Series Starts - Will Wickman Watch?

It seems barely credible but there's to be a Test Match at Lords this week. Later in the Summer it's to be used as a venue for archery. If they moved the start of the Olympics forward a bit they could do the synchro swimming here now. The mighty West Indies are in town at the moment and if England don't destroy them in this series then something will be tragically wrong with our boys.

To date the oppo have had one trot out against England A which they lost by 10 wickets. So thin on the ground are they resources wise they didn't let their Test attack bowl much in the second innings in case they got injured. Either they are supremely confident in their ability to hoop it around on a grey Thursday at Lords or their team is as tightly stretched as Mackie's leg muscles and just as likely to snap.

An article that Wickman read on bbc.co.uk was trying to make the best of a bad do. Jimmy Adams - once the finest batsman in the world - gave us six to watch. Oh dear. What about the other five? That bad? Derren Bravo looks like a test cricketer as does Kemar Roach but you wouldn't turf out Jonathan Trott or Stuart Broad to accommodate them in the England side.

If Wickman had known all those Saturday afternoons ago when he stood and roared at Dominic Cork thrashing around to win that Test at Lords when we bowled them out for 50something that that was the start of a slide into terrible mediocrity for the West Indies he would have shed a tear.

Because for someone of Wickman's vintage the West Indies were simply magnificent before Brian Lara and Curtley were even out of nappies. Watching them, under Clive Lloyd's captaincy was a joy. With a batting line up all of whom would have been picked in every other side of the day - including IVA Richards who may just have been Wickman's favourite bat ever - and a bowling line up that was awesome in a very dangerous kind of way - they were just brilliant to watch.

30 years later they aren't worth the ticket price are they? Wickman can't even imagine that lot getting on the plane for a series beginning in May knowing the South Africans are the major draw of the Summer. In fact that would have been the ultimate insult.