Cricket is all set to resume as England take on West Indies in Southampton and Old Trafford for three Tests with Wisden Trophy at stake. West Indies are the holders and England would want to wrest back as the battle resumes in their backyard. Barring skipper Joe Root for the first Test, both sides have full strength sides at their disposal which is often a rarity these days.

After lagging behind in the ICC team rankings for many years, West Indies have resurged under the leadership of Jason Holder and England has been one side against whom of late West Indies have produced some great performances. At the forefront of that resurgence has been the evolution of a pace attack of which Holder is a vital cog.

Two lethal pace bowling units

Test cricket across the world in the last 30-odd months has been dominated by pace bowlers and the conditions in England have been very conducive for them in the recent times. West Indian seamers’ average of 21.78 and strike rate of 42.9 is marginally bettered only by Indian seamers in that period. Skipper Jason Holder is only behind Pat Cummins and Neil Wagner in ICC bowling rankings and, and what holds Windies in good stead is that Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel also rank among top 20.

While Holder has superior numbers, the leader of West Indies’ pace attack is, undisputably, Roach. He made the return to the national team the last time West Indies toured England in the summer of 2017 and in 19 Test matches since he has picked 71 wickets at 21.82 each at a superb strike rate of 45.7. Gabriel had a quiet 2019 by his standards (13 wickets at 39) and Alzarri Joseph would looking to seal a permanent spot after not having played Test cricket since England toured West Indies early last year. Also, at their disposal are the likes of young Chemar Holder and the left-arm variety of Raymon Reiffer.

England seamers, though their numbers are not right up there with the best, have been far more penetrative at home with the Dukes ball. They have accounted for more than 15 wickets per Test at home compared to just under 10 per every away Test in this period.

James Anderson has been especially lethal in England in the last four seasons taking 102 wickets from 21 Tests at 15.84 and a wicket every 39.7 balls. Anderson also possess a very good record against West Indies, particularly in the last decade and has had the upper hand head-to-head against many of their top order batsmen. Against Kraigg Brathwaite, Anderson averages 16 and has dismissed him seven times. He also had the better of Shai Hope four times and Roston Chase thrice. Anderson needs five more wickets to become England’s leading wicket taker against West Indies surpassing Fred Trueman’s tally of 86 wickets.

Roach is expected to do Anderson’s role for West Indies, and he enjoyed a good series back home when England last visited the Caribbean in early 2019. He was awarded Player of the Series for his 18 wickets at 13.89 which included match winning spells in Bridgetown and North Sound. Roach has had good success against Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, the mainstays of England’s lower middle order, dismissing them thrice each.

In the last summer in England, the English pacers found themselves at home against left-handers of Australian side while right handers, thanks in no small part to Steve Smith, had an easier time. Stuart Broad dismissed 16 southpaws at an average of 13.63 (he dismissed Warner seven times in ten innings) while his seven right-handed victims cost him 56.43 apiece. Jofra Archer has accounted for 11 left handers and right handers each, but the former cost him 14.55 per wicket to 26 for the latter. This makes an interesting scenario as unlike some of the former West Indies teams, the present one has only one left-hander in the top seven – opener John Campbell.

West Indies’ top order troubles

While the resurgence in pace department is encouraging for the visitors, it is their batting that would be their biggest concern. In the Test matches since 2018, the top four batsman of West Indies have cumulatively averaged 21.23 which is the lowest among the top ten ranked teams. In contrast, their batsmen coming in at positions five to eight average 30.79 with the bat which makes the difference of 9.56 between the top four and next four the largest for a team in the last 2.5 years.

West Indies’ two leading run-getters in this period are Shane Dowrich (720 runs) and skipper Holder (680 runs), who predominantly bat at six or below and these are their only two batsmen averaging over 30 (10+ innings). Brathwaite (21.33), Hope (20.08), Chase (24.23), and Campbell (29.80) have all left a lot to be desired when it comes to exploits with the bat in the recent past.

The opening pair has been an Achilles heel for West Indies for some time now. Despite the Brathwaite-Campbell duo doing well against England at home last year (four 50+ stands in five completed innings), West Indies’ openers have largely struggled overseas. They have not had a 100+ opening partnership away from home since 2012. England has offered especially hostile conditions for the openers of late. Since the start of 2018, the average opening partnership in England reads just 18.62 which happens to be the lowest among all host nations.

Brathwaite has been a rock at the top of the order for most of the last decade, but his returns have dwindled in the last couple of years. He has averaged 21.33 in his last 15 Tests and has averaged in single figures in four of his last five series. He will have to contain his arch nemesis Anderson too. Shai Hope, who created history by becoming the first player to score twin hundreds at Leeds in 2017, has failed to add to his tally of centuries in the longest format. In 18 Tests since, Hope has scored only 751 runs at 24.23 hitting just three fifties in 33 innings.

England too are not without issues at the top of their order. In regular skipper Joe Root’s absence for the first Test, the top four of Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley and Joe Denly lacks experience at the top level with just 39 Tests among them. Sibley and Crawley have not yet played at home in the Test level yet while in the six home Tests last year Burns and Denly respectively average 33.50 and 28.75.

The battle of all-rounders

The two men who will be leading their respective sides to the field in Southampton – Holder and Ben Stokes – are the top two ranked all-rounders in Test cricket in ICC ratings. In the last three years, Holder averages 36.57 with the bat and 20.33 with the ball from 20 Tests. He has had telling contributions in West Indies’ series win against England last year in the Caribbean hitting an unbeaten 202 in the first Test in Bridgetown and taking four crucial wickets in the second innings of the North Sound Test.

Stokes, on the other hand, has been phenomenal in the last year and a half averaging 47.39 with the bat and 32.60 with the ball since January 2019 and was instrumental in England’s drawn Ashes at home last year and the 3-1 series win in South Africa early this year.

The two sides have plenty in common – a precarious top order, a middle order boosted by capable all-rounders that comes to the rescue more often than not and two world class pace attacks. England, playing at home, will have their noses ahead and should start as favourites. Notably, they have not lost a home series since 2014 despite being inconsistent (they have dropped at least one game in all but one series). West Indies as we have seen lately under Holder, can spring a surprise or two.

For cricket to be back after a three-month hiatus and the prospects of a fine on field contest between the two sides with rich past, it promises to be three exciting contests ahead. (Cricbuzz)