West Indies v England, 3rd Test, Day 3: West Indian Collapse Papers Over the Cracks

 

West Indies v England, 3^rd Test, Day 3: West Indian Collapse Papers Over the Cracks

September 9^th 2017

It says a lot that, despite everything that went on in the 2^nd Test – a great advertisement for 5-day cricket – that, but for rain, this match would have ended in a fraction over 2 days. The four innings totalled just 203 overs: well under 7 sessions. My estimate that the last two Tests would sum no more than seven days of cricket for England to resolve their numerous issues was pretty close to the mark.

When you are desperate for a win – and England had to win to avoid going to Australia in crisis – to find an opponent willing to make life easy helps a lot. With the best batting conditions of the match expected, at least in the morning, the Sun shining, Shai Hope at the crease and the batsmen showing some real grit, the script was for England to have to battle for their wickets. There was that nasty thought at the back of the mind that if the West Indies dug in for the first hour they could set a really difficult target. Three deliveries, including a play and miss first ball and Jimmy Anderson settled any nerves:  vote of thanks to Royston Chase for his prod outside off. Seven overs later, five of them maidens, which included a really bad drop by Broad and a successful review by Blackwood, Anderson added Blackwood and, at 100-5, it was all over bar the shouting. Two wickets in the first nine overs of play, less than forty minutes into the day and West Indies effectively 29-5 and sinking fast.

This has been the biggest difference between England and their rivals all summer. The ball has usually been on top in all seven Tests but, when England were four wickets down, one tended to think that the bowlers were through the tail and now the real batting would start. In contrast, the middle and lower orders of South Africa and West Indies have tended to bow and wave the bowlers through.

The West Indies, like South Africa before them, desperately needed a couple of 50 partnerships to give their bowlers something to defend. Shai Hope needed someone to show the same fight that he has shown through the series and stand with him. The sad fact was that, in a familiar pattern from the South Africa series, the partnerships kept being broken before they could become annoying: 48 for the third wicket; 25 for the fourth, 23 for the sixth; 32 for the seventh; 22 for the ninth.

However, despite the fact that the current Australian team cannot hold a candle to the teams of 2006/07 or 2013/14, one doubts seriously that they will be so accommodating come November. It is unlikely that we will see seaming pitches or atmospheric conditions that allow massive swing; the Australians will not continue this summer’s trend of the opposition being “Six out, all out!”

If Joe Root could have made a wish, it would have been to chase 107 without alarms. A ten wicket win would have been nice but, failing that, decent innings for the two players under most pressure – Stoneman and Westley – would have been high on his wish list. At very least, he got this. Two red-inkers – 40* for Stoneman, 44* for Westley – but lest one get the urge to run around shouting “Whoopee! Crisis over!” the runs were mostly scored against an attack that had given up long before. Once England had knocked off 35 at runs from their target at 5-an-over it was obvious that there would be not early clatter of wickets and the seamers were rested for later battles. At least one can say that Stoneman and Westley knocked off the target with assurance and playing some shots. As an exercise in building confidence, it has done its job but, for Tom Westley at least, it is too little, too late. He has been found out and the Australians will be waiting for him if England are foolish enough to persist with him at #3.

Trevor Bayliss has stated that the squad for Australia will come from the players who have featured over the last 12-18 months. That allows for several recalls, but seems to rule out a recall for Sam Robson.

One assumes that the squad will be of 15, with two spare batsmen and two spare bowlers. As there will be a shadow Lions squad playing cricket it would make no sense to take two wicket-keepers. A sixteenth player will only rob other players of desperately needed practice and is extremely unlikely to get a Test unless the batting crisis is as severe as it was at the end of the last tour: you do not plan to be whitewashed… at least, one hopes that that is not in the plans.

Of the XI in this Test, those certain to tour are:

Cook, Root, Stokes, Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Broad & Anderson.

Stoneman and Malan have done enough to get a place on tour, although not necessarily in the starting XI.

One assumes that Roland-Jones, who has made a great international start, will go, but again may be in a three-way flight for a single place in the starting XI.

That leaves five slots to fill.

