England cricket has gone through a massive transformation since their humiliating defeat at the hands of Australia in the winter. The head coach Chris Silverwood was sacked, managing director Ashley Giles was sacked and high profile players such as Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson were dropped for the following test.
England are now adamant on changing their direction and having a big clear-out of the old guard, many believed that Joe Root was lucky to keep his title as captain despite his brilliant talent.
Now with England playing the West Indies away from home there has been a chance for many young English talents to shine. However, they have drawn both of their tests against the West Indies whilst failing to skittle down some wickets.
Is this new look England going to take time and prove they have what it takes to challenge the rest of the world or will it be a transition that is lacking in a killer conviction?
England’s style
Watching England can be incredibly frustrating and an arduous task. One minute they are looking steady and then a complete collapse will ensue. It is the same old story of the top order struggling and hoping that Root or Ben Stokes will save them.
With regards the bowling attack they have struggled when it has come to selecting the right bowlers for the right pitch. They also lack a real spinner who will perform like in the days of Graeme Swann (in the modern era) and England have really struggled to replace him in the test side.
This West Indies tour
England made the bold move of dropping both Anderson and Broad at the same time for the tour of the West Indies and it may not have been the best decision to drop both. England failed to really make the West Indies pay in both tests with the ball especially having declared to chase down the West Indies. Both Craig Overton and Ollie Robinson missed the second test through injury and were replaced by Matt Fisher and Saqib Mahmood.
However, there have been positives with the return to form of both Stokes and Johnny Bairstow; who looked much more like we know without the gloves. Zak Crawley was also another positive as he hit a ton in the first test as an opening batsmen. Alongside him we saw Root dig in and grab two one hundreds in both tests.
This tour series has and should be used as a great chance to blood in new players. Interim coach Paul Collingwood is excited about the prospect of working as the coach permanently so is showing he is not scared of making big decisions.
England did show more resilience than usual after a typical early collapse in the first innings and they should be proud of their first test.
What next?
England remain the favourites to beat the West Indies on home soil and the best betting deals in the UK keep them favourites. So with the final test lining up to be the decider now after two drawn tests England must secure victory. With Robinson and Overton expected back in the squad another one of the old guard Chris Woakes is expected to miss out. There are also calls for Jake Leach to be dropped in favour of Matt Parkinson to see what he can do at test level.
With Jos Buttler and Rory Burns already missing out on this tour, Collingwood and Andrew Strauss are making some big decisions for the future of England.
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