England learn little in the field as Raymon Reifer blunts new-look seam attack

England XI 466 for 6 (Bairstow 106*, Lawrence 83, Lees 65, Crawley 62, Root 54) and 77 for 3 lead CWI President's XI 264 (Reifer 106, Leach 4-62) by 279 runs

Everyday's a school day and, as England's interim Managing Director Andrew Strauss was so keen to stress ahead of the squad's departure to the West Indies, this tour is all about learning.

"[It's] an opportunity to get some good young bowling talent into the environment for the first time," Strauss said upon the squad's announcement., "to allow some of the bowlers that have been playing a role in the team to play either a slightly different role or more of a senior leadership role."

And so as England's bowling innings got underway against the CWI President's XI, England's opening bowler Ollie Robinson opened the bowling. England's 42-Test veteran and known quantity Chris Woakes did some more bowling. Perennial first-change Craig Overton bowled first-change. And England's spinner Jack Leach bowled some spin.

It's not so much learning as it is revising for the same exam that England failed last year.

It was poignant, therefore, that England's real learnings came when things didn't go to plan. Mark Wood was absent due to a non-Covid-related illness and is a doubt for the first Test. And so too is Robinson who pulled up twenty minutes into the day's play with a recurrence of the back spasm he suffered in the last Test match in Hobart.

Robinson's fitness is a real concern for England. Because at this point, what does Robinson being fit actually mean? Robinson being fit to take the field in the morning currently doesn't mean the same as him being able to complete a day's play. And with Stokes unable to bowl in the first Test and England therefore relying on a four-man attack, the risk of one-quarter of that breaking down on the morning of day one is substantial.

"He got a back spasm, it's not ideal," Paul Collingwood said at the close of play. "When someone walks off like that it doesn't look good but these kind of spasms can heal as quickly as they come. We'll just have to assess."

Sometimes the optics of a situation are such that nuance isn't necessary. And the sight of Robinson leaving the field and having his over finished by Saqib Mahmood was one. The right-arm seamer is dead. Long live the right-arm seamer.

The absence of Wood and Robinson did, however, allow England to do some learning and have a look at Mahmood and Matt Fisher with the ball.

Noticeably sharper than the rest of the attack, Mahmood appeared the most threatening of the seamers from his seven overs, whilst Fisher struggled to find his feet initially before settling in and bowling consecutive maidens. If a spot in England's bowling attack does become available next week, Mahmood is the obvious man to step up and complete a full house of international debuts.

However, the elephant not in the room was wickets. Between England's five seamers, only one wicket came in the 54 overs they sent down, with it being left to the spin of Leach, who claimed 4 for 64, as well as Joe Root and Dan Lawrence to take the bulk of the wickets. The seamers' struggles were best exemplified by CWI President's XI No.9 Colin Archibald slogging Overton over long-on for a six. Overton, in his quest for revenge, sent down an attempted bouncer which Archibald proceeded to pull even further. As a start to life without Stuart Broad or Jimmy Anderson goes, it was an ominous showing.

"We're not going to panic," Collingwood said, when asked if there was a temptation to call up any unnamed replacements. "It was a great opportunity for Saqi to come in and bowl some overs today. Even Fish to bowl some. We have got ready replacements in terms of a squad of 16."

In mitigation, this is an extremely docile pitch and, of the five men in the CWI President's XI top seven to have played international cricket, it was Raymon Reifer who scored an excellent 106 from No.5. Reifer is not currently in the West Indies Test squad, having made his solitary appearance back in 2017, but on this showing it would be no surprise if he were to feature later in the series.

Nevertheless, it was a day that served only to reinforce the long-held concern about England's bowling attack, that they're a very well polished, but ultimately blunt object. An oak dining table that looks right at home in the stately surroundings of Lord's, but is an absolute pain in the arse to try and transport anywhere outside NW8.

In reply, England were 77 for 3 at the close, a lead of 279.