PAUL NEWMAN: Time to give Matt Parkinson a spin in the series decider against West Indies

The second Test finished just as the first one in a gruelling, attritional draw. 

But were there hopeful signs for the new England in Barbados and does more of the same await in the series decider in Grenada on Thursday? 

Cricket correspondent PAUL NEWMAN attempts to provide the answers.

Signs of progress

Ok, it wasn’t pretty. And neither was the first Test in Antigua. Slow, turgid pitches that will kill Test cricket saw to that. 

But England could certainly say they had the better of both draws and made the running in both.

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite may have put in a monumental display of concentration and patience to bat for longer than any West Indian in any Test — even more than Brian Lara when he scored 400 against England — but proactive it was not. 

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite took advantage of England’s depleted bowling attack

If England had fast bowlers Jofra Archer and Mark Wood available — both in Barbados but both sadly unfit — and a better spinner than Jack Leach, it might have been different. 

But the bottom line is they did the best they could with the tools at their disposal.

It’s Parky time

The big question remains the perennial one — how can England take 20 wickets to win a Test overseas? 

Don’t expect the Grenada groundsman to come over all adventurous and leave grass on the St George’s pitch. We will probably get more of the same in the Spice Island. So England should try to be as adventurous as they can.

England leg-spinner Matt Parkinson serves a chance in the series decider this week

They are on a mission of discovery here, so why not have a look at leg-spinner Matt Parkinson at long last? Only they don’t seem to want to.

Interim coach Paul Collingwood said at the very start that Parkinson was only here to cover Leach and he did not exactly provide a ringing endorsement of the Lancastrian after the second Test. 

‘He is as ready as he can be,’ said Collingwood. ‘The simple fact is in Covid times you don’t get matches in between Tests. So we don’t have preparation time for guys who are not playing.’ 

Don’t hold your breath, Parky.

The bright side

Yes, there have been a few reasons to be cheerful about England. Dan Lawrence was preferred to Ollie Pope here after not playing a single Ashes Test and has grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

The second Test may well go down as the time Lawrence announced his arrival at the highest level in Joe Root’s old No 4 spot as well as chipping in with partnership-breaking off-spin and excellent fielding. His bowling action may look more ‘frog in a blender’ than Graeme Swann but he is effective off the wrong foot.

Saqib Mahmood, too, has what it takes to have a long Test career. The failure of England to give Mahmood a debut before now is an indictment on the conservatism of the old regime.

England have reasons to be cheerful including the return to form of Ben Stokes

Best of all, though, is that Ben Stokes looks back to his very best. 

‘You can see when he’s out there he has that glint in his eye again,’ said Root, who has looked a more proactive captain here. 

‘He’s just a joy to play with when he’s like this.’

The winning formula

So how can England get the victory that would give them their first series win in the Caribbean since 2004? 

Ollie Robinson is fit again and must play this time while, sadly, Chris Woakes has surely played his last overseas Test. Don’t worry about the tail, England. Even I might get a few runs on the pitches here. And I’m 56.

Here is the Sportsmail XI for the decider: Crawley, Lees, Root, Lawrence, Stokes, Bairstow, Foakes, Robinson, Leach, Mahmood, Parkinson.