West Indies v England
3rd Test, Preview: Crocked England Ring
the Changes
February 8th 2019
England are 2-0, facing a blackwash and in the midst of an injury
crisis. Yes, it’s good to be back to normal on away tours. This business of
winning was getting a bit boring.
Word is that, apart from Chris Woakes, Ben Foakes is also out of
consideration for the 3rd Test, while Ben Stokes is doubtful. As
predicted, Keaton Jennings will make a remarkable return to the Test side,
presumably allowing Joe Denly to drop down to his more accustomed #3 and Jonny
Bairstow to bat at #5 and take the gloves. Sam Curran will make way for Mark
Wood, unless Ben Stokes is unfit, in which case he will retain his place.
Curran for Stokes is a little like the time in the 1980s when Derek Pringle had
to fill in for Ian Botham: decent enough player, did his job in the side, but
hardly a change to make the opposition quake with fear.
So, England will re-jig their top three… again, will re-jig the middle
order… again and will re-jig the bowlers… again.
Thirty wickets in twelve Tests at an average of 41.7 and a strike rate
of 76 are not figures to fill you with belief that Mark Wood will knock over
the opposition. However, his career has been so disjointed by injuries that it
is not easy to judge him fairly. What England want is someone capable of the faster
ball that Shannon Gabriel has used to good effect, taking as many wickets at
the other end as he has taken himself. On tricky surfaces, the extra few miles
per hour on the ball make a huge difference and add uncertainty to the minds of
the batsmen: England did not have anyone fast enough to make life difficult for
the batsmen at Antigua and that is one reason why the West Indian batsmen could
get away with playing and missing so much.
The West Indies are without Jason Holder. When any other captain gets
suspended for over-rate violations – and, to get a suspension you have to be a
serial offender – the cricketing world applauds and says “that will teach him”.
Such though is the mood of self-flagellation in English cricket and the
buoyancy in the West Indians that this sanction is being treated as “controversial”,
“unjust” and “a mockery”. Yes, fair play. Even when your opponent breaks the
rules, he should not be punished. Slow over rates cheat the fans and allow
bowlers to stay on for longer spells. No one is demanding eighteen overs per
hour, even if that over rate was standard up until relatively recently in
cricket history (sides were expected to maintain eighteen and a half overs per
hour in the County Championship until the 1980s), but twelve overs per hour is
ludicrous. Even when the West Indians fielded a battery of quick bowlers who
would run in almost from the boundary, it was unacceptable, with just one quick
and three medium-pacers there is no justification for such a slow over-rate.
The bad news for England is that if their injury problems and form
issues were not serious enough, to have a West Indian side nursing a new sense
of injustice and out to settle a score is going to make the job of halting the
Caribbean juggernaut even harder.
