by Abhai Sawkar After an early loss, England bounced back to win the next two games quite convincingly, thus securing an emphatic series win. The third Test saw Ollie Pope and Jos Buttler among the runs for England in the first innings, while Rory Burns picked up some form in the second. A domineering display from frontline seamer Stuart Broad helped rake in plenty of early wickets and stay in the driver’s seat. The West Indies batting lineup struggled for the better part of this series, and with that being said, it’s time to get the analysis underway. I’m joined by a panel of four guests today - Windies fans Shekar Ramlal and Umar Mohammed, both from Trinidad, and England fans Andrew Barnes and Haroon Irshad. Abhai: Welcome to the discussion, and first of all, commiserations to the West Indies. Let’s start with some post-series insight from a Windies perspective. Shekar: Well firstly, given the gulf between the two teams on the rankings, if you told me a month ago that England would win the series 2-1, I would take that! Teams rarely go to England and win vs Broad and Anderson in their elements. And while WI seemed to run out of steam in the last 2 Tests, they did still put up a valiant effort. We went to England with a clear understanding of where their strengths and weaknesses were and will be leaving England with that knowledge. Abhai: What do you feel were some of the positives you can take? From what I’ve seen, I think it was a spirited bowling effort nonetheless, and among the batsmen, Shamarh Brooks and Jermaine Blackwood both have shown signs of capability and potential at this level. Shekar: Though his tour average still was a modest 29, Kraigg's two 50s was encouraging. I’m hoping he goes on from this torrid last 2 yrs of bad form. Brooks has come in and looked comfortable at Test level, auguring well for the future. Both he and Darren Bravo played together at U19s and if they can click together, the middle order benefits from 2 seasoned professionals with class. Chase was adjudged WI's man of the series. His series average of 26 didn't do justice to the tough runs he scored and his bowling is continuing to improve. Blackwood's return to Tests saw him top the WI averages, albeit a modest 35. As far as the pace attack is concerned: all of Gabriel, Roach, Alzarri and Holder bowled well and often the figures didn't do justice to the effort they put in. Roach crossed 200 Test wickets, that’s a mammoth achievement! Gabriel returned from injury and played all 3 Tests, and he was often looking burned out but never stopped running in and giving his 100%. Alzarri had a couple spells that really showed us what he can do with some guidance and Holder was the metronome of consistency throughout. Abhai: That’s a fair assessment. The bowlers went nicely, and I think Brathwaite has been a reliable opener for the Windies though results don’t back it up from time to time. Now let’s go to the areas of concern. Where do you feel lies the most room for improvement? And who do you feel could’ve performed much better? Shekar: You won't find many teams winning anything with a terribly out-of-form opener and number 3 batsman. Campbell and Hope will both have to address their respective games at the first-class level. I like to believe Hope is a class act and he will definitely make a comeback. On the immediate horizon for the Test team, we can look forward to the reintegration of players like Daren Bravo in the middle and the likes of Brandon King or Hetmyer at the top or even number 3. It must be noted that Hetmyer was a specialist opener and opened for Guyana this year. So in lieu of no real proven contenders at this time, it may be an option to go with a quality batsman who is capable of the job rather than picking specialist regional openers for the sake of picking an opener. All in all, we knew what they were going in short with and it shouldn't come as a surprise. Let's remember, even the commentary team suggested this English attack was perhaps the best they have played in a decade or more. When you consider that against the WI batting line up, there was only one way this series was ever going to go. Congrats to England and special mention to WI for the sacrifice, bravery, skill and spirit they displayed firstly by even travelling to England, and then putting on a fantastic series. Abhai: It’s definitely quite tricky to open the batting in England - John Campbell has been able to get off to a start but it’s time for him to transform those starts into much bigger scores. I also feel Shane Dowrich wasn’t quite up to the mark: apart from his 61 in the first Test he looked very uncomfortable against the short ball, and his wicketkeeping was largely questionable. Now with that being said, I’m interested in knowing more about some of the up-and-coming batting talent in the Caribbean domestic circuit. Umar: Well there’s three uncapped players I’d rate highly which two were on the reserved list. Joshua Da Silva is a young Trinidadian batsman who’s been a regular maybe for the past year or two for his team in the FC setup and he has performed pretty well with both bat and gloves. In addition, he’s also proven himself in the 50 over format so he’s a prospect that I love to see get his shot soon. Kyle Mayers a handy all-rounder - he’s been around a while now but while he’s been in the limelight for his bowling. His last season has given him more recognition