Rain, No Play

In England today against a Marylebone Cricket Club XI made up mainly of University students, including one Mali Richards, son of Sir Viv, Jerome Taylor bowled with impressive accuracy and pace to take 5 for 43. The performance would have been a big boost for Taylor, as his place in next week's Third Test was surely in question following rough outings in the previous Tests.

Despite Taylor's figures, the Windies were unable to bowl out the opposition as after having reduced them to 152/6, the MCC team was able to battle back to 234/7. Fidel Edwards, even though he only took one wicket, gave the selectors something to think about as he bowled with pace and venom. One criticism of his bowling may be that he pitched the ball too short too often rather than trying to get as much swing as possible with his slinging action.  read more »

Runako Morton slammed an aggressive 103 before retiring hurt against Somerset in Taunton, England yesterday to press for a place in next Thursdays first Test against England. From all accounts, Morton was severe against anything short or too full and may just have booked a place in the starting XI. Morton and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (82 n.o.) revived the Windies innings after the team had slumped to 44 for 4, losing Gayle, Sarwan, Ganga and Devon Smith cheaply. From reports it seems that Gayle and Smith fell to loose shots. It will be critical that the top order avoid such collapses against the English bowlers in the Test series.  read more »