England used brutal approach to the West Indies low order yesterday morning and the ball kept disappearing to all parts of Old Trafford off all parts of the bat and gloves. 102 runs - and only one wicket - came from the first 19 overs. Andrew Flintoff and Stephen Harmison, England's roughers-up, did most of the bowling, much of it short and aimed more or less at the chin, which is where poor Pedro Collins encountered the ball, followed by eight stitches.
In the old days, Michael Vaughan and Flintoff would have been excoriated for uncricketing behaviour in peppering a tailender. Perhaps England's collective memory of 20 or more years of being at the receiving end of large and lithe West Indies fast bowlers provided the underlying motivation for the onslaught. The batsmen jumped about and played false shots, so the frustration level was high for England, and wickets might have fallen at any time; but I should have liked to see James Anderson given an earlier try with the ball, to see if he could make it swing in the warm, cloudy atmosphere.
Carlton Baugh, the little wicketkeeper, mixed glorious drives with ingenious pokes over slip and premeditated rushes to the off side followed by Rohan Kanhai-like pick-ups over long leg. But his was a resourceful and important innings, putting West Indies into a position from which they are unlikely to lose in a match reduced to four days. He also looks the part behind the stumps. In Dwayne Bravo, Fidel Edwards, Tino Best, Sylvester Joseph and Baugh we may be seeing the foundation of a new generation of West Indian cricketers.
England batsmen from the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, subjected to those unrelenting barrages from the likes of Roberts, Holding, Garner, Marshall, Walsh and Ambrose, are likely - and rightly - to be accused of Schadenfreude if they lament the lack of fast-bowling talent in the present West Indies team. But from a purely cricketing point of view, the lack of penetration in the West Indies attack has detracted from the interest of the contests this year. So there was a piquancy when England batted in watching Edwards, back to fitness and speed, firing the ball in at more than 90mph on a pitch offering bounce to the bent back of an honest fast bowler. At the other end, the less fast but equally honest Corey Collymore bowled an accurate spell.
England have played excellent cricket recently, which gives us hope for the series against South Africa in the winter and Australia next summer. But there have been times when we have looked vulnerable. On flat pitches, the bowling has lacked the sheer menace of a Brett Lee or a Shane Warne and the relentless accuracy of a Glenn McGrath. And when there has been pace in the pitch, the top order has not looked impregnable. What has pulled us through has been Flintoff, Geraint Jones and the sense of a team working together.
Yesterday, the early batting was loose. Marcus Trescothick, fresh from two centuries in the match at Edgbaston, gave ammunition to those who doubt his technique against the best bowlers on pitches with pace, with a nondescript, firm-footed stab at a good length ball from Edwards.
And Robert Key does not convince me that his technique is solid enough, especially early in his innings, or when top bowlers put the ball in the right place and hit the pitch hard. He favours the leg side in a way that can make it almost impossible to bowl at him - as on the gentle-paced pitch at Lord's - but leaves him little margin for error if the ball moves a fraction away from him, as it did here. When Vaughan, who had looked solid, was undone by a full-length ball from Bravo that bowled him off his legs, England were in trouble at 40 for three.
This dismissal brought together two left-handers who do exude stickiness and determination, Andrew Strauss and Graham Thorpe. Strauss has been excellent this summer. He wears his helmet at a jaunty angle, in a way that suggests affiliation with a cheeky cockney, although this is far from his upbringing. Perhaps something of the Middlesex tradition that brings together cockneys and kings, rough diamonds and smooth toffs, has rubbed off on him. He is a battler, for sure, businesslike, resourceful, busy.
As for Thorpe, I have been delighted with his re-establishment as England's most reliable batsman after the absences resulting from domestic problems. He is the kind of player who can come in when the team is up against it and gain momentum, pushing the ball into spaces, punishing the short ball, combative and resolute.
With Collins off the field, the West Indies bowling options were limited. But I felt that England were again let off the hook by their opponents' tactics. At 40 for three, with their fastest bowler having bowled only five overs in his first spell, the time was ripe for out-and-out attack, rather than a rather dilatory two overs from Edwards, followed by the very medium-paced, part-time Joseph and the languid Gale. I would like to have seen Edwards and Collymore back in harness. Brian Lara seemed to be resigned to the long haul, an attitude that is most likely to make hauls longer.