England v West Indies, 2013-14

	England won the ODI series 2-1 © Getty Images Enlarge
Related Links Series/Tournaments: England tour of West Indies Teams: England | West Indies

One-day internationals (3): West Indies 1, England 2
Twenty20 internationals (3): West Indies 2, England 1

This was a curious tour, one of the most low-key England have undertaken in recent years. It comprised three 50-over games and three Twenty20 matches; the three Tests which technically formed part of the same trip were not due to take place until April 2015. But the squad was picked with the forthcoming World Twenty20 in Bangladesh in mind. Stuart Broad, already in charge of the 20-over side, thus assumed the captaincy for the whole trip.

Only hard-core fans followed proceedings with much interest. They would have noted some encouraging individual performances from England - and some familiar failings. Broad's team won the 50-over rubber in Antigua 2-1, even without their regular captain Alastair Cook and several other first-choice players, but lost the Twenty20 matches, all in Barbados, by the same margin.

The management and players spoke of a willing spirit and dressing-room harmony, following the bitterness and tensions created by the disastrous tour of Australia, the sacking of Kevin Pietersen and the retirement as team director of Andy Flower. There were, needless to say, a few hiccups. Joe Root broke a thumb, Broad was forced to defend England's honour after a ball-tampering rumpus, Ravi Bopara was fined for a run-in with Marlon Samuels and Darren Sammy, while Ben Stokes required surgery after punching a locker. Both Root and Stokes missed the World Twenty20. But, after events Down Under, this all felt like small beer.

The limited-overs coach Ashley Giles made no secret of his desire to succeed Flower in overall charge. And he knew that, with England's new managing director Paul Downton insisting one man should be head coach across all three formats, the tour was part of his audition for the Test role too. Giles asked his old playing mate Paul Collingwood, who had coached Scotland to qualification for the 2015 World Cup a few weeks earlier, to join him as fielding coach.

Collingwood was seconded from Durham, where he was still captain. Giles was perceived to have done a solid, if uninspiring, job: he regularly resorted to coach-speak, such as "working hard" and "following the processes". The players enjoyed his methods, and his personality was less intense than Flower's. Yet a little over a month later he would be out of a job, with England opting to return to Peter Moores instead. Giles's downfall, though, would be events at the World Twenty20, not results here in the Caribbean.

Whenever England lost, the "Bring Back KP" brigade would pipe up on Twitter. But few close to the camp felt Pietersen was genuinely missed. So infrequently had he played limited-overs cricket for England in the preceding couple of years that, when the tour started, he was 45th in the ICC's one-day batting rankings, and not even in the Twenty20 top 100.

Following the tour of Australia, during which England lost 12 international matches out of 13, any win was to be celebrated. So victory in the 50-over series, after defeat in the first game, was a good effort. The likes of Cook and James Anderson - as well as Jonathan Trott and the out-of-form Steven Finn - were missing because they were not in consideration for the World Twenty20.

There were chances for others. Worcestershire batsman Moeen Ali and Lancashire slow left-armer Stephen Parry appeared for England for the first time in any format, and Michael Lumb made a century on his 50-over debut. In addition, Root scored his first one-day hundred, and Jos Buttler enhanced his reputation as a dynamic, unorthodox hitter.

But Luke Wright, pencilled in as England's Twenty20 No. 3, endured such wretched form that he was dropped, while Stokes's frustration boiled over when he was dismissed for a golden duck in the final Twenty20 match. His scores on the tour had been five, four, nought, four and now nought, and he failed to take a wicket - a significant contrast to his impact on the Ashes three months earlier.

Match reports for

Tour Match: UWI Vice Chancellor's XI v England XI at North Sound, Feb 25, 2014
Scorecard

1st ODI: West Indies v England at North Sound, Feb 28, 2014
Report | Scorecard

2nd ODI: West Indies v England at North Sound, Mar 2, 2014
Report | Scorecard

3rd ODI: West Indies v England at North Sound, Mar 5, 2014
Report | Scorecard

1st T20I: West Indies v England at Bridgetown, Mar 9, 2014
Report | Scorecard

2nd T20I: West Indies v England at Bridgetown, Mar 11, 2014
Report | Scorecard

3rd T20I: West Indies v England at Bridgetown, Mar 13, 2014
Report | Scorecard