Andrew Miller at Lord's Stuart Broad became only the seventh player to write his name on both the batting and bowling honours boards at Lord’s, as he helped keep West Indies in check on the first day of the first Test with figures of 6 for 72.
Broad, who first made his mark at Lord’s with his 169 against Pakistan in 2010, started slowly but finished with aplomb, claiming three wickets for 12 in 23 balls before the close to reduce West Indies to 243 for 9 overnight. Only Shivnarine Chanderpaul, unbeaten on 87, put up any long-term resistance.
“It’s a great honour to emulate the likes of Beefy [Botham] and Fred [Flintoff],” said Broad. “We probably didn’t start with the standards we’d have liked – certainly me, I got driven too much – but I was able to drag my length back which made me harder to drive. That’s something I didn’t have the wisdom to do in previous years.”
Chanderpaul eluded England’s grasp, although they would have removed him midway through the evening session had Graeme Swann thought to review an lbw appeal on 62. “He plays it so late in swinging conditions and that’s something we can learn from,” said Broad. “We wanted to stay away from his legs because he can accumulate 30 before you realise, but he’s hard to draw into a false shot.
“We darted from over to round and swinging away. But we picked up his mates around him this morning, which was pleasing,” Broad added. “The most important thing is to not let them get away. A score of 250-260 looks more daunting, so we need to keep the No. 11 on strike and hopefully get our plans right in the morning.”
“He’s a fantastic batsman with a great record in England,” said West Indies’ Adrian Barath, who made a diligent 42. “Ninety percent of his game is mental. He’s not going to blast the ball around, it’s all about patience, and he allows the ball to come onto the bat. Everyone can take a leaf out of his book.”
Meanwhile in the IPL, West Indies’ former opening batsman, Chris Gayle, blasted an unbeaten 128 from 62 balls for Bangalore against Delhi Daredevils. No questions about his performance were permitted by the team management.