West Indies players, particularly the batsmen, must do whatever it takes to stick around at the crease and give a good account of themselves, says former Barbados and England cricketer Roland Butcher.
A veteran cricket commentator, Butcher said the regional side made lots of errors that they must correct if they are to stand a chance of saving the series. The second and final match bowls off on Friday at the Darren Sammy Cricket Stadium in St. Lucia.
“I want to see a little more fight when we bat. Do whatever it takes to hang around and give a good account of themselves. For the batsmen, it is not going to be easy. Test cricket is not designed to be easy.
“You are going to have to overcome many challenges, you are going to have to overcome the pace of the bowlers, the swing, and the movements and you are going to have to be prepared to take a few knocks here and there to stay at the crease,” Butcher told Barbados TODAY.
Despite being shot out twice for less than 300 runs at the Darren Sammy Cricket Stadium in the first Test against South Africa last week, West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach says pitches like the one they played on will help West Indies cricket in the long run.
On a grassy surface that offered bounce and pace to fast bowlers, South Africa bowled the West Indies out for scores of 97 and 162 while securing victory by an innings and 63 runs inside three days. South Africa made 322 in their only turn at-bat.
However, according to Roach, who took 2-64 from the 20 overs he bowled, said pitches like the one they played on will ultimately benefit the players in the region.
“I think the pitches benefit us in the long run, especially when we go on tours to South Africa and Australia where the bounce is a lot more,” Roach said.
“We wouldn’t be unfamiliar when we go to these countries. I think it’s good to have a pitch like this in the Caribbean we can prepare ourselves for these overseas tours.”
David Warner, Pat Cummins and Glenn Maxwell are among six players to have opted out of Australia's tours of the West Indies and Bangladesh, while Steven Smith will miss the trips because of an elbow injury.
Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson and Marcus Stoinis are the others to make themselves unavailable for the upcoming tours because of a variety of personal reasons, following their time at the IPL and the difficult journey home when the tournament was postponed indefinitely. Allrounder Daniel Sams had previously put himself out of contention.
Wes Agar, the South Australia and Adelaide Strikers pace bowler, has earned his first international call-up as the one uncapped player in the 18-strong squad. Nathan Ellis, the Tasmania quick, and legspinner Tanveer Sangha will travel as reserves.
GROS ISLET, St Lucia (CMC) — Former Captain Jason Holder has urged patience with West Indies' “inexperienced” batting line-up in the wake of the heavy innings defeat against South Africa last weekend, arguing they needed time to adapt to different conditions and opponents.
The top-ranked Test all-rounder pointed out that while several of the newer players had excelled in recent series, South Africa presented a different type of challenge, to which they needed to adjust in order to excel.
Further, Holder noted that even though the experienced likes of Roston Chase, Shai Hope, and Kieran Powell had returned to the side, they also required time to become reintegrated.
“You get different oppositions that suit different styles and different persons' games,” the 29-year-old told an online media conference.
“Some persons thrive against the Bangladeshis which are more subcontinent spin bowling-friendly attacks, some persons like pace and bounce, [with] the ball coming on, and that's where you get a team coming together.
Former West Indies captain and top all-rounder Jason Holder has urged caution in the development of young fast bowler Jayden Seales.
While admitted to being delighted by the young bowler’s potential, Holder recommends caution as a necessity in ensuring he lives up to his full potential.
“I’m very excited for Jayden. It was special to see not just the way he bowled but also the way the team rallied around him,” Holder told members of the media on Tuesday.
“I was actually commenting on his first Test wicket and everyone was saying they really enjoyed how he got around it. I honestly felt like I was taking my first wicket when Jayden got his wicket,” he added.
