After a crushing victory for the hosts at Lord’s, England will face West Indies in the second Test this week looking to claim the three-match series.
The weather looks set fair for most of the five days, but after a cold and wet summer to date, the green wicket conditions look set to favour the hosts.
- TOP 1ST INNINGS BATTER - OLLIE POPE
- BATTER TO SCORE A 50 IN THE MATCH - JOE ROOT
- TOP 1ST INNINGS BOWLER - JAYDEN SEALES
Pope Can Shine At Trent Bridge
England played with the attacking style we’ve come to expect in the innings and 114-run success in the first Test.
Four of the top five batters all made half-centuries and they very quickly took the game away from the tourists and it could be a similar scenario at Trent Bridge.
Ollie Pope was one of those to score a 50 (57) at Lord’s and the Surrey ace looked in good nick, with 11 fours in that innings.
The England vice-captain will also have happy memories of his last Test appearance in Nottingham, back in 2022.
Ben Stokes’ men recorded a five-wicket win over New Zealand on that occasion and the hosts smashed three centuries during that Test.
Pope was one of those to reach three figures, spending over five hours at the crease when scoring 145 off 239 balls.
TOP 1ST INNINGS BATTER - OLLIE POPE
Bet On England vs West Indies Here
Root Back To Top Form
England currently have two players inside the top-10 of the Test batting world rankings, with Joe Root one of those.
The Yorkshireman is ranked second and came into this red-ball series having had some much-needed time at the crease, performing well for Yorkshire in the County Championship.
Root brought his good form into the first Test, making 68 off 114 balls before being bowled by Gudakesh Motie.
The former skipper averages 53.75 against the Windies and has five 100s and six 50s against the tourists to date.
Root also made a century in that previous Trent Bridge Test against the Black Caps and has batted there on a number of occasions for his Hundred franchise – the Trent Rockets.
BATTER TO SCORE A 50 IN THE MATCH - JOE ROOT
Seales Offers Windies Hope
A lot of the build up in the run-up to the first Test surrounded Shamar Joseph, after the pace bowler’s impact during the West Indies’ Test draw in Australia.
The 24-year-old struggled though at Lord’s, failing to take a wicket and eventually going at over four an over.
There are fitness concerns over Joseph’s left hamstring and the Guyana bowler is a doubt for the second Test.
It was Jayden Seales who caught the eye in the lone England innings, taking 4-77 including the scalps of England openers Zack Crawley and Ben Duckett.
The 22-year-old is another player for the future and he will hope the conditions in Nottingham will help his search for wickets.
West Indies coach Andre Coley has called on his team to play with ‘a lot more intensity’ and Seales will have to perform to a high level again if they are to challenge England.
TOP 1ST INNINGS BOWLER - JAYDEN SEALES