Provided that they are fit – and in the case of Mark Wood, that may be an awful lot to ask as his latest “minor injury” has led to him missing the whole West Indies series – Woakes and Wood will be players 11 and 12. You cannot ignore an all-rounder with the class of Woakes, who has nine First Class centuries and three Test fifties despite batting as low as #9. Similarly, Mark Wood is the fastest bowler available and one assumes that having someone who can whistle the ball around the ears of the batsmen at 90mph will be essential.

One also assumes that the selectors will want to take Haseeb Hameed if he can give them any excuse to do so, although he is still far from being in form and is in no way ready to return to Tests. If Hameed is picked, Keaton Jennings will miss out, even if he scores runs now (his return to County cricket has not been a success), but Jennings will almost certainly have the consolation of the captaincy of the Lions and the likelihood of a call-up if he shows form (rare is it now that there is not an injury replacement on tour).

It is widely assumed that Alex Hales will be recalled to bat at #5 and plug one of the gaps. It is his natural position in red-ball cricket and his brutal form this season has made him the obvious candidate to compete with Malan for the #5 spot.

That leaves one spot. Traditionally it goes to a young player and is likely to go to a bowler, probably a spinner, although England are unlikely to field two spinners in any Test.

The likely candidates are, in order of likelihood: Ben Coad, Tom Livingstone and the favourite, Mason Crane. The losers in this shootout will undoubtedly get a lot of cricket with the Lions.

So, the likely squad is:

Openers: Cook, Stoneman, Hameed

Batsmen: Root, Malan, Hales

Wicket-keeper: Bairstow

All-rounders: Stokes, Woakes, Moeen,

Quicks: Roland-Jones, Broad, Anderson, Wood

Spinner: Crane

However, there is no specialist #3 in the squad. It could be filled by Root, although he is far more successful and prefers batting at #4 & #5. It could also be filled by Jennings who, over the winter, was regarded as the natural #3 in a top order of Cook, Hameed, Jennings, Root, but just as injury and illness have led to a catastrophic loss of form for Hameed, Jennings’s golden period that saw him score huge numbers of runs and centuries between April 2016 and May 2017, has come to a horrible end and there are, for now, no signs of recovery. It is also possible that the selectors may keep faith with Gary Ballance as he was the man in possession until breaking a finger.

West Indies v England, 3rd Test, Day 2: Series in the Balance

 

West Indies v England, 3^rd Test, Day 2: Series in the Balance

September 8^th 2017

England’s strange Test summer has taken another turn. For a significant part of the day it seemed possible that the West Indies score of 123 could yet give them a first innings lead. At 63-5 it was far from impossible that England might be rolled for under 120. At 119-6 and 134-8 it seemed that the first innings lead might be a very small one but, in a low-scoring match, even a lead of 20 could be vital.

The tactics at that point though were odd. With batting a lottery and the obvious thing to do being to get back out and bowl and exploit the conditions, the tail, with its big-sitting batsmen, appeared to be happy to poke around. Moeen tentative in his brief innings. Broad, painfully aware that he would not get many in his own half, managed just 3 from his first 14 balls. Roland-Jones 6 from his first 11. Even if the days of his 169 against Pakistan and frequent Test 50s are long gone, never to return, he is still a clean hitter when the mood takes him and can change momentum with a quick 30. Toblerone has become a powerful hitter down the order for Middlesex who is developing the ability to hit a quick 50 (he has 1x100 and 8x50 in First Class cricket and is creeping up the batting order as his batting becomes more consistent). Then, the chip changed and, for a few minutes the destination of the match changed: 11 from an over by Gabriel, 6 from Roach’s next over, 5 from Holder, before nine dot balls inevitably led to the fall of Roland-Jones. In came Anderson and the leather flew briefly and gloriously, overs going for 12, 8 and 8, including a couple of sixes. Sixty added for the last two wickets in 11 overs and suddenly the lead was 71 when, not long before, England would have given grateful thanks for a lead of 21.

When the West Indies started their innings, batting was still not offering any job security. At 21-2, with batting still looking uncomfortable in murky light and many overs, plus the potential extra half hour to come, you could even dream of a two-day finish. It did not happen because Powell and Shai Hope put in some solid batting in a crisis, as they had in the first innings. Powell did not reach the Close, but by then the West Indies were effectively at parity and Chase and Hope could see the side through to the Close. You can see how much the West Indian side has grown during the series.

