LONDON, Feb 8: British media vented their full fury on England’s “spineless” cricket team on Sunday following their humiliating defeat by West Indies in the first Test.

England were skittled out for 51 in their second innings in Jamaica as they lost by an innings and 23 runs. It was their third-lowest score in a Test match.

The Sunday Telegraph described England’s capitulation as “spineless... utter disgrace and a shameful chapter of English cricketing history”.

“England collapse in chaos” said a headline in the tabloid News of the World next to a photograph of England’s humbled players, heads bowed, on the Sabina Park pitch.

It described the performance as a “day of shame” for captain Andrew Strauss’s team and the players as “nothing more than a shambling bunch of amateurs”.

The Sunday Times said desperate England had “sunk to their knees” and suggested that Australians worried about the dip in form of their team would once again be relishing the Ashes series against England later this year.

The Sunday Mirror described England as “clueless” while The Independent on Sunday agreed that England had “plumbed new depths”. But on a positive note, echoed by other publications, it praised West Indies for a fantastic performance.

“An extraordinary exhibition of compelling fast bowling which recalled their great days,” was how it described the sensational performance of Jerome Taylor, adding that the first Test could have turned around the fortunes of the game in the Caribbean.

Taylor ripped the heart out of England, a superb spell of pace bowling earning figures of five for 11.—Reuters