England's attempts to restrict the effectiveness of Courtney Walsh ended in spectacular failure as West Indies mounted a successful counter-attack in between the showers in the crucial final Test at The Oval yesterday. Concerned at Walsh's ability to outwit even the more experienced batsmen with his brilliantly-disguised slower ball, England left little to chance in their preparation for a Test which will decide whether they reclaim the Wisden Trophy for the first time in 31 years.
Walsh unveiled the delivery, which he has worked on for several years, at Old Trafford earlier in the series when Graham Thorpe was dismissed lbw - admitting he completely lost the flight of the ball above the sight screens.
This time, England were determined to leave nothing to chance and ordered Surrey to add an extra strip of white background on top of the Vauxhall End sight screen in an attempt to block out the corporate hospitality boxes positioned above it.
It was a sensible move but it failed to prevent Walsh claiming Thorpe's scalp once again with a looping ball 13 m.p.h. slower than his usual speed.
The Surrey left-hander still lost the ball in the background, and it was the moment that put paid to England's pursuit of a total in excess of 350.
After resuming on a promising 221 for five with Thorpe and Graeme Hick at the crease, they slipped to 281 all out.
After a further rain delay in between innings, West Indies then progressed cautiously to 13 without loss in the 14 overs possible before the close of a day restricted to just 47.4 overs.
England had begun the second day hoping either Hick or Thorpe could extend their partnership and guide them to a commanding total on a pitch which has never made life comfortable for the batsman - and the pair successfully negotiated all but four overs of the morning session.
But just as England had on the opening day on Thursday - when they lost four wickets for 25 runs in 11 overs either side of tea having established a strong position on 159 without loss - they paid the penalty for a crucial loss of concentration.
The sixth-wicket pair had added just 33 runs in 20 overs, despite the mysterious absence of Walsh from the attack with the new ball. Then, with less than half-an-hour until lunch, Curtly Ambrose's deliberate plan of attack ended Hick's 117 minutes at the crease.
Ambrose demonstrated his vast experience with a full-length ball which rapped Hick on his pads right in front of the stumps and back in his crease.
Just five deliveries later, Walsh released his superbly-executed slower ball which hit Thorpe on the ankle, prompting the Surrey left-hander to begin the walk back to the dressing-room without even waiting for the umpire's straightforward decision.
Dominic Cork failed to connect with huge swishes at Nixon McLean and was dismissed when he played all around a straight delivery which hit him on the pads.
Andrew Caddick at least ended another sell-out crowd's wait for the first boundary of the day by pushing Walsh through the covers but he mistimed an adventurous pull in the veteran paceman's next over to give Wavell Hinds a comfortable catch at square leg.
Walsh completed England's demise by knocking out Darren Gough's off-stump, and after a further rain delay West Indies were left with a perilous 21 overs to survive before the extended close.
Both Gough and Caddick, adrenaline still pumping from their exploits at Headingley, charged in with a lot of purpose. But like Walsh and Ambrose a day earlier they bowled too wide with the new ball and enabled openers Sherwin Campbell and Adrian Griffith to leave most of their deliveries.
Gough and Caddick had enthusiastic appeals rejected for lbw against Griffith, and the West Indies pair remained intact until bad light brought an early close.
