England in West Indies: The Story So Far

Now that the tour matches are out of the way, the serious stuff of the Test Match series can begin.

England will have learnt a great deal from their two matches so far, including that the West Indies have more squad depth than a short time ago, highlighted by Lendl Simmons knock of 282, albeit on a batter-friendly wicket.

New captain Andrew Strauss did himself no favours in the first innings of the match against a St Kitts and Nevis Invitational XI by getting out without scoring but let his bat do the talking in the second innings, scoring 103 before retiring out and a 97 in the final warm-up game. 

The batsmen seem to be in good form and have all spent time out in the middle which should help them when they come to the test matches.

Alistair Cook made fifties in both innings of the first warmup match before falling for a golden duck against the West Indies A.

Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Owais Shah and Paul Collingwood have all been able to score runs as England posted scores of 424-8 and 265-5 declared against St Kitts and 414 All out against West Indies A. Plus, the runs have been scored at more than four runs per over in each innings.

The bowlers came out of the first game with a good deal of credit, especially Monty Panesar who had been struggling for form, taking match figures of 7-104.

But all the seamers, Stuart Broad, Steve Harmison and James Anderson were all amongst the wickets, despite being a little expensive at times.

The second game was a much harder affair for the bowlers which can be looked at two ways.

The negative but harsh reality is that the bowlers could not bowl out a West Indies A side, with Graeme Swann, the candidate likely to partner Panesar if England go with two spinners, taking 0-168 from 42 overs.

Even on a batter-friendly wicket those figures do not make nice reading from an England perspective.

However, the postive side is that the bowlers got a good workout. Swann, Sidebottom and Collingwood had not played in the first warm-up game so it makes sure that all the players in the squad are fit enough to handle five-day games.

Added to the fitness aspect, is the fact that it was a wake up call if anyone had been thinking England can romp over the West Indies, they may be able to, but not without some fight and all the players putting in the necessary effort.

The likes of Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and Ramneresh Sarwan are experienced heads who will guide the less experienced players such as Xavier Marshall and Amit Jaggernauth in making sure the series is tightly contested.

The first test of the four match series starts Wednesday 4 February in Jamaica with England yet to announce their side with Andrew Flintoff the main injury doubt.

Flintoff hurt his left side in the first warm up match but is said to have a good chance of making a comeback which would be a major boost for the tourists hopes.