WI vs ENG 2022 preview: Start of a new chapter for English Test team

The last 12 months have been terrible for the England Test team. In the 17 Tests they have played since the start of 2021, the Poms have won just 4 and lost 10. That is a disappointing win percentage of 23.52%.

Hence, it is no wonder that this is the right time for introspection and rebooting of the Test side. England are in the West Indies for a 3-match Test series and they arrived with a load of personnel changes to revive their fortunes.

Following the sacking of England head coach and chief selector Chris Silverwood, Paul Collingwood has been appointed as an interim coach for this series. The selection board has also taken some brave calls to reset the Test team and their decisions have come under immense scrutiny.

Sir Andrew Strauss, the Managing Director of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), while announcing the team for the Test series, said:

"With the start of a new cycle, it has allowed the selection panel to refresh the Test squad with a particular focus on competing away from home. We felt that it was time to draw a line after the Ashes defeat, look forward and give some impetus with an influx of new players."

Sir Strauss further added ahead of the WI vs ENG series:

We feel that it is important to look at some exciting new bowling potential and give some added responsibility to other players who have featured previously. This selection of this squad is the start of a process and a journey to get England Test cricket back to where it needs to be, and the hard work starts now."

WI vs ENG: Bowling challenges for visitors

Enter Both James Anderson and Stuart Broad have been not picked for the WI vs ENG series

There will be various mini-stories to follow in this Test series. For starters, it will be interesting to see how England's bowling lineup performs without their two pace stalwarts, James Anderson and Stuart Broad.

The England team management have been clear that they want fresh bowling resources on their hands and thus the two prime bowlers have been kept out of the Test team.

It does mean that this is a great opportunity for Chris Woakes and Mark Wood, who will likely share the new ball, as well as other pacers, namely, Craig Overton and Ollie Robinson (who will miss the first Test due to back spasms), Saqib Mahmood, and Matthew Fisher.

But needless to say, it will also put pressure on the bowling department to perform without the services of their two best bowlers. England spinner Jack Leach looks to be in pole position to be picked as the lone tweaker ahead of Matt Parkinson in the playing XI for the first Test. There will be a lot of pressure on Leach also, following his underwhelming performances in recent times.

WI vs ENG: Batting issues plague England

Joe Root has been the only batsman for England who has been consistent in recent times. He will play a key role in WI vs ENG series

However, the main problem for England lies with their batting and was visible in the recent Ashes series where they failed to reach 300 in any of their 10 innings. England's top order has been brittle, to say the least, and besides Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, none of them have stood up during tough times.

There have been some changes to personnel in the batting department as well, with Durham's Alex Lees all set to open in the first Test alongside Zak Crawley. Lees hit a strokeful half-century in the warmup match, while Crawley also impressed in the few chances he had in the Ashes.

Lees will replace Rory Burns after Crawley replaced another opener, Haseeb Hameed, midway through the Ashes series, following the ousted players' prolonged stretch of poor form.

The problem for England is that, after trying so many opening combinations, no opener has averaged more than 31.33 (Joe Denly) since the retirement of Andrew Strauss in 2012 and both Lees and Crawley will hope to put that record straight.

Jonny Bairstow would look to continue his good work in the WI vs ENG series

Joe Root has already stated in the press that he will move up to number 3 and give Dan Lawrence a chance at number 4. Ollie Pope might have to wait for his next chance after not grabbing his opportunity during the Ashes.

Wicketkeeper Ben Foakes is set to replace Jos Buttler, who, despite being given a long rope in the middle order, failed to deliver consistently and was dropped from the Test squad.

Jonny Bairstow is likely to play as a pure batsman, although his wicket-keeping skills do allow the England team management to play an extra batsman, if Foakes is unable to play.

This series will also give Ben Stokes a chance to return to his best as a batsman after he only showed glimpses of his old self in the last Test series. His performance as a bowler in Australia was severely affected by lack of fitness and bad tactics by his team.

WI vs ENG: Always in a spin!

England's vulnerability against spin may not get tested that much in the WI vs ENG series

Playing spin has proven to be an Achilles' heel for England. They were rattled by Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel during their tour of India last year, before being troubled by Nathan Lyon on their most recent assignment.

They will now have a seemingly less strenuous challenge against the left-arm spin of Veerasammy Permaul. The team management will hope that the batting lineup uses the experience gained from their previous tours to handle spin better this time.

WI vs ENG: Joe Root fights to keep his captaincy

Joe Root has faced criticism for his captaincy ahead of the WI vs ENG series, including from Michael Vaughan

Importantly, the leadership of the England team will be under a lot of scrutiny. While Joe Root had an exceptional year as a batsman in 2021, his leadership drew a lot of criticism, even from English experts.

Quite recently, Michael Vaughan and Ian Chappell were critical of his captaincy. They found him to be not proactive during key passages of a Test match. His team selection and decision-making also came in for criticism.

With the whole team being reset, Root will know that this year, just making his bat talk might not be enough to retain the captaincy.

However, with talk of the future dominating the press, Root's side will do well to focus more on just winning the next match. With the decision taken by the ECB to reset their Test lineup seeming to be a long-term strategy, the incumbents will have to start showing results soon.

WI vs ENG: Dismal touring record for visitors

The WI vs ENG series is an opportunity for England to improve their record in the Caribbean

They will know that they are traveling to a territory where they have won just one Test series in the last 50 years, and that too, despite their opponents having become weaker.

The first Test is in Antigua, where the visitors have not won a match in the longest format in nine attempts. And then, there is another small matter of gaining a few points in the ongoing World Test Championship also. England are currently ranked ninth, below Bangladesh and West Indies, with just one win.

If England win the series, the changes will look like masterstrokes However, if they fail, then there might be more sackings. The Caribbean may not prove to be as serene and peaceful as it seems, for the English team.