West Indies start what is now, effectively, a one-innings match at 22-3. The difference is that today is expected to be a day for batting. If they can see through the first hour it could be a long day for the bowlers and England could face a really testing target on Day 4. If, in contrast, England can take an early wicket the match may finish quickly.

Other factors that add intrigue? Broad has problems with his heel again and may struggle to bowl many overs or to bowl flat out. And Anderson, now in the 500 Club, has received two warnings for running on the pitch. Were Anderson to be removed from the attack for a third transgression, England’s attack would be severely stretched, with Moeen suffering another end of series crisis of confidence and form. However, the key bowler for England today may just be Roland-Jones, who has a knack of taking vital wickets just when they are most needed.

The match and the series are in the balance with, maybe, England just slightly ahead. England though will not want to have to rely on Stoneman, Westley and Malan to win the game for them. If Cook and Root fall cheaply, panic reigns and right now, there is not too much faith in the rest of the top order being able to cope with a panic.

West Indies v England, 3rd Test, Day 1: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

 

West Indies v England, 3^rd Test, Day 1: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

September 8^th 2017

The script was for a 3-0 series win against the West Indies and an argument about which of the new players in the side who had filled their boots against a sub-standard team might be good enough to go to Australia.

The reality is that the match is a decider in the series, that the West Indies have won two of the last three Tests between the sides and that England’s record in the Final Test of series since 2013 is so diabolically bad that the unthinkable – a series defeat – is a real possibility.

And, just to make things more interesting, the Test is at Lord’s, where England do not have a good recent record. And lost the Toss, which has, in the last few years, almost invariably been a prelude to defeat.

There is also the small matter of the Test future of Stoneman, Westley and Malan being very definitely still in the air. All have scored a fifty. All have shown flashes of ability. All have shown real vulnerability. And none of them have been able to turn a fifty into a big score. With just two rounds of County Championship matches to go for any alternatives to show their hand, the Test becomes a last opportunity to avoid yet another selection crisis. Reality though is that there are not a whole lot of other options without dipping into Division 2 cricket and there the lesson of Ben Duckett was clear: it is one thing flogging Glamorgan or Derbyshire in front of a couple of hundred die-hard fans, it is a whole different problem to do the same in a Test against India, or Australia, … or Bangladesh. Save the occasional, rare exception, the selectors have to draw from the reducing pool of English-qualified Division 1 players and there are not many of them left who are credible candidates and who have not been tried.

Quite apart from the real issues, there is a further sub-plot: Jimmy Anderson’s 500^th Test wicket.

When Jimmy Anderson took two early wickets in helpful conditions to move to 499, one assumed that the 500^th must come any minute. West Indies 22-2 and scoring at just 1.5 runs per over. Rout seemed imminent and, with it, that warm sensation that Headingley never really happened and that all is well after all. It is the sort of warm feeling that Australia have awoken to having, not without some alarms along the way, put the world – or at least, Bangladesh – to rights. From there though, things seemed to go horribly wrong. Shai Hope and Powell took the West Indies to Lunch at 35-2 after 20 overs and built from there. All the failings of Headingley were present: Broad was not getting his lines right, his heel injury flared-up badly again, Stokes did not look like taking a wicket and, after a good start, Anderson looked human and Cook was dropping catches.

The one difference with Headingley is that when Plan A did not work, Joe Root could at least throw the ball to Tobias Skelton Roland-Jones. Unlike Chris Woakes, who never quite got his length and line right, Toblerone knows what is needed, even if he did not make his accustomed immediate impact. Finally he got a ball in the right place and was fortunate enough to see Alistair Cook hang on. 78-2 with the two batsmen beginning to play their shots and nothing much happening, looked ominous; 78-3 looked so much better, but still well short of what it should be.

