The tub-thumping atmosphere in the Long Room at Lord’s was so raucous late on Monday afternoon as India and England fought out the tightest of Test matches that it made a Millwall home game against West Ham seem like the Albert Hall. So a great triumph for Test cricket, yes? Well, up to a point. While England and India were showcasing the five-day game at its most thrilling and competitive, in front of a sell-out crowd for the fifth day running, one of the sadder events in the history of Test cricket was unfolding in front of no one in Kingston, Jamaica, where the West Indies were being flattened by Australia for 27 in the third match of the series to lose by 176 runs.

The pitch was clearly a factor – only one of the four all-out totals was more than 200 – but that couldn’t obscure the fact that it was yet another example of what a sorry state Windies cricket is now in. This was in Jamaica, the home of Chris Gayle, Courtney Walsh, Michael Holding and........

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