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Windies second XI rout Bangladesh

All praise to the fine gentlemen whom some thought I was slating by calling a "ragtag bunch of scabs" the other day. The West Indies second XI (more like a third XI even) rattled out Bangladesh for 238 in the first Test in St Vincent and only a couple of thirties from the No 9 and 10 batsmen allowed them to get that many. Still much cricket to be played, but questions really should be asked about Bangladesh's right to be a Test nation if they lose this.

An apology to the rest of the world

If you're not English or Australian or have a vested interest in one of the sides losing, this Ashes stuff is probably really boring you. I'm sorry. It's kind of a big thing over here. I do try to cover as many bases of world cricket as I can - and normal service will be resumed come the final wicket at the Oval - but if you think I am missing some important tales in world cricket that don't involve an aged urn, do let me know.

Rangana Herath's four for 15 in 12 overs to win the first Test for Sri Lanka against Pakistan has not skipped my attention. Who needs Murali? Pakistan began the day needing 97 to win with eight wickets in hand; they ended losing by 50 runs. As the man from Cricinfo wrote: "it was a collapse of Pakistani proportions"...

McGrath bores everyone again

Here we go again. Glenn McGrath says Australia will win the Ashes 5-0. How predictable. Wouldn't it be more of a story if McGrath had said "Ah, look, mate, I think it's going to be a really close series and maybe it will be 2-2, maybe one side will win 2-1, but you won't draw me on who."

Of course, McGrath is just playing his pantomime role. In the same way that it wouldn't be an episode of Dad's Army without Corporal Jones saying "don't panic", Captain Mainwaring saying "stupid boy" and Private Fraser telling everyone that they are "doooomed", so it wouldn't be the Ashes without McGrath boringly predicting a whitewash (just because he got it right once) and Warne identifying a few England batsmen as not being worth their place.

Now we just need a post-match interview in which an England player talks about "good areas", "taking positives" and "someone put their hand up and came to the party" and we'll have the full range of Ashes cliches.

Not that we journalists can criticise others, though. I'm sure I've repeated myself occasionally. But I promise I will try to come up with a few new things to say as this series goes on.

MoYo bounces back

There is apparently other international cricket being played around the world this month. I know, I know, I was as shocked as you are. But in Galle, at this very instant, there is a Test match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan and it is turning into a humdinger. We should not let Ashes-mania make us forget our cricket-loving friends in other countries.

As I type, Pakistan are 50 runs ahead on Day 2 of the Test. Sri Lanka made 292, Tharanga Paravitana top-scoring with 72, and in reply Pakistan have just been dismissed for 342. There's no Murali in the side for Sri Lanka (a small knee tear) but you would have to fancy Ajantha Mendis bowling last if Pakistan have more than 250 to chase.

It is good to have these sides playing Test cricket again when you consider the sad circumstances in which their most recent Test match in Lahore was curtailed.

The best news for those of us who love watching classical classy batting is that Mohammad Yousuf is back in the side and on top form. MoYo has not played for Pakistan since December 2007 after dabbling with the dark side by signing for the ICL, but all has been forgiven and at the age of 34 he is back.

Back with a bang, too. Yousuf made 114, registering his 24th Test hundred, which takes him past Javed Miandad and only one behind Inzamam ul-Haq.

"Panesar can come good": Strauss

Andrew Strauss has backed Monty Panesar to regain his form and trouble Australia during this summer’s Ashes series, in which for the first time in 20 years England will hope to outspin their opponents.

“Spin is obviously an option for us with three good spinners in our squad and if the conditions at Cardiff [for the first Test on July 8] are right, we could play two of them,” the England captain said.

Panesar has struggled this season, with six wickets at an average of 87 for Northamptonshire, but Strauss said that he has every confidence in the slow left-arm bowler. “He’s gone through a bit of a tough patch - well I’ve been through one myself - and you come out of it much better for the experience,” he said.

