Vaughan aims to keep Lara in stranglehold

<preform>West Indies 208 &amp; 209 <br>England 319 &amp; 99-3 <br>England win by seven wkts</preform>

Michael Vaughan, the England captain, warned his team not to become complacent following their seven-wicket win over the West Indies here in Trinidad yesterday.

Michael Vaughan, the England captain, warned his team not to become complacent following their seven-wicket win over the West Indies here in Trinidad yesterday.

The victory, which was completed when Mark Butcher crashed Adam Sanford straight down the ground for four, took England into a 2-0 lead in the four-Test series and ensured that the tourists retained the Wisden Trophy.

This is only the second time England have won two Test matches on a tour of the Caribbean and Vaughan now has the opportunity ­ against Brian Lara no less ­ to become the first England captain in 36 years to win a Test series here.

"We have not won the series yet," Vaughan said. "I expected us to come out here and win but to be 2-0 up after two games is probably a little bit beyond where we thought we would be. But there are two Tests left and we have to make sure we keep working hard and do not become complacent.

"We realise that the West Indies will come back. They will fight hard and we need to keep doing exactly what we have been doing since we arrived in the Caribbean. If we can do this, the results will hopefully look after themselves."

English hearts were given a brief scare on the final morning when Nasser Hussain was out to the second ball of the day. But this was the only setback the tourists suffered in the 23 minutes it took them to score the 28 runs they needed for victory.

England now travel to Barbados where they will play a three-day game against a Carib Beer XI before the third Test begins on 1 April.

"Barbados is going to be a fantastic week," Vaughan said. "There will be thousands of Brits coming out to support us and we have to make sure that we keep our heads and keep gritting in when the going gets tough. We have to keep getting the odd individual to produce a bit of magic like we are doing at the moment."

Stephen Harmison's first-innings figures of 6 for 61 won him his third consecutive Man-of-the-Match award but there were several outstanding performances that deserve mention. Simon Jones took 5 for 57 in the West Indies second innings and Hussain, Butcher and Graham Thorpe all made significant contributions with the bat.

"On the first day the West Indies were 100 for 0 and Harmison produced a gem of a spell," Vaughan said. "He is a real threat when he is in this sort of rhythm. He looked like taking a wicket with every ball. Simon Jones' spell was also fantastic and it is nice to have two or three fast bowlers in your armoury.

"In this game it bounced in the first innings when the cloud came around and Harmy produced a great spell. On Tuesday it kept a little low and started to reverse-swing and Simon Jones came on and bowled a fantastic spell. It is great to have different styles of bowler so that when the wicket changes throughout a game of cricket you have something to fall back on.

"It's great to have two bowlers bowling in tandem like that," Vaughan added. "The key to their bowling for me is that they always keep to the plan and want to improve from session to session."

The captain also praised the seamer Matthew Hoggard. "Hoggard has done a fantastic job," he said. "We're asking him to play a role, to hold up an end. It's not just the Simon Jones and Steve Harmison show."

Vaughan was keen to stress that England's success was not only based on the bowling. "I think the partnerships between Nasser and Butch in these two Test matches has been the difference between the two teams. In both games we were 10 for 2 and the going was tough but these two guys made sure we posted a total. It was their hard work here which allowed Thorpey to go in and play the way he did."

The West Indies captain, Brian Lara, attempted to remain upbeat and positive following his side's defeat. "The series is still there to be levelled," he said. "I think we can do this in Barbados and Antigua. Our guys have been trying their best but we are very embarrassed and disappointed with our performances so far. We need to regroup, look at our mistakes and try to ensure that we don't make them again.

"There have been moments in both Test matches when the West Indies have held the advantage. Our problem is that we have not been able to put an entire game together. We have played better cricket than England in certain sessions but the English team have played the entire game better than we have.

"We've got faith in the guys we've selected and I don't think it's time to press the panic button. Our experienced players need to take responsibility. The junior players have been doing well. It's us, the more experienced players, who must come up to scratch."