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The World Cup is over and on Australian shores, footballers of all codes are now fighting it out for attention. But international cricket hasn’t gone away.
Half a world away, a series is about to begin between two teams which haven’t set the world alight recently.
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England has travelled to the West Indies to start a tour which begins in earnest next Monday. So why should anyone really take more than a cursory glance?
Australia go up against The West Indies in June followed by an away Ashes series, meaning those in and around the Australian team will definitely take notice.
The lack of Test cricket recently and the immediate history of both those sides make for a mystery worthy of closer inspection.
England haven’t played Test cricket since their home series against India back in July as they wanted a solid preparation for the World Cup – and didn’t that work out well?
Injuries, players trying to cement spots and a captain always under scrutiny give the tourists a huge amount to play for in the Caribbean.
The England top order is unsettled. The opening partnership is undecided thanks to Sam Robson being dropped. Jonathan Trott returns to the squad and could possibly join Alastair Cook at the top or return to three, meaning fellow African born Gary Ballance would get shuffled somewhere else.
With Moeen Ali injured, a spot opens up for a spinner and given he also bats in the top six, it might also impact on the third seam option. Ben Stokes, one of the beat performers in the last Ashes series, has been included in the squad and could fulfill the all round duties squeezing out Chris Jordan and allowing two spinners to be played.
However, as the two spinners (James Tredwell and Adil Rashid) on tour have a total of one Test between them, England may opt for a more experienced pace-based attack.
Alastair Cook was under immense pressure due to a lack of runs in England’s 2014 summer, but a series win against India and a last innings score of 79 eased things a bit. However after being dumped as one-day captain, failure with the bat in this series will see the pressure cranked up to fever pitch by the time Australia reach England in July.
And of course, all this will be going on against a backdrop of “What’s Kevin (Pietersen) doing?”
Since the walkout of their tour of India in October, the West Indies have gone through another tumultuous period. In the aftermath, wicketkeeper Dinesh Ramdin now leads the Test side.
The West Indies batsmen often got starts in their last series against South Africa but struggled to go on with it and put together large scores. Aside from Marlon Samuels and Kraigg Braithwaite, what their batting line-up will be going into the Australian series is uncertain and so the Tests against England pose an opportunity to sure up a top six.
At 40, the evergreen Shivnarine Chanderpaul must be a couple of innings away from the end.
The one day captain, Jason Holder is very inexperienced at Test level but you get the feeling he will be a major part of the Test setup for the foreseeable future – which isn’t always that long in West Indies cricket. He only managed two wickets in two Tests in South Africa at a cost of 49.66 a piece and he needs to have a bigger impact against England.
Given the nature of pitches in the Caribbean and how Australia performed in the United Arab Emirates last September, the spinners the West Indies choose will also be keenly observed. Towering left armer Sulieman Benn, is the likely first choice but leg spinner Devendra Bishoo who last played against Australia in 2012 may get another chance after four six-wicket hauls in recent first-class cricket.
Benn will definitely be remembered by Australia after he, Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson had an ugly clash at the WACA a few years ago. They haven’t met in a game since.
Pound for pound, England are probably the better team, but with the West Indies being at home and the uncertainty around both teams, it should be a close contest.
While most attention will switch away from cricket as winter approaches, there are enough reasons to still keep an eye on two teams battling it out under an April sun in the Caribbean.
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