest issue of the series was the standard of the pitches, which simply did not produce good test cricket. While the West Indies defeating England should be a benefit to cricket in the Caribbean, anyone watching the games are unlikely to have been inspired by largely uninteresting cricket throughout the series. The final three tests saw only 83 wickets taken out of a possible 120. Though a statistic undoubtedly influenced by the lack of penetration in the two bowling attacks, it cannot be ignored that the pitches were simply not conducive to results making the test series disappointingly dull in large parts.
The Summer Ahead: Ashes 2009
England’s performance does not bode well for a summer that see’s them try to recapture both the Wisden Trophy and the Ashes. While Australia are also a team arguably in decline (despite an excellent recent series win in South Africa), they will be stiff competition. England has under-performed in recent years, the talent within the squad is undeniable and it will be up to Andrew Strauss and the newly appointed coach to try and coax them out of their current rut.
Chris Gayle celebrates Wisden Trophy
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