The West Indies arrive in Australia for their three-Test series in awful form and with a host of inexperienced players many Australian fans will not be familiar with.
So I’ve prepared a two-part guide to the West Indies likely starting XI for this series. While the tourists have a reasonable attack, led by the express pair of Jerome Taylor and Kemar Roach, their batting is weaker than any Test nation bar Zimbabwe.
It is this fragile batting line-up which Australia dismantled as they romped to 2-0 series victory in the Caribbean earlier this year. The West Indies batting woes are the reason they are entrenched in eighth spot on the Test rankings, well below seventh-placed Sri Lanka.
1. Kraigg Brathwaite (23 years old) – 1457 runs at an average of 33, including four centuries from 23 Tests.
Brathwaite is the one of the West Indies few genuinely promising young players but he was picked apart by Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood in the two Tests in June, making just 29 runs from four digs.
One of Brathwaite’s biggest strengths is that he does not try to overhit the ball, instead using his wonderful timing. He loves to unfurl back foot drives through cover point but, while that can be a valuable stroke on the slow, low Caribbean decks, it will be a risky option on the bouncier Australian tracks, particularly against tall bowlers like Hazlewood and James Pattinson.
2. Shai Hope (22 years old) – 162 runs at 16 from five Tests.
Like Brathwaite, Hope looked out of his depth against the Australian attack earlier this year, making 80 runs at 20. He had no idea against Mitchell Johnson and will be glad the left armer has retired. Hope has a scoop pull shot which he likes to play against the quicks but which, like Brathwaite’s back foot drives, will be a dangerous shot on bouncier decks.
3. Darren Bravo (26 years old) – 2741 runs at 41, including six tons from 39 Tests.
Now that the legendary Shivnarine Chanderpaul has retired, Bravo is the West Indies key batsman. He has a point to prove against Australia though, having averaged just 25 in five Tests against them.
Off spinner Nathan Lyon had him tied in knots in the series earlier this year and will likely be used to target Bravo. With his high backlift and flowing off drives, Bravo is lovely to watch once he gets going. He is a noted nervous starter though.
4. Marlon Samuels (34 years old) – 3587 runs at 35, including seven tons from 61 Tests.
Samuels epitomises the type of players the West Indies have produced over the past decade – naturally gifted but loose in technique and inconsistent in performance.
He has, however, become a significantly more reliable batsmen since returning to the Test team four years ago, having made just under 2000 runs at an average of 43 in that time. Samuels likes to get after the spinners and will look to use his feet to Lyon and loft the spinner over the leg side as he did repeatedly in the Caribbean in June.
5. Jermaine Blackwood (24 years old) – 742 runs at 39, including one ton from 12 Tests.
Blackwood marked himself a star of the future with a brilliant 3-Test series against England at home in May, making 311 runs at 78. But the short middle-order batsman was undone by Hazlewood’s sharp lift in his next series and could only managed 65 runs from four innings.
Blackwood has a penchant for playing lofted off drives from the pacemen which, again, may work on docile pitches but will be much more difficult in Australian conditions. Hazlewood and Pattinson will trouble him, and he’ll look to dominate Lyon by using his feet.
6. Denesh Ramdin (30 years old) – 2765 runs at 26, including four tons from 71 Tests.
Ramdin is now the most experienced player in the West Indies side. His keeping still isn’t overly convincing, while his batting is poor for a Test gloveman.
Ramdin is particularly vulnerable against miserly pace bowling, frequently throwing his wicket away once he has been tied down amid an accurate spell. Having moved up the order to six to allow Jason Holder to play as an all-rounder at seven, he must show more circumspection
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