“His Test figures are up there with some of the best who have played the game. Hopefully he’ll take a bagful against Warwickshire [in England’s warm-up match next week] and become an important member of the side again. People who write him off are unwise. He has a hell of a lot to offer for England in the future.”

Strauss also advised Panesar not to tinker with his style of bowling too much. “Monty’s taken 99 per cent of his wickets bowling a very good left arm spinner that turns and has good pace on it,” Strauss said. “That’s his default and he shouldn’t stray too far from it. It’s like me trying to bat like [Brian] Lara. It just won’t work. But if he does bowl like he can he’ll be a handful.”

While Panesar may have a role this summer, Graeme Swann has emerged as England’s leading spin bowler this year with 34 wickets in his first seven Tests and was enthusiastically backed by his captain. “I’ve always enjoyed captaining Graeme,” Strauss said. “He always wants to try things. If I come up with suggestions he’s always keen to give it a go.

“I have a very high regard for his abilities as an off spin bowler. It’s not just the way he bowls; in the dressing room, too, he is a breath of fresh air. He lightens the mood, which is important especially in an Ashes series.”

Adil Rashid, the 21-year-old Yorkshire leg spinner, is the third spin bowler in England’s squad of 16 and has been given a taste of international cricket after playing in the World Twenty20. “Adil’s pushing hard for a spot,” Strauss said, speaking at an event to promote Vodafone. “It’s a tough test for anyone [making your debut in an Ashes Test] but sometimes youth and enthusiasm can get you through that.”

Eleven or twelve?

The ECB is about to get tough with Australia. While they were powerless to prevent Phillip Hughes and Stuart Clark from getting used to English conditions by playing some county cricket before the Ashes, it appears that they will not agree to an Australian request to make their two warm-up matches before the Ashes into 12-a-side games so that they can see all their bowlers in action.

They may let Australia play 12 against Sussex in the first warm-up, but will insist on the match with England Lions being a proper game.

Personally I'm more concerned that there will be only two warm-ups before the Ashes starts. Not because I want Australia to be played into form but because I don't like tours of such importance to be truncated. Blame the World Twenty20 in part, but England are just as bad. Modern touring is fly-in, play some cricket, fly-out. The ambassadorial role of taking world-class players round a country to introduce them to fans has gone. If I were a Sussex fan or planning to see the Lions game, I'd want to see 12 or more Aussies allowed as it would be my only chance to see them.

Sussex are bleating about Australia being allowed to play 12 men, but the counties only have themselves to blame. "We want a competitive game so that our younger players can have a real go at the Aussies," says their chief executive, and therein lies the problem. For too long, counties have not put out a full first XI against touring sides and have used it as an opportunity to give younger players or second XI cricketers a match.

While it is no doubt a big challenge for them, it doesn't offer the touring side or the spectators much of a test. And it is beyond me why the senior players at a county, especially those hoping for an England call, wouldn't want to play against an international side, but for some reason they don't. Sussex can complain about facing 12 Aussies rather than 11, but if they are going to rest the likes of Murray Goodwin, Michael Yardy and Ed Joyce against them, then who is really being the spoilsport?

Welcome to the party, Bresnan

Rarely can a bigger grin have been seen on a cricket field than that demonstrated three times by Tim Bresnan today. Not since the 1989 Lord's Test, anyway, when the twelfth man brought on new gloves to Mike Gatting and the news that the chef had prepared jam roly-poly for tea.

No one could begrudge Bresnan his joy after he spent his first seven days as a Test cricketer itching in frustrating at being part of a winning team but not playing much of a role. A couple of very fine catches and a brief innings at Lord's, which ended rather roughly when he was given out leg-before to a ball that was passing over the stumps, was scant consolation, especially since he was given only 17 overs to bowl his first three innings. Seeing Matt Prior and Andrew Strauss watch an edge off Sulieman Benn go between them yesterday must have niggled at Bresnan a bit, too.

