SPORTS
Newsday reporter
It is interesting to note that West Indies cricket has reached the stage where they are no longer considered worthy of playing in a five-Test series.
On November 30 this week they will begin the first of a two-Test series against Australia. This is the final match of a double tour which began with two T20 Internationals in October, which Australia won.
Currently, with a completely different team under Kraigg Brathwaite, the Caribbean men challenge the Australians.
Although in the recent past the Test team has performed better than the team in the limited-overs format, in modern parlance known as the red-ball and white-ball competitions, a few years ago they were much better. in the shortest period. version.
So while Australia, England, India, New Zealand and South Africa challenge each other in occasional five-Test series, WI, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are now joined by relative newcomers Bangladesh, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan. However, compared to the current company we keep, none of them have even come close to the heights WI achieved, playing, between 1980 and 1995, unbeaten in Test cricket, since the controversial Test series defeat in New Zealand in 1980. in losing to the Australians in the Caribbean in 1995.
Therefore, we have to examine the current red ball team and come to an intelligent conclusion on how it will challenge the Australian challenge. It is a cricketing world where the Aussies are rated in the top three and the West Indies in the bottom three.
Good warm-up matches have been offered to the prime minister’s 11. They included two four-day matches, with the second being given first-class status. The opposition consisted of Australian players who are trying to make the Australian Test team. These will always be players to challenge fiercely as they demand recognition or to be considered good enough to play in a Test match or two.
At the end of the two games, WI didn’t fare too badly. However, I suspect they haven’t delivered the kind of dominance a coach would like to see against a replacement outfit. This only proved that our standard is low.
Tagenarine Chanderpaul got off to a flying start, bagging a century and a half in two separate innings. It will do his confidence a world of good if he is confident enough to not let the “big names” of Aussie fast bowlers, captain Pat Cummins and penetrating left-arm pace Mitchell Starc, make the best of it. This pair has been lethal in Test cricket and will be the biggest test that both the opening batsmen – Chanderpaul, for the first time, and the experienced Brathwaite, who possesses Job’s patience – will have to face. No matter what, these two will be tested to their limit, as will other batsmen.
Cummins is a right-handed quick, so it will be a right-handed/left-handed combination, which is always a factor to deal with.
But Brathwaite and his new partner could challenge the effectiveness of the Aussie pace duo, as they happen to be a left/right batting combination, thus causing the two bowlers to change their line of attack with each over. An interesting battle if these two WI batsmen have the mental toughness plus the self-assurance to deal with it.
Nkrumah Bonner, Kyle Mayers and Roston Chase are out of form at the moment and have missed the warm-up. Therefore, they will not run to go, plus the skill required to handle this high standard of bowling makes it difficult to imagine them performing well.
Young wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva has always been a positive player with a lot of heart, known since he scored his first 50 wickets in his first Test match in New Zealand. He seems to have applied himself to the task at hand and will be looked upon as someone to shore up the middle order. He is hitting better and better with every opportunity he gets. Plus, the fighting qualities of Jason Holder with experience in the middle will be an advantage.
The bowling is capable but will not be bolstered by the totals the batsmen will produce. The skill gap between the teams is an abyss.
I hope for the best. But cricket results are not based on hope. I fear the worst!
