West Indies v England first Test: Key battles which could decide the game in Barbados

Awful batting, good bowling and England's top order, The Cricketer runs through where the opening Test of the three-match series could be won and lost

England's top order troubles

Having won their series against Sri Lanka 3-0, it is easy to forget that England changed their No.3 for every single Test. First it was Moeen Ali, then it was Ben Stokes, and finally Jonny Bairstow.

If the hundred that Bairstow got is anything to go by, England may have found the answer to a conundrum which has been troubling them ever since Jonathan Trott left the team, and was only ever briefly solved by Gary Ballance (remember him?).

It is also very worth bearing in mind that Keaton Jennings went into that tour seemingly incapable of scoring a big total, and his partner Rory Burns came away averaging 25.83 from his six innings.

England desperately need that partnership of Burns and Jennings to work, because they are essentially out of options by this point, and should it work, it will make the job of Bairstow at No.3 a whole lot easier.

^{Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow}

Two dangerous seam attacks

The West Indies have not been having much joy in Test cricket of late. The last time they won a series against a side that wasn't Bangladesh or Zimbabwe was against New Zealand in 2012. Despite all that, they have developed a fast bowling attack which arguably rivals England's.

In 2018, Shannon Gabriel took 37 wickets in eight matches at 19.54, while captain Jason Holder finished the year with 33 wickets over 6 matches at an astonishing average of 12.39.

These stats are certainly comparable with the figures that England's seamers mustered during 2018. James Anderson finished the year with 43 wickets in 12 matches at 22.51, while his partner in crime Stuart Broad took 35 wickets at 28.28.

Considering the inconsistency of both batting line-ups, whoever bowls better could be the decider in who wins the game.

^{Jason Holder, Stuart Broad, Shannon Gabriel, James Anderson}

Which side is worse at batting?

If you were to pinpoint which part of the side is weaker for both teams, it would be the batting. Yes, England looked a lot stronger in the Sri Lanka series - Jennings, Bairstow and Joe Root all scored hundreds. However, like the India series, they were bailed out more often than they would have wanted by the lower order.

Ben Foakes (coming in at No.8) finished the series as the outright leading run-scorer, with Jos Buttler (coming in at No.6) finishing as England's second-highest run-scorer (something he did against India too).

Their troubles, however, are not quite as bad as the West Indies. In 2018, only three of their side were able to average over 30 - Shane Dowrich, Shimron Hetmyer and Holder.

Their batting has received a much-needed boost in the return of Darren Bravo, and the form of the talented Hetmyer is very positive, but they need the likes of Kraigg Brathwaite and Shai Hope to start producing.

^{Darren Bravo, Joe Root}