Trescothick ton puts England in charge

Marcus Trescothick's century held the England innings together

Marcus Trescothick hit his maiden hundred against West Indies and Graham Thorpe made a half-century as England put themselves in a strong position at the end of the first day of the second npower Test at Edgbaston.

Somerset left-hander Trescothick held the innings together and made a superb 105 - his seventh Test century - while Thorpe added 61 as England closed on 313 for five.

Andrew Flintoff also looks well poised to make a half-century after reaching 42 not out when bad light brought an early end to the day’s play, with Geraint Jones unbeaten on 27.

West Indies produced a more disciplined bowling display than they showed at Lord’s but England’s batsmen again impressed as they looked to build on their 210-run victory in the first npower Test.

Trescothick’s ton had helped England recover from the loss of two wickets after lunch with Andrew Strauss having already departed during the first session.

Fellow opener Strauss had initially been the more aggressive of the two openers and he picked up three boundaries at Corey Collymore's expense as England went along at a run a minute in the early stages.

Collymore was brought into the West Indies side as a replacement for the injured Tino Best while Jermaine Lawson took over from Fidel Edwards. England chose James Anderson after seven months on the sidelines ahead of Simon Jones.

Trescothick was brutal on anything overpitched and collected 10 fours in his 25th Test half-century from 61 balls, which came up in the 16th over.

Andrew Strauss collects runs on the leg-side

Their 77-run stand for the opening partnership ended when, with Strauss on 24, Lawson moved a ball away from him and Ridley Jacobs took the catch behind the wicket.

Trescothick and Robert Key saw England through to 105 for one at lunch and added another 20 runs before Key, who made a double century at Lord's, was dismissed for 29 when he was caught by Brian Lara at first slip off the bowling of Pedro Collins.

Trescothick pulls Pedro Collins for four

Captain Michael Vaughan then joined Trescothick at the crease and understandably looked in good form after hitting centuries in both innings in the first npower Test.

Dwayne Bravo saw his first ball dispatched to the leg-side boundary by the England captain and that was followed by a glorious cover drive for four but Bravo got his revenge when Vaughan was caught and bowled off a slower ball at the second attempt for 12 as England slipped to 150 for three.

Trescothick could not be moved though and he closed in on his century after beating his previous best score of 88 against West Indies.

Trescothick kisses his glove after reaching his century

He reached his ton in style with a late cut off Omari Banks for four and he received a standing ovation for a century which included 19 boundaries.

Only two more overs were possible before tea and Graham Thorpe hit Banks for another boundary as he reached 26 not out at the interval with England well placed on 204 for three.

But only six more runs were added after tea before Trescothick departed when his attempted cut flew to Lara at first slip and he palmed the ball into the air before completing the catch.

The pair had put on 60 for the fourth wicket and Thorpe then formed another useful partnership with crowd favourite Flintoff, with the former reaching his half-century off 104 balls when he drove Collymore through the covers for four.

Andrew Flintoff hits Omari Banks for four

Thorpe moved onto 61 and added 52 with Flintoff for the fifth wicket before getting an inside edge onto his thigh pad as he attempted a pull shot off Collymore and the ball carried through to Jacobs behind the stumps.

That setback had little effect on Flintoff, however, and the powerful all-rounder delighted the crowd when he dispatched a short ball for six over mid wicket.

New batsman Jones was quick off the mark and hammered three boundaries off one Collymore over as England moved past 300 before bad light stopped play in the 86th over with the sixth-wicket partnership already worth 51.