The West Indies were afforded little hope when they touched down on these rain-sodden shores earlier this month. An inexperienced side shorn of several star names and with just two victories to show from their last 26 Tests looked hopelessly out of their depth facing up against an England side on their home patch.

The series was regarded by many as little more than appetiser, and perhaps not an especially appealing one, ahead of the mouth-watering prospect of a main course against South Africa later in the summer. It did, however, provide the perfect opportunity for England to get back to winning ways after a winter that had brought the world’s No.1 Test side back down to earth with a bump and a chance for those particularly affected by the winter malaise (namely Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell) to rediscover their touch.

In that sense, this is exactly what happened at Lord’s. England’s captain scored his first Test ton in 18 months to silence critics who had questioned his place in the side, while Bell eased to a half-century in each innings to shepherd the hosts home by five wickets.  But that does not tell the complete story.

England were made to toil for their victory by a spirited West Indies side who refused to relent and turned a desperate situation on the morning of day three into a potentially winning one by stumps on day four. There would have been some nervous moments on the England balcony when the excellent Kemar Roach found Jonathan Trott’s edge and Kevin Pietersen bottom-edged a half-tracker from Shannon Gabriel through to the keeper, particularly considering the botched run-chases of the winter.

Alastair Cook and Bell went on to extinguish any hope of a Windies victory by taking the game by the scruff of the neck with a fluent partnership of 132, but it was an enthralling contest that suggested we might be in for some entertaining cricket in the first half of the Test match summer.

Indeed, were it not for a couple of untimely moments of madness (the crazy run out of Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels’ ill-judged waft in the first innings and the loss of the first three second innings wickets in the space of eight balls being the most obvious examples of which) the Windies could have really given England a run for their money.

There are still evident frailties in the Windies side that England will be confident they can look exploit – particularly in the top-order with Kieran Powell and Kirk Edwards struggling to adapt to English conditions. But the West Indies have shown enough at Lord’s to indicate they will not be a soft touch, with Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Marlon Samuels forming a solid middle-order and the fiery Roach continuing to impress after a superb series against Australia.

It is telling that while India failed to pass 300 in six innings last summer, West Indies managed it at the second attempt. They may not possess the talent of India’s star-studded batting line-up, but they’ve already shown more stomach for the fight.

Ultimately a lack of depth in both the batting and bowling departments is likely to hold the West Indies back as they seek a first Test victory on British soil for 12 years – as it has done in recent series against India and Australia which promised much but delivered little – but the captivating series opener at Lord’s suggested this appetiser to the Test match summer could be tastier than expected.

Click here to read Phil Walker wax lyrical about Shivnarine Chanderpaul

The great enigma fidgeted, his owlish eyes on super-alert, like an old sentry guard pulling the graveyard shift. The Saturday night lights at Lord’s had taken full effect, drawing shadows on the turf over the West Indies’ juvenile second innings, which Chanderpaul had been invited to steady immediately after tea.

West Indies were then 36-3 – still 119 runs shy of making England bat again. For much of the third day the West Indians had scrapped jauntily, but a depressed air had moved in as three miserably cheap wickets fell in 10 balls just before tea. Lord’s on Saturday is a festival but it needs a contest too, and a blameless nick-off (Barath), a look-away-now hook shot (Powell) and a run out to shame an eight-year-old (Bravo on Edwards) had conspired to suck the fizz from many a tea-time flute of bubbly.

Soon enough after tea it was 65-4, Bravo misreading an arm-ball from Graeme Swann, and the wicket brought in Marlon Samuels, the 31-year-old with 38 Tests over 12 years, two centuries, an average of 30, and as much talent squandered as other players have in abundance. We all feared the worst.

Four hours of slow-heartbeat cricket later, Samuels and Chanderpaul walked off for some Sunday lunch having added 147 undefeated runs. In the baby-steps culture of Darren Sammy’s painfully green team in which their top four has 45 Test caps between them, this was a pretty big deal.

Samuels welded grit with class. As an A* student of the Carl Hooper School of Languid Underachievement, he’s mastered the on-the-move soft-hand dab, the punched back-foot drive, and the stiff-legged flick through midwicket. He hit Swann powerfully down the ground, rarely said a word, smiled benignly and left it well until half-hour after lunch, when the new ball drew him fatally out to give Stuart Broad his ninth wicket. His 86 would probably not affect the result; but it would add an extra layer of evidence that this West Indies do not go gently after all. With Viv, Clive, Mikey and all the other apostles peering down from the Mound Stand, this felt like a huge contribution.

