Reifer must look at man in the mirror
Republished from DigicelCricket.com
From the cricketing wilderness extraordinary circumstances plunged the 37 year old Floyd Reifer to the fore as captain of the West Indies cricket team for the Digicel Test Series versus Bangladesh.
Reifer, a player/coach of the Combined Campuses and Colleges team, but not captain, was pitchforked into the role after the originally selected players boycotted the Digicel Series.
His scores up to that time justified the abrupt end to his international career. In eight innings he scored three ducks, six single figure scores and had a highest of 29. After an additional two Test matches against Bangladesh his highest score remains 29 and in a six Test career, the tall, elegant left hander has a run aggregate of 111 runs at an average of 9.25.
The statistics are not complimentary. However on his return to Test cricket he was the de facto senior batsman, from whom much was expected, particularly since he was at the height of his cricketing maturity and had scored a bucket load of runs in the most recent regional First Class season.
In 12 First Class matches this year Reifer scored 1002 runs with three centuries and five fifties at an average of 47.71. In 18 years of international cricket it was his most bountiful season yet and Reifer never gave up hope of returning to the fold for the regional senior team. As recent as last year he publicly declared that he was still hopeful of being selected as a batsman on the Test side.
Be careful what you wish for would have been valuable advice then.
Reifer did not just make it back into the team but was its leader in a difficult and embarrassing episode of West Indies cricket. As leader he was calm, thoughtful and decisive. As a batsman he has been surprisingly mediocre and must certainly have left the West Indies selection panel in a dilemma.
After the two Digicel Test matches the selectors had to determine who would lead the team for the Digicel One Day International Series. Darren Sammy, the red hot all rounder, had to have been a favourite. Sammy took back-to-back five wicket hauls in the Tests and scored 90 runs in four innings which is just 21 less than Reifer scored in his entire career.
In the two Digicel Tests against Bangladesh Reifer scored 25, 19, 1 and 3 for a total of 48 runs at an average of 12. In the end the selectors continued with Reifer over Sammy.
Curiously, after the First Digicel ODI Reifer ignored his own shortcomings with the bat and laid blame at the top of the order.
"We didn't get the start we wanted from the top, and this is something that is worrying us at the moment," Reifer was quoted as saying. "We are not getting enough partnerships at the top of the innings."
It could not have been that Reifer was trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes. It may have been a reactionary comment but it was certainly irresponsible and wholly unfair to the young men who have been entrusted with the job at the top of the Windies batting order.
Dale Richards, the daredevil right hander from Barbados, has been the lone constant throughout the tour. While he has shown glimpses of his destructive abilities he has not yet lit up the stage on a consistent basis. However it is his maiden series and he is now getting his feet wet.
In the Test matches, Richards was partnered by his young CCC charge Omar Phillips while in the lone ODI thus far, 21 year old Grenadian smasher Andre Fletcher opened the innings with Richards.
Phillips is a young man who is returning from injury and had not played any cricket for months, Fletcher was enjoying a break in what is effectively the off season.
Nevertheless to make a blanket statement that “we are not getting enough partnerships at the top of the innings” is to ignore a much bigger problem in the middle order where Reifer himself bats.
The statistics tell the story.
In the First Digicel Test match the top three scored 13, 94 and 17 in the first innings and 14, 14 and 19 in the second innings. That’s a total of 171 runs. The next three batsmen, combined, also scored exactly the same amount of runs in that Test.
In the Second Digicel Test the top three scored a total of 277 runs while the numbers 4, 5 and 6 managed 94 all told.
The clarification must be made though that of the 265 runs scored by the numbers 4, 5 and 6, David Bernard Jr scored 211 at an average of 52.75. Those 211 runs are equivalent to 80% of the runs from the middle order. Reifer’s contribution, as captain, senior batsman and the man with the most experience in the middle order was 48 runs at an average of 12.
There was hardly any difference in the Digicel ODI. The top three scored 71. The next three made a total of 51 runs but again Bernard was responsible for 38 of those. Captain Reifer contributed 3.
The hastily put together Windies top order has not been an overnight overwhelming success but it has not been an outright failure either. So before publicly scolding the top order it may be wise for the leader to take a long look in the mirror.
DIGICEL TESTS BATTING ANALYSIS
David Bernard Jr: 211 runs, 52.75 avg
Travis Dowlin: 185 runs, 46.25 avg
Omar Phillips: 160 runs, 40 avg
Dale Richards: 108 runs, 27 avg
Floyd Reifer: 48 runs, 12 avg