ENG vs WI: Five important points ahead of the pink ball Test series
A reporter takes a closer look at the three types of cricket balls during a nets session at Edgbaston on Tuesday in Birmingham. PIC/Getty Images
1. Lack of pink experience
Home preparation has amounted to a round of mid-summer County Championship matches under lights, in which meaningful participation through Joe Root's squad was sporadic.
Several of the West Indies squad have banked one day-night Test experience, in the contrasting climes of Dubai where they lost narrowly to Pakistan last October thanks to a triple-century from the Azhar Ali last October.
Despite their respective taster sessions, no one involved — on their own admission — knows what to expect from the pink Dukes under lights over the next five days.
2. WI hot or cold?
West Indies' last win in any Test on English shores came at Edgbaston in 2000 — a series they went on to lose 3-1. Since then, the Windies have been soundly defeated by a combined scoreline of 11-0 over four successive trips. Optimism at the start of each campaign has been cruelly shortlived.
3. Brittle Windies
The primary task for West Indies' brittle and evolving batting line-up is to somehow keep James Anderson and Stuart Broad at bay. At 31, four years his great pace partner's junior, Broad needs just another five wickets to go second in England's list of all-time leading wicket-takers behind only his new-ball chum and above the great Ian Botham. Anderson was in brilliant form in the recently-concluded 3-1 victory over South Africa and has taken his Test career tally to 487.
4. Root cause of optimism
England's new captain Joe Root could reflect after last week's series-sealing win at Old Trafford against South Africa on an enjoyable first series in charge. His follow-up campaign ought to be a formality, according to most pundits, as England seek a handy morale boost en route to the Ashes this winter. They will be wary of complacency against the Windies, who are notably unheralded but in several instances an unknown quantity too.
5. Stoneman's big match
Mark Stoneman is, remarkably, the 12th new opening partner England have picked alongside Alastair Cook since the retirement of Andrew Strauss five years ago. At 30, Stoneman is curiously long in the tooth for a debutant too.
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