Barbados is teeming with tourists because, for English fans, who travel the globe in such numbers, this sits on the bucket list podium with the festive double of Melbourne and Sydney in the Ashes and a New Year’s Test in Cape Town (honourable mention to Galle).
There were a few thousand English fans in Antigua — reopening the complex debate about why so few West Indians go to Test cricket — but estimates suggest that twice as many are in town now. The Barbados government announced yesterday that Kensington Oval will be at full capacity for the first time since Covid-19. Let the party commence.
It is easy to see why so many are here, even beyond the beaches and the Banks beer. The island oozes cricket, whether you are at Kensington Oval or not. This little slab of coral, 21 miles by 14 miles, is the 13th smallest nation on the planet. There are 287,000 people and, yet, of 327 West Indies’ men’s Test cricketers, Barbados has been home to 90. Only New South Wales and Yorkshire can compete with that level of output. The all-time best XI here would take on either of the other two hotspots.
At the ground, there are stands for the Three Ws (Clyde Walcott, Sir Frank Worrell and Sir Everton Weekes), Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Charlie Griffith and Sir Wes Hall. Garfield Sobers gets the Pavilion and Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall an end each. Around the island, they are all remembered in other ways, such as roundabouts and roads being named after them.
There was one that got away: Jofra Archer. He was not the first and, with Under-19 World Cup starlet Jacob Bethell and others of Barbadian origin coming through the English pathway, probably will not be the last, sadly.
Archer, who trained with England yesterday, looked happy and in good order as he recovers from an elbow injury, but it will be a while before we see him in an England shirt — and even longer before that shirt is white.
How England would love for Archer to be in the awkward seam-bowling shake-up they are working through for this Test, which starts tomorrow.
Mark Wood was not due to train this afternoon as results of the scan on his elbow are awaited, so he will not play. The better news is that Ollie Robinson bowled 10 overs at training yesterday as he looks to prove his fitness after a back spasm kept him out in Antigua. If he does the same again today, it is likely he will play.
Chris Woakes, Craig Overton and Ben Stokes (surprisingly) bowled more than 40 overs apiece in Antigua, meaning that even if Robinson returns for Wood, the fresh legs of Saqib Mahmood are required. Expect him to make his debut to provide a point of difference to the attack (reverse swing and a little extra pace), with both Woakes and Overton vulnerable. Whichever way you square it, without Wood, there will be a modest feel to this attack. Do not, whatever you do, utter the names James Anderson and Stuart Broad.
The West Indies are likely to be unchanged. Their spinner, Veerasammy Permaul, struggled in Antigua, but the pitch here hints at turn — and they copped an over-rate fine for their sluggish work last week, so he will be required.
It has only taken a draw in Antigua for an air of cautious optimism to envelop the many fans on tour. That performance was a baby step in the right direction that should not be over-celebrated, on a flat pitch against a weaker opponent than any England have played in the last year.
But there were promising signs: from Zak Crawley and Jonny Bairstow with the bat; Jack Leach with the ball; and even in the captaincy of Joe Root. On that final point, there has been a different, more unified feel about this squad.
On England’s past two visits to Barbados, they have suffered humbling defeats. Another, and that promising work will be undone, although the many thousands following them will likely still have fun.
