Jerome Taylor Scythes Through England

Remember the good old days back in the 80's and early 90's when fearsome fast bowlers from the West Indian islands roamed the earth terrorizing the batsmen around the world? Can you recall the days when a Caribbean cricket tour was synonymous with injuries? Well, things change a lot doesn't it? Gone are those good old days. Now a days teams across the world look forward to Caribbean tour, not only because Caribbean Islands are one of the most beautiful places on the earth, but also because the Caribbean team has been going steadily downhill. They are currently languishing in the bottom half in the ICC rankings.

The English public has been projecting the current Caribbean tour as a warm up to the eagerly anticipated Ashes series. England was also down in dumps recently after the ouster of the national coach Peter Moores and sacking of their captain Kevin "The Millionaire" Pietersen. Andrew Strauss was appointed as the skipper for his tour. And to put it mildly, he has begun the journey on an disastrous note. To begin with he won the toss and his team scored 318 in the first dig. West Indies responsed with 392 with skipper Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan scoring tons. During the first 3 days the honors were evenly shared. But the fourth day ended on a disastrous note for the visitors.

After finally dismissing the West Indies, the English openers were out for the second dig. What followed was a steady procession of batsmen from and to the pavilion as pacer Jerome Taylor wrecked havoc. He scapled 5 wickets in 11 overs and giving away only 11 runs in the bargain. England were caught unawares and was bowled out for a paltry 51. Spinner Sulieman Benn also snared 4 wickets. So disastrous was the English effort that the first boundary came along only in the 28th over. Infact Andrew Flintoff was the only batsman to score a boundary in the English team. It was an abject performance put in by a spineless batting line up. The pitch held no demons but the batsmen were caught napping. If the English outfit doesnt regroup quickly and make amends for this disastrous performance, this could be the start of another dark passage for England. To begin with they can inject some life in the batting order by replacing Ian Bell with Owais Shah. And on the other hand, this could be the start of something promising for the West Indies.