Chris Tremlett: England should combat the dangerous Chris Gayle with all-out pace at the Rose Bowl
England play West Indies at the Rose Bowl on Friday and I’m sure they won’t be complacent about what Jason Holder’s side can do.
West Indies’ fast bowling attack have shown how good they can be, demolishing Pakistan for just 105 in their opening game and reducing Australia to 79-5 in their second with aggressive short-pitch bowling.
While Trevor Bayliss and his players will have spoken about how to combat bouncers, I think it’s a batsman they will fear the most.
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Chris Gayle may be 39 years old but he’s still one of the most dangerous batsmen in the world – a fact England know all too well, having been on the receiving end of his destruction already this year.
Gayle smashed scores of 135 from 129 balls, 162 from 92 and 77 from 27 in February’s 2-2 one-day international series draw and he always seems to find form against England.
Once he gets his eye in and on a roll pretty much everything in his arc disappears so I think the hosts need to focus on dismissing him early on. Chris Woakes generally takes the new ball for England, but I would like to see Mark Wood paired with Jofra Archer in Southampton.
Woakes can swing the ball, but at 83mph to 85mph he is more likely be hit off his line by Gayle, whereas Wood and Archer have genuine pace.
Unlike at Trent Bridge or The Oval, where a top-edge can fly 65m for a six, the Rose Bowl is a big ground with long boundaries square of the wicket. It would take a good clean hit to send a well-directed bouncer 80m, so bouncers can be a defensive tactic as well as a wicket-taking option.
Wood spoke this week about his friendly competition with Archer to see who can bowl the fastest and, having reached 95mph in Saturday’s win over Bangladesh, they can both bring the fear factor – even to someone as experienced as Gayle.
If England can unsettle him and rough him up with some short stuff early on he might fall or be susceptible to full deliveries which follow.
The longer boundaries should also help spin, so I expect to see Moeen Ali back in the side alongside Adil Rashid for one of the fast bowlers, unless the wet weather provides a really juicy, seamer-friendly wicket.
England bounced back impressively against Bangladesh after the defeat by Pakistan and I fully expect them to win once more.
The batting is in a good place following Jason Roy’s excellent 153 in Cardiff and if the rain stays away and Gayle doesn’t fly out of the blocks I’m confident of another victory.