Former England coach Duncan Fletcher believes the win over West Indies at Lords offers the right perspective to look at areas that England can improve. Defeat should bring a certain degree of analysis, of course, but not to the extent that the criticism turns into nitpicking. That can be counterproductive, says Fletcher. Read on in the Guardian.

A victory allows a bit of breathing space to look at the areas that can be improved on, even in a three-day win, and I'm sure the top order will be looking at their contribution.
The exception was Ravi Bopara, who was outstanding in bowler-friendly conditions and showed real composure with wickets falling around him. He played each ball on its merits and never looked flustered, which is one of the things I like about him.

In the Times, Michael Atherton casts his eye over the England squad for the second Test.

It would take a Roald Dahl-like imagination to think that conditions in Durham this week could get any more inhospitable for West Indies than they were at Lord’s. Clearly, though, the selectors believe that to be a possibility, given that they have responded to the utterly one-sided nature of the first Test by tinkering with the squad for the second, which starts on Thursday. Out goes Monty Panesar and in come Ryan Sidebottom and Ian Bell.

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