Diluted West Indies attack concedes advantage

Let us imagine, for a moment, a parallel universe where, with England on 34 for 3, Denesh Ramdin was able to throw the ball to Dwayne Bravo.

Let us imagine a world where T20 cricket had not turned the heads of players. Where the West Indies Cricket Board had not alienated others and where they had the funds and the vision to provide central contracts that ensured the retention of their best players. Where West Indies finally made the most of the talent in the region.

Had Ramdin had such an option - and Kieron Pollard, too, might have developed into a Test-quality allrounder in another era - he might have been able to capitalise on his side's good start. He might have been able maintain pressure upon England and rotate his bowlers to ensure they remained fresh and effective throughout the day.

Had Bravo been available - he has not played Test cricket since 2010 and is unlikely to do so again - West Indies would have gone into this side with a balance of which they can only dream. Torn between going into this match with either five bowlers and a fragile batting line-up with Ramdin at No. 6 and Jason Holder at No. 7, they eventually decided to pick the extra batsman in Jermaine Blackwood and leave the bulk of the bowling to three seamers and one spinner.

It wasn't enough. After fine opening spells from all three seamers - Holder's excellent first spell saw him reach 87mph and beat the bat of Joe Root on several occasions - they tired as they day wore on and were punished.

Had a support seamer of Bravo's quality been available, Jerome Taylor and Kemar Roach - two fast bowlers with a history of injuries - could have been used in shorter spells and might well have remained more effective throughout the day.

Meanwhile Sulieman Benn turned one sharply past Root's outside edge in his fourth over but, as the pitch dried, lacked the consistency to sustain pressure. In particular, he was cut more often than can be acceptable for a Test spinner. Marlon Samuels' part-time spin was utilised for 10 expensive overs - he conceded 46 - while Roach, a precious talent, was forced into the role of not just strike bowler but stock bowler, too.

"Twenty-one overs in a day is a pretty heavy load for me," Roach admitted afterwards. "I've not played much cricket since my injury."

Sunil Narine, another whose career path seems to be defined by the shortest format, might have made a difference, too. He is unproven at Test level but, bearing in mind England's uneasy relationship with spin, he may well have proved a more testing proposition than Benn.

But such options are not available to Ramdin. Events far beyond on his control continue to dilute and compromise West Indies cricket.

Combined with a couple of missed chances in the field - Root might have been caught on one had Benn, in the gully, reacted quicker to a miscued cut shot, while he missed a far easier chance at mid-wicket off the same batsman when he had 61 - it left West Indies ruing a first day of missed opportunities.

"We let them get away a bit," Roach said at the close of play. "We could have bowled better. It was a pretty average day for us.

"We started well, but we could have been much better after lunch and after tea. We weren't consistent enough."

Roach admitted that such slow pitches did his side few favours and also agreed that, in an ideal world, the bowling burden might be shared among a five-man attack.

"I'd always love a pitch with a bit more in it," Roach said. "The pitches in Australia for the World Cup were pretty good for fast bowling, but we're back home now and this is what we have. It was a very flat wicket and a bit slow. We have to work with it."

'We have to work with it' could be the defining phrase of Caribbean cricket. The talent remains, but with poor pitches, poor management and more lucrative offers elsewhere, West Indies is a long way from making the most of it.