Kraigg Brathwaite: WI need to go big vs Proteas

WEST INDIES captain Kraigg Brathwaite asked his squad to have belief and called his batsmen to stand up to the test of the South African bowlers as the teams prepare for the first Test in their two match series, starting with a matchup at the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair, Trinidad from 10 am on August 7.

The Windies are coming off a 3-0 series defeat away to England last month, and are looking to find redemption against the Temba Bavuma-South Africa team which has prepared for this series with a four-day match against a West Indies Championship XI at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba last week.

The Windies showed signs of fight in the series against the English, but they eventually fell to three heavy defeats. England won the first Test by an innings and 114 runs, before winning the second and third Tests by 241 runs and ten wickets respectively.

The third Test at Edgbaston concluded on July 28, and despite the quick turnaround, the West Indies have made a few changes to their 15-man squad, with the trio of Justin Greaves, Jomel Warrican and veteran pacer Kemar Roach coming back into the setup alongside the uncapped pair of Keacy Carty and TT off-spinner Bryan Charles.

There will be no room for Greaves and home boy Charles in the playing XI, but the 36-year-old Roach is expected to lead the bowling attack after being a late scratch for the England tour through injury. The 32-year-old Warrican has been named as one of two-left arm orthodox spinners in the XI alongside Guyanese bowler Gudakesh Motie, and he will be playing his first Test since featuring against India at the Queen’s Park Oval venue last July.

Speaking to the media at the match venue on August 6, Brathwaite confirmed Carty will be making his debut in the first Test and he’s expected to slot right into the Windies top order for a struggling Kirk McKenzie, who managed just 33 runs in six innings on the England tour.

“If you look at the West Indies “A” teams and stuff of recent times, Carty was the number three batsman. We’re going based on that,” Brathwaite said.

“He did well for the Leewards as well at the number three spot. He’s played international cricket as well, albeit with the white-ball.”

Carty has played 22 One-day international (ODI) matches for the West Indies, and he’s one of 15 centrally contracted players for 2023/24. At First-Class level, Carty has played 48 matches and has returned an average of 28.09 with three centuries and 18 half-centuries. Carty finished the 2024 regional First-Class campaign as the fifth-leading run-scorer, with 496 runs.

“I’m looking forward to all the players doing well. Obviously, it’s never easy playing in England,” Brathwaite said.

“We had three intense Test matches and now we’re coming back home to play against a good South Africa team...we have to carry it big, carry it deep.”

The heavens opened up as the two skippers addressed the media, with Bavuma suggesting “the weather looks like it can be a factor” in the Queen’s Park Oval Test.

Brathwaite said the West Indies need to use the conditions to their advantage.

“We have home advantage. Being familiar with the conditions is a plus, but you still have to go out there and execute your plans,” Brathwaite said.

“It’s just about organising the plans and how we want to go about playing and bowling on this type of surface. I thought we did that well. We got a lot of information and we look forward to the game.”

The Windies will be without Test vice-captain Alzarri Joseph, with wicket-keeper/batsman elevating to the post in his absence.

“Alzarri will be missed. We have guys who are very capable of doing well,” Brathwaite said. “It’s good he can get his rest. He can come back even stronger.”

Joseph’s namesake Shamar will also miss out in the first Test, as the Windies look to take advantage of what they anticipate to be a spin-friendly surface. Roach and Seales will head the pace attack, with former West Indies captain Jason Holder picked as the third seam-bowling option.

In the two most recent Test matches between the teams, the Proteas got comfortable 2-0 series wins on both occasions.

On the Windies’ tour to South Africa last year, the hosts recorded an 87-run win in the first game before romping to a 284-run win in the second Test.

In June 2021, on the Proteas’ last Test tour to the Caribbean, they trounced the Windies by an innings and 63 runs in the first Test, before getting a 158-run win in the second match. Both matches were played at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground, St Lucia. The West Indies failed to get past the 200-run mark in each of their four innings in the latter series, and with the visiting attack including players such as Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi, Brathwaite will hope he and his charges can overcome the challenges on this occasion.

“Test cricket is always hard work. I believe in this group. We just have to believe in ourselves more, both as batters and as a bowling unit,” Brathwaite said. “As a bowling unit, we just have to be disciplined. If we do that, it makes things easier with the ball and then with the bat.”

West Indies XI:

Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Joshua Da Silva (vice-captain), Alick Athanaze, Keacy Carty, Kavem Hodge, Jason Holder, Mikyle Louis, Gudakesh Motie, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Jomel Warrican.

South Africa XI:

Temba Bavuma (captain), David Bedingham, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne, Tony de Zorzi.