You learn from your mistakes, or so the saying goes. This did not quite ring true in Trinidad on Tuesday, as England slipped to a series defeat to West Indies.
England quite simply ran out of time as West Indies survived at eight down when time was called. Skipper Andrew Strauss has praised his players for the monumental effort they put in, his batsmen for scoring at a rapid rate and his bowlers for plugging away on a wicket which offered little to them. But Strauss, quite simply, did not give his bowlers fair chance of claiming the win which would have levelled the series and seen England retain the Wisden Trophy.
Strauss seems to have thrived under the responsibility of captaincy, as his batting has been out of the top drawer, but he has come up short when big decisions have been required. In Antigua when England were frustrated by the West Indies tail, fingers were pointed at Strauss for sending in a nightwatchman with England in such a commanding position and not declaring early enough.
It is easy to forgive the errors of Antigua, as there is a fear factor in modern-day cricket whereby Strauss wanted to ensure England were in a position that they could not possibly lose.
It is not so easy to forgive the mistakes at the Queen’s Park Oval. Kevin Pietersen and Matt Prior batted at such pace that England had racked up a lead of 200 well before lunch, at which point a declaration should have been made and the task of bowling out West Indies undertaken.
Instead England batted on for an extra 30 minutes, a move which enabled Pietersen to complete his century. I’m not saying for one minute that the decision to bat on was based on allowing Pietersen to reach three figures, if it was then it is entirely unforgiveable, but it was a mistake nonetheless.
West Indies showed no intention of chasing down their victory target of 247, their only thought being crease occupation. They managed to bat out the 66 overs, with England two wickets short and it is not hard to make a case for victory had Strauss inserted the home side 30 minutes earlier.
Losing the series 2-0 would have meant the same as a 1-0 loss, so the incentive for England was obvious to everyone apart from the people that mattered – the captain and the coach.
For all the positives that have come out of the series for Strauss in terms of his return to form with the bat, the fact remains that his cautious approach cost England any chance of levelling the series and there cannot be a repeat.