This is an idyllic spot to be in crisis. The green hills above the Darren Sammy Stadium offer a soothing backdrop; the outfield is a lush green, the bane of reverse swingers; the pitch has a generous amount of grass too, a visible confirmation of a buoyant West Indies side, albeit one deprived of their quietly inspirational captain, Jason Holder. England’s pace attack? The home side is happy to take them on. It is a system that has worked rather well for them in the first two Tests.
Before the toss the West Indies have a simple decision to make: how to replace Holder. They do so in the luxurious position of holding a 2-0 lead in the series with one to play. It is a good time to give a chance to either Oshane Thomas or Keemo Paul, two youngsters of considerable potential.
Thomas is a 21-year-old from Jamaica. He looks like a heavyweight boxer; muscles rippled as he pounded up to the crease in practice; he has pace; he does not bat and has yet to play in a Test match.
Paul is a year younger and from Guyana and achieved early notoriety when he stalled in his approach to the crease to run out the last Zimbabwe batsman by a millimetre or two in the U19 World Cup in 2016 when three runs were required for victory. The shorthand for this remains “a Mankad”, rather than “a Paul”, but this caused quite a stir at the time especially since the West Indies, captained by Shimron Hetmyer, went on to win the tournament. Paul is a highly rated, fast-bowling all-rounder who has played for West Indies twice in Test cricket. Whether they opt for Thomas or Paul, Holder’s replacement will be an exciting prospect.
The situation was not so simple in the England camp, partly because of concerns about Ben Stokes’s fitness. He is suffering from a bruised heel that he picked up during a beach training session on Wednesday morning, when it is understood he trod on a rock. England have been remarkably defensive about that.
There is no reason to be guarded about the virtues of a fresh form of training, which is no less hazardous than a game of football or some arduous shuttle runs on the outfield. Acquiring injuries is an occupational hazard for a professional sportsman. It happens.
Yet they seem curiously sheepish about the provenance of this injury. There is nothing to hide. No pedalo was involved. Maybe their reticence on this topic is a consequence of the paranoia that creeps into a losing team. There remains a sense of bewilderment in the England set-up that they have been so thoroughly outplayed in this series and there remains a determination to find some form of atonement in St Lucia.
The oddity is that they train hard and conscientiously, but they have discovered with mild horror that this is no guarantee of success. One explanation, rather than excuse, is the structure of the tour.
In Sri Lanka key men were in rhythm and on the way to being battle-hardened by playing in the one-day internationals before the Test series. Key batsmen had middled a few in a competitive game of cricket, which was not the case here.
The announcement of England’s team betrayed a state of some confusion since a sharp U-turn had been signposted. Ben Foakes was deemed fit to play here and yet two games after his triumphant tour of Sri Lanka he has been ditched. This surely has more to do with the unease of Jonny Bairstow in his role as England’s No 3 than the shortcomings of Foakes. That brief experiment appears to be over, which will bring a smile to the face of Yorkshire’s keeper. This is tough on Foakes.
Joe Root remains committed to batting at No 4. So the hope must be that the old lower middle order can rekindle some of its magic with Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Bairstow occupying the 5-7 slots, while somehow someone tries to conjure some runs at the top of the order. Hence there is an unexpected reprieve for Keaton Jennings at the top of the order; he joins some exalted company stationed in the last-chance saloon.
Another beneficiary of England’s ineptitude out here is Mark Wood, who is likely to play his 13th Test match. His problem is to generate the pace he musters in the nets in the outside world.
Stokes will naturally be eager to play, but if he is deemed unfit on Saturday morning Sam Curran will retain his place in the team. Whoever ends up in the final XI it is a team that would have been regarded as highly improbable to take the field a fortnight ago.
