England collapse to 77 all out against West Indies in shambolic first innings in Barbados
ENGLAND’S shell-shocked batsmen were transported back to the time when West Indies ruled the world with fast, hostile and devastating bowling.
It could have been 1984, not 2019, as Joe Root and Co were taken apart by a quartet of Caribbean quicks.
After reaching 23-0, England lost all ten wickets for just 54 runs in 21 overs as they folded feebly in the face of raw pace and sublime skills.
One after another, the batsmen in Bridgetown departed. It was England cricket’s very own Brexit.
Kemar Roach was utterly brilliant. He bowled like the late, great Malcolm Marshall — there can be no higher praise — with some chin music but mainly booming swing.
Roach finished with 5-17. The muscular Shannon Gabriel, 6ft 7in captain Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph provided fabulous support. England simply had no answer.
This bunch of England players had a glimpse of what it was like in the 1980s, when the brutality of the bowling provided a stark contrast to the golden sand, soothing breezes, rum punch and paradise island scenery of the Caribbean.
MOST READ IN SPORT
England were twice beaten 5-0 by the Windies during that decade.
Since then, they have been routed for 46 in Trinidad in 1994 and blown away for 51 in Jamaica in 2009.
Their capitulation for 77 all out here on day two of the First Test matched any of those for sheer drama and humiliation.
It is the lowest total by any team in 54 Tests at the Kensington Oval.
Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali and Sam Curran were bounced out, while most of the others were defeated by rapid straight balls that moved in the air or off the pitch.
The surface was quicker than on day one and some uneven bounce — exacerbated by indentations made by the ball — baffled the batsmen.
What a comedown from the surge of optimism created by England’s 3-0 whitewash of Sri Lanka less than two months ago.
LIVE CRICKET How to listen to West Indies vs England First Test commentary on talkSPORT
When Keaton Jennings drove a catch to gully in a depressingly predictable dismissal, nobody could have dreamed his 17 runs would remain the top score.
The final nine wickets fell in the post-lunch session as Roach, who switched ends after bowling just three overs, found a sweet rhythm.
He coaxed Rory Burns into dragging a ball on to his stumps and bowled Jonny Bairstow via the elbow.
England were suddenly 44-3 and their top-order woes — a perennial problem — were exposed once more.
But it got worse, much worse. Joe Root was nailed lbw by Holder and Ben Stokes suffered a similar fate to Roach for a 17-ball nought.
Roach produced a head-searching missile and Moeen’s panicky flap sailed from a top-edge all the way to fine leg, where Joseph judged the catch expertly and stayed inside the boundary. Moeen was out for a golden duck, Roach on a hat-trick.
Buttler was on the end of the most brutal snorter of the innings, a vicious lifter than took the edge of his bat. England had lost five wickets for five runs.
Ben Foakes was caught behind and Curran gloved a bouncer to gully. The rout was complete when Adil Rashid steered a catch to first slip.
The Windies decided not to enforce the follow-on and, building on a lead of 212, moved calmly to 52-0. But then five wickets tumbled for nine runs with Moeen taking three and Stokes two, plus two catches.
Shimron Hetmyer and Shane Dowrich counter-attacked and took the Windies’ lead beyond 300.
England face a mighty task trying to end a sequence of just one series win in the Caribbean in 51 years.
Earlier, James Anderson equalled Sir Ian Botham’s England record of 27 five-wicket hauls in Test cricket.
Stokes took his fourth wicket when Hetmyer was last man out for 81 in West Indies’ first innings.
At 6ft 5in, Broad would have been a better choice on this surface than Curran’s floaty swingers or Rashid’s wrist-spin. But England are in this mess because of their batting.
Broad, upset at being dropped, was given the day off and missed the carnage. Players not in the XI are routinely given days off during Test matches on tour.