Former captain Nasser Hussain said England’s quickfire victory over the West Indies in the first Test at the Lord’s summed up the problems the longest format of the game finds itself at. England beat West Indies by an innings and 114 runs in the first hour of day three, to now take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. While England had some red-ball preparation in the form of County Championship games, West Indies played just one three-day red-ball game against First Class Counties XI in preparation. 

Moreover, the majority of the members in the West Indies squad haven’t played red-ball cricket since the wonderful eight-run win over Australia at Brisbane in January. "Those two days summed up for me where we are with Test cricket. You talk about all the batting they could have but they`re off in a white-ball sunset, you`ve got bowlers who haven`t bowled, you`ve got undercooked cricketers, and then you lose the toss and have the worst of conditions, and everyone goes `Test cricket is dying`."