Muristek
‘My drive and energy has come back,’ says wicketkeeper as he prepares for a second opportunity to impress in the West Indies
Welcome to the reboot. The costumes are the same and you’ll recognise some of the main characters, but there’s no doubt that the West Indies tour that begins this coming week is meant to kick off a new narrative arc for the failing franchise that is the England men’s team. Clearly, Andrew Strauss was impressed by what Tom Holland did for Spider-Man: England have landed in Antigua with a young cast bursting with peppy enthusiasm.
They have also dropped their two legacy stars; for those of us still contemplating the pointlessness of a Sex and the City sequel without Samantha, the omission of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad has come at a particularly raw moment. There’s better news, however, for all the glovework geeks and stumping superfans out there: Ben Foakes, the Best Wicketkeeper in the World (source: Alec Stewart), will be back in the team, a year after he played his last Test match. And it’s not a little poignant his return to the side comes in Antigua, given this was the island where he lost his spot as England’s first-choice keeper three years ago.
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