The England-West Indies Test series is proving to be compulsory viewing and, with one Test at the Oval still to play and England holding a 2-1 advantage, I get the feeling the entertainment has not finished yet. It is supposedly going to be Curtly Ambrose's last Test match and recent rumours have also suggested that Courtney Walsh will be joining him on the sidelines - this alone is worth the price of admission! Many of the purists, including the ECB, will probably feel robbed, with three of the four matches having already been decided within three days but short Test matches always equal plenty of action and there has certainly been an abundance of that!

It is always nice to watch fierce battles as an impartial observer and this series has provided a breath of fresh air, particularly after the dreadfully boring series against New Zealand over here last year. Of course, the fact that England are leading has pleased the locals and generated plenty of interest and that they have come from one-nil down has demonstrated a renewed spirit among the English.

Much of the publicity surrounding the brevity of the results has centred on the substandard quality of the pitches and, to me, this highlights a major problem with the first-class game in general over here. The pitches at Lord's, Edgbaston and Headingley have made for extremely hard work for the batsmen and it is no coincidence that the only centuries of the series so far have been scored during the rain-affected match at Old Trafford, where batting looked almost easy by comparison. No batsman in world cricket would consistently prevail against Gough and Caddick or Ambrose and Walsh on pitches that provide ample lateral movement and inconsistent bounce.

As an Australian, I can not help but think that this is all part of a cunning long term plan to win back the Ashes next year! Australia have certainly proven themselves to be almost unbeatable for the moment on the true surfaces back home but unpredictable surfaces certainly even up any contest and I believe provide the best opportunity for the English to prevail in 2001.

Prior to the Ashes series next year, the West Indies have an appointment in Australia and it is difficult to foresee them making any sort of impact at all during that series, particularly without Ambrose and maybe even Walsh.

At Somerset, we had a first hand look at the West Indians during our tour match at Taunton last week and they appeared far from impressive. In fact, they seemed very tired and disinterested, which we found a little surprising considering it was the last chance they had to sharpen up before the final Test. In fairness, the scheduling was rough: they were asked to play a four day game under championship rules (104 overs in a day, compared to the Test match standard of 90) at this stage of the tour. An itinerary oversight by their Board of Control I am sure!

We fielded a reasonably strong side, by comparison to what many counties often do against the touring teams, with Steffan Jones and Graham Rose the only players to be officially 'rested'. Having surrendered so much cricket to the weather this year - particularly at home - we treated the match as the perfect hit-out for our own run-in to the end of the season. To win the match was terrific (winning is always a good habit to form!) but even more pleasing was many of the personal performances produced during the game.

Young fast bowler Joe Tucker made his long awaited debut. It has been a particularly frustrating couple of seasons for Joe; after touring New Zealand and impressing with Young England in early 1999, he was struck by stress fractures of the back and missed all of last season. After fighting his way back to fitness this year, he was struck by glandular fever, the after-effects of which still get him down occasionally. He had one terrific early moment when the second ball that he bowled was hit by Brian Lara straight down the throat of the resting normal skipper at fine-leg!

Keith Parsons has promised a lot for the club for the best part of a decade and finally got his first championship hundred against Yorkshire two weeks ago. Many have perceived him to have a weakness against fast, short-pitched bowling, so a game against the West Indies was always likely to provide a stern challenge. No better way to answer that sort of challenge than by making 193 not out!

Jason Kerr is another who succumbed to the back virus last year and he required winter surgery to rectify a disc complaint. The road back to full health has also been a tough one for Jason but he bowled beautifully - without luck initially but then he finished the game with a hat-trick, which included the wicket of Lara!

The troubles of the West Indies appear to be far from over. With the imminent retirement of their two great fast bowlers and no obvious replacements in the cupboard, it looks as though things may get worse before they get better. However, they have an immensely proud history and wonderful natural talent and any side that contains Brian Charles Lara should and will never be underestimated.

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