CricDigs Blogs

Quite a lot has happened since the World Cup ended in almost a debacle for the West Indies. Being the home team, they had the advantage of knowing the weather conditions as well as the playing conditions the best. They also had support of the local fans. But they were still not able to make it to the Semi Finals. An objective look at their team did not provide much encouragement to their chances of making a difference in this tournament right from the offset. But cricket being a game of uncertainties, with surprise teams winning the World Cup on more than one occasion, gave people some hope that West Indies might do well. With this being Lara’s last world cup, people also hoped to see him steer West Indies single handedly to their 3rd World Cup triumph the way Sachin Tendulkar almost did in the 2003 edition for India. At the start of the tournament, West Indies even defeated Pakistan in convincing fashion, which further raised the hope. But eventually, the performance of that team was as per the abilities on paper, and they fizzled out, especially in the super 8s against much better teams, even though they had carried forward their 2 points which they earned by beating Ireland in the first round.

As a contrast to that, much more was expected of England in this world cup. Even though England did not have a good Australian summer, losing the Ashes 5-0 and losing most of the matches in the ODI series after that, they still provided a lot of hope to their fans. And that is not without reason. They beat a full strength Australian side twice in the best of three finals in the series just preceding the World Cup and that too right in their backyard. England also has one of the best middle orders in world cricket at present, with a lineup that boasts of Collingwood, Flintoff and Peitersen. But as the Super 8s progressed, none of the big three delivered consistently and synchronously. There were one or two sporadic performances, including the closely fought victory against West Indies, but all was lost by then.

So as West Indies visits England for a series involving 4 tests and 2 ODIs, which team does one think will be more successful? West Indies does not have their savior (read Lara) anymore. It will be interesting to see if that breaks them further or whether they are strong enough to leave that behind them and look to the future stars to be. Having Taylor, Bravo, Powell, Collymore and Edwards as their pace attack, they would fancy their chances to bowl the opposition out twice in 5 days, especially on the seaming English pitches, but it is their batting which leaves a lot to be desired. That is where Lara’s absence will hurt a lot. Sarwan is the new captain, and everyone knows that he has guts of steel (replying stingingly in kind to a McGrath sledge), but does he have the ability to lead a side that is consistently going down with each match? That is something that we will find out over the course of the next two months.

England on the other hand, have their own set of problems. The opening partnership still has much to be desired, and here is where they miss the services of Marcus Trescothick. Even though Ian Bell has had some good knocks under his belt, he still does not provide the same level of assurance that Trescothick did. Andrew Strauss is back in the side, but he is captaining the side in the absence of Michael Vaughn, which might add further pressure on him, and may not be good for his batting struggles. Flintoff has also not been in good nick, particularly with the bat, even though he does a decent job with the ball. But he will have to understand that England’s success still largely depends on how effective he is with the bat as well as the ball.

If I were to pick a winner for this series, I would pick England because of their relatively more consistent middle order batting. If I had to make a prediction, I would say that England will win the test series 2-1, and the ODI series also by the same margin. If West Indies are able to win a test match, or better still tie the series, it will be a huge victory for them, especially when they are starting out and trying to find their way in the post Lara era.