English Goliaths currently have one of the best bowling attacks in the world. They have no shortage of options. Stuart Broad and James Anderson duo has scalped more than 1089 test wickets. Apart from the Anderson-Broad duo, the team has bowlers like Jofra Archer, Chris Woakes, and Mark Wood whom the team can rotate whenever they want. The English bowling attack was very efficacious in the recent Test series against the West Indies even though the pitches were lifeless.
Today`s cricket has become so professional that video analysts closely assess every batsman. The strategy of England has to be decided according to how the pitch and the conditions are. The first Test wicket was slow. The conditions were quite challenging for the swing bowler. In such a situation, Anderson`s work increased tenfolds. He knows that he does not hit the ball like Jofra Archer and his bowling is quite different from Chris Woakes. The ban on the ball-shining made things even worse.
As far as Stuart Broad is concerned, he proved to be an amazing bowler. He is taller and releases the ball from the height, which makes the batsman hard to play on the front foot. The batsman is not able to make a timely decision on whether to play on the front foot or back foot. By the time he decides, it is too late. These qualities helped him to amass 500 wickets in Test Cricket. In England, the ball swings even after being tipped. It is common to change the fork with the tip of the ball. Under such conditions, wicket keeping in England becomes quite challenging.
When the team management did not include Broad in the first Test in Southampton, he was rightfully indignant. Jofra Archer also suffered because of the ball-shining issue. The wickets were not helpful, so the bowlers had to struggle. Jofra Archer was bowling through short of the length area. He is a truly talented bowler.
As far as Chris Woakes is concerned, he did the job as a supportive bowler well. Although he is not as talented as Broad or Anderson, he proves his worth in timely situations.
Wood has an upper hand when it comes to pace, however, Woakes rules the accuracy. On the other hand, if Wood does not get enough swing, it becomes easy to play against his deliveries. This is the reason why the WI batsmen did not have any problem in playing them in the first test played in the series.
England`s one – day cricket attack has however changed. In the first match against Ireland we saw, they included a left-arm bowler David Willey along with Saqib Mahmood and Sam Curran. In fact, after winning the World Cup, the England team has been experimenting in whiteball cricket. More and more players are expected to be tried by England in ODI format and out of those bowlers, some good bowlers can be useful for England in the future.