England Cricket

England come into the third and final Test against West Indies in good spirits—it is amazing what a win can do.

An exhilarating victory in Grenada put them 1-0 up, and the last Test match represents an opportunity to build on that long-lost positivity.  

The result signalled the first time England had won a game in the Caribbean since 2004. It also served as a timely reminder of the force they used to be. Of course, runs for under-pressure openers Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott were very welcome, but the main plus points came from the bowling attack.

James Anderson and Stuart Broad have long been charged with providing cutting edge, but a lacklustre World Cup had given the sense of powers on the wane. However, ably supported by a now-settled supporting cast of Ben Stokes and Chris Jordan, they have proved they could once again be match-winners.

Runs are undoubtedly crucial to Test cricket, but to win a game, a side must take 20 wickets. So far in this series, this task has not been made easier by flat, docile pitches. Extra skill, stamina and perseverance is required for results.

The upcoming Test will be played in Barbados. Six years ago, a Test match between the two sides on the same ground was drawn after both teams posted mammoth first innings scores. Bowlers toiled against a seemingly impossible situation. Both Anderson and Broad conceded over a hundred runs as the hosts declared on 749.  

The present pitch is hard and dry and is likely to offer more pace and bounce than we have seen in the previous games, per Stephen Brenkley of The Independent. So while there is hope that a dead pitch will not undermine this match, the more experienced players will not have forgotten the gruelling five days of 2009.

Regardless of the conditions, England know that everyone will have to be at their best. Hostile, consistent fast bowling can take wickets in any situation. Sure, a bouncy, lively wicket would assist, but the best bowlers can induce mistakes in difficult circumstances.

Anderson can produce unexpected, hooping inswingers. Broad is capable of match-winning bursts. If the two most experienced bowlers can deliver, then Stokes and Jordan are likely to follow. A confident and fully-fit bowling attack can negate any problems the conditions cause.

There is clearly a sense that things are beginning to come together. A strong bowling attack is vital to a strong Test side. England will need their fast bowlers to be on song in Barbados.

England hold a 1-0 lead going into the final Test of the three-match series against West Indies.

Barbados is the venue for the last game, with the hosts knowing only a win will do if they are to get back on level terms after suffering a disappointing defeat in Grenada last week.

Commences: Friday, May 1

Time: 3 p.m. BST / 10 a.m. local

Venue: Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados

Live On: Sky Sports (UK), Star Sports (India), Ten Sports (Pakistan), Willow TV (USA), SuperSport (South Africa)

Live Stream: Sky Go (UK)

Overview

Having claimed a first Test win on their travels since 2012, England will be hoping to do more than just hold onto their slender series advantage.

They made the most of a final-day collapse by their opponents in Grenada, as a brittle West Indies batting lineup lost their last eight wickets for 83 runs.

Alastair Cook and Gary Ballance both hit unbeaten half-centuries to steer the tourists past a target of 143 with nine wickets in hand. The positive result saw England secure a win in the Caribbean for the first time since April 2004.

That previous victory in the West Indies came in Barbados, which is also the venue for the third and final Test in the current series.

The home side's most recent Test outing at the Kensington Oval saw them beaten by New Zealand last year, a result that also meant they fell to a 2-1 series defeat to the Kiwis. 

Coach Phil Simmons is hopeful that seam duo Jerome Taylor and Jason Holder are both fit to play against England in Bridgetown, per George Dobell of ESPN Cricinfo. 

Taylor missed the last match with a shoulder injury, while fellow pace bowler Holder was stretchered off the field on the fifth and final afternoon after turning his ankle.

England, meanwhile, will have to consider whether to risk making changes to a winning team.

Assistant coach Paul Farbrace has not ruled out the possibility of picking a second spinner to work in tandem with Moeen Ali, per Stephen Brenkley in The Independent: "It’s possible two spinners could play, it was talked about long and hard before the last game."

Form (last six Tests)

West Indies: WLDLDL

England: LWWWDW

Players to Watch

While the England team as a unit will want to secure a series win on their travels, individual players will also recognise the importance of having another chance to impress.

To that extent, and provided neither of them are dropped to make way for another spinner in the final XI, Chris Jordan and Ben Stokes will be determined to show their value to the team.

They have done little wrong so far, though, they will also know competition for places will be fierce in the coming months. The Ashes loom large on the horizon, and no player wants to lose their place right before such a huge series against Australia.

