In last two series the trend for Eng v WI series has been win/loss for both teams!.
This was not the case in recent past(2000-2012) where England dominated West Indies, they hardly lost a match let alone the series. In that period they won 6 series and lost one!. Now that has changed.
Currently teams like Australia, South Africa, India and now New Zealand are dominating West Indies. Some of these teams have not lost to West Indies for decades!.
Now going into 3rd test which is series decider match, England are in much better position than West Indies. Their bench strength is stronger with experienced players, whereas West Indies bench strength has not played an Int. match for sometime.
Having said that, weather once again will play crucial role for first 2 days, and first innings lead once again will decide the outcome of the series.
Hence one believes both teams will make at least two changes.
For West Indies – Alzarri Joseph will be replaced by left-arm Raymon Reifer, and opener John Campbell will be replaced by leg-spinner Nkrumah Bonner who can bat as well . Shai Hope can open with Kraigg Brathwaite.
For England Jofra Archer should come into playing XI, and irrespective of fitness Ben Stokes should play purely as a batsman. He will be replacing Zak Crawley at top order. James Anderson replacing Chris Woakes.
This will give England enough fire power and variety in their bowling attack(Anderson, Archer, Broad, S Curran and D Bess).
The weather in this series has been conducive to bowling, hence first innings lead is vital… same time batting last in a test match has not been very difficult for both teams in this series. It suggests batting on day 3 and 4 has been excellent.
Both teams showed patience with the bat allowing themselves to bat beyond the second new ball, and that needs to continue.
For West Indies, their batting has been major concern for some time. They need to avoid getting trapped in front of wicket regularly, i.e L B W dismissal.
Here is a short analysis of the same.
Since Jan 2017 there were 86 L B W dismissals for West Indies(18.03% of total wickets)... from which 63 dismissals happened to those 8 players who are participating in this series. It clearly suggests players from this squad are prone to LBW!!.
Here is a brief stats analysis of this particular dismissals and how it stands against batsmen’s overall performance.
Since Jan 2017 West indies played 27 test matches losing 477 wickets, of which 86 were LBW victims (18.03%)
Historic record of L B W and Bowled Dismissals in Test playing nation. In last 3 years across all test playing countries there is overall rise by 1.68 %, & in England its risen to 5.96 %.Here is comparison table
- List of countries featuring L B W and Bowled dismissals – since 2017
- List of most successful overseas bowlers in England featuring L B W and Bowled dismissals.
