England
Ben Stokes: 192 runs at 48; five wickets at 34; two catches
The all-rounder was back, his surgery and recovery allowing him to bowl those long spells that get the blood pumping on both sides of the boundary rope. If he occasionally seemed reluctant to bowl himself, his mind was its usual roiling sea of ideas as he worked out how to get the next wicket, the relentless drive of his cricketing intelligence almost palpable. Now a confirmed No 6 (except when there’s fun to be had as an indisposed opener), he tends to come in with a view of steadying the ship or pushing on and, past a hundred Test caps, he is capable of fulfilling both roles. He still finds somewhat careless ways to get out, a weakness that will be punished by stronger opponents. Grade B+
Zak Crawley: 97 runs at 24; four catches
By now we know the deal here – the new ball under assault, length slammed and a quick start guaranteed. The problem is that the quick start could be for either side and this time, it was usually for the Windies. The 76 at Lord’s was his only score of note. Grade C+
Ben Duckett: 178 at 45; two catches
The temptation is to write “see above” albeit in a mirror and shorter, with the square slash the signature shot rather than the drive through extra cover. His top score was also 76, but he backed that up with another 70-odd at Trent Bridge. Those two rocket-propelled starts were a big part of how England notched two innings over 400 for the first time in their history. Grade B
Ollie Pope: 239 runs at 60; four catches
It was a curious series for England’s vice-captain whose output belied just how scrappy many of those runs were. Approaching his 50th Test, he has lost some of the freneticism of a couple of years ago, throttling back into something akin to a Rootian busyness, but the fluent certainty that marks his best work is still out of reach. That said, if he can make that volume of runs while attracting that kind of criticism, he must be doing something right – maybe it’s just hard to see. Grade B+
Joe Root: 291 runs at 73; no wicket at n/a; three catches
Maybe he broke out the old George Michael greatest hits CD and decided the Joe Root of 2023 was probably too funky. Of course, every England fan had faith in his ability to summon the 99% complete batter we have watched become a father figure of the side. We know he can get down with the kids and scoop the pacers, but he doesn’t need to show us in every match. None more so than at Edgbaston where his 87 dug his side out of a very tricky position and laid the foundation for the lower middle order to express themselves. Grade A
Harry Brook: 197 runs at 49; six catches
His one really substantial innings – the second-innings century at Trent Bridge – set up the win, both in terms of the size of the target it set and in the way his scoring rate demoralised the opposition. Nobody would claim he was at his peak, but he was striking at almost 85 per 100 balls, which can make a session or so at the crease very damaging indeed. He also caught very well in the cordon. Grade A-
Jamie Smith: 207 runs at 52; 14 catches
For those fortunate enough to have seen him bat at domestic level (and heard the unique crack of the ball off the bat face), his batting displays will not have come as a surprise. Nor will have his cool-headed approach to dealing with the razzamatazz of Test cricket – this is just another rung on the ladder he has been climbing successfully since boyhood. The wicket-keeping though? Who expected the natural movement, the soft hands, the anticipation and the balance from a part-timer? He is only three Tests in, but the eternal question of who should take the gloves for England may be settled for the next decade. Grade A+
Chris Woakes: 134 runs at 34; 11 wickets at 21; one catch
Somebody hide his passport. The only question that should ever arise about his selection for a match concerns geography – is it at home? The much-loved veteran dealt with a family bereavement in May and returned to new-ball duties, moving it a bit this way and that, a nightmare for batters new to English conditions. He also showed the value of his batting down the order for the umpteenth time in what is now his second decade of Test cricket. Grade A-
Gus Atkinson: 48 runs at 15; 22 wickets at 16; one catch
It was a dream debut series for the Surrey quick, who got in close to the stumps to deliver a challenging line whether fullish at the stumps or short into the body. He found just enough lateral movement, especially slanting across the left-handers, and showed admirable fitness to play three matches in three weeks, not something he does often in the domestic game. He looks to have all the tools required to succeed at this level if injury does not blight his progress. Only time will tell. Grade A+
Mark Wood: 44 runs at seven; nine wickets at 20
The wholehearted Durham speedster sometimes appeared to be in competition with the gun rather than the batters, shock and awe echoing around Trent Bridge as 97.1mph appeared on the big screen. His returns were an example of how figures can betray the impact a player is having on a series, “his wickets” being taken at the other end, as batters sought refuge from attacking 80-something mph deliveries – until that blazing Sunday afternoon in Birmingham, which invited memories of Jeff Thomson. Grade A-
Shoaib Bashir: five runs at two; nine wickets at 27
The preternaturally phlegmatic 20-year-old off spinner barely changes expression whether his delivery is defended or dispatched. With natural height and an action that imparts overspin on the ball, he will never hold an end, but he will take wickets, especially if deployed against left-handers, the ball drifting in and spinning away. He will need runs to bowl behind and will, ideally, bowl more second-innings overs than first, but he is guaranteed to give spectators a lot of fun. Grade B+
