West Indies vs England in 2021-22

Test matches (3): West Indies 1 (18pts), England 0 (8pts)

Like the Twenty20 games a couple of months earlier, the Test leg of England's trip to the Caribbean was full of gratitude. The West Indian men's and women's teams visited the UK in 2020 during the first wave of the pandemic. Two Test matches had become three, the freshly minted Richards-Botham Trophy was unveiled to denote a renewed bond of friendship between the boards, and English supporters, who had been shut out of the Ashes, crossed the Atlantic in their thousands to provide a boost to local economies.

Two run-heavy draws in Antigua and Barbados were a challenging watch, before West Indies aced a low-scoring decider in Grenada by ten wickets, leaving the tourists winless in eight winter Tests. Not that England - under the listing captaincy of Joe Root, with Andrew Strauss as interim managing director and Paul Collingwood interim head coach - wanted this outcome filed alongside the debacle in Australia that led to the sackings of Ashley Giles, Chris Silverwood and Graham Thorpe.

They had dropped eight players, including two all-time greats in James Anderson and Stuart Broad, and flown west in late February espousing a fresh start. English cricket's penchant for corporate jargon meant the trip - plus the announcement of the latest review into the domestic game - was a "red-ball reset". Even at the end, as Kraigg Brathwaite led his West Indies players on a lap of honour, to the delight of a strong Grenadian crowd and a relentless steel band, Root and his support staff spoke of "big strides forward" that had simply been undone by two bad sessions.

Those outside the dressing-room were less convinced. Granted, once Jonny Bairstow's pugnacious 140 had overcome a wobble of 48 for four on the opening morning of the series, a couple of turgid surfaces had helped restore some confidence in England's batting line-up, with Root - back at No. 3 - continuing his celestial form from 2021, and five centuries from the top six. But West Indies resisted twice - four down by the end in Antigua, five down in Barbados - before prevailing on a fruitier pitch in Grenada. Variable bounce meant, finally, that the ball had the edge over the bat, but England failed to prevent a maiden Test century by wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva on a pivotal third morning, then disintegrated in the afternoon when Kyle Mayers, a batting all-rounder, registered a first five-wicket haul with his medium-pace.

This was England's fifth successive Test series without victory, and the enduring image was of Root, head in hands on the balcony, after the calamitous run-out of Ben Foakes. Three weeks later, Root accepted the consensus that his time was up, and stepped down after five years, and an England-record 64 Tests, in charge. It was not just the consequence of one win in 17 Tests, or a powerlessness in Grenada to prevent Da Silva and the tail turning 95 for six into 297 all out, and a crucial lead of 93.

Root had also been party to the decision to leave behind Anderson and Broad, not that he ever owned it. Instead, Strauss delivered the news to the pair during a couple of five-minute phone calls, then took the heat publicly, claiming it was a strategic move designed to "give the new director of cricket and coach options to choose from". But coming before a tour in which Root and Collingwood talked up a newly collaborative team environment, it read between the lines as one last attempt to shore up Root's authority by removing two dominant personalities. Either way, the decision was not vindicated, and smacked of disrespect to both West Indies and Test cricket.

Had results not been so urgently required in the World Test Championship, had Jofra Archer and Olly Stone not been long-term injury absentees, and had Ollie Robinson not spent all three Tests watching from the sidelines because of back spasms attributed to his poor physical conditioning, this look towards life beyond two record-breaking veterans might have earned greater understanding. Instead, it seemed a seismic policy decision from a leadership group with no obvious mandate.

The names of Anderson and Broad hung over those selected like Banquo at the feast. Mark Wood was the sole specialist seamer with prior Caribbean Test experience, but suffered a tour-ending elbow injury after bowling 17 overs in the first game, and only Saqib Mahmood - with six wickets and a gutsy career-best 49 from No. 11 that briefly rescued England on the opening day in Grenada - enhanced his reputation.

No bowler, though, would have relished the first two surfaces. England met a couple of indelible opponents, too: Nkrumah Bonner spent over 12 hours at the crease in Antigua for scores of 123 and 38 not out, before Brathwaite bettered this in his native Barbados with 160 and 56 not out, batting five minutes shy of 16 hours. Even so, the sight of Chris Woakes and Craig Overton repeatedly squandering the new ball justified concerns over their effectiveness away from home.

Mahmood was waspish and skilful in his first two outings. Matthew Fisher, handed a debut in Barbados after Overton fell ill, claimed a maiden Test wicket second ball - only to become another English-style fast-medium neutered by conditions. Jack Leach sent down 189.3 parsimonious overs of left-arm spin, and finished as England's leading wicket-taker, with 11, yet never threatened to win a Test, because of his mainly flat trajectory. Matt Parkinson, the leg-spinner, came no closer to a first cap, mixing more drinks than a Manhattan bartender.

This collective lack of threat meant Ben Stokes once again filled in the gaps. He finished as England's hardest-working seamer, and with a knee injury to show for it, having begun the trip unsure of his readiness to bowl because of a side strain suffered during the Ashes. But he was on a renewed personal drive to recapture his and the team's Test form after shouldering arms to the delayed second half of the IPL. He also had a documentary crew shadowing his tour, and provided the cameras with one bona fide highlight, ransacking 120 from 128 balls on the second day in Barbados - his first century since a four-month break the previous year for injury and mental health reasons.

Many at Kensington Oval - around 8,000 from England, compared with about 3,000 for the other games - had wondered if they were being financially exploited by the Barbados Cricket Association's choice of pitch. But Stokes's innings, at least, provided something beyond sunshine and sea to boast about on the postcards home. Besides his eruption of 11 fours and six sixes, however, and some stylish strokeplay from Dan Lawrence, preferred to Ollie Pope at No. 4, obduracy was the order of the day. The officials were drawn from locals, under the ICC's Covid regulations, with mixed results: 20 decisions were overturned.

Root also failed to review a couple of potentially match-defining errors. The first came when Leach rapped Jason Holder on the pads on the fifth day in Antigua, which might have opened up West Indies' lower order. In Barbados, after Stokes struck Jermaine Blackwood in front on nought - and England again made no challenge - Blackwood got his head down for 102 in a stand of 183 with Brathwaite that heavily shaped the ensuing draw. On the crucial third morning in Grenada, Jayden Seales, West Indies' No. 11, should have been lbw early on to Mahmood, which would have limited the hosts' lead to 41. Root, though, was out of reviews, and Seales supported the resolute Da Silva for a further 23 overs and 53 precious runs, softening English minds.

Seales then removed Zak Crawley, whose latest expansive drive began the critical collapse of the series. Mayers, dismissing Root cheaply in both innings, was an unlikely executioner, leaving onlookers wondering if the county game was truly preparing batters for the rigours of 75mph nibble. Not that West Indies weren't good value for a victory that followed a lost season of domestic four-day cricket, and maintained a record of just one series defeat at home by England since 1967-68.

Brathwaite's phlegmatic batting and leadership had set the example for his players, while his attack, spearheaded by Kemar Roach and the promising Seales, never lost heart. Da Silva played the innings of the series, and showed a maturity that belied his 23 years. In short, they had rope-a-doped a far better resourced and remunerated opponent, to leave English cricket's red-ball reset looking more of an ill-judged rebrand, and Root a captain out of touch with reality - and, soon, out of a job.