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Lara's day of days as Windies rule.

Tuesday, April 13 2004

Brian Lara became the first man to regain the coveted highest-ever individual score when he amassed an unprecedented 400 not out against England at St John's today. In the afternoon, he was well-supported by his bowlers as England crumbled.

Gareth Batty opened the bowling to Ridley Jacobs at the start of day 3, but a single off the first ball brought the main event into view. Brian Charles Lara helped himself to a single off the last ball of Batty’s over to progress beyond his overnight 313*. Marcus Trescothick shared the early morning bowling duties with Batty, and from his first ball, Lara added another single to his already burgeoning total.

Lara’s first boundary of the day , a nudge down the leg-side off the innocuous Trescothick, took the West Indies past 600, and from the first ball of the following over, Jacobs took a single to go past 50. Batty, too short, watched on as a scintillating drive by Lara crashed into the fence at extra cover as the runs continued to mount.

A short-arm jab from Jacobs was sufficient to larrup a half-volley from Trescothick over the grandstand, then a single off the final ball of the over took the partnership to 150. Four overs into the day’s play, Steve Harmison was introduced into the attack as soon as the new ball became available. It was to be the first significant moment of the day. A single by Jacobs brought Lara on strike – and two balls later, the big Durham paceman found the outside edge of Lara’s bat.

On another day, in another venue, it would have gone to hand. Today, it raced like a rocket to the third man boundary as Lara played the delivery with soft hands and kept the ball down. Andrew Flintoff shared the new ball with Harmison, but despite his best efforts he could extract little out of a pitch which seemed to be maturing with age.

As if bowling to Lara wasn’t difficult enough, umpire Aleem Dar added to Harmison’s woes by warning him a second time for encroachment into the ‘no-go’ area in his follow-through, but frankly it would have taken more than a little roughing-up to do significant damage to this wicket. It was enough, however, to prompt a round-the-wicket approach by Harmison, who nevertheless continued to impress.

When the total reached 630, it became the highest score ever achieved in a test match at St John’s. Prophetically, the previous six highest totals at the ground were all in drawn games, which does not augur well for the prospects of the West Indian bowlers either. Ridley Jacobs made sure that he wasn’t unnoticed, crashing Simon Jones for two cleanly clubbed boundaries, then when Flintoff replaced Harmison, he too came in for the Jacobs long-handle treatment, courtesy of a massive six over long leg.

Lara, meanwhile, continued to acquire runs with little fuss, although one pull off Jones was bristling with power and aggression. Another four by Jacobs took the West Indian score beyond 650, then the introduction of Batty signalled the end of the new ball assault. England, metaphorically, had shot their bolt. So it was that Lara cruised to 350, nudging the off-spinner to fine leg with the minimum of effort.

With England still a bowler short with the continued incapacity of Matthew Hoggard, Steve Harmison was flung back into the battle but Jacobs had seemingly all the time in the world with a lovely straight drive. It was the bowler’s last active participation in the innings, though, as he ploughed straight down the middle of the wicket and promptly received his third warning for trespass. Never had a paceman looked so pleased to have fallen foul of the law.

Lara continued to play the numbers game when he took a quiet single of Michael Vaughan, moving on to 365* to equal Sobers’ mammoth total once again, but whereas the ground was a tumult ten years ago, this time there was scarcely a murmur.. Another single and he held two of the top three scores in test match history.

As if to add to the drama and tension of the occasion, Ridley Jacobs on 87 charged down the wicket to Michael Vaughan, missed the ball by a military mile and was bowled. Jacobs started to walk off, forlorn, until the outstretched arm of Darrell Hair was noticed – no ball! England’s tactics at this stage to Brian Lara appeared to be nothing more than delaying the inevitable, although in fairness there seemed to be precious little else in Vaughan’s armoury. Proactive captaincy came to the fore as Vaughan brought his mid-on up to save a single. Lara needed no further invitation to club the ball over the top to take the total past 700 and himself to 372*.

A loud appeal for caught behind extracted little response other than a huge grin on the face of Lara on 373, then a missed sweep gave a lie to the smile. Lara was a tense as every man jack in the ground, as well as the millions watching around the world.

From 374 to 380 took Lara just one Gareth Batty delivery, then a sweep for four took him to 384. Play came to a halt as the Jamaican Prime Minister came on to the ground to personally congratulate the man who had single-handedly brought pride back to West Indian cricket. Unlike 10 years ago, there was no massive invasion of the ground. As far as the locals are concerned, once you have seen one Lara world record, you are no longer surprised. For Lara, an unprecedented quadruple test century beckoned.

Amidst all the excitement, Ridley Jacobs continued on his own merry way to 99, then a neat turn past square leg took his own tally to 100 for the third time in his career. England had also been on the receiving end of the small matter of 730 runs – the most they had ever conceded.in test cricket history. From the very last ball before lunch, a truly dreadful Trescothick delivery, wide down the leg side, brought the first blot against the name of Geraint Jones as four byes went into the scorebook.

The West Indies started again after lunch on 734-5 with Brian Lara just 10 short of 400. England must have been praying that was the only target he had in mind. The way Jacobs and Lara started the afternoon session, though, could only have made the England bowlers’ hearts sink – there did not appear to be much urgency about the proceedings. A crashing Lara drive, though, off the bowling of Batty took him to within just four of 400. A single off the last ball of the 200th over and the target was down to 3.