Jimmy Anderson: no runs at n/a; four wickets at 15
A sentimental sendoff at the Home of Cricket, Sir? Sure, but the old warrior was no passenger as he ran in hard and went through his box of tricks one last time, in, out, in, out and wobbling it all about. Has he gone too soon? Probably just about right, as he wouldn’t have had an easier assignment in the future than a stone-cold West Indies at Lord’s. Grade A-
West Indies
Kraigg Brathwaite: 166 runs at 28; no wicket at n/a; two catches
The West Indies captain was dealt a near-impossible hand, with no opportunity for his callow batting unit to acclimatise to English conditions. The opener knew his job was to set the tempo, but he also knew that the loss of his wicket would expose a middle order that had talent but needed at least two more years tempering in the cauldron of Test cricket. Unsurprisingly, he buckled under that pressure, delivering just the one half century. In the field, he was a little over-protective of his young quicks and too trusting in the out-of-sorts Alzarri Joseph – that said, the pressure exerted by England’s batting unit has scrambled quite a few brains in the last couple of years. Grade C
Mikyle Louis: 162 runs at 27; one catch
The tall right-hander has everything he needs to fill the spot opposite his captain that has troubled the West Indies for years. He has a solid temperament, a solid defence and range of attacking strokes, including effortless lifts back over the bowler’s head that clear the boundary comfortably. What’s missing, as attested by a run of starts that only once yielded a fifty, is the concentration that comes with experience. Develop that, stay away from diluting orthodoxy with too much white-ball invention and a solid career awaits. Grade B-
Kirk McKenzie: 33 runs at six; three catches
For once, the figures do speak for themselves. The Jamaican can hit handsome boundaries, but he has only a vestigial defensive game, which is wholly unsuited to No 3. Plenty of young Test players have endured a difficult start only to come good later – that must be his hope. Grade E
Alick Athanaze: 142 runs at 24; one catch
The Dominican showed us exactly why he is rated so highly in a beautiful innings of 82 that was full of impeccably timed strokes that fizzed the ball across the Trent Bridge baize. His partnership of 175 with his fellow countryman, Kavem Hodge, took the game to England for a rare session in a one-sided series. He got in and got out twice at Lord’s, betraying that lack of street smarts that characterised so much of his side’s play. One for the future. Grade B-
Kavem Hodge: 216 runs at 36; two wickets at 22; two catches
It is a mystery that it has taken such a competent Test batter so long to break into a batting order that is crying out for his skillset. With just the two caps before the series, the compact right-hander played like a 31-year-old with 5,000 runs already in the bank. The fine reception Edgbaston afforded him on his dismissal for 55 in the second innings was as much a recognition of his mental fortitude in standing firm in a beaten side as it was for the knock itself. He was the visitors’ player of the series by a distance. Grade A-
Jason Holder: 155 runs at 26; three wickets at 78, seven catches
Back in five-day cricket, the elder statesman of the side was asked to bat at No 6 (at least one notch too high), bowl first change and give his captain some control when the fiery quicks were bowling both sides of the wicket. It was asking too much, but the skipper who brought his team to England for bubble cricket in 2020 was as professional as ever, if ultimately unable to cover for his side’s many shortcomings. Grade C+
Joshua Da Silva: 159 runs at 32; six catches
By Edgbaston, the wicket-keeper looked worn out by the pounding his side had taken, all but giving himself out lbw in the second innings, having been roughed up a little. Tidy rather than spectacular behind the stumps, the 26-year-old looks to have the game to continue in the side, perhaps as a specialist in a batting unit that needs one or two. Grade B-
Kevin Sinclair: five runs at three; three wickets at 50; one catch
Asked to do a job when Gudakesh Motie went down ill at Trent Bridge, his reward was three wickets and a broken arm. He is a resourceful cricketer who will have easier assignments than bowling to this England batting unit. Grade C
Alzarri Joseph: 52 runs at nine; 10 wickets at 45; two catches
He bowled fast at times and bent his back for the bouncer, but the vice-captain, who now has 34 Tests under his belt, never summoned the discipline to put batters under pressure, conceding more than a run a ball across the series. His batting at No 8 was, to be frank, disgracefully negligent. Grade D+
Gudakesh Motie: 61 runs at 61; three wickets at 34; one catch
The left-armer’s three wickets in his two Tests were Root (twice) and Stokes, two clean bowled and one lbw. With a little more luck and a lot more faith from his captain, he might have snared a few more, as his bowling troubled England more than most. He also batted with skill and enterprise. Grade B
Jayden Seales: 25 runs at six; 13 wickets at 27
The thrusting young seamer showed the benefit of a spring spent playing for Sussex; he was the pick of those looking to develop a new age in West Indian pace. He ran in hard in all three matches and carried a threat with the new ball and the old. Still only 22, he already has 50 Test wickets under his belt, but he’ll need to watch his workload if he wants to maximise that return. Grade B+
Shamar Joseph: 64 runs at 11; four wickets at 65
The hero of Adelaide was all raw potential and personality, but there is a long way to go before that mercurial talent can be polished into the kind of bowler who delivers spells that turn Tests. Plenty to work with, but will he get the chance? Grade C
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