Still, with Samuels gone the mind ambled back to Chanderpaul – inscrutable, anti-charismatic, hilariously unmoved Chanderpaul. With Shiv, the hours just disappear. It sure takes a peculiar kind of icon to hide so easily in plain sight. What does he think, if anything? He’s sat on his bat through 69 Test defeats from 140, becoming the ninth highest runscorer in the game, and still no one knows what the hell goes on inside that outsized helmet. No other cricketer has lost as many Test matches. Is he immune? Has he just seen too much to care? Have the accumulated false dawns drawn such a pall over his spirit that the cocoon in which he bats detaches him from the regular traumas taking place at the other end? Is he selfish? And does he need to be in order to survive? Who can say – he certainly won’t.

By mid-afternoon England had all but given up on him. Even those so-called ‘moral victories’ when, say, he prods at a Broad off cutter, had ceased to carry any moral dimension at all – unless we consider the existential assertion of the individual above all else. But then, just like that! To his 425th ball of the match: a regulation Swann off break, a sweep (the spry old dasher…), a slap on the knee roll and a simple leg-before. Shiv, shifted.

Broad then took over in the evening session. Seven wickets in the first innings, and now another four in the second. With a century already registered on the honours board (against Pakistan in 2010), he became just the fourth man in the Test history of Lord’s to also claim a 10-wicket match haul.

But though Broad is the obvious man of a match that England will still likely win, for two days the West Indians have scrapped beautifully, showing great fight in their undergraduate ranks to match their talent. Over the last 12 months, teams have not made 300 against England in 15 of 21 Tests played. Here they have grafted to 345, leaving England to chase 191 on the final day, and with Andrew Strauss and Jimmy Anderson already gone, suddenly nothing is given. There is still only one likely winner, for this West Indies team still reminds us of the hopeful England of a few years ago, playing against the slickly oiled England of today. But what a fightback. And, hell, you never know…

Click here for Ed Kemp’s reflections on Andrew Strauss’s comeback ton

Shivnarine Chanderpaul has been a thorn in England’s side ever since he debuted against them as a wet-behind-the-ears 19-year-old back in 1994. In that match the Lilliputian leftie made 62 in a crushing innings victory on his home ground in Guyana and 18 years later, with the glory days but a distant memory, he continues to cling on, limpet-like and resolute to the last.

He has been a near constant presence at the crease in contests between West Indies and England over the last three decades, particularly on these shores. In 2004 the Windies were whitewashed emphatically but Chanderpaul was steel personified, averaging 70 plus for the series, including 225 unbeaten runs at Lord’s.  Three years later, he was more or less immovable; going 1,074 minutes without being dismissed and averaging 148.66 in a series the tourists lost 3-0.

The first day of this series provided a familiar tale, with the 37-year-old digging deep and the West Indians showing flashes of brilliance – not least from their pocket-sized opener Adrian Barath, who carved England’s bowlers for nine boundaries on his way to 42 before throwing his wicket away with an ill-advised slash outside off stump – but ultimately failing to make the most of their opportunity on what looks a featherbed track by shooting themselves in the foot at crucial moments.

In truth, Chanderpaul was responsible for the worst piece of cricket of the day – selling Darren Bravo a dummy that left both batsmen at one end and resulted in Bravo’s dismissal just as a promising partnership was developing – but, that abomination aside, Barath and Marlon Samuels could learn a lot from watching the veteran at the crease after playing shots they will wish they hadn’t when well set. Chanderpaul went about his business at Lord’s in the way that he always does: blocking or leaving anything that he judged to be remotely threatening and easing into anything loose, sending the ball to the boundary with exquisite, effortless timing.

He is often described as an ‘ugly’ batsman, but that does him a disservice. His crouched, awkward stance – which gives the impression he is about to receive a delivery from mid-wicket – may not be easy on the eye and it certainly won’t be found in any textbooks, but by the time the ball arrives he is perfectly still and in a position to play shots all round the wicket with the minimum of fuss.

