England may be trying to turn a corner West Indies know only too well, and thoughts of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad kicking their heels at home will take some shifting by their replacements, but the three-Test series that begins at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Tuesday has a greater significance.
On Sunday evening, the newly minted Richards-Botham Trophy was unveiled by the two cricketing titans who made their first class Somerset debuts together in 1974, shared an apparently riotous flat in Taunton and have been like brothers ever since. Richards, 70 on Monday, remains in incredible physical nick, as if he could swagger out to the middle this week with gum in mouth and bat in hand ready to strike the fear of God into his opponents; Ian Botham, four years younger but fuller in figure and with the hobbling gait of an old bowler, would probably still back himself. When has he ever not?
Their fortunes during past battles may see some quibble here. Richards dominated England back in the day, a Test average of 62 against them his highest of all teams faced, but Botham fared less well against the great West Indies team he rates as the best in history. But the renaming of the trophy – if slightly unnecessary given the backstory of the Wisden Trophy and Learie Constantine’s involvement – is about a celebration of friendship between cricket in the Caribbean and England.
This was certainly in evidence two years ago when West Indies unflinchingly answered English cricket’s SOS, flying their Test team to the UK during the height of the pandemic. The players took a 50% pay cut to help out a board that struggles financially during the good times, let alone when the world has stopped, and the conditions they met were unprecedented.
It involved a tour spent in restrictive biosecure bubbles at a time when no vaccine for Covid-19 existed. Reticence would have been understandable – indeed, three players opted out – but those who made the trip were impeccable, uncomplaining guests who pulled off a handsome win in the first Test and led the way for other international teams, including their women’s side, to follow.
By helping to get the TV money flowing they saved the England and Wales Cricket Board from catastrophe. This debt of gratitude is the reason why the latest encounter, originally slated for two Tests and three Twenty20s, has been fleshed out to three Tests plus the five Twenty20s that took place a few weeks ago.
Using saliva on the ball will be banned and considered tampering under a new set of laws announced by the MCC.
After the sport resumed following the outbreak of Covid-19, the ban was a playing condition in most forms of the game. Research by the sport's lawmakers found this "had little or no impact on the amount of swing the bowlers were getting", with players using sweat to polish the ball, which was equally effective.
The MCC said the new law, which will come into force from October, "also removes any grey areas of fielders eating sugary sweets to alter their saliva to apply to the ball," with its use treated the same way as "any other unfair methods of changing the condition of the ball".
In other changes announced on Tuesday, a new batter coming to the crease will face the next delivery regardless of whether the previous pair had crossed while the ball was in the air before being caught. This follows a trial used by the England and Wales Cricket Board during the Hundred.
The law around judging a wide has been amended, given batters are now moving laterally around the crease more before the ball is bowled. There are several changes to the 'dead ball law', the most significant of which if either side is disadvantaged by a person, such as a pitch invader, an animal or other object within the field of play which has a material impact on the game.
MCC laws manager Fraser Stewart said: "Since the publication of the 2017 Code of the Laws of Cricket, the game has changed in numerous ways. The second edition of that code, published in 2019, was mostly clarification and minor amendments, but the 2022 Code makes some rather bigger changes, from the way we talk about cricket to the way it's played.
"It is important that we announce these changes now as part of the club's global commitment to the game, giving officials from all over the world the chance to learn under the new code ahead of the laws coming into force in October." PA Media
As such, regular grumbles from aficionados about the use of more tourist-friendly islands – Antigua, Barbados and Grenada – and the growing absences from the traditional territories of Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad should probably be parked for now. If this schedule is deemed to generate the most money for Cricket West Indies, a board currently $23m (£17.5m) in debt, then who are the visitors to say otherwise? Even if CWI hits its target of $70m in revenues this year, it is still a fraction of the £207m they helped the ECB secure in 2020-21.
Judging by the tour’s first week in Antigua, the estimated 5,000 travelling fans (with more expected in Barbados) will be welcome. The tourism industry is slowly coming back to life on the island but a good number of businesses have not survived the ill-wind of the pandemic and there are empty hotels starting to be overtaken by foliage rather than Britons and North Americans with bulging wallets.
Resilience is the hallmark of the region, however, and cricket-wise this has been needed. The regional four-day competition has only just returned after a two-year absence but though West Indies are languishing in eighth place in the Test rankings, they represent a stiff challenge for an England side that sit below them in the World Test Championship ladder (AKA rock bottom) and are trying to shake off a seven-week Ashes postmortem and reboot Joe Root’s captaincy.
History says as much, with England claiming one series win in the Caribbean from 10 since 1968. Three years ago, they were completely overwhelmed by a four-pronged pace attack in Barbados and Antigua for a convincing series defeat only mildly offset by a dead-rubber win in St Lucia with Jason Holder, then captain, banned for a slow over-rate and Mark Wood delivering a breakthrough spell of searing pace.
There remain concerns over the home side’s batting but Kraigg Brathwaite, who has taken over as captain, comes into the series in form after a career-best 276 versus Jamaica last month. Holder is a world-class all-rounder, Kemar Roach is 19 wickets away from becoming the sixth West Indian to 250, while in Jayden Seales, the 20-year-old Trinidadian, they possess a hugely promising quick who serves as a reminder of how verdant the Caribbean remains talent-wise.
There is a good deal of local surprise England have deemed the elite standards of Anderson and Broad to be surplus to requirements. Richards said he was amazed the pair were left out of the first Ashes Test in Brisbane and figured there must be serious talent coming through. Now, Antigua’s most famous son believes his old team have a “wonderful opportunity” in their absence, describing England as “a little bit flat”.
Root’s attack – most likely Chris Woakes, Craig Overton, Wood and Jack Leach initially, with Ollie Robinson yet again unfit – must therefore prove this prediction wrong, while a rejigged batting order with Alex Lees making his debut as opener has an initial target of passing 300 for the first time this winter. But whatever the outcome and any repercussions that follow, friendship should be the overriding theme of this tour.
