Let’s be honest, going on a West Indies tour in the 1980s and 1990s filled every England player with trepidation. You knew you were going to face a barrage of short, fast stuff with no limit on the number of bouncers.

It would be pace, pace and more pace. There was no respite, not even for the tailenders. Batsmen were battered into submission with crude and yet skilful bowling. Courage was the most important ingredient. Technique helped but it was always a case of enjoying your rest days on the beautiful beaches because there was never going to be much fun when batting.

Even when England were bowling at the West Indies batsmen they had high quality players like Vivian Richards, Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes and Alvin Kallicharran. It was tough. Those all conquering West Indies teams are now a distant memory.

Our young cricketers have no idea what it was like. They are not old enough to have seen West Indies at their fearsome best and so they go to the Caribbean with uncluttered minds.

All they see on television and from the last two series we have played them, are some very ordinary, average cricketers.

Nobody should take any pleasure from it but West Indies are a shadow of their past. So much so that even the locals don’t come out to watch and support their team in big numbers.

Over time the West Indies fans have become too disappointed and disillusioned with their cricket team. It is too hard for many of them to watch their own team struggle after watching them dominate the world for years.