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Opinion

Cricket Australia must invite the West Indies Down Under

16th July, 2020
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Roar Guru
16th July, 2020
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In late 2015 the West Indies toured Australia for a three-match Test series to regain the Frank Worrell Trophy. In all three Tests they were comprehensively outplayed in all facets, though rain saved them from a 3-0 defeat, losing instead 2-0.

Forget the hammering in the Test series; the Windies lost to a Cricket Australia XI by ten wickets in a tour match before the series. The media mercilessly crucified Jason Holder and his men throughout the series, and the West Indies skipper had no choice but to bear the brunt of that force.

Fast-forward to mid-2020 and the West Indies are starting to make some strides in Test cricket following years and years of decline, primarily through their pace bowling stocks. Thanks to Cricket Stats Scholar, who gave me some quality stats on the West Indies pace attack, I was given some numbers from the West Indian pace attack on their last tour of Australia and their numbers from June 2018 onwards.

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West Indies pace attack in 2015-16 Frank Worrell Trophy

Shannon Gabriel: one Test – one wicket at 59.00, economy 5.9, strike rate 60
Jason Holder: three Tests – two wickets at 93.00, economy 3.04, strike rate 183
Jerome Taylor: three Tests – two wickets at 128.5, economy 5.58, strike rate 138
Carlos Brathwaite: two Tests – one wicket at 162, economy 3.76, strike rate 258
Kemar Roach: three Tests – 0/247 off 41 overs, economy 6.02

Total: 6/912 off 201 overs, 152 runs per wicket and a wicket every 201 balls

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These are all woeful numbers. I don’t think I’d seen an opposition side turn up Down Under and underperform that poorly. Although his numbers were poor, I thought Jason Holder bowled pretty well, offering some sort of control while the rest of his seam counterparts were spanked in Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney. From the disaster Down Under, three seamers from the West Indies team have developed their game and are all quality Test Match bowlers nowadays.

Jason Holder

Jason Holder (Photo credit should read Randy Brooks/AFP via Getty Images)

West Indies pace trio since June 2018

Jason Holder: 12 Tests – 60 wickets at 14.08, economy 2.45, strike rate 34.3, six five-fers, one ten-fer (match)
Shannon Gabriel: 14 Tests – 59 wickets at 23.16, economy 3.52, strike rate 39.4, four five-fers, one ten-fer (match)
Kemar Roach: 13 Tests – 46 wickets at 21.80, economy 2.71, strike rate 48.1, two five-fers

Total: 165 wickets at 19.48, economy 2.92, strike rate 40.0, 12 five-fers, two ten-fers

The trio of Gabriel, Holder and Roach have all been phenomenal since June 2018. I remember when Bangladesh toured West Indies for a full bilateral series in mid-2018 and expecting the pitches for the Test series to be slow and low. Boy was I wrong. The West Indies blew away the Bangladesh batsmen with pace and bounce en route to a 2-0 series win. Soon after the West Indies would regain the Wisden Trophy, winning 2-1 at home against England.

Not only have pitches in the West Indies changed to suit fast bowlers, but a change of ball has helped the team. In the West Indian first-class and home international matches the Dukes ball has been used to ensure bowlers remain alive in the game rather than being as useful as spectators throughout a match. And the change of the ball has immensely helped the West Indian pace trio. Add in the youngsters in Alzarri Joseph (27 wickets at 34.03 in ten Tests) and Keemo Paul (six wickets at 31.5 in three Tests, 87 wickets at 18.25 in 21 first-class games) and the West Indies have a potent pace attack that can trouble opposition batsmen, especially with the bounce on offer in West Indies and Australian pitches nowadays.

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The batting isn’t that strong, but it’s slowly getting there. Sometimes numbers don’t show how good a player is. Kraigg Brathwaite averages only 33.36 in his Test career so far but averages over 40 with the bat in England, UAE, New Zealand and Australia. John Campbell is a similar mould to David Warner, preferring to take on opposition bowlers. I believe that the nature of surfaces here in Australia will allow him to play his natural game with confidence.

Darren Bravo was the West Indies’ best batsman on the last Windies tour of Australia, scoring a quality hundred at the Bellerive Oval and a dogged half-century at the MCG. Shamarh Brooks stokemaking seems to suit Australian wickets, while Jermain Blackwood and Roston Chase are evolving as Test batsmen nowadays. Add in keeper Shane Dowrich and Jason Holder’s abilities with the bat and the West Indies have a team capable of putting on 300 to 350 on Australian soil.

I would love to see this current West Indian side tour Australia for a three-Test series. With the pace and bounce their pacers generate I would prefer to see the series played on three grounds: Bellerive Oval, the Gabba and Optus Stadium. If not the Gabba or Optus Stadium, play a day-nighter at Adelaide Oval.

The 2021-22 summer is scheduled to be the Ashes, so we’ll probably have to wait until the 2022-23 summer for the West Indies to most likely tour Australia. By then the West Indian pace attack will be at their peak. While I don’t think the Windies would win the series Down Under, their bowling attack would make it an incredibly competitive tournament.

Please give this West Indies side a chance, Cricket Australia. Sincerely, a cricket fan who wants to see Holder and the boys steam in and Test Smith and co on green tops.

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