England have psychological edge

England coach Duncan Fletcher believes his side have a psychological edge over West Indies going into the Second Test starting on Friday at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain. The tourists came through a tough first three days before crushing their hosts by 10 wickets on the fourth morning of the First Test in Jamaica on Sunday. And Fletcher believes that gives them the edge for the second match of the Cable and Wireless four-Test rubber. “We must have an advantage because the confidence levels will be high, especially among the bowlers,” he said.

Mark Butcher and Nasser Hussain’s bravery in the face of some hostile bowling from young West Indies pacemen Fidel Edwards and Tino Best paved the way for England’s victory. “The batters showed a lot of character. Where it is very important is an individual like Butcher took a bit of a battering and is pretty bruised,” Fletcher explained. “For him to go and win like that and take that battering is a huge advantage. “If we’d lost and he’d taken that battering it would have been pretty hard to pull them out of that.”  But the England coach has warned his players not to be distracted by the apparent disarray in which the West Indians find themselves.

The home team issued an apology for Sunday’s debacle, in which they were bowled out for their lowest ever total of 47.  Four players also face an investigation following allegations that they were seen partying immediately after the game.  But Fletcher warned: “It’s very important that we look after our own game and prepare for the next Test. “If we start focusing on other things we’ll probably forget about what we’ve got to do.”