Michael Atherton cannot think of a bigger upset than the one last night at Headingley

Former England captain and Sky Sports analyst/commentator Michael Atherton recently revealed that the upset last night at Headingley was one of the biggest he has seen in his career. West Indies, after a humiliating defeat in the First Test match, came back and overhauled England in a fantastic run chase.

Prior to the Headingley Test match, West Indies faced the brunt of excessive criticism due to their dismal performance in the Edgbaston Test. Michael Vaughan went ahead and claimed that the Test series would be very difficult to watch while Geoffrey Boycott commented that this West Indies team is the worst Test team he has seen in five decades.

“A resurrection… of a once-proud cricketing nation fallen on hard times” described Atherton, looking at the five wicket win of West Indies over England. “This was one of the great modern Test matches, one that produced a truly astonishing result,” wrote Michael Atherton according to his column in The Times.

“In my time watching, playing and commentating on Test cricket I cannot think of a bigger upset when taking into account the low expectations for a team with a horrendous away record who had subsided to a three-day defeat only the week before,” continued Atherton.

Atherton hails Brathwaite and Hope

Kraig Brathwaite and Shai Hope were the heroes for the Maroon Caps in the five wicket win over favourites England. Shai Hope scored centuries in both the innings while Brathwaite was five runs shy in the second innings to bring up the feat.

“No one gave West Indies a prayer before the match, nor before the last day. These two players, 24 and 23 years of age respectively, represent the future of West Indies cricket and, on this evidence, greener pastures lie ahead. Brathwaite will become a high-class accumulator, but Hope has the chance to be even better than that, stylish and fluent as he is,” concluded the 49-year-old.