Windies' Jayden Seales: It's pretty frustrating to look up at the scoreboard

WEST INDIES pacer Jayden Seales grabbed figures of four for 77 on day two of the first Test against England at Lord’s Cricket Ground, London on Julky 10. However, the mood in the squad was one of frustration as the regional team are already facing a heavy innings defeat heading into the third day’s play as they are reeling on 79 for six in the second innings and need a further 171 runs to make England bat a second time.

On day one, the Windies were rolled over for just 121, with England closing the day’s play on 189 for three as they raced out to a 68-run lead. The hosts drove home their advantage on day two as they posted a healthy first-innings total of 371, with five batsmen registering half-centuries. Boasting a massive first-innings lead of 250 runs, the English bowlers then went to work in the day’s final session with six crucial scalps to leave the West Indies in an unenviable position as they edge towards a catastrophic loss. “I don’t think we were as consistent as we wanted to be throughout the entire day. We had partnerships and spells where we were exactly where we wanted to be,” Seales told the press, at the close of play on Thursday.

“It’s pretty frustrating to look up at the scoreboard and see the position we’re in now. Probably, if we had batted better on the first day, we may not have been in this position. But, that’s all in the past and we just have to move forward with it.”

After debutant Gus Atkinson stole the show with a remarkable spell of seven for 45 on day one, it was the turn of his Surrey teammate and fellow debutant Jamie Smith to light up day two with an innings of 70 from 119 balls. Batting at number seven, Smith displayed measured aggression batting with the tail, and his effort added to the fifties scored by Zak Crawley (76), Ollie Pope (57), Joe Root (68) and Harry Brook (50).

The 23-year-old wicket-keeper/batsman had the Lord’s crowd eating out of his hands with two shots in particular, a pair of ferocious sixes into the on-side off Seales and seamer Shamar Joseph, who struggled during the day with tightness in his left hamstring – being forced to leave the field on numerous occasions. “That battle with Jamie was good. He played his shots, just like any young batsman coming through England’s setup right now. It was a good challenge for all of us, and well played to Jamie,” Seales said. Left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie (two for 41) produced two gems to clean bowl the set Root and the dangerous English captain Ben Stokes (four), and the visitors were also buzzing after their debutant Mikyle Louis effected a brilliant direct run out to see the back of Shoaib Bashir near the end of England’s innings.

Seales said the latter celebration prevented the West Indies from forming a guard of honour for English seamer James Anderson, who’s playing the 188th and final Test match in his 21-year career.

“We spoke about it before we came out to bat and we said we would give him a guard of honour,” Seales said. “Obviously, the run out took us all the way down to Swiss Cottage so it was pretty hard to get the guard of honour for the great man.”

It didn’t take long for Anderson and the England pace attack to make inroads in the West Indies top order, and visiting captain Kraigg Brathwaite (four) was dismissed when Anderson delivered a peach of a delivery from the Pavilion End to grab his 702nd Test wicket. Louis was patient and steady during his knock of 14, but both he and Kirk Mckenzie (duck) were dismissed by the irresistible Stokes, who became only the third player in Test cricket to get to 6,000 runs and 200 wickets in the history of the format.

West Indies were on 32 for three after Louis’ dismissal, and they slipped to 55 for five after the dismissals of Kavem Hodge (four) and Alick Athanze (22).

On only the second day of their three-match Test tour, the Windies found themselves in survival mode and the hosts were threatening to blow them away inside two days.

Seales was asked about the quality of the team’s preparations, which included a training camp at Tonbridge School in Kent and a three-day warmup match versus a First Class Counties Select XI last week.

“I think we had good preparations. We didn’t necessarily have match time, but in terms of the camp we had down at Kent, we all trained pretty well and the bowlers were doing well. I wouldn’t say preparation was the thing that made us underperform per se. It didn’t go our way in this game.”

With the Windies needing a miraculous lower order revival to force England to bat again in this game, Seales is trying to look on the bright side.

“There are always positives when you get a team bowled out, especially for a (score of) 371. You will take that any day in a Test match.

“I think this is probably a stepping stone for us heading into the other matches and just to build on and improve.”

In keeping with England’s dominance through the six sessions of this Test, the hosts ended day two on a high when Atkinson (two for 27) dismissed Jason Holder (20) after a consistent short-ball paid dividends with what turned out to be the final delivery of the day. On day three, wicket-keeper/batsman Joshua Da Silva (eight not out) and the West Indies tail will face a very tall order to try and reverse their team’s bleak fortunes.

Summarised scores:

WEST INDIES: 121 (Mikyle Louis 27, Kavem Hodge 24, Alick Athanaze 23; Gus Atkinson 7/45) and 79/6 (A Athanaze 22, Jason Holder 20; James Anderson 2/11, Ben Stokes 2/25 vs ENGLAND: 371 (Zak Crawley 76, Jamie Smith 70, Joe Root 68, Ollie Pope 57; Jayden Seales 4/77, Gudakesh Motie 2/41).