'One swallow does not make a summer': West Indies keeping feet on the ground

Jason Holder was offered the opportunity to gloat over vanquished English visitors who were suffering collateral damage for others saying they should easily beat an ordinary West Indies team.

Holder is level, and serious. He knew to avoid the bait after his side’s astonishing 381-run win on Saturday and looked to move on ­because he knows West Indies have a problem with consistency.

Over the past five years they have beaten top-ranked Test opposition (not Zimbabwe or Bangladesh, who still struggle outside Asia) six times and on five occasions have gone on to lose the next match.

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They famously beat England at Headingley in 2017, only to lose the series at Lord’s a week later. Antigua, the venue for the second Test, perhaps comes at the right time for West Indies because England have never won at either ground on the island since it started hosting Test cricket in 1981.

But England are wounded and at their most dangerous when they have copped flak or have a point to prove. Keeping his players focused and avoiding the tempting thoughts that they have done the job already is the task of Richard Pybus, the interim coach of West Indies.

“Absolutely we have to keep our feet on the ground. We have our goals for the series. We have ticked off the first Test and England will be hurting,” said Pybus. “Our game has to be at the highest level for them. Jason has good players around him now. They have a depth of experience and are building from here, but one swallow does not make a summer.”

Holder was named the No 1 all-rounder in the Test rankings on Sunday following his double hundred in Barbados, becoming the first West Indian to occupy the spot since Garry Sobers in 1974, an era when you did not need a computer to tell you he was the best (rankings are worked out retrospectively).

Holder led from the front like Sobers in Bridgetown and has at his disposal a team made up mainly of friends he grew up with in Barbados. He has their total backing and if he can learn to be a bit more ruthless with his field settings when on top, then West Indies have a team who could potentially become a consistent force in Test cricket.

“Our preparation and work ethic coming into this match was fantastic and if they keep working like that they are going to be an exceptional side,” said Pybus.

West Indies landed some mental blows in Barbados. Unusually for him, Joe Root struggled with the short ball from Shannon Gabriel, and that could infect the rest of the team. Seeing their best player bounced out (he was reprieved by a no-ball call by the third umpire) can send shock waves through a side.

Moeen Ali and Sam Curran were exposed by the bouncer, while Holder and Kemar Roach are good enough to execute plans that played on the weaknesses of others such as Keaton Jennings and Jonny Bairstow, who struggles on the back foot to the delivery coming back in. Roston Chase benefited from the pressure built by others, but England may feel they have to take him on more and not let him settle into a rhythm.

Gabriel has a bruised foot and Shane Dowrich, centurion in the second innings, a stiff back, but West Indies always raise their game at home against England and one more effort in Antigua would bring a famous series win.