England closed off a disappointing year with a 3-2 series defeat against the West Indies in Tarouba after a batting collapse in the series decider left their bowlers with too little to defend. Hamza Shehryar picks out five key takeaways from the series.

Phil Salt leapfrogs Will Jacks in England’s top-order plans

With an embarrassment of batting riches for England to choose from, and Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow set to return to the T20I set-up ahead of the T20 World Cup, enterprising batters Phil Salt and Will Jacks went into this series competing for one spot.

Salt came out emphatically on top, after scoring 331 runs in five innings — the most anyone has ever made in a bilateral T20I series — which included 22 sixes and back-to-back centuries. The Sussex batter got his runs at an average of 82.75 and a strike rate of 185.95.

On the other hand, Jacks struggled. Batting at three, he only managed 73 runs all series. His high score of 24 fell a run short of Salt’s lowest score of the series.

It seems like Jacks will find himself out of England’s T20 World Cup plans, especially with his bowling deemed surplus to requirements by the England set-up, evidenced by the fact he only bowled a solitary over across the five games.

Rashid remains England’s most important bowler

Adil Rashid was head and shoulders ahead of every other bowler from both sides in a series in which bat dominated.

Rashid took nine wickets — the most in the series — at an economy of only 6.2 an over — the lowest among all bowlers that played at least two games — as he clinched the top spot in the ICC T20I bowling rankings during the series.

With the T20 World Cup next year set to be played at the same and similar venues, England’s hopes of becoming the first team ever to successfully defend their title will undoubtedly hinge on Rashid’s performances with the ball through the middle overs, as the 35-year-old from Yorkshire continues to go from strength to strength.

England are set to go into the World Cup with a flexible middle order

Throughout this series, England regularly promoted their habitual finisher, Liam Livingstone, to No.4. He thrived on the responsibility, scoring 156 runs in the series at a strike rate of 162.5, averaging 39. They also promoted Sam Curran to number four in the second T20, where he notched an enterprising 50 from 31 balls.

England’s experimentation with their batting order has allowed them to test their various batters across a myriad of roles and positions to cover all bases before going into the World Cup. They may well deploy a flexible middle order in the competition, one where batters will likely shift positions depending on the conditions and opposition.

England have a death bowling problem

In each of the series’ first three games, the England bowlers were vulnerable towards the back-end. In the first T20, West Indies needed 47 to win from the last five overs and chased it with almost two full overs to spare. In the second game, while Tymal Mills and Chris Woakes helped pull things back, conceding 24 off the last three, the damage had been done with overs 16 and 17 going for 48. In the third T20I, England were smashed for 79 runs in the last four overs.

West Indies didn’t make it to the death in the fourth T20I, falling on their swords in a massive chase, while England’s bowlers recovered well in the final game, but couldn’t quite defend an underpar target. However, their continuous struggles in the closing overs are worrisome. This concern is exacerbated by Sam Curran’s diminishing role with the ball after he was taken for 30 in an over by Rovman Powell in the second game of the series.

With the World Cup set to be played on the same smallish grounds, England will need to shore up their death bowling plans before June 2024.

West Indies are World Cup contenders

West Indies’s stock fell considerably after they were unable to qualify for the Super 12s in the T20 World Cup in Australia in 2022 and the ODI World Cup in India earlier this year; however, they have had a quietly successful 2023 in the shortest format, a year in which they have managed series victories against India and now England.

In doing so, West Indies have also been able to put together a solid squad, led by the belligerent Rovman Powell, who has averaged 36 in 2023, striking at 170.52.

With their side further bolstered by Shai Hope, Brandon King and Akeal Hossein’s impressive returns in this series, the discovery of talents Gudakesh Motie and Sherfane Rutherford, and the remarkable return of all-rounder Andre Russell, it’s not impossible that the fairytale could happen. If West Indies were to become the first team to claim three T20 World Cup titles, they would do so in front of their fans, with the final set to take place at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.