England turn their thoughts to Trinidad

After England's outstanding success at Sabina Park and the subsequent reports of total disarray in the West Indian camp, there could be a danger of complacency creeping into the English outlook to the rest of the series. Turn up, score a few runs, bowl them out twice for less than a hundred and on to the next island. That danger will not materialise while Duncan Fletcher is in charge.

England have every right to be buoyant, just as the West Indians will be anything but. At the same time, when England were bowled out for 46 in 1990 in Trinidad, they went straight on to Barbados to win by 208 runs. Fletcher and his management team will be working hard to ensure that having taken such a significant lead in the series, England turn the screw rather than relaxing.

There is no doubt that the West Indies were shattered by the ten-wicket defeat in Jamaica. For the West Indies Cricket Board to issue a public apology for the performance shows how the defeat was received. There is also the fact that Brian Lara is a proud man, and he will do everything in his considerable powers to ensure that nothing similar to Sabina Park should occur on his home island of Trinidad.

Fletcher is keen to concentrate on positive English virtues rather than any possible cracks in Caribbean cohesion. "It's very important that we look after our own game and prepare for the next Test," he said. "If we start focussing on other things, we'll probably forget about what we've got to do so we'll just let that be. It's out of our hands."

Fletcher acknowledges that England will be justifiable favourites for Friday's Trinidad Test, and wants to use that position to the team's benefit. "We must have an advantage there because the confidence levels will be high, especially among the bowlers and the batters showed a lot of character. Where it is very important is an individual like Mark Butcher took a bit of a battering and is pretty bruised.

"For him to go and win like that and take that battering is a huge advantage. If we'd lost and he'd taken that battering it would have been pretty hard to pull them out of that."

It is good that players like Butcher should share the spotlight for the hard yards that they slogged as foot soldiers while Stephen Harmison rode in on his charger to cut the West Indian batting to ribbons on that dramatic final morning. It was a team effort, while nothing should be taken away from Harmison.

Bowling coach Troy Cooley gave the Durham man a full endorsement for his application and that devastating spell. "He's got himself organised, his attitude is absolutely right and because of that he's been able to bowl the way he wants to bowl," said Cooley. "This could be the launch-pad to go on to big things."

Fletcher has been a supporter of Harmison and added his own plaudits. "We've shown a lot of faith in a lot of guys and Harmison is certainly one of them. It was about three years ago when we realised that this was the guy that England needed and needed badly. Most sides need a guy with pace and bounce and he's got another dimension in that he can also swing the ball."

Now it needs Harmison and the rest of the team to "step up to the mark" again, to use a Fletcher expression, and hammer home England's advantage and finally lay the ghost that has haunted England in the Caribbean for the 36 years that have endured since the last time they won a series there.