Must Win For West Indies
After a disappointing start, the West Indies will be looking to improve after suffering a heavy defeat to England at Lords.
However, the odds suggest that England are likely to dominate again and wrap up the series, with them being short odds-on favourites at 1/8.
After Jimmy Anderson’s farewell test match at Lords, England make the one change as they bring Mark Wood into their bowling attack. The 34-year-old has a good record in Test cricket, taking 108 wickets in 34 matches.
Atkinson Attack
However, I think Gus Atkinson will be the pick of the English bowlers, and I can see him picking up from where he left off at Lords. He had the West Indies batting line-up in all kinds of trouble as he took 12 wickets on his Test debut. The Surrey bowler is currently 3/1 to be England’s top wicket taker in the 1st innings.
Trent Bridge The Place For Root
When it comes to England’s batters, most of the line-up were able to score a few runs, with five of them reaching a half-century, so several of them arrive here in good form. With this match being played at Trent Bridge, I can see that favouring Joe Root, who scored 68 at Lords. In his last two Test visits to the Nottinghamshire Cricket Ground, Root has scored a century on each occasion. At the time of writing, he’s 11/4 to be England’s top run scorer in the first innings.
West Indies Batters Need To Score
For the West Indies to have any chance of causing England problems, their batting line-up needs to step up after a poor display. The highest score any of their batters achieved was 31 by Gudakesh Motie, who is known for bowling rather than batting.
On the other hand, there is one batsman who I thought didn’t shape too badly in the last match, and that is Alick Athanaze. He got himself into the 20s in both innings at Lords, but they came unstuck to Atkinson and Anderson.
The 25-year-old has only played in the Test side for a year, but on occasions he showed he’s got ability, especially against England. Back in December, he scored 66 off 65 balls in an ODI game, so if he can transfer that showing to the Test side, then maybe he can score some runs at Trent Bridge. He’s 5/1 to be the West Indies top run scorer in the 1st Innings.
Seales To Strike Again
The big doubt for the West Indies when it comes to their bowlers is Shamar Joseph. He’s a concern after he had hamstring issues. At Lords, he didn’t live up to the hype of his performances in Australia and just took one wicket. The pick of their bowlers was Jayden Seales, who took four wickets in the first innings. He’s 3/1 to repeat the same feat here.
Hopefully the rain can stay away for the next five days and we get an exciting cricket match to watch at Trent Bridge.
England v West Indies 2nd Test Selections
Gus Atkinson To Be England’s Top Wicket Taker In The 1st Innings (3/1)
Joe Root To Be England’s Top Run Scorer In The 1st Innings (11/4)
Alick Athanaze To Be West Indies Top Run Scorer In The 1st Innings (5/1)
Jayden Seales To Be West Indies Top Wicket Taker In The 1st Innings (3/1)