Then suddenly there followed one of these odd sessions of play where all logic seems to have gone out to lunch. Ben Stokes has rarely looked threatening with the ball all summer and today was no exception… until Kieran Powell, who was batting very well and looked set, belying his Test average of 26, to add to England’s woes, drilled the ball straight back at him. Good catch. Soft wicket. Thanks very much! Then Toberlone bowled a straight ball – admittedly a surprise weapon from England this summer – Jermaine Blackwood aimed a massive cross-batted slog and the stumps were scattered. Toberlone continues to keep his Test bowling average under 20 in his fourth Test, which is not one of the predictions that many pundits would have made about how this Test summer would pan out. The comfort (if you were a West Indian), or discomfort (if you were English) of 78-2 had become 87-5 and West Indies were sinking fast.

Moeen Ali came on to exploit the breakthrough and, first ball, could have picked up a wicket. Toss it up, bit of width, loose shot from Chase, edge – just wide of slip. How often when he gets a quick wicket does Moeen Ali start to shine. If the first couple of overs go wrong, his biorhythms go wonky. The pitch map would later report that Moeen had all the control of a paint spray; where was the bowler who had laid waste in the first five Tests of the summer? As in Bangladesh and India, a series that has started so well, seems to be ending in a series of full tosses, long hops and occasional leg side filth.

Fortunately, there was Stokes. You would have got long odds against Stokes being the main threat with the ball today. After a loose first over, his next nine produced 36 dots, a No Ball, four singles and three wickets. Suddenly Stokes looked like the devastating bowler that we know that he can be.

There is much debate among the fans about Woakes v Stokes. The argument is plain daft. Stokes is the nearest thing that England have produced to Ian Botham since 1981. Stokes is an impact player who can turn a match around in a session with a quick century, or a burst of 5-10 but, on other days, will manage a duck and 0-60 from 8 overs. He is not as reliable a bowler as the Botham of 1977-85, who could take the new ball and run through a side, but he is as near as we have seen. Chris Woakes though is a steady, reliable pro. He will not make stunning Test centuries, nor is he likely to take a spell of 5-1, but if you want someone to come in and score 40* nursing the tail, or to take 3-40 in 15 mean overs, he is the man. You want both in your side: it would be like having both Botham and Flintoff in your team… a genuine luxury.

Yesterday though, was Stokes’s day, even if another catch went down in the last over before Tea when Root dropped Holder off Stokes and then Holder creamed the next ball for four. Stokes was not impressed and followed up with three snorting deliveries.

119-7 at Tea and England beginning to rise to the occasion. Anderson with the ball after Tea and the tail in his sights. What no one had warned him was that he needed to be quick. Stokes allowed him just two overs to get the 500^th. When Jimmy A did not strike, Stokes did. His post-Tea bowling was 1.3-1-0-3:

…W…WW

Stokes is on a hat-trick in the second innings and finished with 14.3-6-22-6. Who needs Anderson or Broad?

That was the limit of the good news.

Now the bad news: England had to bat under lights.

Within 13 overs things had got downright ugly.

After 13 overs England were 19-3 and both Stoneman and Westley had gone for single-figure scores.

Even if he were to score runs in the second innings it is unlikely that Westley would be on the plane to Australia. Straight ball. Plays down the wrong line. LBW.

25, 59, 29, 9, 8, 3, 8, 8. Sadly, Westley has been completely found out at this level.

Stoneman’s case is more difficult: 8, 19, 52, 1. It is only his third match. It would be harsh to drop him, but he most certainly has not made a good case to go to Australia.

And, while Stoneman and Westley failed, it did not go unnoticed that Haseeb Hameed gritted his way to his highest score of the season in the gloom at Old Trafford. Make no mistake, Hameed is still in desperate form. No way is he ready to play a Test, but one of the signs of a player who has what it takes, is his ability to make ugly runs when in desperate form.

Even at 19-3 there was time for things to get worse. Joe Root’s wicket made it 24-4 and the West Indies are looking at an unlikely first innings lead. England start the second day with Malan (another who needs a score to seal the trip to Australia) and Stokes at the wicket and, at least battling. No one knows how much play, if any, there will be on the second day with rain and bad light threatening the day but, it may just be that rain is the only thing that will take the match deep into even a third day.

At 46-4 and still 77 behind, England can ill-afford to lose a quick wicket and much less two early in the day. Australia have their problems, but if they are quaking in their boots right now it is more likely to be with stifled laughter.