We certainly won’t get carried away, but that first Test against the West Indies made a pleasant change this winter as we made the running, trying to push for victory.
To be the team chasing the win on the fifth day is a good place to be and we haven’t been there for a while, so we will definitely be taking that as a positive and try to build on it this week.
The pitch probably had the greatest say in the eventual draw, but both teams competed hard and refused to give an inch, which is how Test cricket should be. You have to earn your wins and that is what we tried to do.
There have been a few comments after the match about the way we went about things in this game, but let me reassure you that things are very simple for us. We are trying to win.
We have been honest in our conversations after the Ashes and we are breaking the game down into its smaller parts, trying to win session by session, and if you win most of them you will be in with a decent shout of a result.
I sat in the changing room after the game and was absolutely knackered. All of us had given it everything on the field and we could all be satisfied with our efforts.
That is what it takes to win Test matches, and when the senior players like Rooty and myself are demanding total effort, of course we have to bring the same.
I know there might have been some concerns about how many overs I bowled in the match, especially after coming back from a side injury, but I felt fine to bowl them.
In the run up to the game, I didn’t know how much I could bowl because it was still a new experience, but that is what my fitness work and preparation is for.
I kept the area warm with stretches and each spell I bowled felt good and gave me confidence. There was no worse reaction than normal which was great.
And I wanted to do what I could to help the team. Throughout the Ashes people slated us, suggesting we didn’t care, we weren’t trying or even worse that we’d somehow given up.
Nothing could be further from the truth. We were beaten by a better team. But now that we are fighting hard to win and are closer to that happening, people want Rooty not to let me bowl even though I’m able! What do you want from us?
It is frustrating to see the criticism levelled against us and Rooty in particular when all we are trying to do is start winning again. That is all I was concerned with, and that is where all my energies will be focused in Barbados in the next Test.
It was great to see Zak Crawley get his second hundred, and in many ways it was sweeter than the first after waiting a while to get it. But he really deserved it and showed his class.
And Jack Leach is like a different bowler from the one in Australia. He is attacking more, putting more on the ball and looking to take wickets straight away. That is a good sign for him and the team.