Stokes averages 40.66 with the bat during the series in the Caribbean yet has picked up just the one wicket. Jordan has claimed five wickets at a cost of 45.60 on two unresponsive pitches.

West Indies will hope their bowling attack will be boosted by the return of Taylor, who picked up match figures of five for 132 in the drawn first Test.

New-ball partner Kemar Roach claimed the same number of victims in Antigua, only to then end up going wicketless during the last match, in Grenada. Perhaps an opportunity to play on his home ground will help get the 26-year-old firing on all cylinders again.

It would also help their cause if the normally dependable Shiv Chanderpaul found some form with the bat. The veteran left-hander has mustered just 67 runs in four innings. 

Squads

West Indies: Denesh Ramdin (c, w), Kraigg Brathwaite, Devendra Bishoo, Jermaine Blackwood, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Devon Smith, Jerome Taylor

England: Alastair Cook (c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (w), Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler (w), Chris Jordan, Adam Lyth, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Tredwell, Jonathan Trott, Mark Wood

Odds (via Oddschecker)

West Indies: 6-1

Draw: 9-4

England: 8-11

Paul Collingwood has told Bleacher Report that England have the skill set to wrestle the Ashes urn back from Australia this summer, with James Anderson the man to spearhead the attack.

England are currently in the middle of a three-Test series with the West Indies, before heading home to face New Zealand, but some would be forgiven for casting an eye towards late summer and the arrival of Australia.

Michael Clark’s Australia will bring the urn with them, having thrashed England in the 2013/14 series. That mauling is not easily forgotten, with the sight of Mitchell Johnson blowing the England batting away with 90mph+ howitzers a mesmerising one, but the conditions in England will be vastly different.

Colllingwood, a veteran of 68 Tests, four Ashes series and a member of the famous winning side at the Oval in 2005, feels the swing-friendly conditions in England will help level the playing field.

"If you look at current form—it is easy to look at the winter which was predominantly one-day cricket so that's not as relevant—England have played some decent Test cricket in the past few years,” Collingwood, speaking as part of Slazenger's "Congratulations Jimmy" flag nationwide tour, told Bleacher Report. “Yes they got a hammering down in Australia, but that’s not to say that in English conditions we can’t cause Australia some problems.

“Confidence is a huge thing, Australia are playing well in all forms of the game at the moment and their confidence will be extremely high. But I guess it will all come down to how well we start in the Ashes.

“But England have a chance, of course, the players have got good skill sets in English conditions and that will put any team under pressure.”

A man likely to spearhead the attack is Anderson, who is on a high after passing Sir Ian Botham to become England’s all-time leading wicket-taker in Tests.

He’s done it! James Anderson is England's highest Test wicket-taker in history – surpassing Sir Ian Botham’s record. pic.twitter.com/eiQ3QBRfRY

— BBC Radio 5 live (@bbc5live) April 17, 2015

Anderson has spent over a decade honing his trade on the international scene, but Collingwood feels the 32-year-old has plenty left in the tank to scale even greater heights.

“I reckon 450+ is a pretty obvious number, he could even be pushing for 500,” Collingwood said of a man who went past Botham’s record of 383 wickets in Antigua this month. “He is still extremely fit, he still has the wonderful skills and the pace.

"He’s experienced, reads the game well and is still looking to improve so I can only imagine he will get at least 60 or 70 on top of that.”

Anderson was far from the finished article when he emerged on the Test scene in 2003, he was dropped and spent some time in the wilderness, but he continued to learn his trade and Collingwood feels that is what sets him apart.

Jimmy was a bowler who came onto the scene and was not the complete package so had to learn his way on the international scene, a lot of bowlers have had to do that. They get in and have got to realise that they have to improve or find some more skills and Jimmy did exactly that. He has become a better bowler every single year.

Collingwood is in the twilight of his playing career, although he did show Father Time he’s not ready to bow out yet with a five-wicket haul and a century for Durham in the season opener against Somerset, and has his eye on coaching.

He cut his teeth with Scotland at the World Cup, but would relish the chance to help England if the opportunity arose—although he is aware that he will not get the job on reputation alone.

I am a huge English cricket fan; I enjoy being involved playing County Cricket at the moment but if an opportunity came up in the future to help England, then of course I would have to look at it.

I want them to do well, and if they thought I could help them out in some way, I would be more than happy to do that, and would relish the opportunity.

