England have suffered too many defeats to West Indies down the years — in fact too many one-day defeats full stop — to worry about victories being facile when they come. There were very few long faces yesterday as England sealed a 2-0 series win, and nobody complained about the flimsiness of a reluctant warm-up act that has barely mustered a challenge to a resurgent side. Just how resurgent will have to remain to be seen.

With the top four all in the runs, not least Matt Prior in compiling the highest score by an England wicketkeeper other than Alec Stewart, England posted their best ever total against West Indies and then made sufficient inroads in the first half of the reply to remove all but the slightest prospect of a record chase. The only downside was that Eoin Morgan did not have an opportunity to impress the selectors.

England now have what is always described as a nice decision (but is actually anything but) with Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff due back for the next 50-over commitments against Australia in September. Prior made a case for the No 3 position with a well-constructed 87 from 86 balls while Owais Shah, whose place was said to be under threat, produced occasional brilliance in a 65-ball 75.

The contest — and the tour — finished in symbolically emphatic fashion when James Anderson removed Sulieman Benn’s middle stump. Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, described the trip as one of the worst experiences of his playing career, but produced a novel reason to feel optimistic when the ICC World Twenty20 begins on Friday week. “It is a different format, a bit shorter so maybe we can concentrate more,” he said.

Andrew Strauss cut a happier figure as he reflected on fresh players who have seized opportunities in the two Test matches and the one-day internationals. “It is exciting to see a pretty young team and a pretty vibrant team going out and expressing themselves,” he said. “Our one-day cricket has been quite haphazard in the past but we were more consistent this time, albeit over only two games.”

The captain himself scored the first of three half-centuries by England players after Ravi Bopara had fallen one run short when a defensive stroke dribbled slowly onto the stumps. Having won the toss, West Indies soon fell back on slower balls and sought to contain rather than attack. Later, even containing proved to be beyond them as Prior and Shah built their third-wicket partnership from the easiest of singles.

On a slow pitch, the England total of 328 for seven was some way beyond what Strauss expected. Batting could have been potentially tricky for new batsmen in a situation demanding quick runs. England were never put in that position. Shah completed his fifty by whipping a six over mid-wicket — Darren Sammy had carelessly stepped in a couple of yards from the boundary — yet acceleration did not begin until the powerplay after 37 overs.

A beautifully-timed pick-up by Shah from a free hit against Jerome Taylor brought a second six and the stand realised 149 from 126 balls in all before Shah tried to drag a ball into the leg side that was too far outside his off stump. Prior, meanwhile, was given far too many opportunities to execute his favourite shots square on both sides of the wicket. Once batsmen had gauged the pace of the pitch, anything short sat up to be hit.

Prior is still suffering pain in the ring finger bruised during the second Test, which might have contributed towards another mixed performance behind the stumps. He was fortunate that a missed stumping chance with Dwayne Bravo on 23 did not prove costly.

Against that, he held a right-handed catch to remove Denesh Ramdin and showed awareness in removing his glove to run out Kieron Pollard.

For the second game in a row, West Indies found themselves two-down in the fourth over, after which the challenge for England was to avoid complacency in the field. Shivnarine Chanderpaul invested 96 balls in a half-century but his partnership with Ramdin survived only three balls of the batting powerplay when Stuart Broad returned to the attack. And that, for West Indies, was the last semblance of opportunity gone.

The past few weeks will be forgotten quickly in an Ashes summer. Strauss said: “Everything that has happened in the past month can only help us, but the first day of the Ashes is a new event and it would be wrong to think we are going to stroll through the series because of this. Equally, it is something we are very excited about.” He should be.

Scoreboard from Edgbaston

England
*A J Strauss st Ramdin b Benn 52
R S Bopara b Bravo 49
†M J Prior b Taylor 87
O A Shah c Morton b Taylor 75
A D Mascarenhas c and b Pollard 0
P D Collingwood b Taylor 23
E J G Morgan not out 6
T T Bresnan c Rampaul b Pollard 9
S C J Broad not out 6
Extras (b 2, lb 7, w 10, nb 2) 21
Total (7 wkts, 50 overs) 328

G P Swann and J M Anderson did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-81, 2-129, 3-278, 4-279, 5-289, 6-308, 7-317.

Bowling: Taylor 10-1-59-3; Rampaul 4-0-29-0; Edwards 6-0-43-0; Bravo 6-0-43-1; Benn 10-0-51-1; Gayle 5-0-31-0; Pollard 9-0-63-2.

West Indies
*C H Gayle c Bopara b Broad 11
R S Morton run out 21
R R Sarwan c Strauss b Anderson 9
S Chanderpaul c Bopara b Broad 68
D J Bravo lbw b Bresnan 26
† D Ramdin c Prior b Anderson 45
K A Pollard run out 12
J E Taylor run out 18
S J Benn b Anderson 31
R Rampaul b Swann 16
F H Edwards not out 4
Extras (b 2, lb 2, w 5) 9

Total (49.4 overs) 270

Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-22, 3-66, 4-99, 5-181, 6-189, 7-212, 8-223, 9-254.

Bowling: Broad 10-0-63-2; Anderson 9.4-0-58-3; Mascarenhas 7-0-43-0; Bresnan 10-0-36-1; Swann 8-0-38-1; Collingwood 5-0-28-0.

Umpires: S J Davis (Australia) and I J Gould.

England win three-match series 2-0