Ragoonath not confident of WI chances in 2nd Test

FORMER TT and West Indies opening batsman Suruj Ragoonath is not confident that the regional team will be able to emerge victorious, or even salvage a draw, in their second and final Test match against New Zealand, which is due to take place on Friday (6 pm Thursday TT time) at Wellington.

New Zealand trounced the West Indies by an innings and 134 runs in the first Test at Seddon Park, Hamilton on Sunday (Saturday evening TT time).

During an interview on Tuesday, Ragoonath said, “I don’t think that, going to New Zealand, we would be competitive. History have shown that we have struggled in New Zealand, and we had better teams playing. These guys don’t have the requisite skill level to compete at this international (stage), especially in conditions that exists in New Zealand.

“The result was no surprise, especially given that they had to come up against the New Zealand pace bowlers on such a fast track,” he continued. “The technical deficiencies of our batsmen, mental and technical, were exposed. As a result, the match was over in three days. I don’t see the next match to last much longer.”

The West Indies batsmen capitalised on flat wickets at Queenstown in two warm-up matches against New Zealand A, but were brutally exposed by the swing and seam of the New Zealand Test quartet of Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Neil Wagner and Kyle Jamieson.

According to the former TT Cricket Board (TTCB) CEO, “The surface (at Hamilton was) definitely different from what they practiced on. Regardless of the surface, I just think that we are not just up to it at Test match level. The fact is that we have been outplayed.”

In the first Test, New Zealand declared on 519 runs for seven wickets, and the WI responded with 138 and 247.

“New Zealand has four fast bowlers and they were able to sustain us with a measure of pressure that our batsmen were not able to cope with,” Ragoonath said. “You saw that in the second innings, the guys seemed to be unsure about what approach to use, batting in those conditions. I just don’t think that we have it, mentally and technically, to compete at that level, with that kind of pressure that is being placed on us by the New Zealanders.”

The only positive for the WI was the second innings partnership between Jermaine Blackwood (104) and Alzarri Joseph (89), who teamed up for a seventh-wicket stand of 155.

“Obviously (that was) the only saving grace,” Ragoonath said. “That’s how Blackwood plays, he’s a hit-or-miss kind of player. He’s not going to give you a great deal of confidence that he’s going to get runs every time he bats but he threw caution to the wind. That’s how he normally plays. Alzarri is no different, and it came off for them. But that’s not going to happen very often in those conditions.”

Fast bowler Kemar Roach and wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich will return home and hence miss the second Test.

Ragoonath noted, “You need a first-choice wicketkeeper and I think that Joshua Da Silva should be making his debut. I expect to see Chemar Holder making his debut as well, for Roach. With question marks surrounding the fitness of (batsman Shimron) Hetmyer, I don’t think there are too many options.”

What message will Ragoonath offer the players to inspire them for the second Test?

He replied, “You always want to focus on flaws, and adopting a positive mental attitude, but this is a tough task, especially knowing that the guys are up against it. They should focus on good performances over the past, trying to get them to remember when they did well, to get them to understand that a bad innings doesn’t make them a bad player.”

However, Ragoonath mentioned, “At the end of the day, it’s going to take more than just that level of motivation. It’s going to take a lot of self-belief for them to pick themselves up. The captain is asking them to show a lot more resolve. To be honest, I don’t think that the guys possess that quality that is required to be more competitive than they are.”