England made plenty of noise in the build-up to the Test series against West Indies about the red-ball reset they wanted to put into place.

The squad is much-changed to the one that was hammered 4-0 in Australia, with eight players dropped, including England’s two leading wicket-takers in Stuart Broad and James Anderson. Alex Lees made his debut in the first Test, with recalls for Ben Foakes and Dan Lawrence and Joe Root moving up to No.3 making for a new-look top seven.

Comparisons were made to their revolution after the 2015 Cricket World Cup. England crashed out of that tournament at the group stage, but won the next event in unforgettable fashion in front of a home crowd at Lord’s, having pioneered a fearless batting approach in the interim.

That time, England began their journey by putting up 400 in an ODI for the first time, against 2015 finalists New Zealand. This time, the change has been less immediate, with Lees pinned lbw by Kemar Roach, Zak Crawley playing a loose shot and inside-edging to the keeper, Root dropped and then bowled leaving next ball, and Dan Lawrence caught at third slip off Jason Holder. England went to lunch on the first day on 58-4, having chosen to bat first under sunny skies.

The irony was not lost on many, with the continuation of England’s batting struggles causing mirth and despair in equal measure.

Several pointed out how England’s big move of dropping two of the greatest bowlers of all time was always unlikely to fix the batting woes.

It was also remarked upon how the two resets, in 2015 and now, were already quite different in substance.

And after a historic run-fest between Pakistan and Australia in Rawalpindi, some were just happy that normality had been resumed in Antigua.

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England Series EditorialWest Indies v England