da casino： Alastair Cook and Joe Root scored two of their softer hundreds against a West Indies attack low on confidence and quality

da brwin： George Dobell at Edgbaston17-Aug-2017As Mark Ramprakash applauded the England batsmen into the dressing room at the end of a successful day, he could be forgiven if his mind wandered, just for a moment, back to his own experiences of playing West Indies.Back in 1991, Ramprakash made his Test debut against this opposition. The attack he faced in that match, a match which also saw Graeme Hick make his debut, consisted of Patrick Patterson, Malcolm Marshall, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh.It was, perhaps, as hostile and skilful a foursome of pace bowlers as Test cricket has ever seen. And a strong-looking England side that also contained Graham Gooch, Mike Atherton, Allan Lamb and Robin Smith – all terrific players of pace bowling – was bowled out for 198 within 80 overs. Hick faced 31 balls for his 6 and Rampakash battled for 103 deliveries in making 27. There were 23 boundaries in the entire innings.Compare that to the attack faced by Alastair Cook and Joe Root in this match at Edgbaston. Sans the pace, hostility or control of the class of ’91, they conceded 47 boundaries in their first 80 overs and, while Ramprakash and co didn’t face an over of spin, this West Indies side offered it at both ends in twilight when the second new ball was available. Ramprakash, now England’s batting coach, would be quite entitled if, in a quiet moment, he reflected how his own international playing career might have developed had he faced such opposition.Now, it is unfair to continually compare modern West Indies sides with their forebears. They were, to some extent, freakishly good and it is no more Jason Holder’s fault that he does not command such an attack as it is his fault that he can’t fly.But it is fair to compare this West Indies attack to that put out by South Africa in the recently concluded Test series against England. And it is fair to conclude that, well though Cook and Root played here, their innings of 88 (at The Oval) and 49 (at Old Trafford) respectively were, in their way, more admirable.That is not to take anything away from either of them. Almost from the start here, Cook drove fluently through the covers – usually a sign that he is at his best – and the consistency with which Root is scoring runs in all conditions – this was the 11th Test in succession in which he has contributed a half-century at least – marks him out as special. Cook suggested he might be the best he had played with; it’s hard to disagree.But the number of boundary deliveries bowled at them, the fallible fielding, the lack of threat for much of the day, rendered these unusually soft Test centuries. And they were a reminder that, for all the success of the novelty of the day-night Test – a great success in terms of attracting spectators to the ground – it only provides a sticking plaster to the wounds facing Test cricket.

It was Stoneman’s great misfortune to receive by far the best delivery of the day: a peach of a ball that offered to swing in, then left him off the seam to clip his off stump

“I don’t know why hundreds are such a big thing,” Cook said afterwards. “But as a batter you are judged by hundreds. I felt that innings of 88 at The Oval was as good a knock as I could play in those conditions against four quality seamers. Today was different: the sun was out and the pitch was flat.”Ramprakash and Hick may not have been the only ones shaking their heads ruefully as they watched events unfold at Edgbaston. Spare a thought for Gary Ballance and Keaton Jennings, too. Both struggled in the series against South Africa on far more testing conditions and against a far more demanding attack. Both may be judged permanently on their struggles.In Ballance’s case, in particular, that would be harsh. Three times in his four innings against South Africa, he reached 20. And, while he failed to capitalise on those starts, he had at least taken some of the sting out of the ball and the bowlers which may well have rendered life a little easier for those that followed in the middle-order. It is impossible to predict how he would have fared against this attack in these conditions, though he would surely have found life much easier.That is not to say Ballance is necessarily one of the men England should be taking to Australia. He still has questions to answer against the sort of pace he may face there and his two more recent runs in the side have produced consistently disappointing returns. But it was reminder that we are fools if we judge players by raw stats or limited appearances.Certainly Mark Stoneman will hope he is not judged on his first Test innings. It was his great misfortune to receive by far the best delivery of the day: a peach of a ball that offered to swing in just a touch, then left him off the seam to clip his off stump. The word “unplayable” is one of the most over-used in cricket (“promising” runs it close), but this delivery just about qualified. “There’s not much you can do about that,” Root told Sky ruefully after play.There was better fortune for Dawid Malan. Missed at slip (off a spinner) on 2 and almost struck by a bouncer from Kemar Roach, it was his fortune to be given something of a breather when West Indies delayed taking the second new ball. It was only a couple of overs but Malan was on 7 at the time – four of which had come from an edge – and looking far from comfortable. Sometimes these moments can have enormous ramifications. Rarely does a Test side show such a lack of ruthlessness and rarely does a coach look as frustrated as Stuart Law, who quickly send a message on to the pitch to implore his team to take the new ball immediately.”We had discussed that,” Roddy Estwick, West Indies’ bowling coach, said. “So it was disappointing. We had to send a quiet reminder on to the pitch. We conceded 53 boundaries; it shows we were very inconsistent.”They sure were. The sight of Root bringing up his century with a pull for four off a filthy, wide long-hop down the leg side said it all. England were efficient and ruthless, but rarely will they have it so easy.