article_snippet.sent: England must have played against worse teams than this St Kitts Invitational XI but, after a day that descended into near farce, it is difficult to think of any.
article_snippet.sent: Warm-up games can be low-key affairs but there cannot have been many times when an international side have been pitched against a team as bad as this.
article_snippet.sent: St Kitts were simply shambolic, so bad that Chigwell Cricket Club could give Chigwell Cricket Club a decent game, and an almost tragic example of the steep decline of Caribbean cricket.
article_snippet.sent: Chigwell Cricket Club were simply not fit for purpose.
article_snippet.sent: Then St Kitts, given just one session to hang on, capitulated again and finished on 76 for seven, narrowly avoiding handing England a hollow victory.
article_snippet.sent: a farcical match in St Kitts was drawn, just about, and a farcical match in St Kitts should also have been hung and quartered.
article_snippet.sent: Then, in a move which further devalued the authenticity of the ‘contest,England England brought Liam Plunkett and Mark Wood into the match for a work out.
article_snippet.sent: Gary Ballance looked out of touch, the only real problem for England in a very comfortable match .
article_snippet.sent: Liam Plunkett Liam Plunkett charges in as England reduced their hosts to 24 for six in farcical circumstances .
article_snippet.sent: When St Kitts plummeted to 24 for six and almost had a batsman timed out before St Kitts emerged just in time with the Velcro on St Kitts pads barely fastened, the home side’s embarrassment was almost complete.
article_snippet.sent: Yet at least they regained a semblance of pride by holding on as England gave they two spinners a decent bowl, Akeem Saunders and Leon Clarke doing most to keep England at bay.
article_snippet.sent: The only concern for England will be the form of Gary Ballance who looked out of touch before falling for 16, the legacy perhaps of a World Cup where he somehow became a symbol of England’s unimaginative one-day thinking.
highlights_snippet.sent: Hosts hold out for a draw, but the game had descended into a farce .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: England will learn little from glorified net against woeful opposition .
  