England vs West Indies: Series victory will add momentum to hosts' Ashes bid

West Indies were always meant to be pushovers for this ruthless England juggernaut. The hosts had brushed aside the best travellers in modern day cricket, South Africa, 3-1 and were looking in prime form for the Ashes later this year. The West Indies series was supposed to be a warm-up for this dominant England unit. But England were stunned when Windies launched an amazing fightback at Headingly to level the series and turn the final Test at Lord’s into a series decider, something very few would have anticipated from this West Indian side a month ago. Australia, England’s foes in the biggest series of the year, the Ashes, were meanwhile being thrashed by Bangladesh at home. What was believed to be a cracker of a contest Down Under was suddenly losing its sheen in a week with either team suffering humiliating losses. [caption id=“attachment_4027761” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] England players celebrate a West Indies wicket in the Lord’s Test. Reuters[/caption] There is a reason why Lord’s is hailed as the ‘Mecca of cricket’. It is akin to the final stage where artists turn up in their best costumes and conjure up their best performances. When the final Test got underway, the cloud cover looming over the picturesque ground completed the setting for a grand finale. The series had suddenly come alive courtesy Kraigg Brathwaite and Shai Hope and there was a sense of anticipation and excitement. This Test match was supposed to be a dead rubber with England leading 2-0. Yet, Windies’ show in the second Test had not only put the series in the balance but also raised hopes of an upset in the decider at Lord’s. Lord’s has hosted four men’s ODI World Cup finals. It is the biggest stage in world cricket. It is the stage where big names walk in, put in spectacular performances on the field and etch down their names in the Lord’s honour board. Perhaps England’s most exciting big match player today is Ben Stokes. He was earmarked for greatness right from the time he took on Mitchell Johnson’s short ball and made a hundred in the Ashes in 2013. At Lord’s, with criticism on his bowling growing louder, Stokes put in an exhibition of seam and swing bowling. England have James Anderson and Stuart Broad, two of the best exponents of the red cherry in modern-day cricket. But it was Stokes who stole the limelight with some mind-numbing skills on Day 1 at Lord’s. His six-wicket haul bowled Windies out for 123 and returned order to the cricketing world after a week of turmoil and upsets. But Kemar Roach, back into the West Indian setup for this series after a two-year break, was in no mood to let go without a fight. He set the Aussies a template on how to bowl at England’s top-order batsmen with an exemplary display of seam bowling. England edged ahead by 71 runs courtesy the 60 runs added for the last two wickets but the Windies were still in it. James Anderson, another man who thrives on the big stage, hogged the limelight on Day 2 by capturing his 500th Test wicket, becoming the third seamer to the landmark after Courtney Walsh and Glenn McGrath. But Hope once again took the visitors to stumps with the kind of defiance and technique that the Windies could only dream of from its players until a few years back. Even though Hope made a fighting half-century on Day 3, his teammates refused to go to war with him as Anderson wreaked havoc aided by the overcast conditions. He finished with career best figures of 7/42 a day after he had propelled himself to greatness by breezing past the elusive 500-wicket tally in Tests. Windies had fought hard to remain in the series but Anderson’s outstanding spell was too much for this deflated batting line-up. They lost their last seven wickets for 84 runs as Hope looked like the only visiting batsman with an appetite to fight it out. 107 seemed too low a target against this England outfit notwithstanding the strong pace bowling arsenal that the Windies boast of. Although Alastair Cook was dismissed early, Mark Stoneman and Tom Westley took England home with little fuss to seal the series 2-1. It was fitting that England’s most scrutinised players — Stoneman and Westley — finished off the game in the series decider. The Ashes is looming large and the young guns needed some runs in the bag to convince the selectors to carry them Down Under. Cook’s 12 partners since Andrew Strauss have all come and gone without making much of a mark but with Stoneman, despite his meagre returns, it has been slightly different. The elegant southpaw has raised a glimmer of hope with his strong defensive techniques and sublime stroke making and was a tad unlucky to be at the receiving end of some outstanding spells by Shannon Gabriel and Kemar Roach in this series. Westley, on the other hand, had impressed against the Proteas but with the No 3 being such a crucial spot in Test cricket, he needs to put his head down and do the hard yards in the nets to convince the selectors to ink down his name for the Ashes. Of course, it might be too late to push in somebody else, but England have tried more players than medical store samples in the last few years that they could always go back to one of the others. That this series victory has come with major contributions from their senior players — Cook, Joe Root, Stokes and Anderson — does not take anything away from England. One major reason for their 2013-14 debacle against Australia (read: Mitchell Johnson) in Australia was that none of their senior pros stood up and fought. That their big guns are fit and firing augers well for England. They could have brushed aside the Windies 3-0 and boarded that flight to Australia gleefully but with a 2-1 scoreline, England have been able to correct their dents and polish out their flaws. As bigger tests await them later this year, England will thank West Indies for providing them some stiff resistance, at least in parts, during this exciting Test series.