Monday 4 May 2015 15:46, UK
So England's tour of the Caribbean ends in defeat and although a first hundred in two years for Alastair Cook and the form of man-of-the series, James Anderson, are two positives to take, there are also plenty of questions surrounding the side heading into an Ashes summer.
Here's what we learned from England’s loss in Barbados…
Jonathan Trott has likely played his last Test innings for England, certainly as an opener. Trott has looked all at sea in the series, with his footwork frantic and frenetic. Nine runs in his two innings in the Test means England will surely now turn to Yorkshire's Adam Lyth to open alongside Alastair Cook in the summer. Should that not work, Alex Hales, Moeen Ali and Alex Lees have all likely leapfrogged Trott as the next in line. Trott's only way back into the Test team now will be back where he thrived before, at three. But he's 34 and Gary Ballance has firmly cemented himself in that spot with four hundreds and an average of 62.35 across his first 11 Tests, so he may not ever get that chance.
On a pitch that had plenty in it for the spinners, Moeen Ali took only two wickets. But worse than that, he offered little control, with too many short balls served up and dispatched to the boundary. Moeen wasn't the only one to be fair; Veerasammy Permaul - although he did take four wickets - was also expensive for the West Indies. Moeen's return to Test cricket after missing the first game in Antigua has been rusty at best and question marks circle around his inclusion in the side ahead of the summer, but he'll likely keep his place for now and remember he did take 19 wickets at an average of 23 in the series win over India last year. England need that Moeen back.
The West Indies fully deserved to draw the series. Their collapse to defeat in Grenada suggested the steel that had been on show in the first, and for most of the second Test, was still fairly flimsy. But that was one blip in a series otherwise full of positives. Kraigg Brathwaite, Marlon Samuels, Jermaine Blackwood and Jason Holder all hit impressive centuries, and although we had to wait for his final innings for it, Darren Bravo showed why the hype around him is fully deserved with his stylish 82 in firing the West Indies to the win in this Test. Jerome Taylor has been terrific with the new ball, and was well-supported here by Shannon Gabriel and Holder. There is plenty for new coach Phil Simmons to work with, and England will hope they can upset the Aussies, when they tour the Caribbean in June.
Anderson will again take the headlines, and rightly so, with six wickets in the first innings but Stuart Broad's contributions should not be overlooked. Match figures of 2-60 aren't exactly striking, but Broad was unlucky not to pick up more. His pace has improved throughout the series, encouraging signs for the summer. And his spell to Marlon Samuels before tea on the third day was terrific, setting him up with outswinger after outswinger before bowling him with the one that jagged back in. It reduced West Indies to 70-3 and gave England hope of victory. He was under bowled though in the final session as England fell to defeat.
Moving on to that man Anderson. He now has 397 Test wickets, with every chance of bringing up 400 in the first Test of the summer against New Zealand at Lord's on 21 May. He topped the wickets table in this series with 17, which deservedly earned him man-of-the-series honours and saw him pass Sir Ian Botham as England's leading Test wicket-taker of all time in case you’d forgotten. His 6-42 in the first innings was his best figures in a Test overseas and although many questions surround England’s side ahead of the summer, he emphatically isn't one of them.