An over later and the target was just one, with Gareth Batty once more in the firing-line. A ball outside leg, a sweep to fine leg and the most significant milestone in the history of test match cricket history had been achieved. To the relief of all and sundry, the declaration came at the end of the over with the West Indies on 751-5, but with their captain not out on 400. There would be no whitewash this year.

Facing a daunting 552 to avoid the follow-on, Marcus Trescothick played back an accurate first over from Pedro Collins, which resulted in a single no-ball for over-stepping to get the England reply up and running. A nudged brace by Michael Vaughan from an over-pitched delivery by Fidel Edwards registered the visitors’ first runs off the bat, but disaster was to follow for the England captain shortly afterwards.

Pedro Collins beat the bat outside off stump, there was an optimistic appeal from Jacobs and, quite inexplicably, Aleem Dar responded in the affirmative. Brian Lara looked far more out on 0 than Vaughan ever did on 7. Such is fortune – or the lack of it. Trescothick opened his own account with a signature square cut boundary, then Collins managed to produce the first ball which kept very low. Thankfully for the watchful Trescothick, he jabbed down on the ball in the nick of time.

New batsman Mark Butcher lost no time in nudging a single to get up and running, then when Corey Collymore came on for Edwards, Butcher found the ropes with a quite glorious drive through extra cover. The contrast between the two left-handers could not have been more visible – Trescothick still with his legs seemingly immersed in treacle, Butcher so light on his feet, almost dancing in his crease.

A brace of Trescothick (16) boundaries in quick succession seemed to hint at better things to come for the out-of-sorts Somerset opener, but once again his demise came in embarrassingly familiar circumstances. A rank long-hop from Tino Best was presented outside off stump, a wild flail followed and Ridley Jacobs gleefully threw the ball aloft. This time, there was no doubt as England subsided to 45-2. Shortly afterwards, the first of many milestones stretching out before them was passed as England reached the sanctuary of the tea interval, but already with two wickets gone.

Butcher came perilously close to becoming another Best victim as the young speedster, bowling with real fire, all but edged one to third slip. Unfortunately for the fielding side, the ball narrowly evaded the grasp of the diving Ricardo Powell and thudded into the boards at third man. Two balls later, the usually reliable Nasser Hussain was on his way back to the pavilion, yorked by the rampant Best for just 3.

A couple by Butcher off Collymore took him beyond 4,000 international runs, but it was a minor milestone in comparison to what had gone before. Graham Thorpe glided a ball of full length from Best, giving it everything in the locker, past point for four, but two balls later the effort worked against the bowler as he turned his ankle in the delivery stride. Unfortunately for the West Indies, he had to leave the field for treatment, leaving Ryan Hinds to complete his over.

The injury to Best prompted the recall of Fidel Edwards, and once again the pace of the ball through the air caused problems, on this occasion Butcher edging past third slip for another boundary. Another boundary by Thorpe, this time off Edwards, took him into double figures, but batting was looking an altogether more difficult occupation for the English batsmen.

Butcher, too, turned Edwards through the leg side for four, then a half-timed straight drive took him to his third half-century of the series. He did not have long to celebrate, though, as Pedro Collins found some serious swing for almost the first time in the match. Full and straight, Butcher’s castle was knocked over for 52, leaving England four down and still in double figures.

England could hardly have anticipated Andrew Flintoff having to bat as early as the 30th over on such a flat track, but worse was to follow as the pressure told. Graham Thorpe failed to keep control of a short ball from Edwards as he swung across the line, only succeeding in presenting Pedro Collins with a straightforward catch at square leg to leave the England innings in tatters on 98-5.

Debutant Geraint Jones, after a somewhat scratchy start, opened his account with a lovely square drive to the point boundary and in the process brought the hundred up, leaving England with the small matter of another 450 to avoid the follow-on. He and Flintoff applied themselves very well to the task in hand, both curbing their natural instincts and for the most part waiting for the bad ball to put away.

As the new ball of the start of the innings became a distant memory, Lara turned to spin at both ends. Jones got himself into difficulty on more than one occasion with premeditated sweeps but generally the England batsmen looked a little more secure in their tenure at the crease. Flintoff drove straight in order to raise the half-century partnership, then a cover drive by Jones off Hinds took the total past 150.

There are times when bad light stops play, but on this occasion it seems that the problem was too much light in the wrong place. At a quarter to six local time, all the security lights around the ground popped on as if by magic – one right behind the bowler’s arm. After a brief delay, an innocent boot met the offending bulb - or perhaps it was merely removed - and play resumed, winding down slowly towards stumps.

Towards the close of one of the more remarkable days in test cricket history, there was still time for further drama involving Brian Lara. England had limped along to 157-5 when Flintoff aimed a cut at a wide ball from Sarwan, only to edge to Lara at slip. The West Indian skipper juggled once, twice, three times before finally, seemingly grasping the ball. He went to hurl it in celebration only to drop it once more behind his back, flick it up with his heel and eventually see it evade his forlorn dive, much to his horror.

As the sun started to set, Chris Gayle was called upon to turn his arm over, and Flintoff put a wide half-volley through the covers in some style. In the final over of the day, the big Lancastrian repeated the exercise off Ryan Hinds.

Day 3 close of play summary
England 171-5 (Butcher 52, Flintoff 37*, G Jones 31*)
trail
West Indies 751-5 (Lara 400*, Jacobs 107*, Sarwan 90, Gayle 69)
by 580 runs


Posted by Eddie