West Indies will head to UK for England Clash this summer

BY MKUU AMANI

West Indies cricket team will head to the UK this summer to face England in a three-match series.

The opening fixture is on June 4^th at the Kia Oval in South London.  The 2^nd Test follows at Birmingham’s Edgbaston Cricket Ground on June 12^th. Finally, the teams return to the capital city for the 3^rd Test at Lord’s Cricket Ground on June 25^th.

The series offers an opportunity for the team to avenge the 2-1 defeat suffered on their previous tour of the UK.

In 2017, a dismal 1^st Test performance in Edgbaston saw England coast to victory winning by an innings and 209 runs.

Sir Alastair Cook’s 243 runs caused major damage as England hit 514/8 before declaring.

England forced a follow-on when West Indies had to go straight into their second innings after managing just 168 runs in their first outing.

By the time that Kraigg Braithwaite’s second-innings effort was ended by an lbw decision, his respectable 40 run tally had become of little consequence. The Caribbean challenge had virtually crumbled to dust.

Braithwaite’s dismissal at 4-76 confirmed that the cards were pretty much on the table well before the day three lunch-break.

The second-innings ended with the Windies at 137 all-out , their cumulative score leaving them well shy of their run target  and with only Jermaine Blackwood’s half-century offering something meaningful for their fans to celebrate.

The 2^ndTest at Headingley was a different affair.

This time, despite the first-innings century by England’s Ben Stokes and the five-wicket haul captured by his teammate James Anderson, it was Shai Hope’s time to shine.

The Barbados born batsman and wicketkeeper followed the 147 runs he smashed during the first-innings with a second big innings. He finished with 118 not-out as the match was concluded on day five.

West Indies won by five wickets courtesy of a great team effort galvanized by some brilliant displays of batting by Shai Hope, Kraigg Braithwaite and again, Jermaine Blackwood.

Then – England won the 3^rd Test at Lord’s by nine wickets.

It was a match dominated by the bowlers with neither team batting particularly well. Especially the West Indies whose first-innings total of 123 runs would have been the lowest of the series had England not needed just 107 runs to win (which they managed to achieve) by the time their second-innings had come around.

Ben Stokes’s tally of 60 runs and 6 wickets secured a deserved man of the match award whilst his teammate James Anderson and the shining star of the West Indies team, Shai Hope, were each awarded Player of the Series.

The West Indies performed well in England.

At Lord’s Garfield Sobers with 571 runs from nine innings and Shivnarine Chanderpaul with 512 runs (also from nine innings) remain amongst the five top non-English players with the most career runs.

At the same ground, the records of the deadly bowling force that was Malcolm Marshall (20 from five innings) and Courtney Walsh (20 from seven innings) have yet to be displaced when we look at the top five non-English players with the most career wickets.

Similarly, it would be bordering on sinful to consider The Oval without recounting the exquisite exploits of Sir Viv Richards. His 291 runs from 386 balls in the summer of 1976 remains amongst the highest scores recorded there.

There’s no doubt that, as we head into a promising and potentially glorious new decade of cricket, the West Indies team would love to improve upon their current 8th place ICC ranking.

A consistent run of wins and a gradual return to the top of the rankings is what their fans would like to see – especially those still clinging to fond but now distant memories.

A series win in England this summer would be a great place to start.