Missed Opportunities - England Spring 2015 Test Tour to West Indies

The West Indies five wicket victory over England to square the series 1-1 underlined the missed opportunities England had at their disposal in this spring time whistle-stop tour of the Caribbean.

After a disastrous early exit from the Cricket World Cup earlier this year, England began the first of 15 Test matches over the next 12 months against a West Indies team looking to regain past glories of the once formidable 'Windies' team of the 1980s and early 1990s.

England's first Test away tour since the 2013/2014 Ashes whitewash would soon be followed by home matches against New Zealand and Australia and then a winter tour to South Africa. Such vital games against the top two Test playing sides later in the year should have seen the England set-up looking to take risks in the three match series lasting just over three weeks towards the end of April.

The initial selection indicated that England may do just that with Test call-ups given to 2014 County Championship winning Yorkshire team-mates. Left hand opening batsmen, Adam Lyth and leg spinner Adil Rashid were joined by wicket keeping cover, Johnny Bairstow, and quick bowler, Liam Plunkett.

Additional bowling options were offered with Durham's Mark Wood and Warwickshire batsman, Jonathan Trott, made the squad for the first time since that forgettable Ashes series Down Under. Trott had withdrawn from that series due to a stress related illness and he was particularly vulnerable to the short ball bowled with such ferocity by Australia's Mitchell Johnson.

Jonathan Trott's selection wasn't justified as he got four ducks from six innings in the Caribbean

Trott's previous successes were found at him coming in at Number Three but this position had eagerly been taken by Gary Ballance during Trott's absence last summer. 

Sam Robson, England's opening batsman from last summer, was left out of the squad and it would have been an opportunity to have a look at Lyth. England, however, missed a trick and partnered Alastair Cook with a desperately out of form Trott who disappointed in the warm-up games.

Last summer's spin revelation, Moeen Ali, had become injured towards the end of the World Cup and James Tredwell was picked as the front line spinner for the First Test in a series where dry and dusty pitches would assist spin.

England's team for the First Test in Antigua were:

Cook (c), Trott, Ballance, Bell, Root, Stokes, Buttler (wk), Jordan, Broad, Tredwell, Anderson.

James Anderson became England's leading wicket taker with 384 wickets

The headlines of the First Test were filled with James Anderson becoming England's leading wicket taker but Anderson couldn't prevent West Indies drawing the First Test on a docile pitch.

Trott's two innings amounted to 18 balls across 28 minutes for four runs which included a three ball duck in the first innings. England were tottering at 34-3 in the first innings until a 177 fourth wicket partnership between Joe Root (83) and Ian Bell (143) brought the team respectability and they were eventually bowled out for 399 following Ben Stokes 79 and a last wicket stand of 38 between Anderson (20) and Chris Jordan (21 not out).

England got a first innings lead of 104 after Jermaine Blackwood scored 112 not out and Tredwell got 4/47 from 26 overs, 12 of which were maidens. England's top order misfired once again, with Root coming to the wicket at 52-3 and his 114 run partnership with Ballance set up a total of 438 for West Indies to win. Ballance anchored the innings of 333-7 declared with the Yorkshireman scoring 122 whilst Root and Buttler (not out) both got 59.

West Indies second innings brought sporadic wickets but the English bowling attack couldn't bring the win as Jason Holder scored an unbeaten 103 to draw the game.

James Tredwell was unfortunate to only play one Test match in the series

England once again had the opportunity to strengthen their top order but the only change made was bizzarely replacing Tredwell with a fit-again Ali. 

Anderson made the headlines once again when his inspired performance on the morning of Day Five turned the game on it's head and brought England a nine wicket victory.

The Grenada wicket was spruced up by constant rains and Cook didn't hesitate in putting the West Indies in to bat after winning the toss. England's bowlers underwhelmed though and having the West Indies at 129-5, they allowed them to reach 299, at least 50 runs too many in helpful conditions.

Stuart Broad was the pick of the bowlers with 4/61 and Marlon Samuels fought against Stokes' sledging to make 103. The Samuels/Stokes confrontation would become an interesting and (sometimes humorous) subplot.

England batted on better conditions in their first innings and an improved top order brought an opening partnership of 125. The lack of urgency underlined how desperately out of form the two openers were with Cook taking 211 balls across 257 minutes to make his 76. Trott scratched around for 209 minutes using 147 balls to make his 59. 

Joe Root's 182 not out brought much needed impetuous into England's innings

Root brought some much needed impetuous to the innings with a knock that beautifully read the situation of the game and gave an insight into Root's future as a possible captain. His 182 not out was abley assisted by Ballance (77) but a spluttering tail left Root stranded 18 short of a double century and England all out for 464 with a lead of 165.

Root had been eyeing an English lead of over 200 when Anderson unassumingly jogged back to the crease without running his bat in and the tall Gabriel plucked a high ball thrown in from the boundary and whipped the bails off to leave Root frustrated.

Anderson was involved in taking 7 wickets in the West Indian second innings

Anderson soon made up for his dozy running between the wickets by being part of six of the eight wickets to fall in the final morning. Kevin Braithwaite (116) must have thought another draw was in the offing until he was caught off Anderson's bowling. His wicket was the first of eight to fall for 83 runs with Anderson taking 3 wickets, two catches and a stunning pick-up-and-throw run out. Anderson ended with 4/43 and Ali's 3/51 somewhat masked an undercooked bowling performance as he returned from injury.

