Rain washes out England/Windies first Test

Rain and bad light on day 5, eliminated all chances of a thrilling finish to test #1, at Lords, where the West Indies post Lara, faced England post Fletcher. Only 20 overs were possible on the final day and the match ended in a draw.
 
 Summary
 17 May day 1 - England 1st innings 200/3 (AN Cook 102*, PD Collingwood 21*, 56 ov)
 18 May day 2 - England 1st innings 553/5 (IR Bell 109*, MJ Prior 126*, 142 ov)
 19 May day 3 - West Indies 1st innings 363/7 (S Chanderpaul 63*, DBL Powell 0*, 98 ov)
 20 May day 4 - West Indies 2nd innings 7/0 (CH Gayle 0*, D Ganga 4*, 2 ov)
 21 May day 5 - West Indies 2nd innings 89/0 (22 ov) - end of match
 
 
 LONDON, United Kingdom – Ramnaresh Sarwan faced the media after his first Test match as West Indies captain. Following are excerpts from his comments on various issues raised by journalists.
 
 On how the first Test match panned out:
 We didn't have much practice and there was a lot of doubt about whether we could draw the test match or even win it but I don't think you can fault anyone for their efforts at all. I thought everyone contributed and that was good to see and hopefully we'll be able to push on from here on. There is not much I can complain about, the only concern I have is our bowling in the first session but we came back really well after that. Everyone played their part, especially the batters and it was really good to see everyone getting a score.
 
 On not many journalists expecting the team to be able to draw the game:
 What the press has been saying about us we don't have control over that. What is important is for us to stay confident and believe in each other and help each other as much as we can and that is what we brought into this Test match, the fact that we support each other and help each other as much as we can.
 
 On whether the media criticisms annoyed him as captain:
 Not at all. That was the least of my problems. It was a matter of getting the guys in the right spirit because I thought that was the most important thing because we didn't have much time leading up to the Test match. That didn't really bother me too much, it was getting the guys in the right frame of mind.
 
 On what he said to the players to motivate them:
 I'm trying to encourage everyone to be mentally tough, to forget about all that has been said about our preparation and that we're not going to win. That is something that really helped us over the past couple of days because leading into the Test match we knew we only practiced indoors so I didn't want to play on the guys minds.
 
 On whether England's bowling was not as good as expected:
 It was a difficult pitch to bowl on, probably because of the slope. I thought our guys played really well and we made the best use of what we had.
 
 On whether the result will give the team greater confidence going into the second Test:
 This is going to give us a lot of confidence, going into the next Test match having not been playing well at the Test level. I think this is going to boost us and give us that sort of confidence which we've been lacking. Hopefully we can drive on from here.
 
 On whether it was strange to have Brian Lara as spectator and not player:
 It was very strange (to have Brian Lara watching and not playing). The second day he came into the dressing room and he told me to hang in there. It was good to know that he is around and he is still there supporting us so that was really good of him.
 
 On whether there are any injury concerns:
 Daren Ganga has had a bit of problem with his forearm and his stitches (from forehead) were removed this afternoon but everyone is in good spirits and in good health.
 
 On whether changes will be made for the second Test:
 I don't see too many changes leading up to the next Test match. You have to try and keep a basic team and get everyone to try and play their part. I think that is something we need to concentrate on.
 
 On England missing Matthew Hoggard:
 I must admit, I think they missed him. He is one of their senior bowlers and he is someone who is capable of winning matches for them. Whoever is playing, we are looking forward to the challenge and I'm sure we are capable of handling it.