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England all set for a whitewash

By Ted Corbett

CHESTER-LE-STREET June 6. Richard Johnson, the Somerset fast bowler, was in sight of a hat-trick when he won lbw decisions with the third and fourth balls of his opening Test over this afternoon as England reduced Zimbabwe to an incredible 35 for seven in 17 overs.

He went on to collect his 13th haul of five wickets in his ten years as a professional and before he was rested at tea he had figures of 8-3-18-5.

Tatenda Taitu, the tiny wicket-keeper with the outside heart and unlimited courage, held out long enough to reach double figures. It was one of the most sensational sessions of play; a throwback to the 1930s when England toyed with India, South Africa, West Indies and New Zealand. It should have been a wonderful celebration of the opening of the latest Test ground. Instead, please pass a pinch of salt.

I think we need a little rationalisation here.

What Johnson, whose international career has been blighted by injury going back nine years, made of his second day in Test cricket at the age of 28 is beyond imagination.

He already has a hat-trick to his credit and is the last English bowler to collect ten wickets in an innings, for Middlesex against Derbyshire in 1995-6. He even took five wickets on this ground against Durham before he left Middlesex to revive his career with Somerset. There is little to describe in the fall of wickets.

First Johnson and then James Anderson bowled fast and straight and the Zimbabweans failed to pick up the line or were late with their shots. Oddly enough, the constant replays of five lbw verdicts failed to pick up a single fault as the first eight wickets fell for 48.

At 64 Zimbabwe passed its lowest score; but it must have finished the day thinking that its supporters in Harare would be more depressed than at any time in their unhappy country's history.

Barring the rain, which is forecast to stop play throughout the weekend, England is set for a whitewash, by winning its third Test in a row.

But there really is no glory in beating Zimbabwe.

Bangladesh might feel confident pitted against Zimbabwe 2003. Whatever the political or cricket reasons Zimbabwe is not far from being the worst Test team in history. Not since England announced early in the 1959 Test against India at Old Trafford that it would not enforce the follow-on has a side been so clearly defined as not of the standard required.

Remember too that this attack is England's third choice. From Andrew Caddick to Darren Gough from Matthew Hoggard to Andrew Flintoff there is a major injury list that grows daily. All of that makes it difficult to assess the long-term implications of a day that began with light rain but which once again continued uninterrupted.

Thursday's finish, three quarters of an hour after the scheduled end, brought a fine on Zimbabwe even though the match referee Clive Lloyd managed to record its shortfall as three overs, which was kind of him since there were at least seven left at 5.45 when play should have ceased.

The result was that 16 overs were bowled in the first hour while Alec Stewart was lbw to Heath Streak, the one Zimbabwe bowler fit to play in the England side, and Anthony McGrath dropped anchor as he contemplated a century in his second Test. It was not to be but England still managed another 94 runs as Ashley Giles made his second successive fifty and Johnson smote the ball with a disdain bordering on contempt. Zimbabwe was all out for 94 in the first innings.

SCOREBOARD

ENGLAND — 1st innings:
M. Trescothick c Taibu b Price	43
M. Vaughan c Ervine b Streak	20
M. Butcher b Hondo	47
N. Hussain c Taibu b Hondo	18
R. Key c Flower b Hondo	4
A. Stewart lbw b Streak	68
A. McGrath c Taibu b Blignaut	81
A. Giles c Ervine b Streak	50
R. Johnson c Streak b Blignaut	24
S. Harmison c Vermeulen b Streak	11
J. Anderson (not out)	12
Extras (b-1, w-7, lb-5, nb-25)	38
	— —
Total	416
	— —

Fall of wickets: 1-49, 2-109, 3-146, 4-152, 5-156, 6-305, 7-324, 8-356, 9-390.

Zimbabwe bowling: Streak 34.1-11-64-4; Blignaut 23-4-95-2; Hondo 22-1-98-3; Ervine 3-0-17-0; Price 40-9-105-1; Friend 4-0-26-0, Flower 1-0-5-0.

ZIMBABWE — 1st innings:
D. Ebrahim lbw b Anderson	6
M. Vermeulen lbw b Johnson	0
S. Carlisle lbw b Johnson	0
G. Flower c Trescothick b Anderson	8
T. Taibu lbw b Johnson	31
S. Ervine c Stewart b Johnson	0
T. Friend lbw b Johnson	0
H. Streak lbw b Johnson	4
A. Blignaut c Anderson b Harmison	13
R. Price lbw b Harmison	17
D. Hondo (not out)	5
Extras (b-5, lb-3, nb-2)	10
	— —
Total	94
	— —

Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-3, 3-11, 4-18, 5-23, 6-31, 7-35, 8-48, 9-73.

England bowling: Anderson 10-3-30-2; Johnson 12-4-33-6; Harmison 9.1-3-22-2; Giles 1-0-1-0.

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