West Indies cricket had reached a point where they were getting more famous for on and off-field capitulation rather than the glorious period they enjoyed from the 1970s to the mid-1990s in Test cricket. That dominance entailed not losing a Test series for 15 years.

A tour of West Indies would be dreaded by the best of their opponents, who didn’t fancy facing four genuine quick bowlers coming at them all day. In recent years, tours there were relished. However, their five-wicket victory over England in the third Test at Barbados on Sunday not only denied the old enemy a series win, but it also provided a ray of hope for their revival.