Alastair Cook passed another landmark on his way to becoming England’s highest runscorer as he pursued the equally important prize of cementing his place as their Ashes captain. When Cook slapped a Kemar Roach full toss to the boundary in the early stages of his reply to West Indies’ 299 on Wednesday, he moved beyond Alec Stewart into second place among England’s great Test accumulators. Now only Graham Gooch, the man Cook returned to earlier this year to try to restore his batting to full working order, stands above an England captain who is very much fighting for his leadership future in this series. Alastair Cook passed Alec Stewart's 8,463 runs to become England's second highest Test run-scorer . Cook had watched West Indies’ last pair of Devendra Bishoo and Shannon Gabriel add an unlikely 52 to undo much of the good work provided by a welcome burst of wickets from Stuart Broad. It lifted the hosts to a score that should have been beyond them and left Cook and Jonathan Trott, both under pressure after their failures in Antigua, with the final session of the second day to begin the climb towards a total big enough to press for a priceless victory. Trott had been frenetic on his return to the side in Antigua but here he was much more like his old self, scratching away at the crease and meticulous both off his pads and on the drive. Anything short, particularly from the pacey Gabriel, was swiftly ducked. Cook, meanwhile, looked comfortable with his new stance even though he could easily have fallen on 29 off the leg-spinner Bishoo. When bad light stopped play they had reached 74 and England, perhaps, were back on top. One man who definitely looked back to his best form was Broad, who bowled beyond 90mph for the first time since returning from surgery while claiming three wickets for 19 when rain finally relented. Earlier the crowd for only the third Test to be staged on the spice island , which included thousands of England supporters, had to display extreme patience as cricket again embarrassed itself in the face of weather problems. Yes, there was nothing the umpires could do about the squally showers that wiped out the bulk of the morning session but there was plenty they could do as the sun shone throughout the lunch interval. Then they could have avoided an additional 10-minute delay when they were slow in coming back out after an afternoon shower because they said the outfield was still wet. What difference does 10 minutes make? When the weather relented there was plenty of drama, not least when Marlon Samuels gave his wicket away just two balls after reaching a century that had England, in particular Ben Stokes, cursing him on the first evening. Anderson had clenched his fist and roared into Samuels’ face, earning himself a rebuke from the umpires, after making a breakthrough England badly wanted. The sight of his strike partner fired up seemed to bring the best from Broad, who then bowled his best and fastest spell of a troubled winter. It has taken Broad time to get back to his best after knee surgery before the World Cup but there was evidence he was approaching it here as a beauty clocked at 91mph took Ramdin’s edge. Cook and Jonathan Trott shared a first half-century stand after safely negotiating the final session on day two . Stuart Broad bowled beyond 90 miles per hour for the first time since returning from knee surgery . There have been serious concerns about Stuart Broad’s speed, or lack thereof, since his comeback from a knee injury. At times in this Test he has dipped below 80mph, a far cry from his best and well short of Australia’s Mitchell Johnson, who will send down 90mph snorters in the Ashes. But Broad’s speed picked up markedly in his fourth spell and he regularly touched 90mph. MICHAEL VAUGHAN . ‘He is much more effective when he’s above 85mph. Yes, it’s hard on the body, but at 82, 83, there’s nothing on it.’ GEOFFREY BOYCOTT . ‘We saw Broad bowl very well in moments today.’ SIMON JONES . ‘Pace is certainly up! Good gas!’ Broad followed that up with the wickets of Jason Holder and Kemar Roach, the heroes of Antigua, but not before we had another example of the limitations of technology and another display of Holder’s rich batting promise. Holder, who made a hundred in frustrating England in the first Test, really does look like a proper batsman at No 8, as he showed when hitting two mighty sixes off Anderson and Broad. He also perhaps had a slice of luck when he pulled Broad to deep mid-wicket only to pick out Moeen Ali, who appeared to take a low catch but admitted he could not be sure he had claimed it cleanly. As ever, the pictures were inconclusive and Billy Bowden said he could not be sure whether the call had carried or not. This time it cost England just six runs before Holder was undone by Broad but the ICC really should look at this and perhaps go back to Ricky Ponting’s quest for the fielder’s word to be taken on catches. When Roach fell three wickets had gone in eight overs from Broad at a cost of 19 runs but any hopes England had of quickly ending West Indies innings was held up by Bishoo and Gabriel. Their stand left England running out of time if they were to move into a strong position but at least Cook, without a century in 33 innings, and Trott looked at ease against an attack lacking the best bowler in Antigua in Jerome Taylor. The pair survived the odd nervous moment, notably when the captain was missed in the slips off Bishoo, as they reached their first half-century partnership as an opening pair. They need plenty more if England are going to have a chance of winning this second Test. England paceman Broad grabbed four wickets including wicket of Denesh Ramdin . Broad (left) celebrates the dismissal of West Indies batsman Jason Holder on Wednesday . Marlon Samuels (right)  celebrates reaching his century alongside Denesh Ramdin .
England paceman Stuart Broad back to his best with four-wicket haul .
Openers Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott shared first half-century stand .
The tourists closed on 74-0 in reply to West Indies' first innings total of 299 .