Weather forces Lord's draw

21 May 2007

Chris Gayle frustrates England during one of the two brief spells of play © Getty Images

England’s hopes of marking the start of the international summer with victory in the first npower Test were foiled by poor weather at Lord’s.

Rain and bad light allowed less than an hour and a half’s play on a miserable final day as England went in search of the 10 wickets required to force home their advantage.

As it was, they failed to claimed a solitary wicket in the 20 overs possible, with Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga blunting an attack missing Matthew Hoggard to deny England even the slightest whiff of a chance.

The tourists, who resumed on seven without loss in pursuit of an almost notional 401 for victory, had reached 89 when bad light forced the players off in mid-afternoon, but it was not until shortly before 6pm that umpires Rudi Koertzen and Asad Rauf finally called a halt to proceedings.

A West Indies victory, though highly unlikely, was not totally unrealistic at the start of play, but rain limited the first session to just 35 minutes and effectively ended the slightest prospect of a positive result.

Starting the day in murky conditions, West Indies began positively and pushed quick singles at every opportunity before Gayle felt confident enough to hit a series of boundaries.

It took five overs before either of the openers began to cut loose and play more expansive shots, with Gayle pushing Steve Harmison off the back foot for the first four of the day through the covers.

The covers remain in place for much of the morning session

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Gayle, perhaps fired up by a painful blow in the box area from Steve Harmison the previous evening, then took his frustration out on Liam Plunkett, hitting him through point.

Plunkett was despatched for successive boundaries through and over mid-on in his next over, and Ganga had contributed just nine to a total of 42 when rain intervened.

Another shower prevented play resuming before 3.30pm and, after Gayle and Ganga combined to frustrate England for a further three quarters of an hour, the skies darkened and forced the players off for the last time.

At least the interruptions allowed new coach Peter Moores to discuss the squad for the next Test, which starts at Headingley Carnegie on Friday, and the fitness of several key players.

Seamer Hoggard is struggling with a thigh problem, having pulled up after bowling only 10.1 overs in West Indies’ first innings.

England are expected to welcome back captain Michael Vaughan following a finger injury but all-rounder Andrew Flintoff remains a doubt after ankle problems ruled him out of this match.

The squad for the second Test will be announced on ecb.co.uk on Tuesday at 4pm.