West Indies wicketkeeper-batter Joshua da Silva said that England’s early eyes on the Ashes could help the West Indies in the latter half of the series as well. West Indies lost the first Test at Lord’s and are currently trailing 1-0 in the three-match series as well. On the other hand, England are vocal about focusing on the Ashes while playing the ongoing home season. They will tour Australia at the end of 2025 as well.

“That’s their biggest fixture of their calendar. So if they’re looking forward, they’re looking to groom some players to make sure they have their team ready for them. I don’t think it’s wrong of them at all,” da Silva said on England’s Ashes obsession (via ESPNcricinfo). “Nah, it doesn’t hurt us. I don’t study it especially. We still have to play the cricket. If they take us for granted we might get a win, or might win the series. For me, I take that as a favour,” da Silva again added.

However, the second Test between England and West Indies is slated to begin on Thursday, July 18, at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. West Indies will try to bounce back as well.

“Obviously in the batting a few of us didn’t stick our hands up. We are pretty disappointed after the first Test. We have put that behind us, we’ve had our discussions, and we are looking forward to the second Test. We are doing everything we can, rebuilding, and going hard forward into the next Test. It might not look like it, but we’ve taken a few positives. A lot of guys got starts and just didn’t carry on. We talked about soaking up more pressure and how we are going to deal with those situations if we are put in them again. Not losing wickets in clusters,” Joshua da Silva concluded.