Are you keeping up the pace in the back? The England Test team has just returned from Pakistan, licking its wounds after a 2-1 series defeat, but already making plans for its upcoming three-Test tour of New Zealand in just three weeks. And now, to fill the downtime between those two important efforts, a separate England team has been sent to the Caribbean on its fourth visit in the space of three years, to continue the reset of its white-ball fortunes after two disappointing World Cups. defenses.
This is the sweet spot of match congestion in England post-Covid: a series so stilted that it’s hard to know what to read about the players selected, or even the expected results. As Jason Holder told ESPNcricinfo, the ECB’s repayment of its debts to the West Indies following his team’s efforts during the 2020 summer lockdown is a major factor in the timing of this tour, so there is a transactional aspect in the next eight games that cannot be ruled out. ignored. Financial stimulus in the Caribbean may matter more than actual results, given that the hosts do not even have a place in February’s Champions Trophy to offer a short-term focus for their efforts.
For England, however, this is a golden opportunity for their next generation to claim integral roles in the next Bazballification of the white-ball team. Brendon McCullum won’t put his feet under the table until the tour of India in January, but his influence is already palpable. The cross-pollination of players (with Jordan Cox and Rehan Ahmed joining from the Pakistan tour and Jacob Bethell soon taking the opposite route to New Zealand) reinforces the sense that a philosophy is about to take hold in all three teams, and so It probably doesn’t matter where and how you state your case… Big Bazzer will be watching.
And so, at least in the short term, cohesive strategies will probably matter less than well-crafted cameos. With Jos Buttler extending his absence from professional cricket to a fifth month, and with Harry Brook, his heir apparent, busy on Test duties, Liam Livingstone has an unlikely chance of becoming captain, just weeks after he was initially excluded from England’s ODI plans. against Australia. He takes charge of a team that boasts five potential debutants over 50, from the tirelessly ambitious Cox to the fast leg-spinner Jafer Chohan, as well as the ubiquitous John Turner, the Hampshire fast bowler who has been mentioned in dispatches for more information. It’s been more than a year now, but he could finally get his chance in the next few games.
More established names should also take advantage of this opportunity. Sam Curran, for example, wondered aloud last month whether his face suited the Bazball era, given his lack of extreme pace and height which goes against the attributes England selectors have been championing of late. The fact that he was overlooked as Buttler’s replacement could also confirm his paranoia. But he was player of the match in his last ODI in Antigua, and that will surely count for something.
Phil Salt is another who could welcome the absence of multi-format players. The Caribbean was the scene of his breakthrough as a T20I opener, with two hundreds in England’s last visit, but in the 50-over format, he failed to get out of the powerplay in any of the five matches against Australia, including if his 45 for 27 at Bristol last month was a noisy way to close the summer.
They will face a West Indies team with a proud home record against England. In addition to their two-decade unbeaten run in Tests, they have won each of their last three white-ball series at home against the visitors, including a 2-1 victory in the corresponding ODI campaign in December 2023.
Between Gudakesh Motie’s astute left-arm spin and the pace prowess of Alzarri Joseph and Jayden Seales, the West Indies have invariably found the firepower to weaken England’s tough batsmen, and have rarely lacked strength with the bat. The next few days should see high-octane cricket, in front of eager crowds of Englishmen seeking the autumn sun. But what all this will prove, the jury will still be out on, at least until the new year.
forms guide
West Indies WLLLL (last five tests, most recent first) England LWWLL
In the spotlight: Evin Lewis and Liam Livingstone
England fans may remember Evin Lewis for his stunning attack at the Kia Oval in 2017, right at the cusp of England’s white-ball revolution. On a crisp autumn afternoon, he scored a remarkable 176 not out off 130 balls with 17 fours and seven sixes, and was firmly on course for West Indies’ second ODI double hundred when he hit a yorker on his ankle and retired. injured. with a small fracture. That was the third of his five ODI hundreds to date, a figure only Shai Hope among contemporary West Indies cricketers can surpass, with the most recent coming last week against Sri Lanka in Kandy: an onslaught of 61 balls, sealed with a winning goal. six. Remarkably, that was Lewis’ first ODI appearance in over three years, but as his captain Hope said in the post-match introductions, he “picked up where he left off.”
It has only been six weeks since Liam Livingstone was called up as an injury replacement for Jos Buttler after his calf injury ruled him out of the ODI series against Australia. Now, he has been handed an even more notable promotion: stepping squarely into the captain’s shoes as England’s sixth white-ball captain in 2024. He returns on the crest of a relative wave, having recently risen to become leading all-rounder T20I in ICC rankings. . But his results in ODI cricket remain hit and miss. His incredible 62 not out off 27 balls against Australia at Lord’s contained an impressive seven sixes, but it was also his first half-century in 14 innings since another dramatic intervention, 95 not out off 78 balls, against New Zealand in September 2023. while he disappeared ( along with most of his teammates, to be fair) at the 50-over World Cup in India. However, his multi-faceted bowling remains a vital means of balancing England’s XI, and a good performance in this series will set him on course for a shot at redemption in the Champions Trophy.
Team news: England debut in prospect
The return of Shimron Hetmyer is the only change for the West Indies from the ODI team that played (and won) the last of their three matches against Sri Lanka on Saturday, so continuity would appear to be the order of the day. He looks likely to feature in the middle order, with 17-year-old Jewel Andrew, who made his international debut in that Kandy contest, the obvious batsman to make way for. There is enough time for him to return. Romario Shepherd could also return after missing that same game.
The pressure on this series, with Test tours to Pakistan on one side and New Zealand on the other, means a swath of all-rounders will miss out in the coming days, including Brook and Ben Duckett, whose century against Australia in Bristol was a perfect translation of his Bazball pace from five days to 50 overs. Cox, fresh from the tour of Pakistan, will be one of several players named to make their ODI debuts in the coming days, while Buttler’s absence means injury replacement Michael Pepper could be another. More likely, perhaps, given the rough hierarchy that governs England’s chances, is that Will Jacks will get the chance to open, and Dan Mousley, overlooked on debut against Australia, will get the first opportunity in the middle order.
England: 1 Phil Salt (week), 2 Will Jacks, 3 Jordan Cox, 4 Jacob Bethell, 5 Liam Livingstone (captain), 6 Dan Mousley, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Jamie Overton, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Jofra Archer, 11 Reece Topley
Plot and conditions: remember the wind factor
A fairly central stripe means that the boundary dimensions are more or less uniform. With four visits to the Caribbean in the space of three years, England’s senior players are well accustomed to the crosswinds that can make or break any batsman’s attempts to clear the ropes. Conflicting rain reports may also throw a bit of chaos into the mix.
Statistics and curiosities
The West Indies have won seven of their previous 18 ODIs at the Sir Vivian Richards Ground in Antigua, five of which came in their last six appearances since 2017.
Evin Lewis needs 51 runs to reach 2000 in ODIs.
Quotes
“That’s something you’ll see throughout the series, there will be some debuts. And there will be people who will have a chance because we want to see what we can do. Because that’s what we want to achieve.” “The important thing about this trip is to see how they do in international cricket.” Promoting new blood a priority for ODI stand-in skipper Liam Livingston
Andrew Miller is UK editor for ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket
