Sidebottom proves value of swing when you're winning

The England hierarchy - in particular their selectors and their selection process - have been under scrutiny this week. After the second day's play in the second Test they have a little more ammunition to suggest they know what they are doing. It comes in the form of Ryan Sidebottom.

Six years after his one Test, but just as hirsute, he was spearheading England's victory charge on his old home ground. When West Indies were bowled out for 149 in their first innings, Sidebottom led the England team from the field. He looked almost sheepish - not because of the shaggy haircut that so many of us envy - and he invited Liam Plunkett, who took three wickets, to join him.

Wisely, Plunkett declined. While Sidebottom had bowled with skill and control, Plunkett had sprayed the ball on both sides of the pitch in between snatching his wickets. At the close, another two wickets to his name, Sidebottom could lead them off again.

So despite a double century from Kevin Pietersen that we almost took for granted, a Yorkshire cricketer was the focal point for the second day in a row. Sidebottom's success would have brought plenty of smiles to plenty of faces, especially those toiling away on the much-maligned county circuit. He did not look out of place in an England side - except that he was in danger of bowling several maidens.

His return to England's ranks should be an encouragement to fellow yeomen on the county circuit. The gulf between county and Test cricket is bridgeable and pace is not everything.

Sidebottom was plucked from obscurity like three other left-armers of recent vintage, Mike Smith, Paul Taylor and Simon Brown, who returned there immediately. Unlike that trio Sidebottom, sensibly given the advantage of a new ball, got swing when it mattered.

Sidebottom had slipped under the radar into this Test team; he was not among the 25-man development squad - unlike Durham's Graham Onions - and in the past England have been keen on their pecking orders. Sidebottom stuck to the basics like the old pro he is. This was most obviously the case in his third over. The first two balls were driven for four by Chris Gayle. There was swing, but the languid West Indies opener seemed equal to it. The temptation for Sidebottom was to bang the ball in shorter to prevent Gayle scoring so freely. Instead, he kept it full and Gayle missed another attempted drive. Sidebottom had recognised the need to keep that new ball full, even if boundaries were being conceded.

His dismissal of Daren Ganga suggested that he had slipped under the West Indies' radar as well. Ganga looked surprised in both of his innings when the ball swung back into his pads.

In contrast to Sidebottom, Plunkett was flattered by his figures, but at least he found lateral movement on the rare occasions the ball was propelled in the right direction. Stephen Harmison bowled with far more venom that at Lord's. Both the Durham bowlers have scope to improve with the minimum of pressure in the West Indies' second innings. In which case there will be ticklish selection issues if Matthew Hoggard and Andrew Flintoff are fit for the Old Trafford Test on 7 June.

One thing is unarguable: Michael Vaughan will be leading the team. Humble pie is rarely on the menu at Headingley, but I'll have to eat some. Last week I suggested that Vaughan should not be parachuted straight back into the Test team without proper preparation. On Friday, rather more gracefully, he responded with a Test century upon his return. Argument over - at least when England are playing with a red ball.

Vaughan's hundred was more a triumph over the situation than the opposition's bowlers. He acknowledged that the pressure was on, but this was a spur rather than a shackle. Even so, you can understand why, after 18 months in the wilderness, Vaughan ranked this innings so highly.

Without seeking to detract from that performance, it should be noted that this century was against the weakest attack of the established Test nations: four pedestrian seamers - especially by Caribbean standards - and a makeshift spinner. There is even an argument that Bangladesh have a more potent attack than West Indies, even though they have allowed India 610 for three in Dhaka. Mushrafe Mortaza is as good as any West Indies paceman on this tour and Mohammad Rafique has the measure of Gayle as a Test spinner.

Vaughan's century is a landmark, but it should be seen in context. After only three innings in this series, six England players have hit hundreds; in the 1980s, only six England batsmen took hundreds off West Indies. Now run-making is all too easy and until Sidebottom intervened the series had been in danger of becoming an unedifying run glut on docile surfaces.

The response to a flat pitch and a modest attack has changed beyond measure over the decades. Stick Geoffrey Boycott (or apparently his mum) and Ken Barrington against this attack and they would have 'booked in for bed and breakfast'. They would not have been caught on the deep cover boundary, thrashing away, as Pietersen was after registering 226, his highest Test score. For that the spectators at Headingley yesterday must be grateful.

Ryan Sidebottom and Stephen Harmison bowled England to a record victory over the West Indies between the showers in the second Test at Headingley.

Sidebottom, the Nottinghamshire seamer, claimed two victims on day four of this game to take his tally for the innings to four and for the match to eight. Harmison mopped up the tail to finish with 3-37, confirming, when he bowled Jerome Taylor, the biggest defeat in West Indies Test history by an innings and 283 runs.

For the second time in the match, Ramnaresh Sarwan, the West Indies captain, was unable to bat because of a shoulder injury suffered in the field, and it was only a thrilling half-century from the majestic Dwayne Bravo that prevented the tourists from falling to an even more comprehensive reversal.

Michael Vaughan, the England captain, was thrilled to have secured such a comprehensive victory on his return to Test cricket after an enforced 18-month absence through injury.
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“It’s been a special week, he said. "I was nervous on that first morning but it’s nice to come back and do well.

“We are 1-0 up with two to play and we’ve got to make sure we go to Old Trafford and continue to play the same standard of cricket.”

Vaughan also praised the efforts of Sidebottom, who just missed out on the man-of-the-match award to Kevin Pietersen.

“It was a great option against the left-handers," he added. "He bowled beautifully, swinging the ball and bowling at a fair pace."

Sidebottom said: “I am just delighted to be back playing Test cricket. It’s been a long time. I’ve been back to county cricket. I knew I had to prove myself and knew I had to work hard and I think I’ve done that.

“I think I’ve served my time and I’m delighted to be back here.”

Timesonline