Fresh off the back of a wonderful series against Australia that saw him reinstalled as the world’s No.1 Test batsman, Chanderpaul arrived in England in fine fettle and with plenty of runs behind him (more than 10,000 now in Tests – just the 10th batsman to achieve the milestone). Arriving at the crease at 86-3 he began cautiously before showing signs of aggression against Graeme Swann, sweeping the spinner for four before driving him through mid-off in a manner that was anything but ugly.

But an all too familiar pattern was emerging as Samuels and Denesh Ramdin fell in quick succession to Stuart Broad, leaving Chanderpaul in his well-accustomed role of marshalling the tail. It’s a role he cannot relish but it is one he excels at and as his teammates flail at the other end, he looks ever less likely to get out.

And so it proved again today as Chanderpaul reached stumps unbeaten on 87 with only the No.11 Shannon Gabriel for support and his side 243-9 – a below-par effort on a batsman-friendly track that Andrew Strauss must have been tempted to bat first on. The vulnerability of the West Indies top-order would have been a significant factor in his decision after winning the toss and the England skipper will feel justified in his decision to put them in after what he has seen today.

England will sincerely be hoping it won’t take another 1,074 minutes to dismiss Chanderpaul in this series, but even it does, the West Indies’ frailties elsewhere mean it is unlikely to have an impact on the end result.

Click here to read Ed Kemp’s account of the sights and sounds of Lord’s on day one of the Test match summer

When the West Indies famously ‘blackwashed’ England in 1984, their tour was accompanied by a 7” single, released by Island Records, entitled The West Indies Are Back In Town. Sung to the tune of Jamaica Farewell, the first verse described the Windies as “the cricket team English men fear and dread”. In truth, while the fear was very real, the respect and admiration was just as strong.

In that era, the West Indies were the greatest show on earth, filling English stadiums in a way that even Ashes tours could not. Defeat was more or less an inevitability for opposition supporters, but passing up the opportunity to see this world-beating side in the flesh was not an option for dedicated cricket fans.

28 years on from that famous tour, things are of course very different. Much like a 15-year-old may wonder what the fuss is all about when it comes to Liverpool FC, or question why so many rate Bjorn Borg as the greatest tennis player ever, we are entering an era where young cricket supporters have nothing more than history through which to relate to the glory days of West Indian cricket. The West Indies are no longer prime-time or box-office attractions; they are the sideshow to the summer’s main event, when the South Africans arrive in July.

Statistics rarely lie and of their eight Test matches this winter the West Indies won just once, and lost on four occasions. In their last two series they lost 2-0 in India and 2-0 at home against Australia. This does not inspire too much confidence as they prepare to take on the world’s top ranked side in their own backyard.

Yet, as someone who has been very critical of both players and administration during recent years, I am as encouraged about West Indian cricket as I have been for some time. One should not underestimate the shambolic mess that Ottis Gibson inherited in early 2010, when he was appointed to the position of head coach. Poor early results hardly endeared him to an already impatient public, but he has remained focused on the task at hand and been determined in his desire to instil a professional mindset in the side.

That process has seen experienced players such as Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo fall by the wayside as Gibson focuses on developing a young side with Darren Sammy at the helm. However, the recent Australia series highlighted problems at the top of the order that England’s star-studded attack will surely seize upon.

The top three has been a constantly revolving door with Kirk Edwards, Adrian Barath, Kraigg Brathwaite and Kieran Powell all showing glimpses of potential without producing the level of consistency required for Test match cricket. Darren Bravo, meanwhile, appears to be finding the weight of runs to match his undoubted talent. All of these youngsters will look to the senior citizen Shivnarine Chanderpaul to take the lead and he remains the foundation upon which the batting line-up is built. The return of Marlon Samuels should add an element of stability to the middle-order, leaving the uncapped Assad Fudadin – a talented left-hander from Guyana – and Narsingh Deonarine to fight for the remaining batting slot.

Talking of revolving doors, the dropped Carlton Baugh and recalled Dinesh Ramdin continue to juggle the hot potato at wicketkeeper, and both unfortunately often continue to juggle the ball when it comes near them. Ramdin is a stylish batsman who has really not fulfilled his potential, and this may be his last opportunity to do so.

