Cricket: England over moon at long-awaited win

By DEREK PRINGLE

LONDON - On July 16, 1969, England won a test cricket series against the West Indies and two men walked on the moon.

Yesterday, only one of those things was achieved, though judging by the ecstatic crowd scenes at the Oval, you would have thought Nasser Hussain's team had managed to do the other as well.

At the moment of truth, when umpire Daryl Harper slowly raised his finger to fire Courtney Walsh leg-before, the England captain dropped down on his haunches and held his head as if disbelieving the gravity of the moment.

Perhaps memories of the boo-boys of a year ago, when England lost to New Zealand, were sharp in his memory, but it was soon gone once team-mates began their rush for souvenir stumps.

If the moment will remain forever sweet in the minds of those who played, it must be pointed out that this was a West Indies side who have now lost their last five series abroad.

Indeed, before their win at Edgbaston, in the first match of the series, they had not won an overseas test since Perth in February 1997.

Yesterday, chasing 374 to win, the West Indies were dismissed for 215 and England had won by 158 runs.

Since 1969, playing the West Indies has been one of the tougher tasks facing England and the moment was to be cherished.

In the 31 years between their defeats, the West Indies have won 35 tests to England's eight, a one-way street that this 3-1 series win has at last made open to two-way traffic.

The victory has also moved England up Wisden's unofficial world championship table.

Bottom a year ago, they have now risen to sixth, their highest ranking since 1996, when the system was introduced.

If progress is maintained, they could even move into the top half of the table, but that would necessitate beating both Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the teams immediately above them, later this year.

"I have not slept much since I became aware of that statistic about how long it was since we beat the West Indies," admitted an exhausted-looking Hussain afterwards. "In fact, we've been dreaming of nothing but winning this trophy since we found that out."

The captain, a poor series with the bat tempering his joy, paid homage to his team's efforts.

"Since last year, they've all worked really hard, which makes this success something really special."

That hard work, instilled by coach Duncan Fletcher, has certainly helped to add consistency to a side where cold followed hot quicker than the tap water in a cheap hotel.

If England's series win over South Africa two years ago was a smash-and-grab effort, where fortune played a part, yesterday's success was fully deserved.

The pace-bowling quartet of Darren Gough, Andrew Caddick, Craig White and Dominic Cork are world class, a point they once again proved yesterday.

Against a West Indies line-up who needed such a huge total to win, there was never any doubt who would triumph, particularly when Brian Lara was seventh out, for 47.

Gough, voted by West Indies coach Roger Harper as England's man of the series, took three of the wickets to fall, including that of Lara, to finish with 25 in the series.

If there was any chance of a surprise win for the visitors - they once successfully chased 344 on the last day at Lord's in 1984 - most of it would have to have come from the Trinidadian's bat.

Still a potential force with the ball, despite Curtly Ambrose's retirement (he finished with 405 wickets from 98 tests), this West Indies side are over-reliant on Lara and under-reliant on basic technique.

With his elastic bat extension and crisp thunderclap contact, Lara was promoted to No 3, and Hussain admitted a few palpitations once he began to treat Gough and Cork like net bowlers.

Joined by the sparky Ramnaresh Sarwan, for a stand worth 46 in nine overs, Lara played some awesome shots.

Sarwan was run out, and with Ridley Jacobs following in the next over, only Lara remained. Having twice blazed Gough through the covers in successive balls, he

eventually succumbed leg-before to him. For the tourists the match was over.

Just 17 short of the uncharted peak of 500 test wickets, Walsh, who took 34 wickets in the series at an astonishing average of just over 12, said afterwards he would put his feet up and collect his thoughts before deciding on his future.

- INDEPENDENT