for his batting. Mayers is another player I would like to see given an opportunity also but while there might not be a spot right now, they could use him as the fourth pacer replacing Joseph but that’s a question for another time. And finally a player who wasn’t in the reserves but I think deserves a chance is another Trinidadian opening batsman in Jeremy Solozano. He has proven his ability to bat long and make runs. As a matter of fact, the last run he had was with the WI A team against India A and he scored a remarkable century. Abhai: Yes, I feel da Silva was unfortunate not to get a Test debut in this series, but at the same time, he definitely has plenty of potential. Great to hear about Solozano, I remember him from an earlier Under-19 World Cup. Hopefully we can soon see the Windies back playing stronger cricket in the longest format. Now I’ve been impressed by how Nicholas Pooran has gone about in his international career so far. In the World Cup we saw his talent and flair. Even though he has hardly any first-class experience, would you say he’s good enough to be in the mix for Test cricket soon? Umar: If he gets a chance, I’ll be absolutely happy and supportive. If you ask me about whether or not he deserves a spot at this point in time, then my answer would be no. I know a few of the greats have attested for his go in Test cricket but in my personal opinion I don’t think the proper mindset is there, given that he’s been bitten by the T20 bug and wanting to tee off on every ball. Abhai: Interesting to know. Personally I’d love to see him in Test cricket in the near future. He has a reliable technique and he’s made more than a favorable impression so far. Now let’s turn to England’s side of the matter. I’ve got a question for Haroon - who do you feel was the most impressive for England in this series and why? Haroon: I was most impressed by Ben Stokes and Stuart Broad. First of all, Ben Stokes being the top run scorer portrays that he is exuding volumes of greatness; he was frowned upon for his captaincy in the first test, yet battled hard each time and had his moments. But my oh my, did he show his class in the second game. A masterful performance that would have any cricket fan purring in delight. He didn't have to do a great deal in the third test, but he was pivotal to England for turning the tide around in the series. How he didn't get man of the series is beyond me and everyone else. Stuart Broad showed that he was a man on a mission. Everyone could have easily criticised him for his comments, and people did. It was up to him to back it up; and honestly, the way he led the attack in the 2nd game with conviction and purpose proved that he is not going anywhere, anytime soon. Broad is someone not be frowned upon and has stamped on every fan of England to say that "I'm here to stay, I'm not going anywhere", and respect to him because I didn't think highly of him for a short period because of how innocuous he is with the older ball, allowing the opposition to run away with the game at times with cannon fodder bowling. But I can truly say that he has genuinely impressed me so much, and I could not hold him in higher regard. His 62 was an amazing throwback to the times where he was considered to be our all rounder with some of the numbers he was churning out, with late order blasts with Swann and Prior. I remember being there when Broad passed Sir Ian Botham's tally, and dare I say that Broad can go on and potentially get to 600? Abhai: There’s every possibility that could happen! I think Broad’s omission from the first Test sparked a tremendous comeback and he was definitely the pick of the bowlers. Stokes as usual has been the go-to impact player, as well. Now even though England’s won the series quite comfortably, it wasn’t without its hiccups. What do you feel could have been done better in this series? Haroon: What could have gone better is of course I'd have loved to have seen the boys attain a 3-0 win. The first test was something you would associate the 90s England to; jittery, out of place, talented but not a team with conviction. It proved that way throughout that test match, and England need to be a lot more confident in themselves to get a good start going in a test match, rather than going behind the 8 ball, because Pakistan will put their foot on the gas a lot more heavily than the West Indies. Burns and Sibley need to adopt a method against spin; their run scoring method looked innocuous, especially to Chase and Cornwall. They had a dominating lead but still couldn't score efficiently enough which is very concerning considering India is around the corner and Messrs Ashwin and Jadeja will be looking forward to spin it around corners against the pair. I suppose the selection could have been a lot better as well; especially in the first test match where the conditions were misread, hence the incorrect selection by having two bowlers of 90+mph and Anderson. Although I felt England were close to their strongest side in the final test with that excellent pace quartet you could watch all day, the best 4 Pacers England have. The batting itself is either amazing, or worrying and England need to find that balance when possible. Pope and Buttler rescued England on the final day but they can't always bail out the top order. Abhai: Speaking of selection, it seems very likely that Joe Denly might’ve played his last Test match. As far