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KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Not for the first time, West Indies’ unpredictable and error-prone batting will attract all the attention when the Caribbean side face Pakistan in the opening Test of the three-match series at Sabina
In search of their first series win over their opponents in 17 years, West Indies have placed the burden on an inexperienced batting line-up with Kraigg Brathwaite, Jermaine Blackwood and Kieran Powell, the only three to have played more than 20 Tests.
Even then, the trio have played just 77 Tests among them and scored a mere nine hundreds, further underlining the tenuous nature of the batting line-up and captain Jason Holder was quick to emphasise the importance of the batsmen stepping up during the series.
Pointing to the side’s batting effort in their last Test when they beat the Pakistanis in Sharjah last November, Holder said West Indies needed to consistently hit those standards.
“We finished off the year last year quite well. We won that game in Sharjah – we batted well and we also got 20 wickets,” he told reporters here yesterday.
“In the past, we’ve been able to get 20 wickets but we haven’t been able to consistently put runs on the board. That’s obviously one area we need to pay attention to.

Sabina Park is celebrating its 50th test and to my surprise not one Jamaican is picked for the test. You talk about a slap in the face of Jamaicans. It's ok they decided to drop Samuel and Jerome Taylor when the team was selected; but to see them drop Blackwood the day of the test is pure craziness! In case selectors are too lazy, too fat and too busy destroying our cricket let me remind them that apart from K. Brathwaite and Chase, Blackwood was the only batsman with a batting average of 31 and more. Furthermore, Blackwood is the only batsman with a half century against every test team in the world. You dropping him for Hope, who has not been able to get a half century in his 7 tests? I wish you all good luck