Deflated Windies left to rue ill-disciplined bowling

Fri, Aug 18, '17

Lights or no lights, pink ball or red ball, this must have been one of the most comfortable days of Test match batting that Alastair Cook and Joe Root have had. In registering a century apiece, they have put England in command of this match and left Windies facing an uphill battle. Despite the quality of the batsmanship on show, the visitors' bowlers, having been talked up before the match as their biggest asset, were a huge disappointment.

After a good start, removing debutant Mark Stoneman and Tom Westley cheaply, Windies' four-man pace attack failed to bowl consistently enough for long enough to cause England's best two players much discomfort. Unlike those during the South African series earlier in the summer, the Edgbaston pitch was flat and the outfield was lightening fast. It was not quite a bowlers graveyard but it wasn't far off it either although contrary to the view that the pink ball does not swing, there was some shape on offer for the first 40 overs.

So it was not the fact that Windies only took three wickets in the day that disappointed. On that pitch, with the sun out for most of the day, against Root and Cook, it was understandable. What captain Jason Holder and coach Stuart Law will have been furious with was the ill-discipline of the visitors' attack. When a period of pressure was building, someone would bowl a ball on Cook's pads or float a half-volley up to Root. They conceded 53 boundaries in all, bowled just 13 maidens in 90 overs and leaked runs both sides of the wicket.