Mike Averis on the Travails of Brian Lara

A bit late, perhaps, but West Indies seem to have kicked the habit of throwing away Test matches on the first day. Winning one is another matter.

But from the moment when the umpires decided that the ground was fit until the thunder returned at six o'clock, West Indies (with aberrations) applied themselves in a manner alien for much of the tour.

Possibly the exhortations of their captain have finally got through, or is it that actions are finally matching supportive words now that his neck is well and truly on the block?

So virtuous were they that yesterday had echoes of an old-fashioned Test in which bowlers did not go at four an over. The first fifty took 94 balls, the second 90 and the third 97, until just after tea Dwayne Bravo and Shivnarine Chanderpaul dared to put the foot down, banishing Andrew Flintoff from the attack after he had conceded 31 from four overs on his own doorstep.

That other bane of West Indian batting, Ashley Giles, was then relieved after his 13 overs off the reel had gone for 55 - about the same that five wickets had cost him in the second innings at Edgbaston two weeks ago.

Often in their 70 overs West Indies got things only half right. Bravo threw away a maiden Test century and Chanderpaul perished an over short of the abandonment. But there were pluses.

Since Edgbaston, Brian Lara has been singing from one hymn sheet: West Indies could not afford to give England a start. Not the 391 for two they had on the board at the end of the first day at Lord's, or the 313 for five in Birmingham.

This time the plan was "to set the pace" and the captain began well by winning the toss and opting to face the music of the England pace attack.

Then there was the blooding of Sylvester Joseph as an opener. He watched as Steve Harmison, smarting over past perceived offences by Chris Gayle, gave the Jamaican a decent 90mph work-over before handing the scalp to Matthew Hoggard.

Joseph never flinched - bobbing and weaving the short stuff to exist on a diet of nudges and pushes. The Antiguan was one of the selectorial gambles and played largely because of his 114 against Sri Lanka A before the Tests and then 23 and 77last week, when Derbyshire gave the tourists some winning therapy. But with Ramnaresh Sarwan he put on 75 before Flintoff returned for that second spell which did for both Sarwan and Lara in six balls.

Lara must feel that with the gods and Flintoff against him he doesn't have much of a hope. He has not had much luck with umpires and his own board compounded his difficulties this week by failing to name him as captain when it released the 14-man squad for the Champions Trophy. He was made to stew for 12 hours.

Yesterday he fell to what was either a brilliant piece of planning or yet more ill fortune. Either way it took only five balls.

The first was a booming inswinger which went for four byes.

Then a succession of yorkers and attempted yorkers moved him further and further across his crease until he played the fifth from so far outside his off stump that the genuine leg glance hit his leg stump.

Lara looked back bemused, and perhaps seeing his captain's fortunes at such a low ebb unsettled Joseph. He played the best shot of his day - an extra-cover drive which took him to 45 - and then got out hanging his bat out to Harmison in a waywhich betrayed a compact technique.