Woakes is back and England are certs
The 3,500 optimistic souls who have bought fourth-day tickets for this second Test clearly view life’s glass not only as half full but positively brimming over. It remains to be seen whether they are rewarded with some Bank holiday cricket.
The brutal reality is that it is simply a question of when rather than if england win here at headingley and wrap up this Investec series with a Test to play because West Indies just do not possess enough quality to upset the odds.
Only england’s consistent ability to be inconsistent could give West Indies any hope but surely Joe Root’s team will not repeat the mistake they most recently made at Trent Bridge when not kicking South Africa while they were down.
There was certainly no sign of england taking pity on a pitiful West Indies yesterday when they decided to bring back Chris Woakes rather than give Toby Roland-Jones another Test to cement his place in the Ashes squad.
The return of Woakes, their most improved player of 2016, can only make england stronger as Root attempts to seal his fifth win in his first six Tests as captain in front of a strong contingent of his family on his home ground.
‘It was a very difficult decision to make with Toby putting in some strong performances,’ said the england captain. ‘But if Chris had been fully fit at the start of the series he would have come straight back into the team.
‘he has been phenomenal and his record last year was outstanding. his challenge now will be to back that up and this shows we have a lot of depth in the bowling department. The key is they are all pushing each other for spots.’
how england could do with the same level of competition among their top-order batsmen as Mark Stoneman, Tom Westley and Dawid Malan all go into today’s Test needing a hundred to secure their own seats on the plane to Perth.
‘The only message for those guys is to go out there and take this opportunity,’ said Root. ‘Of course they are under pressure but, if they want to nail down those spots, they have to deal with that and make it count.’
A different kind of opportunity knocks for Root himself as he attempts to equal AB de Villiers world record of making a half century in 12 successive Tests and Jimmy Anderson who needs eight wickets to reach the magical 500 mark.
Good luck to Root if he tries to rest Anderson for the final Test if he ends up taking five or six wickets here but clearly any plans to rotate england’s squad have been put on hold until after this series has been won.
‘It is vitally important that we back up last week’s strong display,’ said Root, who will be leading a side out at headingley for only the second time.
‘We didn’t play well at Trent Bridge earlier this season after a really good start against South Africa and we have to have that mentality of being consistent.’
All of which makes West Indies’ near impossible task even harder as they attempt to react to the stinging criticism, led by Sir Curtly Ambrose, of their edgbaston capitulation.
While coach Stuart Law hit back at Ambrose on Wednesday captain Jason holder yesterday played a straighter bat to the criticism than anything his batsmen managed while losing 19 wickets in a day in Birmingham.
‘I don’t really hear any of it,’ said holder. ‘I can’t change what people say or control it so I ignore it. We’ve taken a fair bit of criticism from english and West Indian observers , everyone to be honest, and that’s something that can either motivate someone or break them. We have to stay together as a side.’
There was, of course, a two-day Test involving West Indies at headingley 17 years ago but that was because england’s batting was just as fragile as their opponents. even with Shannon Gabriel and Davendra Bishoo likely to bolster West Indies’ attack now it is impossible to imagine england being bowled out cheaply this time.
england will win this second Test, probably on Sunday or, if the Bank holiday ticket holders get lucky, on Monday.