Former England player and coach David Lloyd feels the West Indies faces an uphill task in the deciding Test that starts on Friday at Old Trafford.
“It will be a real test for the West Indies,” Lloyd said. “England will come through strongly because lads like Shannon Gabriel were suffering. He is a fast bowler and you can’t do that in three back-to-back matches, whereas England rested Anderson and Archer will come back.”
“England’s coach said they were going to play the strongest [team] and I surmise that as Anderson, Broad, Archer and Woakes. I would play the left-arm spinner Jack Leach because the West Indies has [like] 10 right-handed batsmen,” Lloyd said at the Sony Ten Pit Stop Facebook chat.
On the constant comparison of how allrounder Ben Stokes stacks up against former England great Ian Botham, Lloyd said, “All the talk now is ‘is he better than Botham’. Well, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that he changes the game.
Fitter and better
“Let’s not forget the lad had an off-field problem that ended up in court. But he has gone away and redressed the situation and come back better, fitter and more determined.”
