England completed a comprehensive 3-0 whitewash of the West Indies with a 10-wicket win inside three days in the third Test at Edgbaston on Sunday.
AFP Sport looks at five key talking points from the series:
Life after Anderson
Deciding to call time on the career of James Anderson, the most successful fast bowler in Test history with 704 wickets, was never going to be an easy process for England.
And with the 41-year-old unwilling to go voluntarily, the England management had to persuade him to bow out following the series opener at Lord’s, not long after longtime new-ball partner Stuart Broad had retired at the end of last year’s Ashes.
But Surrey fast bowler Gus Atkinson impressed with 22 wickets in his debut series, while express quick Mark Wood was eventually rewarded for challenging spells at speeds in excess of 90 mph (145 kmh) with a superb five-wicket haul that took England to the brink of victory at Edgbaston.
Smith stars with bat and gloves
England also decided neither 100-cap Test veteran Jonny Bairstow nor Ben Foakes still fitted the bill as their wicketkeeper.
They opted for Jamie Smith instead, even though the 24-year-old often finds himself playing as a specialist batsman at county champions Surrey, where Foakes is the first-choice gloveman.
Doubts about how Smith would fare in the field were soon overcome by highly competent displays of wicketkeeping.
But it was his ability to up the tempo lower down the order that caught the eye, with a dashing 70 on debut at Lord’s and an even more impressive 95 at Edgbaston suggesting England had unearthed a genuine wicketkeeper-batsman.
Stokes back as a fully-fledged all-rounder
The sight of Ben Stokes running in hard as a fourth seamer was a real highlight for England.
England captain Stokes had long resisted an operation on a persistent knee problem but a decision to undergo surgery last year has revived his career as a Test-class all-rounder.
And lively bowling stints marked by late reverse-swing did nothing to impair Stokes’ batting — which included an England record 24-ball fifty that sealed victory at Edgbaston.
England refine ‘Bazball’ approach
After England’s 4-1 series loss in India this year, coach Brendon McCullum — after whom the team’s aggressive ‘Bazball’ approach was named — spoke about the need to “refine” their style.
That adjustment was evident against the West Indies, with England prepared to patiently fight back when in trouble as happened when they were 54-5 in their first innings at Edgbaston before recovering to 376 all out.
Star batsman Joe Root led that revival with 87 and his confidence in reverting to his natural style was reflected in the former England captain’s superb series return of 291 runs at an average of 72.75.
West Indies’ form a worry
A lopsided series was unsurprising given a West Indies squad largely inexperienced in English conditions had just a lone warm-up match against a modest County Select XI.
That the West Indies were then routed in 10 days of a scheduled 15 ought to concern the global game as a whole.
Meanwhile, the sight of West Indies batsman Kirk McKenzie enduring a woeful series while the likes of Nicholas Pooran, Rovman Powell and Shimron Hetmyer were competing in English cricket’s Hundred tournament was an indication of the wealth gap among Test teams.
Powerhouse nations such as India, England and Australia could do more to aid the likes of the West Indies and Pakistan without doing major damage to their own finances.
And with major countries in charge of the sport’s leading domestic franchise competitions, devising tour schedules that would allow for better preparation is also within the game’s grasp.
For example, teams visiting England could first play a Test in similar conditions in Ireland — a mutually beneficial move.
Solutions are at hand, but the key question is: does cricket have the will to implement them?
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