West Indies v. England

The third Test match in the Caribbean will be much discussed by Lords Taverners and cricket betting fans in future years, not least because of the manner in which the Windies snatched a draw from what looked like certain defeat only a couple of hours before the match ended. West Indies fast bowler, Daren Powell was not shy about praising his own batting ability and his confidence that he could create a draw out of hopelessness. Declaring that he was ‘in his zone’ he tells us ‘I was the master of the situation. It’s nothing new to me.’ While our English reserve brings recoil at such self-regard, we might do better to grasp that this man is merely stating facts as a professional and that this is the kind of attitude that wins cricket matches.

Having said that, our team put up a good fight – an effort largely born out of the need to atone for an appalling performance in the first Test match in Jamaica. That it was not good enough to win can be attributed to a number of possible reasons. Jonathan Agnew in today’s BBC Sport column reckons that if Flintoff had been firing on all four, we would have won. I think he’s right – the match was drawn by a narrow margin and a fit Freddie would probably have made the difference.

Much discussion will surround the decision by Andrew Strauss not to enforce the follow-on. With Steve Harmison and Flintoff out of sorts Strauss felt that a rest would recharge them and produce a more effective attack in the bigger picture. Had we won the match his decision would have been hailed as a brave masterstroke. That we only almost did does not diminish the quality of the move.

Last week I was ready to bin English cricket and take up basket weaving. Now I’m all fired up again and can’t wait for the next Test match in Barbados. And what’s more, the shrewd eyes of seasoned cricket enthusiasts will be on bowlers Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann, hoping that they will repeat their excellent performances thus far. If they do then winning the forthcoming Ashes series this Summer may well turn out to be a realistic proposition after all.