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
Cantab
Guest
Sadly not much on offer here. T20 cricket seems to be the only future for the Windies. Still can't see why they gave Chanderpaul the flick. Sure he was 41 and far from form... but still a walk in as One of there best batsmen in the 'country'.
Virender
Guest
everyone said that about Sehwag, look what he did
Fox
Guest
There is seemingly a lack of commitment to test cricket by the West Indies and this has been the case since Lara retired. They seem to just enjoy the ride and travelling and visiting places but out in the middle lack pride with one or two exceptions. This is a side whose batting largely lives to play the short form and all the money it brings in. Holder is a quality bowler though, who may trouble the Australians as he get loads of bounce on most wickets and I am not going say Australian wickets will offer anymore than anywhere else like NZ or SA or England because that is a stupid statement to make these days because it simply is not true because Australia now rolls out Net-Wickets just like everyone else except India as we have seen in the SA series. They have some decent pace in their attack as well.They also have a pretty good spin attack but they will not score too many runs and the Australian bowlers may get some pretty flattering figures by the end of the series. But they are not bowling to a World Class batting lineup by any stretch of the imagination ( Do they actually have a GENUINE world class test batman player in their line up? ) So i hope we don't read too much hyperbole on the Australian attack if they rout this sorry lot of so-called test batsmen Australian wickets no longer can claim to get more bounce than any other bouncy wicket across the globe I'm afraid, so that is now a myth - totally and utterly - India are the last country to supply wickets that deliberately offer something to the bowlers - namely spinners - their spinners - but you know what? Good on them...but their networks will soon put that to rest as well once they have climbed back up the rankings which is the point of the exercise because cricket holds so much weight there
Brian
Guest
But Pollard & Bravo never tried to properly play Test Cricket. Pollard could be a Dave Warner but we'll never know
AlanKC
Guest
The difficulty the Windies face lies, largely, in the lack of anything uniting the countries. The smaller islands believe their players are unfairly treated by the selectors (and many may well be). There's enough derision cast at selections in Australia based on perceived state bias so imagine the uproar at times if each state was a separate country? Add to that the disrespect shown to test cricket by some of their highest profile cricketers in recent times and you have a recipe for an unfixable mess that is likely to continue the steady decline until they're no longer a test playing group, as sad as that may be.
jamesb
Guest
Well this is where the ICC needs to step in. They need to have a look at the infrastructure of grassroots, pathways and development of the West Indies. Highlight what the problems are, then solve them. It could well be the lack of revenue that has harmed West Indies cricket, to the extent where their test players are on low salaries, and their is lack of revenue back to the grassroots. Or they need to look back into the past and see how the Windies produced players. If cricket lost the West Indies, it would be a crying shame, because it feels like the other test nations and the ICC should have done more to help them out. As a cricket fan, I miss the West Indies.
spruce moose
Guest
Yes, agreed. But their issues run much deeper than just talent. The talent and most importantly, their future talent, need incentives to play for West Indies. Such incentives simply have ceased to exist. Too many external factors, plus rank incompetence governing the WICB have consigned WI to an even slower and even more painful death. No decent country wants to play them, and any country that does are more likely to play 2 tests instead of 3. The last time WI played more than 3 tests was 6 years ago. They don't have the opportunity to nuture talent at the Test Match level.
jamesb
Guest
Well Jason Holder has come through recently. I'm actually a fan of his. Steady tall bowler and an elegent batsman. But most importantly, he is a fighter. Scored a test century against England earlier in the year to force a draw. He is only going to improve over the next few years. Blackwood is another that has shown promise. Just needs to reign in his shot selection, but by nature, Blackwood is an aggressive player And previous to that, Darren Bravo and Roach have also shown something. That are both talented players, but unfortunately, consistency has let them down. Now if Holder can share his fighting spirit with the rest of the side, then who knows. Holder could be the Windies most influential captain since Clive Lloyd.
Tim Holt
Roar Guru
Very weak batting line up, with only Bravo vindicated test class, and Samuel, depending his headspace. Holder is arguably the best batting talent outside these two. As for Blackwood, reminds me of Adrian Barath, with his technique as loose as a weight watchers girdle
spruce moose
Guest
"If the Windies can unearth a couple of more players over the next couple of years, then they may start to have a competitive side." That's been said for about a decade now.
jamesb
Guest
What about Sarwan? Averages 40 in tests. IMO, he is the one player that still had something to contribute. He could've played on for another year or two and help out the younger batsman in the side. But sadly Sarwan has had a run in with the WIB, and a comeback is unlikely.
Peter Z
Guest
No shame whatsoever that Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Narine etc are unavailable. They're not good enough. Gayle is the only T20 mercenary that is any good at Test level. Pollard is simply a basher, and if he was any good, he'd have a ODI record that showed it. He averages 25 if nearly 100 ODI's. Dwayne Bravo was an ordinary test cricketer at best. And Narine is a chucker, who was smashed around in the Tests he's played so far. Let's just get on with embracing the guys selected as the best they've got, coz they are.
jamesb
Guest
Put Holder at number six. Has the technique and mentality to bat for long periods. Ramdin shouldn't be batting in the top six. Such a shame that players like Gayle, Sarwan, Pollard and Dwayne Bravo are unavailable. Although Gayle is 36 and is getting long in the tooth. Sarwan, who is 35, might have been handy at three, and switch Darren Bravo to opening. The Windies need to build their team around Holder, Bravo, Blackwood and perhaps Roach. If the Windies can unearth a couple of more players over the next couple of years, then they may start to have a competitive side.
Camo McD
Roar Guru
Individually they have talent but they really struggle to click as a batting unit. An experienced partner would take some pressure off Brathwaite. Ramdin continues to be inconsistent with the bat. I'd give him a new challenge and throw him in first. Give the likes of Hope more of a chance in their preferred position.
BurgyGreen
Guest
As poor as the West Indies are at the moment, Bravo is solid, and Brathwaite and Blackwood may yet blossom into decent, even very good, Test batsmen. That's the core of a solid batting lineup right there. There is hope for this team yet, though it will almost certainly not be realised in this series.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Blackwood has a hell of a lot of talent he just needs to reel himself in a bit at times, particularly early on when he's still trying to get set.
Peter Z
Guest
Great read. Reckon you summed up where all these payers are at. Blackwood looks good .. has a bit of mongrel about him.