An interesting and highly enjoyable test series has come to an end and has seen England claim permanent ownership of the Wisden Trophy. It was a series in which most participants had their moments, but how did they do overall? My thoughts on the England team are below, with the West Indies to follow soon:
Rory Burns (234 runs at 46.80)
He’ll be disappointed not to have converted any of his four starts into a truly big score, although his best opportunity to make a century was curtailed more by circumstance than by any real fault of his own. I’d usually be more critical of someone for geting out when set as often as he did here, but he gets a bit of slack due as the achievement of simply “not failing” is more valuable from an opener than a middle-order player, although the softness of a couple of his dismissals counts against him. He does appear to be Roston Chase’s bunny, having been dismissed by him in four out of five innings, which is something I didn’t think I’d ever say about any cricketer.
Dom Sibley (226 runs at 45.20)
In contradiction to what I wrote about Burns, Sibley gets a solid verdict for a similar overall output, but in a more up-and-down manner. His two first-innings ducks threatened to put England behind in the game early on (even though they ultimately got a good score the second time), but on the flipside his century in the second test put England very much on top, even if he didn’t do it singlehandedly. Definitely has the temperament to be a successful long-term opening option.
Joe Root (130 runs at 43.33)
Frustratingly got himself out in the first innings of each test after a bit of a start, although he at least didn’t totally fail on either occasion. His second innings in the second test was neither here nor there, but his 68 in the third test was actually an excellent declaration charge (especially as the openers had struggled a bit to force the pace), even if any extra time it gave England to bowl the West Indies out turned out to be somewhat redundant. Seemed to be fewer complaints on social media about his captaincy than has become the norm, although that’s hardly a definitive way to judge things.
Ben Stokes (363 runs at 90.75, 9 wickets at 16.33)
A sublime series, it has to be said. Played two totally different types of outstanding innings to set England up for the win in the second test, the first of these being particularly noteworthy as it was the first time he had played would could be described as a truly “marathon” test innings. On top of this, in the two tests in which he was able to bowl, he returned figures which would you’d consider impressive from any specialist bowler. Falls short of perfectiom for failing to kick on after a start twice in the first test, where doing so even once could have changed the outcome of the match, (although in mitigation he was still England’s highest run scorer overall in that test). Dropping a couple of straightforward catches at slip also counts against him.
Ollie Pope (134 runs at 33.50)
An overall disappointing series for the promising youngster, and in particular his twin failures in the first test let the team down in a low-scoring match. His second test was also uninspiring, although his lack of a meaningful contribution was less damaging in that instance. His 91 in the third test, however, was a genuinely excellent innings which wrested back control of the match when it was threatening to slip away from England, so he just about gets a positive mark overall.
Jos Buttler (151 runs at 30.20, 12 catches)
A slightly difficult series to rate, in my opinion. His first two tests were underwhelming, comprising two starts and two failures (although the latter of these, coming when he was promoted to open in pursuit of quick runs, should not count against him at all). His third-test 67, however, was every bit as important as the innings played by Ollie Pope, with whom he shared a 140 run partnership, if less substantial.
Behind the stumps he was mostly fine, but his drop of Jermaine Blackwood in the second innings of the first test should have been taken and had he done so, the West Indies’ chase would have taken on a very different complexion. Overall, an average series. His third-test performance has probably (rightfully) saved his test career in the immediate future, but I doubt many fans are confident of further success against Pakistan.
Chris Woakes (1 run at 0.50, 11 wickets at 16.63)
His batting continues to be something of a non-factor, which can’t be glossed over for someone batting at 7 or 8, but Woakes’ performance with the ball showed why he should always be in contention for home tests. There isn’t much to say about his performance, which went somewhat under the radar in a manner not atypical for him, that the numbers don’t already show. If you wanted to be picky, you could say that he might have grabbed more headlines if his five-fer had changed the course of the match, as opposed to ‘merely’ all-but finishing it off (albeit emphatically).
Dom Bess (83 runs at 83.00, 5 wickets at 41.60)
A disappointing but not disastrous series with the ball, the headline statistic of “five wickets in three tests” is unfair on him as he was literally not required to bowl in the third test. Five wickets in two test is hardly a stellar return either. It his figures might have been more forgivable had his bowling been tidy but a tad unpenetrative, but in reality he generally failed to consistently build and maintain pressure. He will presumably retain his place for the first test against Pakistan, as he didn’t get the chance to (potentially) bowl himself out of contention, but another poor performance may well see him replaced.
