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.
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.
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.
Andrew Pelechaty
Roar Rookie
From memory, the West Indies played as their separate islands in the 1998 Comm Games. Jamaica finished third in Group A, Antigua second in Group B and Barbados second in Group C. Not bad.
Johnno
Guest
Jamaica has about 2.7 million, NZ has 4.5 million, so I don't reckon it would be a major problem. I suppose the best way is you could as you do now, say play them once every 4-years e.g. 3-test series vs Jamaica, then in 4-years a 3-Test series vs Trinidad. Or go on 4-test tour, 2-test series in say Barbados, then 2-tests in Jamaica. The smaller nations e.g. Antigua etc, well I don't give em much hope of keeping test status, but they could certainly field competitive T20 or ODI sides. Look at pacific islands in rugby union's 15's and 7's, tiny populations and they keep going. In the bigger picture, a sports team doesn't have to be world beaters, for it to be popular or thrive. Fiji has never owns 15's rugby world cup nor has samoa/tonga, and rugby is big. Norway/Finland have never won a soccer world cup,and soccer is no 1 sport there. Being the best, is not always a measure of a sports health in a country,or popularity. And same applies to cricket, some of the smaller nations will never be powerhouses like India, it doesn't mean they can't enjoy and contribute to cricket.
Mitchell Hall
Guest
Point taken! But how would a tour go? Is there enough slots in the program to have a tour by Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados? How about the smaller islands?
Mitchell Hall
Guest
Hi JGK, if the West Indies had a bigger talent pool then those players would of be given the heave ho years ago! The selfish attitude was brought in by Brian Lara's captaincy and they've never shake that attitude.
Johnno
Guest
Micheal it doesn't always work like that. As often a side with a smaller pool of players that is more patriotic, and a better board, can be more successful. Look at Croatia/Serbia in soccer after Yugoslavia disbanded, or Soivet Union disbanded with Russia/Ukraine splitting. None of those soccer teams have suffered declines. 1st-class cricket will be cheaper for example in Jamaica, as travel times flying to Trinadad, or Guyana in South America will be cut, in a Jamacain league only. And as said, better boards, and more united patriotic group of players.
JGK
Roar Guru
If the stories being told are right (the opening bowlers refusing to bowl into the wind, Marlon Samuel's attitude) the players have to lump their share of the blame as well.
Mitchell Hall
Guest
HI, the issue i have about splitting up the West Indies is that do we want sides 1/5 of this current team?
Mitchell Hall
Guest
My predictions. 1. The West Indies will not win another Test Series in Australia in the next 30 years. 2. The West Indies will not hit over 300 once in this series. Not a slight on the players, it's just complete mismanagement has got them to where they are today. I'm trying to do something about it! Feel free to sign and pass on. https://www.change.org/p/cricket-australia-james-sutherland-cricket-australia-to-help-restore-west-indian-cricket-to-it-s-former-glory-or-at-least-try?recruiter=8973358&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=share_for_starters_page&utm_term=des-lg-no_src-no_msg&fb_ref=Default#petition-letter
Adam Daunt
Roar Guru
I think the West Indies will keep their status as a test team for a while yet, generally I think the ICC would rather rid themselves of Zimbabwe first but it would be a toss-up between Bangladesh ad the Windies to see who else could get cut. Your right Johnno, if the big three and the ICC refuse to direct more money into the likes of West Indies and Bangladesh's first class scene it remains a mystery as to how any improvement can be expected. The only way I can see some improvement happening is if the ICC intervened in the WICB and created sustainable practices. This could be construed as biased so its unlikely. The other option is to redistribute the revenue percentage given to each nation, so well performed countries such as South Africa, get a better slice of the pie so to speak. Additionally the Big three and the ICC need to recognise, their game will not grow without the development of the lesser nations and should therefore cut back on the excessive amount of revenue they take in. However, we all know how unlikely this is, so thee point is basically mute. Therefore, your essentially right it is hard to see how the West Indies could become competitive and therefore justify keeping their test status in future years perhaps the only saving grace is the ICC has announced intentions to redistribute Division 1 statuses.
Johnno
Guest
So sad. Out of tears. Positives: T20 is here to stay whether the purists or older generation are against it or not. It will continue to give Caribean cricket players a chance to play pro-sport, and probably in higher numbers than the glory days. So cricket will stay on, but in T20 for sure, and most likely you'd think O'DI'S. Negatives: I don't reckon T20 is totally to blame. Even if T20 didn't come around, Test-cricket in general would be having problems. 5-days is a long time for a result in a sports-match in this modern fast paced world. And developing Test-cricketers is an expensive process, far more than the past when the windies were great for 20-years. A lot of the greats skills were honed by English counties etc, there seems to be much less county cricket influence now helping windies cricket players for whatever the reasons. Foreign import cuts in county cricket I think. So unless the powers that be the "Big 3" and the ICC are willing to pump millions of dollars into the windies 1st class cricket domestic scene, I can't see west indies ever getting test-status again. I want the windies to remain as a side totally, the history "this team" has shouldn't just be tossed away casually by a reckless decision. But if a big decision is made to disband the windies, and all the island Nations which are independent countries, start playing for there own national team, that won't be such a terrible thing. In fact it might be easier to maintain a test standard side. As each country will be able to put in there own boards, and no subsidise the other countries, and put in there own plans. Remember there all separate countries. Imagine asking Denmark/Norway/Sweden/Finland to play as Scandanvaia in soccer, or ask Croatia/Serbia or Australia/NZ, to play as a team on a full-time basis, that's what's going on here with what West-Indies Team has to deal with and play as. In soccer they have strong rivalries, the thought of asking Barbados/Jamaica/Trinidad to play as on west indies soccer team, just would be unthinkable. So if the windies collapse as a cricket-team it will be sad, but maybe it's there natural destiny, as it's now a changing world compared to when the west-indies side was formed. Heck the (WICB) board Governance structures are haplessly out of date. Time for change might happen with the board being talked about being dissolved, and new Governance structures put in. Either way caribeean cricket is set for a bump next 5-10 years, both good and bad I reckon. I hope the west indies stay and keep test-status, time will tell if they keep test-status.