A century from Paul Collingwood led England to an imposing 566 for nine declared on the second day of the third test against West Indies in Antigua, as the tourists made their first test mauling a distant memory.
Just nine days after being bowled out for 51 at Sabina Park and suffering an innings defeat, England amassed more than 10 times that total with five batsmen scoring half centuries or more.
Collingwood was the constant presence throughout a sun-blessed day at the Antigua Recreation Ground, as his 113, his eighth test century, provided a perfect complement to skipper Andrew Strauss’ 169 on Sunday.
A great day for England ended with the added bonus of the wicket of West Indies captain and batting threat Chris Gayle, who drove Steve Harmison to James Anderson at mid-off to depart on 30.
West Indies ended the day on 55 for one — trailing by 511 runs.
Arriving at the crease after West Indies removed the nightwatchman James Anderson, Collingwood took the upper hand in a positive partnership with Kevin Pietersen through to lunch.
It is not often that Pietersen is overshadowed by his partner, but Collingwood’s aggression was impressive, as was the way he was able to adjust his role, first to provide stability and then later to take the main run-making responsibility again.
Fidel Edwards had been threatening with the new ball but West Indies did not look like making any headway until after lunch when Jerome Taylor picked up two quick wickets.
KEEPING LOW
With the first ball of his spell he bowled Pietersen for 51 with a delivery that kept low and then Andrew Flintoff went two balls later.
Those breakthroughs gave the hosts heart but any questions over England that remained after the debacle at Sabina Park were answered as Collingwood and Matt Prior put on a nicely paced 62-run partnership.
With England looking to pick up the run-rate, Prior skied a simple catch to Shivnarine Chanderpaul, handing West Indies’ Australian-born medium-pacer Brendan Nash his first test wicket.
Stuart Broad then played some well-timed shots in a lively 44, a partnership that allowed Collingwood to complete his century and take the applause of an overwhelmingly English crowd.
After Broad went, caught behind off Ryan Hinds, Graeme Swann contributed 20 and when Collingwood finally departed, caught at deep midwicket by Fidel Edwards off Hinds, Strauss declared.
That gave England an hour to bowl at West Indies and they gained the precious wicket of Gayle.
The Jamaican had survived an impressive opening spell from Flintoff and Anderson before crashing Steve Harmison for a six and four in the same over only then to drive the England seamer straight into the arms of Anderson at mid-off.
ICL REBELS
In related news, a Pakistani court yesterday lifted domestic bans on the country’s last six active players who joined the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL).
Seventeen ICL rebels are now free to play Pakistani cricket but remain barred from international matches until they are cleared by the International Cricket Council.
“Imran Nazir, Imran Farhat, Humayun Farhat, Riaz Afridi, Arshad Khan and Taufiq Umar got their bans suspended by the court and are now free to play in domestic matches,” the players’ lawyer, Zahid Fakhruddin, told reporters.
The Pakistan Cricket Board respected the decision and cleared the players for domestic matches. Eleven players were reprieved last week, nine of whom featured in the latest round of Pakistan’s premier Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.
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