Lessons from England's Test win

Anderson is still the king of swing

James Anderson didn’t have the greatest World Cup with the white ball, but when in procession of the red variety the right-armer is still as deadly as ever.

Anderson, England’s leading Test wicket-taker, proved just how dangerous he is with the new ball, obliterating Kraigg Brathwaite’s stumps with a perfect inswinger before ripping through the West Indies on day five with the second new ball to set up a comfortable run chase. 

While the 2013-14 Ashes loss in Australia yielded only 14 wickets at 43.92, Anderson’s record on home soil is significantly better – 250 wickets at 26.38 – so Michael Clarke’s men will need to be as vigilant and watchful as ever come July and August. 

Watch: Anderson's unplayable inswinger 

England’s opening mixed fortunes

England skipper Alastair Cook was back among the runs, but the 30-year-old’s Test century drought has extended to 19 matches.

Even so, scores of 76 and 59 not out will hearten captain Cook as he crawls back to somewhere near his authoritative best.

Cook’s opening partner Jonathan Trott hasn’t had the ideal start to his Test comeback.

Opening alongside Cook, Trott registered scores of 0, 4, 59 and 0, and hasn’t looked like the resilient batsman that thwarted attacks for the best part of five years before Australia found a small weakness under his rib cage and exposed it to ruthless effect.

England have struggled to find a permanent partner for Cook since the retirement of Andrew Strauss three years ago, and there could be another combination before the Ashes if Trott’s form doesn’t reverse.

Joe rooted to the middle order

While Trott is finding it difficult to re-find his feet in Test cricket, Joe Root continues to flourish at the highest level.

Root’s unbeaten 182 was cut short only by a bizarre run out by Anderson, flaying the hapless hosts to all parts of Grenada.

The 24-year-old now has six hundreds in 24 matches, with four coming in the last 10 matches, each innings remaining undefeated.

With Gary Ballance, the reliable veteran Ian Bell and off-spinning allrounder Moeen Ali all firing in the middle order, it’s hard to see the core of England’s batting line-up changing any time soon. Not even for a certain Surrey batsman. 

Watch: Root's first overseas Test century

End of Shiv?

Are we beginning to see the beginning of the end of Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s illustrious 21-year career?

The 40-year-old has scored 67 in the series so far, and with another Test starting Friday and two more against Australia to come, it’s not going to get any easier for the left-hander.

Clarke and the Australians would like to see the back of the most-capped West Indies player. In nine Test against Australia in the Caribbean, Chanderpaul averages 80.38 with five centuries and six fifties.

Chanderpaul needs only 112 more runs to surpass Brian Lara as the West Indies’ leading run-scorer in Tests, so the crab will likely traverse the crease a few more times before his time is up.

Where’s the spin?

Despite producing some of the fiercest fast bowlers the game has known, the pitches in the Caribbean have favoured spin in recent times.

But of the 65 wickets to have fallen in the series, 25 (38.46 per cent) have fallen to the spinners.

Both England and the West Indies played only one specialist slow bowler in the second Test, with each captain employing the services of part-time spinners Root and Marlon Samuels respectively.

Australia have selected two spinners for the two-Test tour starting in June, but if the wickets continue to suit the hit-the-deck fast bowlers, perhaps only one of Nathan Lyon and Fawad Ahmed will play.