Is this the post that I eat my hat in? One friend I spoke to said it should be, after my rant about Sidebottom in the test match preview.

I was surprised to see that England went with Sidebottom in the end, but it appears they wanted a bit more control than someone like Anderson offered. Now his match figures of 8-80 something probably show that Peter Moores made a good choice, but was there really much resistance? This is now nothing against Sidebottom (who does need a haircut though!), as you can only take wickets against the batsmen in front of you. But the Windies lost Chanderpaul before the game, and Sarwan (possibly for the series) whilst fielding, so they were severely hampered. It is at times like this though that you need players such as Gayle to step up to the plate and take some responsibility, and what happened – England won by an innings and a lot. The only player who’s really made a good impression is Bravo, who does look to be a properly good all-rounder.

The next test doesn’t start until the 7th June, and I imagine there could be a few players back from injury and some tough decisions to be made by the England selectors, but thats a good position to be in. A quick “well done” as well to Vaughan who I said wouldn’t be given much time by some fans and media. A good ton is what he needed, and again there could be tough decisions in the batting order, and some players may be unlucky to miss out in the next test. But that is the nature of a good test side, and the pressure for places can only be a good thing.