Nottingham, May 24: West Indies pushed England closer than anyone expected in the first test, but another injury and the looming presence of Chris Gayle means they face a difficult task to keep the series alive when the second test starts at Trent Bridge on Friday.
Paceman Shannon Gabriel, who made a promising debut in the first test at Lord's, has pulled out of the tour due to back spasms and while his nominated replacement is Tino Best, the vacant berth in the starting eleven may revert back to Ravi Rampaul, who was injured for the first test.
Another selection dilemma is whether to recall former captain Chris Gayle, whose Indian Premier League commitments are over. Gayle has a tempestuous relationship with West Indies officials, and neither players nor management are being drawn on whether he will return to the test team.
The tourists confounded expectations by taking the first test to a fifth day, with local organizers not even printing tickets for the final day.
While this was the England and Wales Cricket Board's standard operating practice rather than a calculated insult, other incidents showed that this West Indies team that has been underestimated, and is one capable of upsetting expectations.
It certainly looks much more motivated than the disinterested rabble that toured under Gayle in 2009, which is why the former skipper's possible availability for the rest of the tour, following his IPL exit, is such a headache for the selectors.
When his name was mentioned during a press conference at Lord's the team's media manager snapped: "We're not asking questions about Chris Gayle."
And even genial captain Darren Sammy was struggling to hide his exasperation when pressed on the point on Monday.
"I've been asked that a hundred times," he said. "It's not up to me, it's up to the selectors what happens. He's a very experienced player and we've been having some difficulties at the top of the order. If he comes in we will welcome him but the last I heard he is available only for the Twenty20s and one-day internationals."
If Gayle is available, the equation for the selectors is tricky. He is more likely to score runs than any of the current top four and also provides a useful bowling option, but during the 2009 tour he made little attempt to hide his antipathy toward test cricket, saying he "wouldn't be so sad" if it disappeared.
Sammy said West Indies will welcome anyone, but if Gayle turns up looking as miserable as he did three years ago the morale boost the tourists received from the first test may be squandered.
With or without Gayle, West Indies will find matching their Lord's performance -- let alone winning -- difficult on a Nottingham wicket expected to offer the bowlers significantly more help than the lifeless track at Lord's.
Stuart Broad belied those conditions to take 11 wickets and although James Anderson and Tim Bresnan took just four wickets between them, neither bowled badly and the ball is expected swing this time -- meaning the England team is likely to be unchanged.
England also went into the series with a vulnerable top order but the three batsmen who most needed to score runs at Lord's all did so.
Captain Andrew Strauss' 122 ended a sequence of 25 innings without a century, Ian Bell played a pivotal role in both innings with 61 and 63 not out and Alastair Cook's 79 batted England out of trouble in the second innings.
Broad is back on his home ground and he still has vivid memories of his last test appearance at Trent Bridge in 2011, when he took a hat-trick as England routed India.
"It was definitely one of the highlights of my career, I love playing at Trent Bridge," he said. "It's a fantastic ground, the home support is brilliant and looking back to last summer it was great to get the win."