But today was Bresnan's day. In 11 overs, he dismissed Nash, Ramdin and Edwards to help England to their second win over the West Indies and send Bresnan soaring to No 288 in the all-time list of England Test wicket-takers, level with Ronnie Irani and Len Hutton and just one wicket behind Kevin Pietersen and Gatting.

Whether Bresnan will get another Test is a moot point. A fit Andrew Flintoff would probably offer more with bat and ball for the Ashes, and Ryan Sidebottom is liked by the selectors, but at least he has come away from two Tests with something to tell the grandchildren about, even if said descendants shrug and ask "what's Test cricket grandpa?"

Thoughts on the Test, day 2

Yesterday was a glorious day of Test cricket, so long as you are an Essex or England supporter. Two hundreds, 90 overs bowled for once in almost par-time and England taking a pretty firm grip on the Wisden Trophy. Ravi Bopara establishing himself as England's No 3 (so long as the opposition is West Indies and they keep on dropping him during his second fifty) and Alastair Cook showing that his 2008 slump is now behind him. For now.

The bad news is that it is grey and dank at the Riverside and play will not be starting on time. In fact, it is still raining so we could see the whole morning wiped out. I'd better use the time to crack on with the next Ashes Heroes essay. Here's a clue: it's another Essex man...

Finally, a quiz question to test whether you're awake. Who is the only cricketer to get a hat-trick for England but not take a wicket for his county? I'll give you the answer when play starts.

UPDATE: There will be no play today. The answer to the quiz above was, as Johnmc guessed, Geoff Hurst, who played one first-class game for Essex in 1962 and a dozen or so second XI games but got more fame in another sport

Meanwhile, following on from last week's rain interruption, here to fill the time is some more Weather Report

 

Thoughts on the Test, day 1

There won't be a live blog from the Riverside today as I'm not there, but Athers and John Westerby will provide the tale of the Test in tomorrow's Times. Instead, I'll be blogging random thoughts here on the first day's play here as the mood takes me, in between writing up an interview with Graham Napier for The Wisden Cricketer magazine and sorting out my expenses for the past two months. Now how much can I get off The Times to pay for clearing my moat...?

As usual, let me know your thoughts on the match and the state of Test cricket by clicking comments at the bottom or emailing patrick.kidd@thetimes.co.uk.

STUMPS Extraordinary day, what a feast for both the Durham supporters who came along to watch. Two hundreds for England batsmen, a lethargic West Indies attack that only woke up in the closing overs when a rabbit came out to face them, James Anderson getting off the mark to register his 48th innings without a duck (long may that record run) and, perhaps most surprisingly, all 90 overs completed before 6.15pm. Alastair Cook resumes tomorrow on 126, 13 shy of his Test best, and we still have Kevin Pietersen to come in, hungry for runs after a first-baller at Lord's. If I lived in the North East and could lay my hands on a few tenners, I'd be there tomorrow. There are plenty of seats going. Until then, goodbye.

6pm Poor old Anderson instantly receives a barrage of bouncers from Edwards, one of which hits him on the arm. Such is the lot of a nightwatchman. He got a bang on the bonce in the first Test, too. I wonder if Matthew Hoggard is watching this at home and thinking "those bruises should be mine".

5.50pm WICKET Put aside those thoughts of Leyland and Hutton being beaten. Bopara fails to get his bat down in time to a well-aimed ball from Lionel Baker and it pings through between off stump and middle. Ravi out for 108, England 282-2 and James Anderson emerges as nightwatchman.

Bopara's Test average slumps to under 50, just.

5.40pm The new ball has been taken. Will it make any difference? Probably not. With the third delivery of this new era, Edwards oversteps for a no-ball and Cook punishes his mistake by hitting a four off it too. Cook needed that as he was about to be lapped by Bopara. Cook on 120, Bopara 108

5.15pm And Bopara joins Cook in the hundred club. Got there in a hurry, too, hitting Benn for four, six and four off successive balls to get to 98. The last one of those was technically a dropped chance, but the throbbing in Benn's hand after the ball struck it at a million miles an hour (give or take) suggests it would have been a fine effort.

