By Lotti Hill
August 1 2004

Second Test, Edgbaston. Day Two. England 566-9 dec (Flintoff 167, Trescothick 105) vs. West Indies 184-2 (Sarwan 87*, Lara 74*).

Review - Day Two.

 

If the first two sessions of Friday's play belonged to England, along with arguably all three of yesterday's sessions, then the evening session today was most definitely the West Indies and with it they have begun to claw their way back into the match.  An unbeaten partnership of 172 between Lara (74*) and Sarwan (87*) meant that the close of play score for the Windies was much firmer than it had been at tea.  Michael Vaughan’s declaration meant that the West Indies had to deal with a tricky five over spell before tea.  It proved just that as Devon Smith was out second ball to Matthew Hoggard for four and two overs later, Hoggard claimed Chris Gayle’s wicket, bowling him on the leg side.

 

        It was a day to be at the wicket and not running up to it.  437 runs were scored with six wickets going down. Two partnerships dominated proceedings – Geraint Jones and Andrew Flintoff built on their overnight stand of 51 with some furious stroke play.   They put on 170 for the sixth wicket before Jones was caught by Jacobs for 74.  Flintoff went on to make 167, an innings that included 17 fours and seven sixes.  It was, you could say, a typical innings of the ‘new, mature’ Flintoff.  He played the big shorts when he had to, but also had patience, the most welcome characteristic to Flintoff’s game.  The declaration came after a last wicket stand between Hoggard and Stephen Harmison which saw the latter hit a best of 31 not out, including five fours and a six.

 

        That being said Dwayne Bravo, the West Indies best bowler returned figures of 4-76, a very pleasing effort considering the slowness of the pitch and the high run rate.  The other partnership, that of Lara and Sarwan was proving more difficult to break down then the English partnerships and by the end of play, both batsmen had begun to accelerate and play some glorious shots.  Lara, in particular, looked ominously comfortable at the crease.