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The sad tale of West Indies cricket

Jason Holder. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Roar Guru
13th December, 2015
10

It is the 20th over, Jason Holder is out, caught Neville bowled Pattinson, and the West Indies have lost their sixth wicket for just 60 runs.

Holder cuts a desolate figure as he makes the long walk back to the change rooms, fully aware that the slightest hope of a West Indies’ resistance has been extinguished.

A revitalised James Pattinson does the damage, a man reborn, bowling with speed and the x-factor which makes him a favourite of selectors and supporters. Any hopes of prolonging the inevitable defeat now lie with the young West Indies opener Kraigg Brathwaite.

The inevitable happens some 16 overs later, with Brathwaite unable to achieve what would have been a deserved hundred, bowled by Josh Hazlewood. The West Indies are all out for 148, losing the first Test by an innings and 212 runs.

While the effort of the West Indies team, at times, seemed pitiful, a result of dire bowling and a batting effort which would not seem out of place in Sunday league cricket, there is a sense of pity owed towards the team.

Holder, a young man at 24, has been tasked with the excruciatingly difficult task of captaining an incompetent cricket side as well as being expected to serve as the West Indies all-rounder.

Given the frontline West Indies bowler’s inability to persistently hit a reasonable line-and-length or the batsmen’s complete lack of resistance, Holder’s role becomes all that more important.

Holder can bat, having scored a Test hundred and two Test fifties, and is learning his craft with the ball, having taken 19 wickets in his 11 Tests. Yet being only 24 and having only played 11 Tests, it’s questionable whether he is at a stage to lead an international cricket side to success.

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This is not a slight on Holder, he seems like a good choice for the role, having witnessed him in the World Cup and the Caribbean series earlier this year. Yet he appears to have little experience on the field to guide him. Additionally, having only been appointed Test captain in September of 2015, Holder is still learning his craft.

As an example, his counterpart for this series, Steve Smith, has always had experienced teammates to surround him should he need the support. From Chris Rogers, who played hundreds of first-class games and captained Middlesex, to Adam Voges, again hundreds of first-class games and experience captaining Western Australia, to current vice-captain Dave Warner, who captained his Indian Premier League team in the most recent series.

The West Indies have been among the hardest hit in regards the emergence of Twenty20 cricket. Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo and Chris Gayle have decided to chase the riches of cricket’s fastest growing game.

While some of the fault lies at the feet of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), especially the loss of likeable all-rounder Darren Sammy, the emergence of the IPL and the Australian Big Bash League has undoubtedly seen the West Indies lose many talented cricketers from its Test side.

None of this is designed to help the West Indies regain its status as one of cricket’s powerhouse nations.

It is clear that for the Boxing Day Test, the West Indies must lift and be infinitely better. The batting and bowling, as mentioned here and in all media, was feeble.

Two bright spots appeared in the form of Brathwaite’s second innings 94 and Darren Bravo’s first innings hundred. Both batted with a sense of maturity and class, something which their teammates would do well to note.

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Brathwaite’s technique may not be perfect but the resilience he showed to not senselessly throw away his wicket, when all else was collapsing around him, showed the mark of a batsman who the Windies could expect big things from in the future.

Bravo was measured in his approach, yet anything short and wide was gloriously flayed through the offside. In both instances it was good Test match batting, the kind expected of an international team, especially one which has produced legends of the game in Brian Lara, Curtly Ambrose, Shiv Chanderpaul, and Courtney Walsh.

While circumstances may not permit their best players to represent their country, it is a relatively young team which should develop.

The question of how quickly they can develop and improve remains to be seen, one hopes for the sake of this series and for the sake of international cricket, the improvement is evident in the next Test.

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