After England landed on Monday in idyllic Grenada, their seamers could have been forgiven for heading straight to the National Stadium and subtly sprinkling grass seed on the pitch in the way that Andy Dufresne shook dirt out of his trouser leg in the yard of Shawshank prison.
The two docile surfaces on show during the drawn matches in Antigua and Barbados have certainly been restorative for Joe Root’s batters after their collective meltdown in Australia; out of the top six, only Alex Lees averages less than 40 during a series when they have twice thrown the bat in the second innings, with five centuries in two Tests compared with an Ashes series that featured one in five.
