After a three-week hiatus, cricket is back on the international circuit as English
summer gets underway with the first test match between England and West
Indies from Thursday. The match will be played at the home of cricket, Lord's.
England, the No. 1 ranked test side in the world, will be hoping to make an early
impression in the three-match series. Their recent record has not been impressive
with five defeats in the last six matches, but those defeats came in spin-friendly
conditions against Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Click for Live Score Card of England Vs West Indies
Back at home, England will be keen on maintaining their dominance after a strong
show against India last year. Andrew Strauss will be expecting plenty
from Kevin Pietersen who has been in good form while Ian Bell makes a
return to the team after paying the price for a lean run. Matt Prior, who scored
a century on debut the last time West Indies played at Lord's, will know his
place would be under scrutiny given that Jamie Bairstow is also a part of the
squad.
For the West Indies, while their efforts in the past six months or so
have been impressive, they will know that they now need to translate them into
results. A session or two can potentially damage their chances as was often
seen in the series against Australia.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul will be the backbone of their batting yet again. Darren Sammy is confident that his players can do well despite losing to England
Lions by ten wickets. Adrian Barath scored a century in the second innings
and will be their trump card should they look to survive early on in testing
conditions.
Coach Ottis Gibson, who has formerly worked with England as well, has hinted at
playing a four-pronged pace attack to exploit the early summer seaming conditions.
The match will start at 10.00am local time.
|