The bowling looks in much better shape for the tourists. In Kemar Roach and Fidel Edwards there is genuine pace and fire, and if they can get their lengths right, England’s top-order will have their hands full. If he finds his rhythm, Roach is as quick as there is in the game today and Edwards, although inconsistent at times, seems to have found maturity with age. Whilst Ravi Rampaul’s Test figures do not flatter him, he is the bowler who could really flourish in English conditions. The improvement in attitude, stamina and discipline has been clear to see, and he can move the ball both ways at decent pace.

Many have been surprised by the omission of Devendra Bishoo, but his game has regressed over the last few months and he will benefit from some time away from the international scene to develop more flight and change of pace in his bowling. In the meantime, Shane Shillingford has grasped his opportunity with both hands, although he is unlikely to find too much help in conditions that are expected to be seamer-friendly. This bowling attack is a far cry from that under Captain Clive, but it represents the tourists’ best hope of winning.

The one person I have yet to really mention is Darren Sammy, the captain. I really admire the way that the young man has gone about leading this side, and improving his own game. Captains have to be credible, and there have been times when his place in the team has come under scrutiny. He needs to ensure that he keeps on working on all areas of his game because there will come a time soon when Andre Russell simply has to be selected. The young Jamaican is the most talented all-round cricketer to emerge from the islands in a long time, and his Test opportunity must be around the corner.

In truth, I see England having a little too much firepower for the West Indies. They have the nous and experience to win the key sessions and moments, much like Australia and India did in the Windies’ last two series. However, with one exception, the West Indies have been competitive in every match during that period, and I expect that trend to continue here in England.

Click here to watch video footage of the West Indies in action in Caught On Camera

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What does Woody Allen have to say about the start of the cricket season? Phil Walker has the answer in The Grubber

The visitors may have lost the first Test in Delhi, but they have shown signs of progress under the steady if unspectacular leadership of Darren Sammy, and could have already recorded a shock win against an Indian side that – despite the 4-0 reverse against England – is packed full of talent.

In Delhi, Shivnarine Chanderpaul – the side’s undisputed lynchpin in the continued absence of Ramnaresh Sarwan and Chris Gayle – top-scored in both innings, and it is unsurprising that he is the favourite amongst Betfair punters to do the same in the West Indies first innings in Kolkata. A player who seldom gifts his wicket, the gritty left-hander has been a model of consistency for more than 15 years.

The Guyanese veteran aside, the visitor’s top seven lacks experience, but in Lara ‘play-alike’ Darren Bravo, the broad shouldered Kirk Edwards and the mercurial Marlon Samuels, the Windies’ middle-order isn’t short of talent.

Samuels, who has recently returned from a two-year ban is still finding his feet and – despite possessing a great eye and power by the bucketful – it is perhaps too early to say how much 24 months out of the game has affected the 30-year-old’s game.

Bravo, by contrast, is very much on the rise, and having registered seven scores of 50 or more in 20 innings (including his first Test match century last month), he has already displayed the sort of consistency that will tempt plenty of punters to part with a few pounds.

Perhaps the best value, however, can be found by backing Bajan Kirk Edwards at 6.4. Possessing a strong, simple technique and a calm temperament the number three has an enviable average of almost 60 (albeit from just eight innings) and having missed out in Delhi, he will be keen to make his mark this time around.

Youth or experience – what do you reckon?

There has been a long line of great left-handers produced by the West Indies over the years, from Sir Garfield Sobers and Clive Lloyd, through Alvin Kallicharran and Roy Fredericks, to the modern day icon, Brian Lara. And it is another southpaw that has provided the backbone to West Indian cricket in recent years, the diminutive Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Chanderpaul was on display for Warwickshire during their vital County Championship victory over Nottinghamshire – who were fielding another West Indian left-hander in the form of Darren Bravo, one of the leading lights for the future of cricket in the Caribbean.

At the age of 37, Chanderpaul is the venerable old man of West Indian cricket, with a Test career that has spanned 17 years and a reputation as a dogged, committed accumulator who has so often been the last bastion between survival and obliteration for the West Indies. Bravo, 22, is yet to register an international century but is seen as the great hope, albeit in a region starved of success in recent times. He also reminds the West Indian public of the great Lara; batting like him, walking like him, and talking like him. They are even related – Bravo’s mother is the sister of Lara’s late father.