But you do not have a God-given right just because you have played for England in the past to walk into a coaching role with England.

There has been change at the top of English cricket, with Colin Graves appointed chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Graves, who will officially take up his role on May 15, has already made some outspoken comments—including floating the prospect of trimming Test matches from five to four days.

“Interesting” was Collingwood’s response to the idea, but he feels Graves deserves credit for looking to effect change.

At least he is looking at different ways to improve the game. He has come up with different ideas, some will work some won't. But all these things have to be looked at. Five-day Tests over the past 10 years, scoring rates have gone up and there are a lot more results nowadays so it’s an idea that is not totally unwarranted.

He’s trying to change a few things and has a few ideas to take the game forward in England which can only be good.

Paul Collingwood was speaking as part of Slazenger’s "Congratulations Jimmy" flag nationwide tour. Slazenger is celebrating Jimmy Anderson becoming England’s all-time leading test wicker by giving 10 percent off its entire cricket range. Visit store.slazenger.com and follow @SlazengerSport for more details.

Joe Root walked toward the pavilion at St. George's in Grenada. With his helmet off and his shoulders a little slumped, he looked despondent and his walk was a slow one. A trudge. 

Applause followed him from the wicket to the boundary rope. Reluctantly, he accepted the crowd's appreciation, though it was clear he didn't want to bathe in it. He was furious. 

Root smashed his bat into the ground. When he crossed the rope, he tossed his helmet away. His gloves followed suit. He wouldn't stop shaking his head.

Had you arrived at the ground or tuned in on television at that moment, you'd have assumed he'd failed. Miserably.

He'd made 182. Unbeaten. 

It's possible to interpret such moments as born from selfishness. Because of some lackadaisical running from James Anderson—and a series of cheap dismissals from other team-mates—Root had been denied the chance to reach a deserved double ton. And double tons don't come along regularly.  

But selfishness wasn't it. For other players, maybe, but not for Root. 

Watch the 24-year-old closely, and I mean really watch him—at the crease, at the non-striker's end, with the ball in his hand, in the field—and you'll see there's an intensity to Root. Focus on him intently and you'll see a cricketer simply hell-bent on winning. 

He's incessantly assessing the match situation. He always looks as though he's running through calculations in his head. He does everything with an insatiable hunger—a verve. 

Undoubtedly, youth is a factor. But not all players have what he has. Root's default mentality is: How can I win from here?

It sounds simple, but it's the stuff of leaders—of captains. Good ones. 

Root's frustration upon the close of England's innings wasn't just because he'd been robbed of an important milestone; he was furious that his team had fallen short of what was possible. 

The West Indies were retreating, the ball was soft, the pitch was dead and England's lead was in excess of 150. Everything was in the visitors' favour, but the opportunity wasn't completely taken. The chance to bury the hosts was missed. 

Root had a grumpy demeanor because he knew England were capable of better. And it might cost them a victory Root so desperately wanted. 

He was the one showing the foresight. The leadership. 

He was acting like the captain. 

And there were other similar moments. With the West Indies cruising in their second innings on Friday, Alastair Cook turned to Root with the ball. His task: Build some pressure and pinch a wicket. 

His first 11 balls were all dots. Accurate with a hint of spin. Tidy, essentially. 

He then dropped his 12th delivery short, allowing Kraigg Brathwaite to cut him for three.

Root let go of a howl. He kicked the turf. He ripped his cap away from the umpire and walked to his fielding position with that same shaking head we'd seen earlier in the day. 

The three runs he'd conceded would have been viewed as inconsequential by nearly everyone else in the ground. But to Root they weren't. He saw those runs as releasing the pressure valve. He was viewing those runs in the context of the over, the over in the context of his spell, his spell in the context of the innings, the innings in the context of the match, the match in the context of the series. 

To him, those runs could be the difference between winning and losing. And he showed that.

Later, in the day's closing stages, with a number of his team-mates seemingly coasting, Root was throwing himself around in the field. Despite a sore back, he flung himself to his left at gully to save a boundary from Marlon Samuels. He charged to the boundary to haul in a ball Chris Jordan should have beaten him to. 

And he could be seen clapping. Yapping. Encouraging. Getting in the batsmen's ears. 

At no stage in the day's play did Root's intensity ever let up. His personal contribution was outstanding, but it was more than that. He was England's driving force, the guy pushing harder than anyone for victory. 

He's a leader already.

