England made a distastrous start to the first Test in Jamaica, losing Mike Atherton, Mark Butcher and Nasser Hussain in the opening overs.

Mike Atherton: first victim

The England skipper could not get his bat clear as he received a rising ball from Courtney Walsh and was caught in the gulley.

Mark Butcher, who was recalled to the England side when Jack Russell pulled out with a stomach bug, was out first ball to a similar Walsh delivery.

In the third over England were two wickets down with only four on the board.

Nasser Hussain did not last long either. He was caught by Hooper off a sharp delivery from Curtly Ambrose.

England skipper, Mike Atherton, won the toss and elected to bat first. He said before the game that he thought runs would be at a premium.

And interviewed just before the start, West Indies captain Brian Lara said if he had won the toss he would have decided to bowl anyway.

Facing Courtney Walsh, Atherton tucked away the first ball to square leg to get off the mark with two runs.

But even during the first over the brand new pitch proved to be unreliable with one ball lifting awkwardly and another taking two bounces to reach David Wiliams behind the stumps.

Alec Stewart, who will have to keep wicket in place of Russell, continues to dig in, desperately trying to read the uneven bounce.

After half an hour England were nine for three.

England

Atherton
Stewart
Butcher
Hussain
Crawley
Thorpe
Hollioake
Caddick
Headley
Fraser
Tufnell

West Indies

Campbell
S Williams
Lara
Hooper
Chanderpaul
Adams
D Williams
McLean
Bishop
Ambrose
Walsh.
 

Back to top | BBC News Home | BBC Homepage	©