A cricket bridge too far

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 start the first of a two-Test series against Australia. This is the tail-end fixture 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 Aussies.

Although in the recent past the Test team has been performing better than the team in the format of limited overs, in modern parlance known as the red-ball and white-ball competitions, going back a few years they have been far better in the shorter version.

So while Australia, England, India, New Zealand and South Africa challenge each other in occasional five-Test series, the WI, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, are now lumped with relative newcomers Bangladesh, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan. However, as compared to the present company we keep, none of them has even come close to the heights WI have scaled, playing, between 1980 and 1995, undefeated in Test cricket, from the contentious defeat in the Test series in New Zealand in 1980 to the loss to the Australians in the Caribbean in 1995.

We must therefore examine the present red-ball team and arrive at some intelligent conclusion as to how it will defy the Australian challenge. It’s a cricket world where the Aussies are rated in the top three and West Indies in the bottom three.

There were good warm-up games provided against the Prime Minister’s XI. They comprised two four-day games, with the second one 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 give fierce opposition, as they are looking for 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 do too badly. However, I suspect they didn’t furnish the type of dominance a coach would like to have seen against a substitute outfit. It only proved that our standard is low.

Tagenarine Chanderpaul is off to a flying start, filling his basket with a century and a half, in two separate innings. This will do his confidence a world of good if he’s self-assured enough not to allow the “big names” of the Aussie fast bowlers, skipper Pat Cummins and the penetrative left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc, to get the better of him. This pair has been lethal in Test cricket, and will be the biggest test that both opening batsmen will have to face – Chanderpaul, for the first time, and the experienced Brathwaite, who possesses the patience of Job. No matter what, these two are going to have their mettle tested to the limit, as are the other batsmen.

Cummins is a right-hand quickie, so it will be a right-hand/left-hand combination, which is always a factor of its own to deal with.

But Brathwaite and his new partner could counteract the Aussie pace duo’s effectiveness, as they happen to be a left-hand/right-hand batting combination, thus having the two bowlers change their line of attack with every single taken. 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 present and have been short of runs in the warm-ups. Hence, they will not be raring to go, plus the skill required to handle this high standard of bowling makes it difficult to picture them performing well.

Young wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva has always been a positive player with a lot of heart, recognised since he scored his first 50 in his first Test match in New Zealand. He seems to have applied himself to the task at hand and will be thought of as someone to support the middle order. He’s batting better and better with every opportunity he finds. Plus, the fighting qualities of the experienced Jason Holder in the middle will be an advantage.

The bowling is capable, but will not be bolstered by the totals the batsmen will produce. The gap in ability between the teams is a chasm.

I hope for the best. But cricket results are not based on hope. I fear the worst!