After England’s rollercoaster ride at the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, Test cricket is the focus again for the next two months ahead a busy Summer of Cricket 2024, with Ben Stokes’ team set to face West Indies and Sri Lanka in separate three-match series. The opening Test of the summer takes place at Lord’s and will bring the curtain down on the career of the greatest fast bowler ever to play for England.
The Summer of Cricket 2024: Jimmy’s Swansong
Jimmy Anderson showed the selectors what they will be missing with a recent seven-wicket haul in the County Championship and the 41-year-old will be aiming to go out with a bang. Anderson loves the Home of Cricket, where he has taken 119 wickets in 28 previous Lord’s Tests and also recorded his best bowling figures for an innings, taking 7-42 to help wrap up a nine-wicket win over West Indies in 2017.
The fast bowler is available at 2.60 to finish the Test as England’s top bowler, which seems fair enough given his record at the venue and the absence of other experienced bowlers like Mark Wood and Jofra Archer. But Chris Woakes has an even better record than Anderson at Lord’s and could extract enough swing and bounce from the track to steal the backpage headlines.
Woakes, who is 3.05 to be the pick of England’s attack, averages 11.3 with the ball at Lord’s where his name is etched on the honours board for three five-wicket innings hauls and a 10-wicket match haul.
The Summer of Cricket 2024: Handsome Holder
The Windies have unearthed a new battery of fast bowlers with Shamar Joseph and Alzarri Joseph, who helped bowl them to victory against Australia in January, supplemented by Trinidadian quick Jayden Seales. Seales, who has taken 37 wickets at less than 25 runs apiece in 10 Test matches, will join all-rounder Jason Holder and spinner Gudakesh Motie in the tourists’ attack.
However, the loss of fellow paceman Kemar Roach to injury has left a void of experience in the Windies’ bowling ranks with 6ft 7in Holder the only one to have played at Lord’s before. Seales, who is 2.80 to be the West Indies top bowler in the first innings, will get the new ball and could be one to watch on this short tour.
Holder, at 3.45 to outbowl his teammates, may also be a value pick for this clash given his prior experience and height. Four quick bowlers 6ft 4in or taller claimed the bulk of the wickets in last year’s Ashes Test at Lord’s and it would be no surprise to see Holder causing problems with extra bounce.
A changing of the guard
England are the 1.14 favourites to win the Test, with the Windies available at 8.75 and the draw deemed almost as unlikely at 8.25. Remember, England have drawn just one of their 23 Tests played under the Stokes-Brendon McCullum regime and that was when almost two days of solid rain at Old Trafford ruined their chances of wrestling the Ashes back from Australia.
Stokes is fit and ready to play a full part as an all-rounder again while England have two new faces in their team for Lord’s — Surrey paceman Gus Atkinson and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith. And Somerset spinner Shoaib Bashir has been picked ahead of his county colleague Jack Leach after he impressed during the three caps he earned on the winter tour of India. The decisions to drop Leach and Jonny Bairstow while resting Mark Wood, plus the imminent retirement of Anderson indicate a real changing of the guard as England look towards the next tour Down Under.
England’s Summer Cricket Schedule
Summer of Cricket 2024: Test Series v West Indies
July 10-14: Lord’s, London
July 18-22: Trent Bridge, Nottingham
July 26-30: Edgbaston, Birmingham
Summer of Cricket 2024: Test Series v Sri Lanka
August 21-25: Old Trafford, Manchester
August 29-September 2: Lord’s, London
September 6-10: The Oval, London
Summer of Cricket 2024: T20 Series v Australia
September 11: Rose Bowl, Southampton
September 13: Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
September 15: Old Trafford, Manchester
Summer of Cricket 2024: ODI Series v Australia
September 19: Trent Bridge, Nottingham
September 21: Headingley, Leeds
September 24: Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street
September 27: Lord’s, London
September 29: County Ground, Bristol
By James Mason
Please note that the information provided in this Summer of Cricket 2024 article is for entertainment purposes only. We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information provided. Any action you take upon the information on this article is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any losses and damages in connection with the use of our article. We do not encourage gambling and remind you to gamble responsibly.
18+ | BeGambleAware.org
Supercharge your bets with kwiff.
