Even in an era when spectators are accustomed to watching the scoreboard rattle along at four runs an over this was something special

Test cricket does not get much better than this. The all-rounder’s brutal innings captivated the 20,500 who filled Edgbaston, but he would have taken equal joy from watching his close mate, Stephen Harmison, swipe 31 runs from just 18 balls.This pair, along with Geraint Jones, completed a wonderful recovery by England, and another disastrous day in the field for the West Indies. 150: 134 min, 32.4 overs.Sarwan 50: 95 min, 78 balls, 10 fours. Lara 50: 86 min, 55 balls, 7 fours, 1 six.Umpires: D B Hair (Aus) and S J A Taufel (Aus).TV replay umpire: J W Lloyds.Match referee: R S Madugalle (S Lanka)..

Declaration at 2.35pm.Trescothick 50: 75 min, 61 balls, 10 fours 100: 232 min, 162 balls, 19 fours Thorpe 50: 120 min, 104 balls, 8 fours Flintoff 50: 118 min, 83 balls, 6 fours, 1 six 100: 179 min, 122 balls, 14 fours, 3 sixes 150: 267 min, 184 balls, 17 fours, 5 sixes. G O Jones 50: 86 min, 62 balls, 9 fours.West Indies – First InningsC H Gayle b Hoggard 7 14 mins, 9 balls, 1 fourD S Smith c Giles b Hoggard 4 2 mins, 2 balls, 1 fourR R Sarwan not out 87 165 mins, 127 balls, 16 fours*B C Lara not out 74 153 mins, 103 balls, 11 fours, 1 sixExtras (b 9, lb 2, w 0, nb 1, pens 0) 12Total (2 wkts, 168 mins, 40 overs) 184Fall: 1-5 (Smith), 2-12 (Gayle).To bat: S Chanderpaul, D J J Bravo, ? D Jacobs, O A C Banks, C D Collymore, P T Collins, J J C Lawson.Bowling: Hoggard 8-0-48-2 (6-0-36-2 2-0-12-0), Harmison 8-0-41-0 (3-0-13-0 5-0-28-0), Anderson 4-1-18-0 (3-1-14-0 1-0-4-0), Giles 14-2-45-0, Flintoff 6-0-21-0 (nb1).Progress: Second day: Tea 24-2 (Sarwan 10, Lara 3) 5 overs 50: 45 min, 10.2 overs 100: 83 min, 20.1 overs. The modern comparison at No 6 would be Adam Gilchrist.He needs to be tested against bowling – and fielding – of higher than the club standard that the West Indies have been reduced to. The innings that followed was that of a batsman who, like Richards in his pomp, can intimidate bowlers.As soon as he takes guard now, Brian Lara spreads the field. His bowlers seem to shake in their boots at the ferocity of his strokes.

His unbeaten hundred in May’s final Test in Antigua was evidence of the maturity of a batsman once derided for his lack of discipline.His power was in evidence in his remarkable hundred, in a losing cause, in the NatWest Series match at Lord’s last month. So it was yesterday in different circumstances.When Graham Thorpe was fifth out on the first day at 262, the contest was evenly balanced. Flintoff appreciated his role and batted accordingly to ensure that the West Indies were denied another wicket before close.His mood was obvious when he punched the first ball he received on resumption to the cover boundary. There have been two individual double hundreds and 34 hundreds under Lara.Not all who appeared on it would be classed among the finest batsmen of the day. The Bangladesh left-arm spinner Mohammed Raffique, for instance, made 111 off them in St Lucia.Yesterday, they felt the fury of Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff’s bat. No one has taken them apart with quite the same humiliating effect as the beefy Lancastrian.

They would have felt how others did when Viv Richards was pummelling the ball all over the ground and occasionally out of it.They have known of Flintoff’s ability for some time. Only Zimbabwe and Bangladesh are yet to beat them.England’s 556 for 9 declared was the ninth total over 500 they have conceded in the 20 Tests since Brian Lara returned to the captaincy early last year Three have been over 600. Bangladesh posted their highest Test total, 416, in St Lucia in May.The list of those who have benefited from the ineffectual bowling and avuncular fielding is lengthy. A host of promising careers were ended by the damage – psychological and sometimes physical – inflicted by devastating batsmen and merciless fast bowlers, Nor were England the only victims Australia were similarly blown away. They did not win a series between 1978 and 1995.It is now payback time and England are simply the latest to take full advantage of the weaknesses in talent, experience and, above all, spirit, of the successors of those who made the teams under Lloyd and Richards great.Lord’s was the West Indies’ 29th defeat in 39 Tests overseas since 1977.