Stakes couldn’t be higher as Giles’s audition begins for real

Three of the players who set off on that tour are no longer with the team. Jonathan Trott went home with a stress- related illness, Graeme Swann retired and most sensationally of all, Kevin Pietersen was sacked.

The coach, Andy Flower, stepped down when it was decided that the roles of Test and one-day coach needed to be combined again. This tour, along with the tournament in Bangladesh, is an extended audition for Ashley Giles. Appointed little more than a year ago as England’s limited-overs coach, he now has the opportunity to make himself the obvious successor to Flower.

The flip side of that coin, unfortunately, is that if England fare badly here and in the World Twenty20 it may be impossible for him to be appointed and he could be out of a job altogether.

The tourists have been in good spirits in the first few days in the Caribbean. To a man they have insisted it feels like the start of a new era. James Tredwell, the one-day off spinner who hopes eventually to claim Swann’s place in the Test side, said on the subject: “Yes, absolutely. Not only because of the personnel but equally what has gone on before and the need to draw a line under that and move on. It certainly does feel as though that is taking place.”

Of course, if the form fails to shift on an upward curve the bright new era may soon start to feel like the tired old one. The tourists should be permitted some latitude in the 50-over matches because of their unusual team. Improvement on Australia, however, is non-negotiable. Perversely, the Twenty20s may be the trickier part of the assignment with West Indies world champions in the format.

England are not yet sure of their most trustworthy combination but a top three in the batting order of Luke Wright, Alex Hales and Ben Stokes seems likely.

Without Pietersen it continues to look a trifle under-powered and there remains a case for persuading Eoin Morgan to move up the order, at least in T20. Giles has that and more to ponder in the next six weeks.

Australia batsman David Warner has been fined 15 per cent of his match fee by the International Cricket Council after questioning how South Africa worked on the ball during the Second Test at Port Elizabeth.

The tourists were 126 without loss and then saw all 10 second-innings wickets fall for just 90 to lose by 231 runs as Dale Steyn produced a hostile spell of reverse swing to take four for 55. Warner pleaded guilty to a charge of making inappropriate comments.