Bopara brings up his hundred in the next over, from Simmons, but there is no extravagant celebration, which is a little disappointing after the Usain Bolt in Barbados and the "get me on the honours board" at Lord's. Shows a lack of imagination. Someone also ought to hold an inquiry into the fact that Bopara can only score hundreds and not fifties. His best score that isn't in three figures is only 34. Then again, this is only his sixth Test...

Bopara joins Herbert Sutcliffe, Denis Compton, Geoff Boycott and Graham Gooch in hitting hundreds in three successive innings. They were all quite useful with the willow. How will this kid turn out? Of course, it was only four innings ago he was making his third duck in a row

4.50pm Steady boys, steady. Bopara backs up a bit too keenly as Cook, on 99, looks for his hundred. Ravi is sent back and fortunately the West Indies throw is inaccurate.

The next over Cook on-drives Benn away for four and that brings up his ninth Test hundred and much hurrahing in the Maldon area of Essex.

If you look back at the entry for 1.30pm, you will see that Cook is now the proud owner of both the 700th and 750th Test hundreds hit by an England batsman.

4.45pm Cook picks up a single off Benn to take him to 96 and bring up the 150 partnership. That Gooch/Pringle record is long gone now. Only 232 more needed to pass Len Hutton and Maurice Leyland's England record for the second wicket...

4.30pm Cook is closing in on a hundred and England pass 200, still for the loss of only Strauss. Cook on 90, Bopara on 71 and they are on the verge of passing the Gooch/Pringle mark for a pair of Essex batsmen. These two have made 141 now. If Chris Gayle didn't hate Test cricket already...

Does anyone care about this Test?

Well, I care. Test cricket, regardless of when, where and who is playing, is always worth taking an interest in, so long as the pitch allows a proper battle between bat and ball. But several stories in the past two days suggest that I am in a dwindling group.

For a start, the chief executive of Durham has said that the Riverside Ground will be barely half-full this Test. The arrival of Graham Onions as the new hero of the North East may push up the number of ticket sales on the gate, but there will be rows of empty seats. Only 3,000 tickets have been sold for the first day, which is nothing short of a disgrace. David Harker, the chief exec, blames ticket prices (between £30 and £60) and no doubt the recession has had an effect on demand, but the ECB should think long and hard about whether Durham deserves a Test in future if they cannot fill the ground.

Of course, even Lord's had empty areas during last week's Test, although the more visible blank sections were in the members' areas. But Lord's has a capacity of 30,000, Durham is 17,000. A half-full Lord's is still attracting 7,000 more spectators than a half-full Riverside. Old Trafford and Trent Bridge, who don't have a Test this year and have not had a problem getting full houses in the past, must be weeping.

And then Chris Gayle chucks his tuppence in by saying that he would not weep if Test cricket died and was replaced by Twenty20 as the dominant form of the game. He is entitled to his opinion as a private individual, of course, but as captain of a Test side this is disappointing. I shouldn't expect any more from a man who arrived for the last Test only two days early because he wanted to earn a few more quid in the IPL, but it lets his team-mates down. His cavalier attitude towards the captaincy - saying that he is tired with international matches and doesn't want the off-field responsibility - is a shame, too, especially as when he can be bothered Gayle has the makings of a fine captain.

Nothing wrong with liking Twenty20, of course. It is the form of the game that is most likely to invigorate cricket among young West Indians. No cricketer should be obliged to prefer Test cricket, although I would hope that many of them would find it more of a challenge and thus more interesting. Surely Twenty20 becomes quite run of the mill after a while. But when you are the Test captain, you have a duty to show respect for your team-mates and your opponents before a Test by at least faking an interest in the game. Why should the West Indies lift themselves this week if their captain would rather not be there?

Then again, Gayle would be within his rights to ask: why should I lift myself for this game if no one wants to come and watch?