Former England captain Nasser Hussain has repeatedly spoken about the state of Test cricket in general. He touched on the subject again after England beat the West Indies in the first Test.

England won the first Test match by an innings and 114 runs in three days. The West Indies were bowled out for 121 and 136 in reply to England’s first innings score of 371.

The Windies batsmen showed no resistance whatsoever against Gus Atkinson and company at Lord’s. The first Test match was the last Test match for James Anderson and he finished his career with 704 wickets. He took 3 in the Windies’ second innings.

Speaking to the Sky Sports Podcast, Nasser Hussain lamented the state of Test cricket in the West Indies. He said that the West Indies currently have inexperienced and underprepared Test cricketers who are unable to play the format properly. While England had some red-ball preparation in the form of County Championship games, the West Indies played just one three-day red-ball game against a First-Class Counties XI as preparation ahead of the series.

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“Those two days summed up for me the current state of Test cricket. You talk about all the batting they could have, but they go off in a white-ball sunset, you have bowlers who haven’t bowled, you have underprepared cricketers, and then you lose the toss and you have the worst conditions, and everyone says ‘Test cricket is dying’,” Hussain said on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast.

“But if you prepare for a Test match like that, you’re going to get exactly the same thing as England when they play away. It frustrates me because you have to give Test matches the preparation they deserve, which is very easy to say but very difficult to do in modern times,” he added.

There are doubts over whether the West Indies will be able to compete against England at home in the second Test at Trent Bridge starting on July 18. West Indies head coach Andre Coly wants the team to take inspiration from their win against Australia earlier this year at the Gabba.

The West Indies are in terminal decline, says Nasser Hussain

He also spoke about the sad state of West Indies Test cricket. They have hardly fielded an experienced team, as almost all their modern players are white-ball specialists.

“The other story is that ‘West Indies are in terminal decline’: England have not won in the Caribbean for two decades and they hold the Richard-Botham Trophy,” Hussain said.

Hussain further spoke about the difficulties England face when playing Test cricket abroad, especially in countries like India and Australia. England do not have the Ashes urn at present and also lost the series against India earlier this year in India.

“England go to India or Australia and don’t do particularly well, so it shouldn’t just be a West Indies story. It just adds to the fact that Test cricket is in a difficult situation, and it’s self-perpetuating.”

England, playing at home, now have the chance to climb the points table in the 2023-25 ​​WTC after taking a 1-0 lead in the series.

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