England Chase Down Victory

Mark Wood lead the Englishmen off after 5-41

England tour of the Caribbean - well the Test match part of it at least - was put to bed at Gros Islet today with a strange combination of expressions of supremacy where there had been none; pride where it had been mere conversation; leadership after it was most needed but when it most counted; and a West Indies team who were victors over England for only the second time in twenty years.

England played good cricket in the final Test. Mark Wood bowled fast and with control. It has taken a long time to bring him to that combination after many promises had been made since his debut nearly four years ago and England's selectors will be more confident of having the depth they want come the Ashes contest in August. Importantly, England held their catches and squeezed hard during the clutch moments. For the first time in the series, they played like a powerful side. Root, who has been worse than indifferent on the tour, rose to the occasion and scored a fine hundred after five previous failures. Josh Butler and Ben Stokes scored runs in the middle order, which was an overdue change.

However, at the top of order, England still have problems to solve. The list of openers England has tried in the past five years is like the electoral roll for Monaro and on the basis of the Caribbean Tour, its not going to get shorter. Whilst their premier batsman should be batting at first wicket down, like Greg Chappell forty years earlier, Root prefers an extra step away from the new ball. For a long time, - even when Alastair Cook was still holding a spot - the first three haven't provided any protection. With a resurgent Australian pace attack ready to fire, an unstable top order will more often than not lead to the rot setting in for England. The West Indies showed that in the first two Tests.

Roston Chase

For a change, there is an awful lot for the Windies to take from this series. Ticker above all else. Even in a losing cause, Roston Chase stood tall on the last day and made a brave hundred, particularly notable for the fact he was out first ball in the first innings to 150km/hr thunderbolt that reared at him from Wood. Gone are the show ponies which have plagued West Indies cricket for such a long time. Instead, application and effort and a sense of team has infused a side that for nearly thirty years has fractured into individual talents - some of it precocious and world beating - more interested in what their talent was worth on the open market, than what they could collectively buy for the future of West Indies cricket. Even when Captain Jason Holder was banned by the ICC for the third and final Test because of slow over rates, Kraigg Braithwaite stepped up. There was no sense that the team was right behind him. No, they were right beside him.

When was the last time a player took eight wickets in an innings and scored a century in the same series? Today actually, with the Chase hundred.

So England lose the series 1-2 after, on balance, playing some pretty poor cricket and drop one place below Australia in the ICC rankings as a result: but what might be bad for Joe Root and his players is damn good for cricket.

Roots rebukes Gabriel

Root, as he has done before, lifted the standards of The Game with his rebuke of Shanon Gabriel, who the ICC have subsequently charged with a Code of Conduct breach. Whilst the presumption of innocence is an important principal, unless they have the wrong man, the clear utterances by Gabriel across the stump microphone is condemning. Root's response was swift, measured but unambiguous. Whilst his batting may have been below standard until the last gasp, the quality of the man is a reminder of what true leadership is when directed by an unerring moral compass.

Yorkshire lads tell it without fear or favour but few before him have spoken so well when it was most required.

Such a stark reminder of what is required of leaders, especially when contrasted to Steven Smith's strabismus blind eye, twelve months earlier.