Big Picture
Reset, and refocus. After five days of hard toil on an unforgiving Antigua deck, the series swings south-east to Barbados, where the surface – to judge by a run of seven consecutive results since a tense draw against India in 2011 – ought to offer more for the bowlers on both teams to get stuck into. However, for England, those bowlers will not include either Ollie Robinson or Mark Wood, both of whom have been ruled out, with Lancashire’s Saqib Mahmood inked in for his debut.
For the time being, however, the events in Antigua did at least inbue two very flaky batting line-ups with some rarely encountered optimism. After failing to reach 300 in any of their ten innings of the Ashes, England passed that mark in both innings of the first Test – and in so doing they recorded three centurions in a Test match for the first time since Rajkot on the tour of India in 2016-17.
In the bowling stakes, it was a case of two forward, two back and one almighty set-back for England. Sadly for Chris Woakes and Craig Overton, their alliance lived down to most expectations, particularly while West Indies were romping along at four runs an over with the new ball. And when Mark Wood went lame with a deeply worrying elbow injury, one that has opened the way for Mahmood’s debut, that lack of 90mph threat was all the more exposed.
Form guide
(Last five matches; most recent first)
West Indies DLLLW
England DLDLL
In the spotlight
Can Nkrumah Bonner back up the masterclass that he produced in Antigua? For more than 12 hours across two innings of the first Test, West Indies’ most fascinating late bloomer racked up 161 runs from 493 balls for once out – and even that flicker of weakness, at eight-down in the first innings, came via a leg-side strangle from the part-time allsorts of Dan Lawrence.
His innings were unrepentantly one-paced, and perfectly tailored to meet West Indies’ needs, as he first ground his team into a dominant position, then bailed them out just when it seemed their old batting frailties were set to burst forth. Bonner’s Test average is now just a nudge below 50, and like Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the man whose unflappability he most resembles, while he endures, his team has a solidity at odds with their recent reputation.
With a rip-roaring action that is as much Waqar Younis as it is Brett Lee, Mahmood looks the part and can touch the part too, with the ability to push the 90mph barrier that England so yearn with the blunting of so many of their previous spearheads – including, of course, Jofra Archer, who has been training with the team during his comeback from elbow surgery. However, Mahmood remains a work in progress, and one that England are obliged to handle with care – in terms of workload as much as expectation. His penultimate match in Barbados was a demoralising one, as Akeal Hosain spanked him for 28 runs in an over to lose a remarkable T20I by one run.
Team news
West Indies have named an unchanged 13-man squad, with reserve batter Kyle Mayers and Anderson Phillip, the uncapped Trinidad fast bowler, once again waiting in the wings. After their relative success in Antigua, the likelihood is an unchanged XI, although given that Permaul went wicketless in both innings, there could yet be the temptation to reinforce the batting with Mayers and rely on the four quicks. Brathwaite, however, has strongly indicated that the spinner remains in his plans.
West Indies (probable) 1 Kraigg Brathwaite (capt), 2 John Campbell, 3 Nkrumah Bonner, 4 Kyle Mayers, 5 Jermaine Blackwood, 6 Jason Holder, 7 Joshua da Silva (wk), 8 Alzarri Joseph, 9 Kemar Roach, 10 Veerasammy Permaul, 11 Jayden Seales
Robinson had been back to full pace in the nets and looked set to be handed a recall after missing the first Test with a back spasm, but the management has decided he is not ready, and instead there will be a maiden Test call-up for the Lancashire quick Saqib Mahmood, whose potential to touch 90mph provides England an important cutting edge, with Wood missing out due to “acute pain” in his right elbow. There are obvious questions to be asked about the suitability of Woakes and Overton in these conditions after a toothless display in Antigua, but both men retain their places in the starting XI.
England 1 Alex Lees, 2 Zak Crawley, 3 Joe Root (capt), 4 Dan Lawrence, 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Ben Foakes (wk), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Craig Overton, 10 Saqib Mahmood, 11 Jack Leach
Stats and trivia
Quote
“To be honest, it’s pretty normal. A lot of supporters come from England with the Barmy Army, so I honestly don’t mind it. They create a lot of energy, and playing in England is always a good feeling too.”
West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite has no concerns about England’s likely home-from-home atmosphere in Barbados, after head coach Phil Simmons complained the Antigua atmosphere had been ‘like playing at Trent Bridge’
Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket