England vs Jamaica Day 1
Tuesday, March 2 2004
England vs Jamaica - Day 1
England 320 and Jamaica 25-2
England's batsmen had mixed fortunes on their first day's play of the tour. The best news was the innings of Michael Vaughan, who hit 105 from only 89 balls, and looked to be in supreme form. In ideal batting conditions, he stroked 19 fours and hit one enormous six: it was a surprise to everyone when Jermaine Lawson bowled him shortly after lunch. Hussain also batted well for 65 and Thorpe made a quick 34.
But the rest of the batsmen contributed little, which is a worry with so little cricket to be played before the first test. Trescothick made only 7 before being bowled off his pads and Butcher swatted a catch to square leg when he had made only 1. With Flintoff also only managing a single, and Clarke, who surprisingly played ahead of Collingwood, only making 4, England were grateful for Chris Read's gritty innings of 61. Read, of course, is well aware that he needs to produce some decent scores if he is to stay in the side, and he must have been delighted with his performance today.
320 was somewhere below par in these conditions, but it looked much better when Hoggard took two quick wickets before the close of play. He had Parchment caught behind for a duck and caught Pagon of his own bowling for 6. His four overs only cost five runs and were a terrific start to the tour, especially after his frustrations in 2003. However, at the other end, Harmison sent down five wicketless overs for 19 runs. He will hope to do much better tomorrow.
Posted by David
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