And so it is back to the genteel pleasures of Lord’s on Thursday for the seventh and final helping of Test cricket this summer and a match that, contrary to expectations, is a tantalising series decider for England, not simply an exercise in pre-Ashes experimentation.
The famous old ground, hosting its first ever September Test, has bookended Joe Root’s encouraging maiden season as captain and, though South Africa were neatly overcome via a 3-1 scoreline, West Indies have now given themselves a puncher’s chance at producing the mother of all upsets after their glorious Headingley heist.
This was not meant to be. England have always respectfully talked up their No8-ranked opponents but the not so secret hope was that a dead-rubber might grant them a free chance maybe to hand Mason Crane, the Hampshire leg-spinner, a Test debut or to tinker with their seam options before this winter’s defence of the Ashes.
Through Shai Hope’s sparkling twin hundreds and a rally from the tourists to match David Rudder’s stirring Caribbean anthem, the home side instead find themselves more keen to ensure the Root regime begins with two series wins from two, to silence any sniggering in Australia (if their defeat in Dhaka did not do this already) and sign off from this unprecedented seven-Test block with momentum restored.
To do this, more runs from the three hopefuls in the batting lineup would be helpful and very much warmly received by a selection panel keen to end a spell of twisting at the blackjack table. Mark Stoneman looked organised in his second-innings 52 in Leeds while Dawid Malan’s second half-century in four Tests hinted at a growing confidence in the arena, given by his own admission he had struggled to adapt against South Africa.
So the spotlight this week is perhaps brightest for Tom Westley at No3, who in contrast to Malan began his maiden international summer looking as assured as his upturned collars, only to struggle as the challenge – and the hive mind’s analysis of his leg-side game – has worn on. His chance came via a broken finger for Gary Ballance, Root’s personal pick, and a significant contribution feels needed to keep the door bolted.
Trevor Bayliss, the head coach, has already insisted that Crane’s wrist-spin could still earn a first outing should Mick Hunt produce a Lord’s pitch like the one witnessed against South Africa when Moeen Ali began his golden summer with 10 wickets. But if seam is the way forward for the latest summer Test since the 2005 Ashes, the decision will be whether to remain unchanged from Leeds or recall Toby Roland-Jones.
Chris Woakes may have been down on pace at Headingley on his return from a particularly nasty side strain, hovering in the low 80s on the speedgun, although a temptation to stick with their preferred man at first-change will remain knowing that, if undercooked before, he will be stronger for the 33 overs now under his belt. But Roland-Jones has done little wrong in his first three Tests, with 14 wickets at 19 apiece, and the management will also factor in his local knowhow from a career spent charging in for Middlesex in NW8. An Ashes ticket is already booked for the 29-year-old. The challenge now is securing a berth for the series opener in Brisbane on 23 November.
Stuart Broad is already guaranteed this but, despite passing Ian Botham at Edgbaston to become England’s second highest wicket-taker, this has been a summer of frustration for the 31-year-old. His 18 scalps would be nine greater had catches been held, while the analysts at CricViz tell us he has beaten the bat more regularly than Jimmy Anderson, who has 30 wickets this year and sits three away from 500 overall.
Anderson will doubtless be keen to get this milestone out of the way this week and it will be interesting to see if Ben Stokes brings up one of his own. A fourth demerit point, having chalked up a third in Leeds for swearing, would lead to him being banned for two of the limited-overs matches that follow, rather than head to the antipodes with this hanging over him.
Deliberately staging a minor offence to miss the start of a white-ball series he may well be rested for anyway, rather than one Test match down the line, is a risky and cynical ploy, however, and would not wipe the slate clean but rather ratchet up future punishments, given that points stay on a player’s record for 24 months. Best would be to keep the language clean and not induce more (overzealous) officialdom.
West Indies, who managed to get under the skin of Stokes even without Marlon Samuels in their ranks, are spending this weekend tuning up against Leicestershire in a two-day match and head to London walking tall. Their exploits have boosted the crowd, too, with MCC reporting a bounce of 2,000 ticket sales in the past few days.
Brian Lara, whose stellar personal career began in 1990 when Caribbean cricket was still in its pomp, only to end in 2006 with the freefall fully underway, will on Monday deliver the annual Cowdrey Lecture in the Nursery Pavilion and one suspects a slight rewrite of his speech was required after Headingley.
Hope and his fellow West Indians will gambol down the stairs from the away dressing room three days later, past the piercing portrait of Sir Viv Richards, with a chance to achieve something Lara could not and get their name on the honours boards. Do this and the greater goal – a first away Test series win against top-eight opposition this century – could follow.
