TOBY IS ROOT’S HOME BANKER

Roland-Jones the man to ensure England get an Ashes springboard

SO, what next? What could possibly happen now in the final Test of the summer after West Indies confounded every expectation at Headingley to pull off one of the great upsets and set up a Lord’s decider?

Certainly those of us who wrote off West Indies in the strongest terms post-Edgbaston will not repeat that mistake after one of the most extraordinary Tests in even Headingley’s rich history.

The question is which of these infuriatingly inconsistent teams will come out on top in a first ever September Test at Lord’s that has suddenly gained far more significance than anyone could have anticipated.

The immediate consequence of West Indies’ comeback is that England, after a Test season of decent progress, desperately need to finish Joe Root’s first summer as captain on a winning note to set the tone for the Ashes.

That means England have been forced to shelve plans to experiment by handing Mason Crane a debut. Instead they will now be forced to take a leg- spinner of enormous promise to the Ashes with no Test experience.

And yesterday there was yet another example of the muddled thinking that has dogged so much of selection over the two years when Chris Woakes was dropped just one Test into his long-awaited return.

It was fair enough to bring Woakes back at Headingley after he had missed much of this season with a side injury. After all, he has been one of the side’s most important members in the past year.

It therefore seems England have overreacted by going back on that now, particularly as Woakes seemed to have recovered much of his rhythm towards the end of the second Test and on Twenty20 finals day.

That is no reflection on Toby Roland- Jones, who deserves his chance after taking 14 wickets in his first three Tests. He also brings his local knowledge of Lord’s to an attack that could not bowl out West Indies on the last day in Leeds.

‘It was a difficult one,’ conceded Root when asked if Woakes had been brought back too soon. ‘Chris passed all the fitness tests but it can be difficult balancing being physically fit and bowling the right amount in games.

‘We have picked the best side for conditions this week and Toby deserves the opportunity. He knows this ground extremely well and is full of confidence after the way he has played in Test cricket this summer.’

Those conditions yesterday saw an unusually green Lord’s pitch complete with unusual markings just short of a length from the Nursery End — described both as a ‘splodge’ and ‘fairy rings’.

‘We will have to see how it plays but I’ve no idea whether it will make a difference,’ said Root. ‘We will see whether it has an impact or is just a visual blemish. Whether you notice it might depend on if you’re looking at the ball.’

Victory is all-important then but there are also sub-plots aplenty, notably whether Jimmy Anderson will finally take the three wickets he needs to reach 500 in Tests after amazingly going wicketless on the last day at Leeds.

Then there is the intriguing situation where Ben Stokes is just one demerit mark away from a suspension that would surely be best served during the forthcoming one-day series rather than in the heat of an Ashes battle.

Stokes would continue to walk a disciplinary tightrope even if he did serve a ban because demerit marks are only wiped off a player’s record after two years, but it would still be in England’s interest for him to transgress again here.

Finally, there is the continuing saga of England’s fragile top five and whether Mark Stoneman and Dawid Malan can build on the progress made at Headingley and cement their places in the first Test at Brisbane in November.

Most pertinently, Tom Westley desperately needs a big score here if he is not to miss out on the Ashes and leave Engl an d still searching for an effective No 3 with the captain still stubbornly refusing to move up from four.

‘The best way for Tom or any player to look at it is that every time you play for England you have an opportunity to do something special,’ said Root. ‘Hopefully, he can show here what a strong character he is.’

West Indies’ thoughts yesterday were understandably as much on the damage being caused in the Caribbean by Hurricane Irma as the cricket. ‘We’ve got to be professional,’ said West Indies captain Jason Holder. ‘We know what’s happening back home. Luckily I think it’s passed Antigua and those islands going up but it’s obviously still going. We just urge people to stay safe.’ West Indies know they are within sight of what would be a hugely morale-boosting series triumph here. There have been so many false dawns in Caribbean cricket that their challenge now is to make sure Headingley was not a one-off and they can follow it with another performance of substance. But surely they cannot repeat what was a once-in-a-lifetime display at Headingley, particularly from Shai Hope and Kraigg Brathwaite, can they? Surely England’s superior quality and experience will count now, won’t it?

Last time I said that it was not a question of if England would win at Headingley but when. That did not exactly turn out right so this time I will just say England should win this final Investec Test comfortably to clinch a second series victory of a productive summer.

But I wouldn’t mind another classic.