England made a good start to their attempt to win a series in the Caribbean for the first time in 36 years as they reduced West Indies to 81-3 at lunch on Day One of the first Test, including the prized wicket of captain Brian Lara. Lara and Devon Smith added 51 for the third wicket as the home side recovered from 22-2 but Simon Jones, playing in only his third Test and first since injuring his knee 16 months ago, had Lara caught for 23 just before the interval. Lara won the toss and chose to bat on a good-looking pitch, but must have been ruing the decision when Chris Gayle (5) and Ramnaresh Sarwan (0) were dismissed within 40 minutes. Gayle smashed one shot over cover off Matthew Hoggard before he played back to Steve Harmison and deflected the ball onto his stumps. Sarwan was then trapped in front by Hoggard. Lara was then out caught at the slips off Jones. BRIEF SCORES (at lunch)West Indies: 81-3 (D Smith 42 n.o., B Lara 23; S Jones 1/13, S Harmison 1/17, M Hoggard 1/35)
