The first day of the second test between England and West Indies unfolded meekly in front of a sparse crowd in Chester Le Street on Thursday.

England made smooth but cautious progress towards what they hope will be a match and series-winning first-innings score.

But they did it in near silence as the few spectators as the few people present at the picturesque ground watched the proceedings with an air of resigned inevitability.

Many of them shivered in the chilly conditions and the West Indies fielders ambled around with their whites fluttering in the stiff north-east breeze.

The build-up to the match was dominated by the claims of West Indies captain Chris Gayle that he didn’t really want the job and that he wouldn’t mind giving up playing Test cricket. That apparently indifferent attitude seems to have spread to his team who looked only marginally more motivated than they appeared during last week’s drubbing in the first Test at Lord’s.

With the popularity of Twenty20 cricket growing by the week, test cricket cannot afford days of turgid action like this. England captain Andrew Strauss has promised that his side will try to play the style of aggressive and positive cricket needed to provide entertainment and they will certainly need to do that when the Australians arrive for the Ashes series later this summer.

PHOTO: Two spectators sit watching the second Test between England and the West Indies at Riverside, Chester le Street, Durham on May 14 2009. REUTERS/Philip Brown