England vs West Indies – Preview

Test match cricket returns to England. The English summer begins with the home team playing a two-match test series against West Indies for the Wisden trophy.

West Indies should be on a high after reclaiming the trophy back in the Carribean a couple of months ago. Though the results of the Carribean series do not signify the gulf in talent and skill that exists between these two sides, England will gain a second chance to nurse the wounds of defeat and gain sufficient momentum going into the Ashes.

The West Indians haven’t warmed up well for this series. Their batting failed in both the tour games against England Lions and Essex and Shivnaraine Chanderpaul has been the only player to gain some batting form ahead of the Lords test. Ramneresh Sarwan, one of the key architects of the West Indian win in the previous test series, looked in wretched form in both the practice matches.

For England, these two matches are more than just a preparation for the Ashes. They have a new coach in Andy Flower who will look to set the record straight. Their test line-up has been subjected to chopping and changing and the squad for this West Indies test is more likely to represent England for the Ashes. They have left Harmison, Hoggard and Vaughan out of consideration though their inclusion was a subject matter of much debate in the press. With most of their Ashes 2005 match winners being either dropped or injured, there is an added responsibility on the current crop of players to make the opportunity count and score some runs in the run up to the Ashes.

Flintoff’s injury would be a serious cause for concern. Considering that he has been ruled out of the two test rubber, he will have to play his first Ashes test without any international match practice. Strauss would look to continue his good form with the bat and KP and Collingwood will be looking forward to making huge contributions with the bat. Their bowling, despite having the class wasn’t quite capable of dismissing the West Indies twice in the Carribean. The wickets in England are expected to suit their domestic bowlers and are expected to have a little more life than what we saw in the West Indies.

The last six test matches in Lords have petered out to tame draws. If the recent results in this ground are any indication, we might see a high scoring test match wicket with very little assistance for the bowlers.

With only Gayle and Edwards joining the squad in England from South Africa as new members, WI might have some serious selection issues ahead of the first test, with most of the first test probables hardly making an impression in the tour games.

England hold the advantage and should win the test series. But they have to do more than just winning the test matches to gather winning form before they can take on a rejuvenated Australian side.