Everything that the young Bravo does, through to the smallest mannerisms, is a reflection of his hero Lara. Watching him score a stylish 70 at Edgbaston last week it was immediately clear he is a talented player; his technique is fairly straightforward – well, it is that of Lara – and he is a stylish strokemaker with nimble footwork against the spinners and the ability to accumulate runs on both sides of the wicket.

Lara’s technique was not perfect, very few are, but he possessed a magnificent eye and an ability to play the ball later than almost anyone to have played the game. This meant that even when caught out of position he was able to recover and infuriate opposition captains by manoeuvring the ball seemingly at will. But Lara was a unique phenomenon and Bravo must ensure he has the correct technique and attitude in place to make his own way in the game.

With six half-centuries in his first eight Tests the early signs are promising but at the risk of appearing a little harsh he needs to start converting those fifties if he is going to come even close to fulfilling the expectations that the West Indian public have of him. They too, however, would do well to remember that his name is Darren Michael Bravo, and not Brian Charles Lara.

Chanderpaul, meanwhile, continues to churn out score after score. There was a time when it was felt that he too was not doing justice to his talent and failing to convert enough of his starts into big scores. However, 23 Test centuries later, that criticism has been well and truly laid to rest.

His stint with Warwickshire has seen him hit three tons in five first-class games at the time of writing, and it has helped propel the Edgbaston side into pole position in the Championship race. Chanderpaul may not be as easy on the eye as Bravo’s idol Lara, but his career is a great example and lesson of the work and dedication required to be successful at the highest level. If Bravo is to create his own mark on the game he will have to demonstrate the substance to match his evident style, and in that category Chanderpaul may well be the greatest example of them all.

There was nothing overtly significant about Shivnarine Chanderpaul walking out to bat for Warwickshire in last Wednesday’s CB40 clash with Surrey at Edgbaston. After racking up a West Indian record of 133 Test Caps, the Guyanese left-hander has entered more significant and pressurised environments.

That said, it provided a significant point of reflection for me personally. First and foremost it was an addition to the long line of West Indian greats associated with Warwickshire County Cricket Club. The 1972 County Championship was won by a side containing Rohan Kanhai, Alvin Kallicharran, Deryck Murray and Lance Gibbs. It would be 1994 before the Bears tasted another title success, with a certain Brian Charles Lara as catalyst in chief.

Three of the five who most would consider to be Guyana’s greatest batsmen – the others being Clive Lloyd and Carl Hooper – have now worn the famous crest of the Bear and Ragged Staff, and their aren’t too many other counties with such a long association with a small corner of the Old Empire. I certainly consider myself fortunate to have seen these outstanding players represent the county of my birth.

However, it did lead me to thinking about the considerable changes in the game of cricket in recent years. In the case of Kanhai and Kallicharran, they represented the county for nine and 19 years respectively, while Chanderpaul’s stint will be for little more than a fortnight. The days of the ‘overseas pro’ are long behind us and have been replaced with the era of the ‘overseas star’, who comes in for the short period of time during which his country is not playing and, in many cases, his central contract permits.

I’m not saying that this is necessarily a bad thing, and it is reflective of an international calendar which now has the game played globally throughout the year as opposed to the old model which had the English summer, and everyone else playing during our winter. Supporters will now see up to four or five overseas players representing them in the course of any single summer, and while we are still privileged to see the world’s best, there is a part of me that regrets we no longer have the traditional overseas professionals and the positive impact they could have on the club.

Of course, the domestic game is currently under review by David Morgan and the ECB, but as we approach next weekend’s FL t20 Finals Day, my own opinion is that the game is in excellent shape in the UK. There are always improvements that can be made, but the upshot is that the current structure has produced a world-beating Test side and the counties are churning out players to challenge those currently in the side, and that is the most important thing you can ask of the county game.

The FL t20 competition is a fine example. Our domestic tournament is based largely upon homegrown players with a few international imports and we are regularly seeing good crowds and entertainment. Moreover, the tournament also provided the impetus for the likes of Michael Lumb and Craig Kieswetter to break into England’s World T20 winning side. Contrast that with the money spinning circus of the IPL, widely criticised in the wake of India’s shameful performance on this tour.