And he's the captain-in-waiting.

Let's put it in football terms. This contest is the equivalent of Chelsea, Arsenal or Manchester United against Leicester City, Burnley or Sunderland. 

England, with the country's vast resources and standing as one third of the game's all-powerful triumvirate, represent one end of Test cricket's spectrum. The West Indies, engulfed in administrational turmoil and missing star players, represent the other.

England won Day 3 in Grenada convincingly. They should win this Test handsomely. Ditto for the series.

And so they should; England have everything in place to operate on a different level to their Caribbean counterparts—better resources, better coaching, superior pathways, a more professional governing body, a better domestic competition and a greater talent pool. 

These are two teams on different planes. In the ICC Test Rankings, almost 30 rankings points separate them. Thirty. That number will likely be greater at the end of this tour, too. 

Thus, winning isn't enough for Alastair Cook's side in the Caribbean; how they win counts. It's about the brand of cricket, not just the results. The bigger picture—the Ashes—is what matters here. 

In that sense, Day 3 in Grenada was underwhelming. Frustrating, even. 

Consider the West Indian attack: Jerome Taylor is missing, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder and Devendra Bishoo own averages hovering around the 40 mark, Kemar Roach is down on pace and Marlon Samuels (Test average of almost 60) is the fifth option.

Though it wasn't exactly tasteful, Colin Graves' labelling of this West Indies team as "mediocre" is hard to argue with. 

Yet still, presented with an inferior opponent and in a position of dominance, England couldn't shake their own conservatism in Grenada. 

At the top of the order, Cook chewed up 211 balls for 76. Jonathan Trott needed 147 for his 59. Gary Ballance consumed 188 for his 77. Collectively, England's top three operated at a strike rate a tick above 38. Cook and Trott's opening stand that lasted almost 50 overs meandered along at two-and-half runs per over. 

Until Joe Root's arrival, the visitors spent a considerable portion of Day 3 going nowhere.

Of course, it can be argued that such innings set an ideal platform for Root, who, with a fine hundred, was able to capitalise on the work already done. In the confines of this Test, that much is true. But England, with the potential their infrastructure gives them, shouldn't be settling for a gear that's simply enough to cruise past the game's eighth-ranked outfit. 

Performance in Test cricket is founded upon habits. And those habits are more than just the way one looks to rotate strike; the key ones centre on mindset or mentality. With each time you play a certain way, you're ingraining that way into your game—practice aggression and you'll become aggressive; practice conservatism and you'll become conservative. 

That's what England did for much of Day 3 in Grenada and have done for much of this series to date. They're doing enough to overcome their Caribbean opponents but simultaneously ingraining habits that won't carry them past significantly better sides. 

In the rapidly approaching Ashes series, England won't escape a session or a day of going nowhere. Remove Roach and Co. and insert Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle, and an England innings trudging along will be an England innings that ends quickly. 

Australia won't fade and let the game drift. Their standards won't drop. In the field, they won't grow sloppy. Instead, Michael Clarke's side will seize upon the caution, emboldening their own aggressive approach further.  

In this Test, England need to be preparing themselves for that, devising a brand of cricket capable of matching it with the best. In Grenada, the visitors have won the toss, have enjoyed the best conditions for batting, are playing on a remarkably flat surface and facing a West Indian attack missing its most threatening component. 

But still conservatism reigns—the single characteristic holding England back. That's their brand of cricket. That's their habit. 

Against the West Indies, it's enough. 

In the bigger picture, it's not.

England established a first-innings lead on day three of the second Test against West Indies in Grenada.

Joe Root scored an unbeaten century as the visitors reached 373 for six at stumps, a lead of 74 at the National Cricket Stadium in St George’s.

The tourists resumed on 74 without loss, and openers Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott made painfully slow progress before lunch.

Trott made his first Test half-century since August 2013 from 137 balls but perished for 59 when he was caught at second slip in attempting to drive leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo.

Just 69 runs were scored in the morning session, and Shannon Gabriel made a double breakthrough after lunch as Cook and Ian Bell both played-on, attempting cut shots.

Skipper Cook’s wait for a Test century extended to 34 innings as he was dismissed for 76 with Bell (1) departing in Gabriel’s next over, having faced just three balls.

However, Root had few problems in scoring quickly, and his presence saw England up the tempo and reach 253 for three at tea.