as the opening pair is concerned, Dom Sibley looks a very gutsy player and with Rory Burns holding steady, they seem like the much-coveted opening pair for England. That leads me to the next question, this one’s for Andrew - where do you stand when it comes to the opening pair? And where do you stand when it comes to Jos Buttler? It seems like he’s been criticized frequently due to his inconsistent returns in Tests, but last game he scored a handy 67. Andrew: I think there is room for improvement for both of them clearly and generally when players start out people will be looking for weaknesses and flaws but i feel they have done pretty well to be honest so far, i do have my reservations long term regarding the pair and feel opinion could turn pretty quickly against top quality opposition but thats for another day, as of now they have done pretty well really and given England an element of security that they haven't had for a while although it would be nice to see them both score runs at the same time, has tended to be one or the other so far apart from the 2nd inns in the third test when the pressure was off somewhat, absolutely dream scenario to come out and bat in the 2nd inns with a 170 lead. They did bat well in the 2nd inns at Southampton however 1st inns partnerships is the order of the day, can't always have everything but that's the aim, hopefully they can put some big opening partnerships on the board in the 1st inns v Pakistan, the 1st inns partnerships v West Indies were 0, 29 and 1, an average of 10. With regards to technique and slow scoring I think that again there are areas for them both to improve on, do feel that international bowlers will work out their weak areas pretty quickly and part of a opening batsman's role is to evolve as that happens and as they face different challenges against different bowlers, both look pretty susceptible to spin, Sibley runs are predominantly on side and oppositions will work that out pretty quickly and formulate plans against them so they will have to figure that out but it's all part and parcel of being a test match opening, each series throws up different challenges, fascinating to see how they get on v Pakistan's vibrant attack and then India. Be interesting to see where their stock at the end of those series. With regards to Jos Buttler it was very pleasing to see him in the runs in the 3rd test especially scoring them at such a pivotal moment in the test match and in the series with England teetering at 120/4, could really feel the knives being sharpened all around ready for a failure so it was really good to see him in the runs and his partnership with Ollie Pope went a long way to winning the test match. Frustrating thing was that he wasn't able to add many more on Saturday morning, he wasn't alone there as wickets tumbled but does rather encapsulate the issues that Buttler has faced recently. When batting with other senior top order batsmen he looks pretty relaxed but once he is left with lower order batsmen and the bowlers, the tail he seems to struggle with his approach and doesn't seem too sure how to go about things and has often perished immediately after his batting partner has gone. Dismissed immediately after Stokes in the 1st inns at Southampton, immediately after Pope and Woakes on Saturday, he also went into his shell just after looking like he was opening up in the 1st inns of the 2nd test when Stokes and then Woakes were quickly dismissed and all the momentum was sucked out of his inns, he was 25 off 31 then ended up getting out for 40 off 80. It's one of the perils of batting down at 7 that you are going to be batting with the tail and it's something that he needs to try and improve on, he marshalled the tail magnificently at the Oval last year v Australia in setting up that win so may need to revisit that as looking at a template to succeed in batting with the lower order. Incredibly frustrating to see him continually get dismissed so soon after his partner goes. He needs to build on this knock, he scored 35 in the first inns in the first test and followed it up with 9, 40 in the 1st inns second test followed up with a duck after being promoted to open so he will still need to get off to a good start in the Pakistan series and contribute as his critics won't have gone away and generally don't keep quiet for very along although they were quite conspicuous by their absence on Friday afternoon whilst he compiled his half century. Keeping wise he has been excellent and something that he rarely gets any credit for, very tidy, only one blemish in the whole series with a dropped catch but it's his only dropped catch in 2 years and he still has the highest successful catch rate of all the keepers in the world, something that has been recognised. Abhai: True, I think Buttler should be backed for longer. He scored a Test century when India visited, and his wicketkeeping has been exemplary. Definitely, more will be expected from him. With regards to potential newcomers for England in Tests, what would you say? Is there anyone you feel who’s knocking on the door? Andrew: Well in short, no, not really. I’m curious to see how Sibley and Burns go, next up is Pakistan but the real test i feel will come in 2021 when England are scheduled to tour India and Australia, performances and opinions can change very, very quickly, especially over a 5 match series and if India and/or Australia's