The view from across the way

Luke Dunning analyses the England selection dilemma

O Captain! My Captain!

Going into the First Test in Southampton, the focus has arguably been on various circumstances happening in the world rather than the matters on the pitch.

Yes, there was a West Indies inter-squad tour match where a few batters got runs and a few bowlers got wickets – most noticeable was Raymon Reifer’s 5fer but we haven’t heard that much about the English preparations

Sussex analyst Luke Dunning answers the key questions for the hosts ahead of the start of the First Test

England come into the series following a series win in South Africa, a series loss in New Zealand and a drawn Ashes series, although their last test was a good seven or so months ago. Since the tour of the West Indies, in which England took until the Third Test to score 250 plus. England’s batting has been a massive talking point. 

The South Africa tour may have quashed this for the meantime especially given the new blood that came through, Dom Sibley and Ollie Pope both averaged above 50 on the tour, both recorded their first test centuries and England will be confident these two youngsters alongside the mainstays of Joe Root (dad duties notwithstanding) and Ben Stokes will be able to do well against this West Indies attack. 

Sibley averaging 50 in that last series should cement his place for this series and Rory Burns is surely the favourite to partner him over Zak Crawley despite a solid showing in South Africa for the latter.

Crawley averaged 32.60 at the top of the order but Burns’ coming of age in last summer’s Ashes Series in which he averaged 55.13 with two hundreds has cemented his place upon his return. Of course the West Indies will remember Burns struggling in the Caribbean but since then, he has come on leaps and bounds.

The middle order will be interesting but one would not be surprised if England stick with Joe Denly at number 3, he averages 30.00 since his Test debut in the West Indies, which is very underwhelming, but he seems to be there when England need him. 

Should England decide to switch things up, Zak Crawley could be demoted to three although he is an opener by trade or England could go left field and look to Essex’s Dan Lawrence.

The right hander would be out of position should he be made to bat 3 but did enjoy a successful 2019 County Season where he scored 725 runs at 38.16 as Essex secured the County Championship and was also impressive on the last England Lions tour of Australia where he recorded a hundred in a standalone game against Australia A.

Lawrence could yet be needed as stand in for Joe Root as the England captain will be absent to attend the birth of his child. Bar that, the England middle order looks fairly settled completed by the combination of Ben Stokes and Ollie Pope – Pope averaged 88.66 during the tour of South Africa and looks like a real talent given his First Class average is 60.68 after 56 innings. 

The wicket keeper could really be picked out of a hat, the favourite will be Jos Buttler but he will be under some pressure from either Jonny Bairstow or Ben Foakes, all three have experienced playing Test Cricket against the West Indies in recent times. Buttler experienced a tough 2019 where he only managed 405 runs from 19 innings. 

Bairstow hasn’t fared much better and the biggest concern he has is that 17/33 (52%) of his dismissals have come via being bowled or caught LBW since the beginning of 2018. Should he play, it would be something that the West Indies will look to scrutinise. 

Foakes is untested in England and some feel he was harshly dropped in the West Indies given he averaged 41.50 in his 10 innings. His glove work is exceptional and is certainly something to look out for should he play.

England’s bowling is pretty self-explanatory, especially given that they are the home side. The ECB have said the first test will see them pick the strongest side as they see it so you would expect to see James Anderson and Stuart Broad combine. The main weight on England’s mind will be the fitness of Anderson given that he pulled up halfway through the South Africa tour following an injury he sustained in the First Ashes Test last year. 

England may also have the same concerns over both Jofra Archer and Mark Wood. Archer is said to have recovered from an elbow injury and is ready to continue his impressive start to his international career which has seen him record three five wicket hauls in his first thirteen innings.

Wood also had an elbow injury which he has recovered from and it may well be that England rotate these two throughout the series as their main generators of pace.

Sam Curran and Chris Woakes will make up the bowlers that England may look to go with. The bemusement of England’s selection last summer was that it took until the final Ashes test for Sam Curran to actually play; he was named man of the series in England’s series win in India in 2018. A year later, he was barely considered but since the last Ashes test – he has featured in every test match. 

It will be interesting to see how England manage their seamers, in England during the last two international seasons – Anderson, Broad, Archer, Curran and Woakes all average under 25 with the ball. 

On top of that, there may be a demand for a spinner too – especially given the stage of the Summer and the venues being the Ageas Bowl and Old Trafford. Moeen Ali may well return but Jack Leach and Dom Bess should not be discarded given their performances in recent times. 

Yes, Jack Leach is well known for his role in Stokes’ heroics at Headingly last summer but he actually did okay in the Ashes series with the ball taking 12 wickets at an average of 25.83 in that series. He did struggle in New Zealand but so did every bowler and then he fell ill in South Africa which allowed for the rise of Dom Bess.

Bess did really well in his two matches in South Africa and took his maiden five wicket haul in Port Elizabeth. It threw up some questions for the spin department because all have actually done well in the last two seasons. Since 2018, Moeen Ali has 48 wickets at 25.27 so he has his stake to claim as well. It will be fascinating to see who gets the nod.

So there it is, the England preview – in short, the bowling is mustard and should cause permanent penetration for that West Indies line up. Whilst some may say the England batting is a hopeless case, the likes of Sibley and Pope give England fans reason to be excited despite the challenge of facing the likes of Roach, Gabriel and Holder.

Luke Dunning chosen England XI

Burns

Sibley

Denly

Stokes*

Lawrence

Pope

Buttler+

Moeen

Archer

Broad

Anderson

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