It seems an appropriate time to give a little biography of a man currently gracing our wireless sets: Tony Cozier.
Kemar Roach set the tone for England’s reply with one of the great spells of no-ball bowling before the West Indies wilted under the Nottingham sun.
The second Test in the series might actually see some sunshine. Will that help the West Indies to a famous victory? No: they’re going to get mullered.
If we had a penny for every time we’d been told ‘if only the West Indies could pick their strongest team’, we might be able to scrape together enough to pay Noel Edmonds’ legal expenses.
After an early wobble, Alastair Cook and Ian Bell comfortably saw England home.
England were unable to really press home their advantage in the early part of the day, but taking three wickets for no runs just before tea put them in a winning position.
Yeeeeeeesssss! Not our words, the words of Andrew Strauss.
England were well below their best on the opening day of the international summer, but only Shivnarine Chanderpaul offered genuine resistance and they ended it in the ascendancy.
Test cricket’s back in England! The West Indies are here to whet our appetites for later in the summer. We’re going to make them grovel. Or something.
The West Indies had a fairly quiet winter, with only a series against Australia to show for their efforts since our last report.