Congratulations to the West Indies on winning the One Day International (ODI) series against the English. I suggested the selectors may just get away with their ludicrous decision to exclude Darren Bravo, as England’s bowling lineup did not look that strong, so it proved to be.
England’s weak bowling department and the brilliant batting of skipper Shai Hope were enough to give the West Indies its first ODI series victory against England since 1998. The selectors must feel vindicated by their selections, and while I have the utmost respect for them, I am still adamant that they were wrong to leave out the best-performing batsman in the region - Darren Bravo.
I heard one commentator suggest that the rebuilding process has started with many youngsters named in the team having called the names of Keacy Carty and Matthew Forde to back up this point. If the rebuilding process were well and truly underway, we would have heard about three more names in addition to the two that were called. I then heard an English commentator say this was a good England team.
This was an England team that only selected six players from its disastrous World Cup performance, and outside of the team’s batting lineup, their bowling was pretty ordinary. Their best bowler in the series was 19-year-old leggie Rehan Ahmed, who will be a tremendous bowler in the future. Apart from him, no one covered themselves in glory except Will Jacks, who is more of a batsman who bowls off break rather than a genuine off-spinner.
Their strong point, which is their batting, let them down in the last game, and although they got 325 runs on the board in the first game, they did not cater to Hope’s magnificent innings and could not defend that helpful total.
Harry Brook, the exciting Englishman, came good with the bat, as expected, in the first two games but when he was run out by the brilliance of Alzarri Joseph, they were destined to struggle, especially with Jos Buttler failing.
Returning to the selectors, some of their decisions are still perplexing. They selected Kjorn Ottley, and he did not play in one game. Therefore, the simple question must be raised: why was he in the squad? Surely, a youngster could have replaced him, sat through the series, and gained some valuable exposure. It was obvious Hope needed some help from the middle-order batsmen coming good. He did get some help from Sherfane Rutherford in one inning, but Rutherford needs to be more consistent. I am still waiting for the real Shimron Hetmyer to show up, but I suppose the selectors will just continue with him until he scores some runs.
Brandon King did not get off, but he is tried and tested at this level and will score runs when he is in form. Alick Athanaze, who I have said all along, will continue to improve at the international level, which was evident in this series. Hopefully, he will not be satisfied to get to 45 or 66 but will carry on to get a hundred. I also prefer him to bat at three, so a priority for the West Indies team is to find someone to open the batting with King, and perhaps Athanaze could bat at three and be more comfortable than opening the batting.
I am glad those in charge gave Carty a run throughout the series. He has to come to terms with international cricket as his talent exists. I believe he has to work harder at his batting as he appears to lose concentration and tends to premeditate some shots, but, like Athanaze, he has to play more international cricket. I have already touched on Hetmyer and Rutherford. When the West Indies encounter better opponents, their true mettle will be tested, and we will see if they are worth their place on the team.
Shepherd came good with the bat, and there is no doubting his ability to hit the ball hard, but he has to sharpen his defence a bit more so he can be a genuine all-rounder. At the moment, I classify him as a bowler who can bat. His bowling, especially at the death, needs to be tighter but he is another one who has to work harder at his game.
Yannic Cariah seems to be getting the nod as the spinner. He needs to continue the learning curve as a good leg spinner. He needs to get hold of his teammate Sunil Narine and spend days learning the craft with him. He can improve, but, at the moment, he lacks a bit of guile and variety, and I am certain that Narine can assist him with that going forward.
Once more, the player I have time for is Matthew Forde. I have been singing his praises since I saw him play for the St Lucia Kings in the Caribbean Premier League. I could not understand why he did not play in the first two games. Maybe they were looking at his workload then, but he is 21 years old and ready to go, and I had advocated to play him in the first ODI opening the bowling with ‘the mean one’, Alzarri Joseph. The West Indies are fortunate to have two good left-arm spinners, Gudakesh Motie and Akeal Hosein; both will do well at the white ball level.
With the ODI series out of the way, we focus on the five-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series. The first game was played on Tuesday evening and West Indies got home by four wickets thanks to some indifferent bowling by England at the end but also some wonderful striking of the ball by Rovman Powell and Andre Russell. This England team is a more experienced one than their ODI squad with the likes of Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Tymal Mills and Reece Topley adding some much-needed variety to their bowling lineup.
West Indies has also gone for more experienced campaigners with the likes of Nicholas Pooran, Jason Holder, Kyle Mayers, and, surprisingly, the 35-year-old Russell coming into the squad. I must say Russell’s selection has interested me, but the selectors may be looking at him as an impact player with an eye also on the 2024 T20 World Cup. I would like to see Nyeem Young be given an opportunity at the international level and be around the squad. Just like the ODI series, the T20 is going to be too close to call, but there is enough talent in the West Indies team to see them do the double against the English, especially at home.
Buttler and his team would be hurting from the defeat and would be looking to bounce back with a victory in the series, also with the Barmy Army following the team throughout the region, but if the West Indies batting clicks and the bowlers do their job, they should face no issues in seeing off the English.
Editor’s note: The views expressed in the preceding article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of any organisation in which he is a stakeholder.
