England v West Indies things to watch: Cricket's new order, Stokes' captaincy style and fragile top orders

The Cricketer picks out some key themes to keep an eye on over the course of the next five days as England and West Indies face off in the first of three Test matches...

It’s back. Elite cricket returns to our TV screens on Wednesday as England and West Indies meet at the Ageas Bowl in the first of three behind-closed-doors Tests with the Wisden Trophy on the line.

It is set to be an all-new experience for players, coaches, match officials, support staff, broadcasters and fans watching back home, with cricket taking place in a bio-secure bubble for the first time.

The Cricketer picks out some key themes to keep an eye on over the course of the next five days.

A new way of watching cricket

With the exception of rights-holding broadcasters and 12 members of the written press, much of the media will, like the fans, be keeping an eye on events in Southampton from outside the bubble this week.

During England’s winter tours, it is not uncommon to see empty stands and the eerie echo of bat on ball leaping about a stadium. In this country, though, it is quite unusual. We are used to sell-outs, and grand hums from the stands, and the snaking sound of “wooah Jimmy Jimmy” becoming ever more unintelligible as stumps approaches and bars begin to run dry.

This summer, though, English grounds will lie vacant - but for the 300 men and women charged with getting the game on.

How peculiar that will be, for them and us. 

For viewers on TV, there will be an undercurrent of crowd noise channeled into our broadcasts, though don’t expect the same audio gymnastics being performed by sound engineers on Premier League football coverage.

For the players, there will be little more than silence - with the exception of the public address system welcoming batsmen to the crease. 

The big screen will show replays, DRS reviews and sponsors’ messages - but how odd it will look without several hundred craned necks scoping for a sight of a close run out. 

The perimeter advertising boards will be in operation, but there will be no local schoolchildren scampering in their whites to return the ball from the boundary.

No music will be played between overs, nor after wickets. Club cricket, only for international players. And on TV.

^{Bio-secure cricket takes place in Southampton this week}

Captain Ben

Ben Stokes’ incredible journey from that scrap on a Bristol street to the cricketing stratosphere continues in Southampton as he leads England as Test captain for the first time.

Stokes will step in for Joe Root, who left the Ageas Bowl last week to be with wife Carrie ahead of the birth of their second child, and it will be intriguing to see how much of an imprint he can make on the team in just one match as skipper.

The allrounder does not have a great deal of captaincy experience - two games in charge of Durham’s academy 12 years ago, and one more leading the Durham Under 17s - but he is a hugely respected figure within the dressing room.

How much responsibility Stokes personally feels during the game, and how much he backs himself to make the difference as a result, will be intriguing to watch.

Root, and Eoin Morgan in England’s white-ball teams, has been able to call on his vice-captain - with bat, ball and in the field - quite remarkably routinely over the course of the past two years, when his side needs a game’s tide shifted in their favour.

The two most famous episodes of last year - Headingley and the World Cup final - are far from isolated incidents. Stokes nearly dug England out of holes against Sri Lanka and Australia on the way to World Cup glory, and set up a famous Test win in Cape Town at the start of the year.

He has a knack of taking important wickets at important times, but establishing when best to throw the ball to himself as captain will be crucial: subsequently, so will the advice he receives from Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad and Jos Buttler.

There are many examples in English cricket history of the best player not necessarily making the best captain; for Stokes to avoid joining that list, he needs to learn when to rein himself in, and when to let himself loose. 

Battle of the top orders

Brian Lara doesn’t think West Indies can last five days of a Test match at present, and a look at the tourists’ top order gives a clear indication why.

Among them, the Windies batsmen hold a collective average of 23.59 in all Tests since they last visited England in 2017. However good their bowling line-up might be - and it is very good - a paucity of runs in five-day cricket means the seamers are the soldiers left to defend the fort with spoons and spatulas. 

There are players of tremendous quality within the West Indies top five - notably Shai Hope and Kraigg Brathwaite - and lower down Shane Dowrich and Jason Holder can give an innings added oomph. 

But the runs have not been coming.

In West Indies’ past 10 Tests, the 300 barrier has only been breached on three occasions, most recently in the second Test against England at North Sound - more than 17 months ago.

Against Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad under English skies, with the venom of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer in reserve, you would ordinarily not give the tourists much of a chance.

England’s own top order, however, is hardly quartz-like. With Joe Root absent at the birth of his second child, there is substantial inexperience in the top four: between them Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Joe Denly and Zak Crawley have played 39 Tests - less than Jos Buttler, who is still not an established presence at No.7 in this team.

While Ollie Pope is perhaps the most exciting red-ball batting talent to have come through England’s ranks in a generation, he too remains raw. 

This is why it might not matter too much if West Indies can’t reach 300 at the Ageas Bowl. Provided their batsmen avoid complete collapse, their bowling arsenal should keep them in the game.

^{Jason Holder leads West Indies in the three-match series}

Slimline Sibley

See that gentleman standing at first slip? He looks a lot like Dom Sibley, only streamlined? Don’t worry, your eyes are not deceiving you, England’s opener has shed the pounds during the coronavirus-enforced hiatus.

Sibley admitted this week to feeling very self-conscious during England’s abandoned tour of Sri Lanka in the spring, and he sprang into action during April, May and June to shift fully two stone.

“I just remember being in Sri Lanka, training in that heat, a few of the lads were running after a long session and it was a bit of an eye-opener for me,” he said.

"I've had taps on the shoulder before and I've not done anything about it. It was a bit overdue having that wake-up call and it was a good thing for me.”

The new sveldt Sibley will be looking to build on a Test average of over 40 (and a strike rate below 40) - formed from a winter in New Zealand and South Africa - and establish himself as Rory Burns’ partner at the top of the England order.

Cricket back on the Beeb

Starting on Wednesday evening, BBC Two will carry highlights of England Test cricket for the first time in two decades.

Isa Guha leads the coverage, which will air at 7pm each evening. It will also be available on the iPlayer, and the BBC Sport website will carry some in-play clips of the action.

The deal was struck as part of the ECB’s efforts to give the Beeb as much of the sport as possible following the postponement of The Hundred’s launch.

“This summer is a huge opportunity for the sport. We don’t have Wimbledon, we don’t have the Olympics…the only things that are on right now are football and cricket,” said Guha.

“It is a wonderful chance to serve the hardcore fans but also to attract a new audience.”

Free-to-air Test cricket highlights have been carried by Channel 5 in recent years.

Yorkshire missing

For the first time since 2012 - fully 94 Tests - England will line up on Wednesday without a Yorkshireman in their ranks.

Ooh ‘eck.

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