On a more positive note, his batting was much improved from the recent tour of South Africa and the contributions he made throughout the series, whilst far from game-changing, genuinely improved his team’s position.
Jofra Archer (26 runs at 8.66, 4 wickets at 50.50)
Archer’s series was underwhelming without his having played especially badly, and I feel compelled to point out that he bowled better (and tried harder, not that it should need to be said) than some social media users would have you believe (and than his figures suggest). That said, there’s no getting past the fact that his returns were hardly brilliant, as he just couldn’t quite consistenly keep the batsmen under pressure and wasn’t able to compensate by just taking wickets with unplayable deliveries instead.
A point in his favour: despite another overall poor series with the bat, his second innings at Southampton did show a promising glimpse of the ability his first-class record suggests he has.
Stuart Broad (73 runs at 73.00, 16 wickets at 10.93)
At the time it was announced, the decision to leave Broad out of the opening test of the series was questionable, even if there was some logic behind it. In hindsight, however, it looks absolutely ridiculous. The leading wicket taker from either side despite only playing two out of three tests, Broad’s bowling swung the second test in England’s favour when it looked like a draw was becoming the likely outcome and he had much the same impact with the third test, with his 62 taking back momentum after the West Indies had spent the morning up to that point demolishing England’s good work of the day before. His subsequent match figures of 10/67 speak for themselves. Outstanding.
James Anderson (25 runs at 12.50, 5 wickets at 30.00)
Disappointing without having played badly, it was perhaps surprising that Anderson at no point looked likely to run through a shaky batting line-up in conditions that were familiar to him. Maybe age is starting to catch up with the nearly-38 year old, maybe not. He was typically miserly, though, with the lowest economy of any bowler and certainly didn’t bowl badly. He was just, on the whole, a bit less threatening than England would have hoped.
Joe Denly (47 runs at 23.50)
Comments that he is only in the team because he’s good mates with Ed Smith unfairly detract from the job Denly has legitimately done at times for England, but he didn’t have a good time in the single test he played. As is typical with him, his run tally undersells the resilience he generally batted with, but that doesn’t mean that 47 runs in the match was in any way enough. His pitifully soft disimissal in the second innings badly undermined any image of toughness too and it’s probably fair enough that England have moved on, presumably forever.
Zak Crawley (76 runs at 24.25)
If it hadn’t been followed by such a bad collapse, Crawley’s 76 at Southampton may well have been looked at as, in the context, approaching match-winning. Apart from that, however, there wasn’t a lot to write home about, although as with others, his low score whislt pushing for a declaration should not be held against him.
His series here paints a picture of who he is as a player right now: not without talent, but also not yet a test cricketer. He might well play against Pakistan, as he was in effect dropped because of Stokes’s injury worries meaning the selectors wanted an extra bowler, but if he doesn’t perform he may well see his test career curtailed for the immediate future.
Sam Curran (17 runs at 17.00, 3 wickets at 33.33)
He by no means disgraced himself in his single test this series, but for me, Curran can’t quite shake off the impression that despite genuine match-winning performances in the past, he’s overall slightly too bits-and-pieces to consistently warrant a spot in the test side. In his defence, he did get a couple of breakthroughs when the West Indies looked to be otherwise untroubled which is an invaluable skill.
He’s still young, so there’s plenty of opportunity for him to become more consistent in both disciplines, but I agree with the selectors decision for the third test not to consider him one of England’s five best bowlers, nor for his batting to make up for this
Mark Wood (7 runs at 3.50, 2 wickets at 55.00)
A disappointing single test after an impressive showing in South Africa. He did his thing of bowling fast, but ended up being a fairly textbook example of how, especially in English conditions, pace alone isn’t worth a lot if you don’t actually bowl that well. With is home record now thoroughly underwhelming, I’m still happy for him to play overseas in conditions where raw pace might be more of a factor, but this should be the last we see of him in England.
Additionally, as someone expected to at least chip in with the bat, a couple of poor dismissals when the match situation meant that any runs were crucial don’t do him any favours either.
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