England openers reply in style

Resuming on two without loss, captain Atherton and Stewart saw off the new ball attack and stepped up the pace in the hope of declaring before the end of the day.

Stewart hit Walsh for three fours in the third over of the morning as the West Indies pacemen struggled and captain Brian Lara set defensive fields.Earlier, Atherton’s clever use of his bowlers and skillful field-placing restricted the West Indies to 262 in their first innings.

The England skipper also appeared to have avoided potential disciplinary action over an obscene gesture he was alleged to have made on the pitch on Friday.

Atherton was under a cloud when play started after being accused of flashing an obscene gesture atWest Indies opener Philo Wallace on Friday after Dean Headley had won a vigorous personal duel to get him out lbw on the second evening. TV pictures, and photos published in a national newspaper, appeared to support claims that the England skipper raised two fingers at Wallace.

SCOREBOARD

England (first innings): 403

West Indies (first innings): C B Lambert c Russell b Caddick 55, P A Wallace lbw b Headley 45, I R Bishop c Russell b Tufnell 4, B C Lara c Butcher b Headley 31, S Chanderpaul c Stewart b Fraser 45, R Holder b Ramprakash 10, C L Hooper lbw b Fraser 9, D Williams c Ramprakash b Caddick 2, N McLean (not out) 7, C Ambrose st Russell b Tufnell 26, C Walsh c and b Headley 6;

Extras (b13, lb2, nb7) 22.

Total (in 107.3 overs) 262

Fall of wickets: 1-82, 2-91, 3-134, 4-164, 5-190, 6-214, 7-221, 8-221, 9-255

Bowling: Headley 17.3-1-64-3, Fraser 22-5-80-2, Caddick 17-8-28-2, Tufnell 33-15-43-2, Ramprakash 18-7-32-1.

England (2ndinnings): M Atherton batting 40, A Stewart batting 43; Extras (lb1, nb3) 4.

Total (for no loss) 87

Bowling: Walsh 9-1-31-0, Ambrose 7-4-8-0, Hooper 10-3-26-0, Bishop 5-1-19-0, Chanderpaul 3-2-2-0.