Root reached his half-century off 70 balls, 59 fewer than Yorkshire colleague Ballance, as the duo put on 165 for the fourth wicket.

Ballance was deceived by a slower ball from Marlon Samuels on 77, and his drive only ended in an inside edge onto his leg stump. 

Just 11 balls later, Moeen Ali was back in the pavilion as he set off on a quick single, attempting to get off the mark, and was short of his ground having been sent back by Root.

That did not affect Root, who brought up his first Test century overseas from 125 balls, a ton that featured 13 boundaries and two sixes.

West Indies picked up another wicket later in the day as Ben Stokes (8) attempted to pull Bishoo into the crowd and only succeeded in picking out Jermaine Blackwood at deep mid-wicket.

However, Root stood firm and finished unbeaten on 118. England will look to put the pressure on the hosts by building a sizeable advantage on day four as they aim to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series after the drawn opening Test in Antigua.

There was a joke doing the rounds on Twitter towards the end of the first day of the second Test between West Indies and England in Grenada. 

It was getting towards the close of play, and the light was fading fast, leading to several people on the social-media site to poke fun at one of the tourists' bowlers, including David Standring:

Poor Stuart Broad. Back in 2011, a blog post on www.thefulltoss.com described him as “cricketing Marmite.” It doesn't seem like much has changed in the four years since that article was published.

Despite the angelic face, the heartwarming smile and the burning desire to do well for his country, some just find Broad hard to swallow. Like Marmite, of course.

On the opening day of England’s second match in the Caribbean, he did not bowl well.

There was a distinct lack of speed, as well as a failure to make the most of a seamer-friendly surface after his captain, Alastair Cook, had won the toss and opted to stick the opponents in.

Sure, he took a wicket. Darren Bravo was his solitary victim on Tuesday, caught at first slip by Cook after poking his bat out at a wide delivery.

The left-handed batsman was visibly frustrated by his error in judgment, most probably because the ball was never in danger of hitting his stumps.

It was not a rarity from Broad, as George Dobell pointed out in his end-of-play report for ESPN Cricinfo: 

Not a single ball in Stuart Broad's five-over opening spell would have hit the stumps.

While he gained, at times, impressive bounce and carry, such qualities are of limited use if the batsman is not obliged to play.

It was a waste of the new ball.

Fast-forward 24 hours and Broad had finished West Indies’ first innings with figures of four for 61.

Bowling with pace and venom, the 28-year-old tore his way through the lower order of the home side. Paul Newman of the Daily Mail took note of the speed of the delivery that dismissed Denesh Ramdin:

Not everyone was convinced, however. Arthur Goodard and Ian Marshall certainly were not ready to sing Broad's name from the rooftops, judging from their tweets:

The difference between the two days rather sums up Broad as an international bowler.

He has frustrated and delighted in almost equal measure since his Test debut back in 2007. You’re never quite sure if you’re going to get a mesmerising spell or an entirely forgettable one.

Injuries have hampered him of course, most recently a serious knee problem that required surgery before the Cricket World Cup. There has also been times when he has seemingly been intent only on testing the middle of the pitch.

And yet, for all the criticism that comes his way, Broad has been a fantastic bowler for his country.

In the past two years, he has taken 60 wickets in 12 Test appearances. His current career tally stands at 276, putting him in sixth place on England’s all-time list.

The 28-year-old has claimed 10 victims in a Test on two occasions, the same combined tally as seamers Bob Willis, Brian Statham, Matthew Hoggard and Darren Gough.

He has also taken seven wickets twice in an innings in the longest format, as well as two Test hat-tricks.

Despite those days when he looks ineffective and inadequate, there are also those spells where he appears capable of striking with each and every delivery he propels from his hand.

The son of former England opening batsman Chris Broad, he picked up five for 37 versus Australia at the Oval in 2009, helping to skittle the tourists for 160 and, in the process, surrendering their grip on the Ashes.

Advancing to the 2013 series on home soil and Broad was at it again, this time taking six for 50 against the arch enemy to help England seal a series victory with a game to spare.

Set 299 to win, Australia reached 109 without loss before losing all 10 wickets for 113 runs in an extended final session at Chester-le-Street, Durham.

Broad cut a swath through the visiting order on the fourth evening, targeting the stumps to great effect. The delivery that cleaned up Michael Clarke, in particular, was a sight to behold:

That is the beauty of Broad—he can go from distinctly average to devastatingly brilliant in the same day.