Edgbaston- All eyes will be on Sunil Narine as the West Indies attempt to salvage some pride, in the third and final Test at Edgbaston, starting today. Narine is favoured to replace Shane Shillingford while either Tino Best or Fidel Edwards will partner Ravi Rampaul. The top order will need a shuffle, too. Kirk Edwards, for his own well-being, needs to step away from the spotlight and Narsingh Deonarine is likely to bat No 6. England's record against mystery spin is poor, one only has to go back to Saeed Ajmal earlier this year, so the prospect of them facing Narine for the first time is a fascinating one. Conditions will not be in Narine's favour, but the home side's batsmen will have to base their planning on video evidence.
Narine's first-class average is an astonishing 11.88 (after six matches) and although that needs to include caveats about the quality of some of the opposition, his impact at ODI level suggests he will not be an easy prospect. Despite this series having been decided last week there have been plenty of talking points in the lead-up to today. Kevin Pietersen's retirement from limited-overs cricket heads the list, followed by James Anderson being rested and, from West Indies' point of view, the call-up for Narine which puts him on the verge of an eagerly anticipated debut and the return of Chris Gayle for the limited overs series. The series has provided some periods of hard-fought Test cricket but, ultimately, England have had too much depth for West Indies. They overwhelmed the visitors on the third evening in Nottingham with a six-wicket burst led by Tim Bresnan which left West Indies no way back. It raised questions about how far West Indies have really come and they do have a major issue with sustaining performances over five days. Yet their recovery was never going to be easy.
Marlon Samuel came to age in the last Test with a century and an unbeaten 87 in the second innings, performances that have taken too long to come but West Indies will be hoping that he continues in the rich vein. The evergreen Shivnarine Chanderpaul and captain Darren Sammy, who have championed the second half of the batting, in the absence of any thing special from the top four, may well have to again form the backbone of the team's innings. The home team's focus will be on Pietersen-now purely a Test player, but obviously, he has nothing to prove. That is not the case for Jonny Bairstow who has another opportunity to make life tough for the selectors ahead of the South Africa series. Ravi Bopara is back from injury and scoring runs for Essex so the challenge is Bairstow's to keep him at bay. As far as the bowling goes, Steven Finn has made no secret of his frustration at waiting on the sidelines this season so it may be an idea to give him some space if Graham Onions beats him to replacing Anderson. Since losing his place during the 2010-11 Ashes series, Finn has only made two further appearances both against Sri Lanka, at Lord's (when Anderson was injured) and in Colombo (when Broad was injured). If he does get another opportunity it could be another short stay but there remains plenty of time for him to forge the long Test career fully expected of him.
There remains a chance England could rest Stuart Broad along with Anderson, but if that is not the case it becomes a straight decision between Finn and Onions for the bowling slot. Finn is the next man in line, but Onions' county form - where he has recently taken 11 in a match against Lancashire - makes a compelling case. (CMC)
TEAMS
England (probable)
Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Jonny Bairstow, Matt Prior (wk), Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Steven Finn
West Indies (probable)
Adrian Barath, Kieran Powell, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Darren Sammy (capt), Tino Best, Ravi Rampaul, Sunil Narine.
