IT’S OVAL AND OUT
Woakes to miss cut as Curran and Broad stake their Test claims
It may have only been four days of glorified practice masquerading as two warm- up matches but England moved a long way towards finalising their first test line-up against a poor West Indies Board President’s XI at the three Ws Oval.
the sight yesterday of Stuart Broad and Sam Curran both striking in their first over on the final day of England’s match preparations was evidence that both will play ahead of the unlucky Chris Woakes in the first test at Kensington Oval on Wednesday.
there was good pace, too, from Ben Stokes, who looks ready to re-establish himself as England’s all-round talisman now he has been able to escape from under the disciplinary cloud that hovered over him for 18 months. Another clue as to England’s thinking came at the back of the ground in the Malcolm Marshall nets where Joe Root went through a long session of bowling at Keaton Jennings, suggesting he is readying himself to act as second spinner.
Both Jack Leach and Adil Rashid impressed in the 3-0 victory against Sri Lanka before Christmas but it would be a surprise if either started this series on a Barbados pitch which is likely to be the least conducive to spin in the series.
Recent history suggests spinners only take one in every five of the test wickets to fall at the Kensington Oval while at the Sir Viv Richards Stadium in Antigua, venue for the second test, that figure leaps up to one in three.
that means Moeen Ali is set to be the sole spinner for at least the first game and could bat as low as No 8, even though he is much happier playing first and foremost as a batsman and acting as second fiddle to another slow bowler.
But one of Rashid or Leach is likely to feature in Antigua and possibly St Lucia. It will be fascinating to see who is ahead after both had a decent bowl here.
the fact Moeen will bat so low is indicative of what should be a strong and positive batting line-up that should score enough runs to give England what would be only their second series win in the Caribbean in 50 years.
Jonny Bairstow has made no secret of his preference to bat in the middle order and keep the gloves rather than stay at No 3 where he scored a hundred in the final test in Colombo and a classy 98 here in the second warm-up.
Yet, such has been the impact of Ben Foakes since his unexpected arrival in Sri Lanka, Bairstow really has no choice but to accept he has the talent to shine just as brightly in what has been a huge problem position.
It has not all been smooth sailing. Jennings has not spent much time at the crease so far in three innings and there is enough decent pace in the West Indies line-up to create more problems for him.
And Joe Denly, pencilled in at No 3 before struggling in the warm-up matches in Sri Lanka, did little in his one outing here to show he is a credible alternative should Jennings struggle in the more important stuff.
Rory Burns, too, could do with a century in this series to confirm he is the best man to face Australia’s potent new- ball attack this summer however good the impression he has made in Sri Lanka and here.
At least England’s attack were given a good work- out yesterday, with Sunil Ambris hitting 94 for the President’s XI before he was dismissed by Woakes.
Woakes was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets as the home side finished on 233 for 11 and has impressed with bat and ball here after missing out completely in Sri Lanka. But he faces a tough battle if he is to feature in this series, particularly as it should favour spin the longer it goes on.
‘I was very pleased with the run out,’ said Woakes. ‘I’m a bit more hopeful of playing here than in Sri Lanka and hopefully the fact we’re playing with a Duke ball helps my chances but competition for places is high and it’s hard to force your way in. I don’t think I could have done any more here.’