WI batsmen need hours in the nets ahead of NZ tour

By Bryan Davis

THE tour of New Zealand (NZ) is a short tour consisting of three T20s and two Test matches. I consider these games in NZ of vital importance to the West Indies (WI).

This is because we’ve been struggling to beat them in their backyard for the last 25 years. Also, the West Indies have to try to remove themselves from the bottom rungs of the ladder of supremacy. And that is the challenge of the Test series.

However, there is the matter of the T20s, a format of which WI are the defending world champions, having whipped England in the final of 2016 at Kolkata by four wickets.

Since then they have plummeted to the base of the standings, far removed from the glory of the view from the top of the heap.

Let me deal with the Test series. What are our chances?

My opinion is that there is no way Shai Hope should have been left out of the Test team. He is a class player, a batsman with tremendous skill who, unfortunately, has fallen into a bad patch. This is when a coach can skilfully bring this talent back to the fore. A class batsman does not lose his ability to bat unless he has suffered a serious injury.

All Hope needs are long hours in the nets with a serving-up of many half-volleys, using a bowling machine (that’s what they’re for), and he must bat for a minimum of two to three hours a day for at least four days a week. After that exercise, he would have rebuilt his confidence and he would be itching to play again. And he would have fitted in nicely in the two “A” team games in which the team will be participating before the start of the Tests.

This is the tonic Hope needs. On the tour, a batsman of his quality would have every opportunity to recover and get back in the groove. He is far too good a batsman to discard, it’s worse for his self-confidence.

I’ve argued this point already when I felt that Nicholas Pooran should be on the team. Our selectors do not seem gifted enough to be able to identify class and what is the combination of factors that make a complete batsman.

Hope was the first batsman to put together two centuries in a single Test in England at Leeds for the WI in 2017, a ground that hosted its first Test match in 1899 and where this feat had never been performed before. Thus, against tough English opposition, one must possess classic ability to prosper; hence one does not discard that type of capability through lack of form. And you’ve got to keep him playing, absolutely no rationale in leaving him out.

There’s no solidity at the top. Kraigg Brathwaite has been an uncertain performer for the past two years. John Campbell shows no class, hence should be replaced by Sharmah Brooks or the young promising reserve Joshua Da Silva, both of whom, although not natural openers, have more batting skills than Campbell.

Darren Bravo hasn’t played in a while, which leaves the batting order with the erratic Jermaine Blackwood and the immature Shimron Hetmyer. Roston Chase is the only solid batsman who promises some consistency.

NZ pitches are not unlike their English counterparts, so that the lower middle order of the skipper Jason Holder and wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich might not possess the tight defences that those pitches require of batsmen.

A batting line-up as fragile as this one means that loads of practice is necessary; hours and hours in the nets to have the batsmen fine-tuned, so that when the ball leaves the bowler’s hand the automatic reaction iscorrect foot movements, plus hand-eye co-ordination, to shift into position to play the right stroke.

My feeling is that WI batsmen are not drilled enough in practice for their improvement.

The NZ bowling attack could be lethal to unprepared batsmen: bowlers like Trent Boult, the left-arm who swings it both ways; Lockie Ferguson, a right-hand fast bowler; and Neil Wagner, a left-handed paceman who hits the “deck” hard.

Their spinner is Mitchell Santner of left-arm orthodox style and high ratings.

Consequently, the batting of this WI team worries me, while I believe the bowling, if well led, could be efficient. Shannon Gabriel, Kevon Roach and the captain could be a handful. To sum up, NZ is reliable, WI are unstable.