West Indies were skittled out for 307 and set England 142 runs to win. Trott couldn't build on his first innings improvement and was out again for a three-ball duck. Cook (59 not out) was assisted by Ballance (81 not out) to bring a 9 wicket victory.

Cook celebrates England's first away Test victory since 2012

An unchanged England arrived at Barbados for the Third and final Test of the series where they were expecting to win the series but an improving West Indies team showed that they shouldn't be underestimated.  

England won the toss and batted. The innings began in ominous fashion with Trott out for his fourth a final duck of the series. The team were teetering at 91-4 after Root (33) fell for an uncharacteristically low score. Cook was undeterred and batted sensibly to earn his first century in almost two years. He quickly departed for 105 but had been assisted by Ali (58) before Cook ran him out and Stokes (22) contributed to England's 257 all out.

West Indies opening batsmen were left reeling when they were 37-4 following a great opening spell from Anderson. The Burnley quick ripped through the batting line-up to take 6-42 off 12.4 overs to leave West Indies 189 all out despite Jermaine Blackwood's 85.

With a lead off 68, England were looking to push on to make a substantial lead but they were restricted by the West Indian bowlers with Taylor, Holder and Permaul taking three wickets a piece. 

England started Day Three at 39-5 with a lead of 107 and were looking to set a target of at least 200/250 runs for West Indies to chase but Permaul struck early with the wickets of Ballance (23) and Stokes (32). Jordan was unfortunate to lose a review when Hawk Eye showed the ball was shaving the top of the bails and the on-field decision of out was upheld. 

Broad's horrendous batting since being hit in the face last summer continued as he stayed back to a short ball and saw his off stump rooted. Jordan has quickly replaced Broad as the team all-rounder and the Nottinghamshire bowler looks a viable candidate for Number 11. Jos Buttler went into one-day mode and took the lead up to 191 before he was left stranded on 35 not out.

It seemed that the target of 192 was a little short of a challenging total but England had hopes of victory when they reduced West Indies to 80-4. Darren Bravo (82) and Jermaine Blackwood (47 not out) took the West Indies to victory to clinch a well earned series draw with a five wicket victory. 

Jos Buttler is left to rue the missed stumping of Blackwood

England missed another opportunity when Buttler failed to stump a charging Blackwood that would have seen the West Indies struggling at 88-5. Blackwood and Bravo then knuckled down to reach their target after 62.4 overs towards the end of Day Three of the five-day Test match.

Captain Cook reflected on the tour by saying that "for the majority of the series we did a lot of good stuff but when the pressure came on we didn't play very well." How you respond to pressure moments is what defines teams - look at Hussain in the Sri Lankan gloom in 2000, Vaughan's men at Edgbaston in 2005 and Cook's team in India in 2012.

Certain players haven't stepped up to the mark in this tour and incoming ECB Chief Colin Graves will have to consider removing some veterans and taking some risks.

Root is wise for his years but it would be too early to give him the captaincy yet and Cook has shown some good captaincy this series, apart from bowling an expensive Ali, under bowling Stokes and fielding his best fielder (Jordan) in the covers when bowling the seamers. Cook's catching is also not what it used to be.

Trott should never have been selected for this tour and his dismal average of 11.3 from six innings highlighted his vulnerability to the short ball that will leave Johnson and co licking their lips if Trott takes guard in the First Ashes Test in July. Lyth should have been given a go during this tour, as should Rashid have. There could have been an argument to bowl both Rashid and Tredwell in the final Test with Ali bowling too many short balls and Root often out performed him.

It was encouraging to see Broad bowl fuller and he got rewarded with 10 wickets in the series at an average of 32 but there was no doubt who England's best bowler was with Anderson taking 17 wickets for an average of 18. His fielding on the final day of the Second Test probably just sneaked him past Root as England's Man of the Series.

England's Man of the Series, James Anderson, couldn't prevent a series draw

The series left more questions than answers. England coach, Peter Moores, said that "there's a ruthlessness we need to develop, commitment from the lads has been total but we've got to learn some tough lessons."

Ruthlessness will have to be shown in team selection. Despite his 143 in Antigua, Bell under performed in a tour where he batted one place too high. His experience will be needed during this summer's Ashes but he should be dropped if he doesn't perform.

James Taylor was England's player of the World Cup and he has been rewarded with the temporary One Day captaincy for Friday's match against Ireland due to regular skipper, Eoin Morgan, playing in the IPL. I am glad that Taylor will be given this opportunity and he would be an asset to England's Test middle order.

Lyth should be given a run in the team after earning a chance from last year's domestic season and, even though Moeen Ali is a canny One Day bowler, he isn't a front-line Test spinner and either Tredwell or Rashid should be given a chance. Jos Buttler is a batsman/keeper and, apart from in the last Test, has usually had a quiet time behind the stumps. Stokes was under bowled by Cook whilst Jordan impressed with his line and reflex catching.

Broad had an improved series but his place could be under threat if he has a lackluster summer. My recommendation for the team to play New Zealand would be:

Cook (c), Lyth, Ballance, Root, Bell, Buttler, Stokes, Jordan, Tredwell/Rashid, Anderson, Broad.

However it cannot be denied that, with the end of the Caribbean Tour, England's Year of Test Cricket hasn't got off to the best of starts.