First Test: West Indies v England, Antigua, April 13-17.

[mikesiva]

Sledging won't work against shiv and Kraig but could have success against less mature batsmen such as bravo Samuels Blackwood and ramdin....

[Arthur Crabtree]

Samuels gave Anderson a good run for his verbals in the last series between the side. On top of scoring a lot of runs, he kept joking about how well they got on.

[Aidan11]

Always used to be some spice between Anderson and Fidel Edwards but of course Fidel isn't playing.

[mikesiva]

Always used to be some spice between Anderson and Fidel Edwards but of course Fidel isn't playing.

Fidel only had strength for tail-end batsmen, but that aggression was noticeably absent when bowling to top order batters....

[Aidan11]

Looks like at the press conference today, Cookie was asked about KP's performance today.

[Gingerfinch]

Just realised the first test starts today. Any team news? Trott opening I guess.

[bigfluffylemon]

Geez, the West Indian batting line-up looks weak (Shiv notwithstanding - he's a class act). Is Devon Smith really among the best six batsmen they have available? Yikes. It seems that most of the best West Indian players are off playing IPL, which just goes to show that for everyone apart from England, the notion that 'test cricket is the pinnacle of the game' is an anachronism.

The pitch report says that it's slow and dead, just like the 2009 series where there were four draws in five matches on roads.

Add in that England have little to gain and much to lose, and you have to wonder why on earth this series was scheduled in the first place, rather than allow the England players to play domestic and/or IPL. At least playing domestic cricket in England will warm them up for the big summer ahead in testing conditions.

It does not bode well for an interesting or compelling series.

[mikesiva]

BFL, looks who sits at the top of this list....

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine ... tournament

For those posters who were calling for Gayle to be dropped, Devon Smith was the next cab on the rank.

[bigfluffylemon]

BFL, looks who sits at the top of this list....

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine ... tournament

For those posters who were calling for Gayle to be dropped, Devon Smith was the next cab on the rank.

He has an average of less than 25 in tests, and passes 50 once in 10 innings. Shiv passes fifty better than 1 in 3. Well done to him on a good domestic season, but one good domestic season doesn't make you a good test player. Just ask Mark Ramprakash. His 115 runs in 5 innings, HS 47 in the recent series against South Africa doesn't suggest that he's translated this domestic form into the test arena.

[ntini77]

Leon Johnson's omission is somewhat baffling to me. He showed promise in the recent test series against South Africa.

[Arthur Crabtree]

I think Gayle is the only Test first teamer missing. And arguably they need to be pushing on without him.

[Aidan11]

Not long now

[Gingerfinch]

I think Gayle is the only Test first teamer missing. And arguably they need to be pushing on without him.

Reminds me of a certain Englishman!

[hopeforthebest]

I think Gayle is the only Test first teamer missing. And arguably they need to be pushing on without him.

Reminds me of a certain Englishman!

Englishman Ginger???

[Gingerfinch]

I think Gayle is the only Test first teamer missing. And arguably they need to be pushing on without him.

Reminds me of a certain Englishman!

Englishman Ginger???

Well, adopted Englishman.