Lack of character is cause of failure

This rout was the result of an ineptitude that has repeatedly overcome West Indies cricket in recent years and led to the embarrassment of heavy defeats in 10 consecutive Tests overseas prior to the current series. None has been more humiliating.

This rout was the result of an ineptitude that has repeatedly overcome West Indies cricket in recent years and led to the embarrassment of heavy defeats in 10 consecutive Tests overseas prior to the current series. None has been more humiliating.

The careless batting of the first day and the raggedness of their outcricket yesterday woefully repeated what happened in Pakistan in 1997 (3-0), South Africa in 1998-99 (5-0) and New Zealand last December (2-0).

With the conspicuous exception of their youngest and oldest members, it was another performance that lacked character and application.

Ramnaresh Sarwan, aged 20 and in his fourth Test, shamed his more seasoned and illustrious team-mates with his unflustered approach in both innings. He was the only West Indian unbowed by England's swing and aggression and the only heartening aspect of the whole sorry mess. Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, in their fast bowling old age of the late 30s, once more had the burden of retrieving lost causes thrust on their shoulders by lack of adequate support.

Yet the West Indies had the series in their grasp after an innings victory at Edgbaston and a first-innings lead of 133 at Lord's. It took England a couple of hours on the second evening at Lord's when they bowled them out for 54 to discover, and exploit, West Indies' weaknesses in temperament and technique.

They have had them under pressure ever since, in theseries of one-day internationals and in the Old Trafford Test and applied it here with clinicalefficiency.

From the start yesterday, Michael Vaughan and his partners picked out the several deep fielders with weak arms and wayward aims, scampering their singles and twos to the accompaniment of wasteful overthrows and childish fumbles.

They paid due care and attention to Ambrose and Walsh, but reduced Reon King to a nervous wreck and plundered their runs off the willing but toowayward Nixon McLean.

The West Indies plight was finally and conclusively epitomised by Wavell Hinds' shocking miss of a skied dolly at square-leg off Dominic Cork's top-edged hook.

They were ripe for the picking and Darren Gough and Andy Caddick needed noreminding.