England v West Indies First Test Day Three talking points including James Anderson and Dom Bess

Ageless Anderson still England’s number one

When England were pushing for victory on a pulsating final day of the Cape Town Test back in January, it was Ben Stokes who again stole the show as he dragged his side over the winning line in much the same way he had done throughout the previous summer.

Nevertheless, a first innings five-wicket haul from James Anderson followed by a further two scalps in the second innings helped pave the way for England's triumph.

Anderson finished that second innings with figures of 2-23 from 18 exemplary overs and what was most telling from that Fifth Day is that even with a broken rib incurred in his first spell that morning, it was he who captain Joe Root first turned to after Tea when his team were in desperate need of wickets.

Anderson’s absence from the attack for the whole of the Afternoon Session made it patently obvious he was struggling but even then, with his comeback from a serious calf injury now curtailed by a broken rib, it was the 37-year-old who England called upon in their hour of need and as ever, he did his best to answer his team’s call.

Two maiden overs later and with his body crying enough, Anderson had to be carried out of the attack on his shield, but he remained on the field as England eventually defeated South Africa and despite subsequent questions about whether he would be seen in an England shirt again, his determination to get back on the park remained.

When the coronavirus pandemic threatened to wipe out the English cricket summer, Anderson kept himself fit at home and his efforts over the last few days have provided yet another reminder of just why he must be cherished, nurtured and the very first bowler on the England team sheet.

While Stuart Broad's omission, presumably in favour of Jofra Archer’s return, looks as big a mistake now as it did at the Toss, England were right to leave Anderson out of any serious selection debates and ensure Ben Stokes had in his armoury England’s most skilful and consistent performer in all conditions.

The flat surface at the Ageas Bowl certainly hasn’t helped Anderson swing the ball, nor have the clear skies on Day Three and the new rules banning players from applying saliva to the ball in order to improve its condition.

However, Anderson continues to find a way and having been rewarded for his forensic working over John Campbell on Thursday evening, he belied perfect batting conditions to remove Shamarh Brooks when Stokes threw the ball to him straight after Lunch as England desperately tried to claw their way back into the match.

When the second new ball was taken, Shane Dowrich was happy to chance his arm with aggression but Anderson was beginning to cut that frustrated, snarling figure that seems to bring out the best in him and he found just a hint of movement off the seam to wrap Roston Chase on the pads and end his dogged resistance.

Bess rewards England backing

I suspect most England fans will be happy to see Moeen Ali available for Test selection again but his path back into the starting XI won’t be an easy one with Dom Bess again impressing, this time when things didn’t always go his way.

Ali’s record with bat and ball for England paints a clear picture of his significant contribution to English cricket but the feeling that he has never quite been able to fill the big shoes left behind by Graeme Swann has never gone away.

While capable of brilliant, attacking spells littered with magic, wicket-taking deliveries, Ali’s inability to offer scoreboard control when conditions aren’t in his favour, particularly in the first innings, has long given oxygen to his critics.

After Ali was dropped after a disastrous first Ashes Test last summer, Jack Leach manfully tried to take over the mantle but when the latter fell ill last winter, Bess took his chance with both hands.

A five-wicket haul in Port Elizabeth helped drive England to victory there and after fighting off competition from Ali and Leach in recent days to confirm his place in the side this week, Bess played a vital role on a Day Three surface offering him very little assistance.

In truth, the amount of spin on offer was minimal but for a 22-year-old, Bess is honing his craft at a rapid rate of knots and he found just enough drift to induce an outside edge from Shai Hope and give England their first breakthrough of the day.

All the while, his economy rate stayed below three runs per over as Stokes was allowed the luxury of rotating his battery of quicks from the other end, and it was that control that later forced Jermaine Blackwood to charge Bess and pick out Anderson at mid-off.

Even when Dowrich came to the crease and met Bess with aggression and a few boundaries down the ground, the off spinner continued to vary his pace and flight and would have had his man had he held on to a tough chance off his own bowling.

With so little in his favour on a surface offering nothing for the slow bowlers and yet to show any signs of wear and tear after so much cricket has been lost in three days, Bess belied his relative inexperience to play a crucial role in keeping England in the game and allowing Stokes to handle the likes of Archer and Mark Wood with the care needed in order to keep them fit and healthy with big away series' in India and Australia on the horizon.

Bess finished the day with very respectable figures of 19-5-51-2 and given the current make-up of the England attack, he will likely find himself being asked to fill the same vital role in the weeks, months, and possibly, years to come.

West Indies up for the fight

For all the talent and flamboyance that has made the West Indies such a force in white-ball cricket in recent years, their lack of stomach in the longer format has, along with many off-the-field factors, held them back badly.

Nevertheless, in Jason Holder, they have a young leader desperate to oversee change and progress - and with an improving stock of pace bowlers that has been led wonderfully by Kemar Roach - the tide has started to turn.

With Roach, Holder himself, and the fit-again Shannon Gabriel helping form an exciting bowling attack, the West Indies will have arrived in England confident of regularly taking 20 wickets.

The batting, however, will have given Holder some sleepless night with the likes of Anderson, Archer and Mark Wood in opposition. Somehow putting first innings runs on the board was always going to be the big challenge if the the West Indies were to stay competitive and on the evidence of what we have seen at the Ageas Bowl so far, Holder should sleep easier tonight.

Occupying the crease and a putting a high price on their wickets was key in allowing the West Indies to finish Day Three with a 99-run lead and Dowrich apart, the West Indies appeared determined to take command of the match with dogged determination, playing the ball late and by backing their defences.

It wasn’t so much Viv Richards and Brian Lara, but it was effective and has put the West Indies in a strong position to take a 1-0 lead in pursuit of an away series victory that would surely be one of the finest achievements in the recent history of Caribbean cricket.

If England expected this West Indies side to roll over in the next few weeks, they now know they are in for a real fight if they are to regain the Wisden Trophy.

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