CRICKET: Until Andy Flintoff began to plaster the ball all around The Oval yesterday evening, West Indies had come back strongly at England with one of their better displays of a series liberally sprinkled with the sort of mediocrity that drove old Caribbean maestros to distraction and a lie-down in a darkened room.
For once, bowlers who have strewn boundary balls like rose petals at the feet of emperors discovered the joys of parsimony and gained some reward on an excellent batting pitch.
They faltered only when Michael Vaughan (66) and the debutant Ian Bell, with 70, were compiling a jolly partnership of 146 for the fourth wicket, lifting England from the doldrums of 64 for three, and later in the evening sunlight as the gangly fast bowler Jermaine Lawson broke ranks by bowling short at the mighty Flintoff (at least it stopped him driving).
Twenty-six of the day's 44 boundaries came in the final session. Flintoff, who must bat with the Indiana Jones theme tune running through his head, will resume this morning on 72, having made another smash-and-grab raid, and the crowds will tumble out of the tube station salivating at the prospect of more to come.
With him, yet again, will be Geraint Jones - jaunty Geraint - for whom significant partnerships with Flintoff are becoming the norm. There is still work to be done, and the second new ball awaits first thing, but with the sixth-wicket stand already worth 77, and England at 313 for five, the home side had shaded the day after winning the toss.
When Bell joined his captain, though, England were in trouble. Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss, after a late start because of morning showers, had seen the early shine from the ball with an opening stand of 51. But Strauss had been forced into his shell, and a scoreless period of 15 deliveries led to an injudicious pull shot, which, top-edged to midwicket, was well caught by Fidel Edwards on the run.
The batsman, fretting unnecessarily perhaps at his lack of progress, may have been seduced by the open leg-side spaces created by a seven-two off-side field.
Trescothick too was pinned down, and, after lunch, was scoreless for 14 balls before clipping a half-volley precisely to square leg where he was unfortunate to see Ramnaresh Sarwan cling on to the catch. When Rob Key offered an insipid cut at Dwayne Bravo and edged to the keeper, West Indies most definitely were on top. Then Bell emerged from the pavilion, stretched a few times on the way to the middle, and began what may be a lengthy and fruitful Test career.
First of all, though, he had to survive the sort of roughing-up that is generally accorded new boys. This, he will have been pleased to note, is how he always imagined it would be and how it was meant to be. Test cricket - as Rodney Marsh, his mentor during his time at the academy in Adelaide, was wont to growl from behind the stumps - is not a garden party.
So Bravo speared a full-length ball into his pads first up, and roared his appeal as the batsman almost fell over himself. Not out by a whisker. At the other end, Edwards bounded in, cranked his pace up a notch and clipped him a nasty blow on his right shoulder that required the attention of the physio. Further distraction came when the match referee pointed out inappropriate logos on his arm guard and pads, which required decorous covering, like Victorians with their piano legs.
His first runs came from an involuntary edge over the slips to the boundary and Edwards' glare could have cut through sheet metal. On the back of two and a half hours at the crease, there is no question who appears the more accomplished player of he and Key, the latter's runs notwithstanding, and it was a surprise when he pushed forwards to Lawson and edged to the keeper.
Vaughan, meanwhile, carefully at first and more expansively later as the bowling tired and began to err, had given a textbook display of how to construct an innings. Wear 'em out and make 'em pay. Another century seemed there for the taking, so he was mortified when he drove at Bravo and edged to Brian Lara at first slip. It almost required the bailiffs to shift him from the crease.
Guardian Service
ENGLAND: First Innings
M E Trescothick c Sarwan b Edwards 30
A J Strauss c Edwards b Lawson 14
R W T Key c Baugh b Bravo 10
M P Vaughan c Lara b Bravo 66
I R Bell c Baugh b Lawson 70
A Flintoff not out 72
G O Jones not out 22
Extras b1 lb10 w3 nb15 29
Total 5 wkts (90 overs) ... 313
Fall: 1-51 2-64 3-64 4-210 5-236
To Bat: A F Giles, M J Hoggard, S J Harmison, J M Anderson.
Bowling: Edwards 15-3-50-1; Collymore 18-7-36-0; Lawson 16-2-84-2; Bravo 17-4-48-2; D R Smith 12-3-44-0; Gayle 5-0-18-0; Sarwan 7-0-22-0.