attack get on top of them early in the series then that will give the selectors a problem, do they back them based on their good start or will they panic and look for somebody else. Abhai: Fair enough. But on the other hand, we’ve heard about Dan Lawrence putting together multiple consistent performances for the England Lions, and he’s been talked up as a bright prospect in the making. Do you think he should be in Test plans soon or should he wait for longer? Andrew: Dan Lawrence does look pretty good but I'm always very wary of players who have been in county cricket for a while. I do feel that the longer players play in county cricket the less likely they will be to perform at test level, personally I just feel that the difference in quality is becoming too vast and after bedding down and becoming accustomed against a certain level for a certain amount of time makes it very difficult to then make the step up but again time will tell on that front. I do feel however that England are far more likely to revert to players they already know than to try somebody new, i feel that over the next 12/18 months we are more likely to see the likes of Bairstow, Vince and Moeen given another crack if some of the batsmen fail and the spinners struggle to make and impression. Abhai: Interesting take, Andrew. Bairstow was well below average last year and I feel he’s got his work cut out if he’s looking to re-enter the Test scene. Vince has played plenty of games and he can’t kick on after a strong start. But it all remains up in the air, since as you pointed out, there’s little to no correlation between county exploits and international exploits. Anyway, let’s discuss the elephant in the room at the moment for the West Indies. The players are in for a pay cut and Jason Holder is hoping that England visits the Caribbean for a Test series sometime later this year. Shekar, what’s your reaction to what’s going on? Shekar: Financially, the pandemic has affected everyone, hasn't it? So yes, any opportunity afforded to CWI to make a lucrative tour would go a long way! I would even venture to suggest to the ECB, that even if England aren't able to tour the WI, there are other things that can be done. We've seen how awful our top order batting has been. Why couldn't the ECB and CWI negotiate some sort of program to have some WI players go to the counties for gigs? Even 2nd division teams would do them well. WI also took a battery of young talented pace bowlers that could also benefit. So the "returning good faith" doesn't have to be a reciprocal tour. It could come in strategic initiatives that doesn't have to affect the internationally scheduled tours. Abhai: That’s a fair point. In fact, a few Windies Test cricketers were supposed to get a go in county cricket - I remember Shannon Gabriel signing for Gloucestershire, but the Championship got cancelled. Kraigg Brathwaite played a couple of games for Notts in 2018 and Jason Holder was Northants’ overseas pro for the early part of the 2019 season. Haroon, what do you think could be feasible to help out the Windies? Haroon: Here's the thing; I'd love for a tour to happen but my great fear is that the superpowered tripartite of cricket, England included, will decline this, simply because they can. Then you raise the corona question considering England's figures are far more eye opening than any other country that plays cricket. Regarding what my fellow colleague has said about England county teams; that is a beautiful idea and one I'd actively encourage if I was a part of CWI in order to build an even stronger relationship between the two countries. Players like Holder who won't be elite franchise cricketers rely on test payments and to get cuts would only push even more players away from the test match game. Morally it would be quite disappointing if England couldn't reciprocate a tour, but a financial compromise and a great compromise at that with West Indians playing county cricket would be nothing short of a huge benefit. Abhai: That would be helpful for sure, but it looks like financially CWI are in quite a murky pit and it’ll be hard to get out. Finally I’d like to ask Umar: what do you feel about cricket “behind closed doors”? And how do you feel that experience has been for the Windies? Umar: It’s an unfortunate situation but it’ll have to be termed as the “new normal” for the time being whether people like it or not, also that’s the only thing that is allowing cricket to be played. Yes, it takes away the advantage of having a crowd and the vibrant atmosphere but thankfully for technology fans can still be able to see the games. The experience has been a test mentally - pun intended - based on being there a month prior to the games and then going to quarantine after the tour, but on the other hand the games itself shouldn’t have had an effect to the team based on the response to local FC games in Caribbean where crowds are generally less than 10 so in retrospect it’s more or less the same. Abhai: Well, Test cricket is finally back and it’s great to see that we’re all enjoying the game we dearly love. Even if there’s no crowd, every game counts and there’s still lots to play for. I’d like to thank all of you for your time: it’s the first of many panel discussions involving multiple guests, but all of you made it happen, and it’s a chat to remember. Thanks again.
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