In the sun, I will come to see Barbados

Cricket Et Al is in the Caribbean for the Test series

Greetings from Barbados, where thousands of Australians are about to converge on the first Test by an Australian team in the Caribbean since 2015.

Among them, these fans who’ve flown in from all parts and who happened to be at the Cuzz Cafe parking lot fishburger stall when Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey and Matthew Kuhnemann stopped for lunch on Monday.

Sam Konstas, who appears to have forgotten to pack a shirt for this trip, is a big fan of the fish burgers.

A return to the Caribbean has been a long time coming, and Cricket Et Al is excited to be on the ground for those of you who couldn’t get to the islands.

It was great getting back with Gideon in London for the Test Match Final, and I hope you noticed that your Et Al team made our first joint appearance on Offsiders.

Thank you to all our subscribers who make it possible for us to be at the games Australia, Sri Lanka, London and the Caribbean when there is a Test match to be covered. It might be old school, but you’ve got to be on the ground to really cover these events and to find out what’s going on around the team.

Gideon is wearing the Usman 232 and I’ve grabbed my cleanest dirty shirt from the wardrobe.

This trip to the West Indies marks something of a reset for the Test team, with the end of the WTC cycle, and there have been changes.

We’ve been talking about regeneration, and we’re about to see a team featuring Sam Konstas, Josh Inglis, Beau Webster and maybe even Matt Kuhnemann.

There’s movement at the top of the order, but Usman Khawaja is locked in to do a David Warner and will presumably retire after the Sydney Test.

The team is sympathetic to senior players like Usman staging their exit, others may not be.

An injury to Steve Smith could have saved Marnus Labuschagne, but didn’t.

The bowlers did not have the best of times in the second half of the WTC final, but it’s hard to argue with the quality of their cloth.

I’m a bit worried about the fielding, but more of that later.

Anyway, as noted above, Cricket Et Al is intending to be front and square for events as they unfold.

Firstly, to our paid subscribers, thank you so much for being on board and staying on board. Your support meant Gideon and I could both be at Lord’s for the four-day match and the events on either side.

I hope you have enjoyed the reporting as much as we have bringing it to you.

Covering Test match cricket is a costly exercise now that we are out of newspapers and operating independently.

Your support makes it possible for us to be on the road and to get me from London to the West Indies

We intend to be at as many Tests as possible, because being at training, mixing with the players and coaches, and just being at the ground brings so much more to the coverage.

This is a bit of a plea to people who perhaps dropped their subscription over the summer, and those who have never been financial.

A month’s subscription would cover the three Tests, a year would lock you in for what should be an exciting 12 months in the cricket calendar, including the summer’s Ashes.

It’s only $20 for a month’s subscription, and $100 for the 12-month model.

This month, as a bonus, we’ve got Cameron Ponsonby on board to provide reports from what was once the Pataudi Trophy, but unfortunately is now known as the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.

I loved his first piece on Bazball’s hour of reckoning.

It will be fascinating to see how the team Australia beat last summer goes against the one it comes up against this summer.

I can tell you that the English are pretty cocky about their chances in the coming Ashes.

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