When the West Indies first revealed their original 15-player squad to contest the T20 World Cup in Australia, the major talking points surrounded the inclusion of one Yannic Cariah and the non-inclusion of any recognized off-spinner.
Cariah’s inclusion was especially a mystery as the 30-year-old had not featured in the format since 2016–a domestic career made up of 5 overs; had not played a single T20I, and had only just made his International debut (in ODIs) three months prior.
Therefore, not only does the selected spin department comprising of one leg-spinner and one left-arm orthodox bowler lack variety; we may also presume a deficiency in quality, only being certain of the class of Akeal Hosein.
And if Hosein is anything less than effective, what then?
And even then, the West Indies might find themselves in warm, if not boiling hot water; their biggest weapon with the ball for the last 15 months, the left-handed Hosein, has the odds stacked against him simply by being a finger-spinner seeking success on Australian decks. This as, of pace, wrist-spin, and finger spin, the latter sees the biggest drop-off in effectiveness in the Land Down Under. (CricViz)
Two-time Twenty20 World Cup-winning captain Daren Sammy believes West Indies can produce “something special” at the latest edition of the tournament starting later this month.
Writing in his column for the International Cricket Council, Sammy said the Caribbean side possessed talented combinations both in the batting and bowling departments, which could influence the outcome of games.
“I just spoke to [captain] Nicholas Pooran and he reckons the guys are shaping up well. I have a really good feeling about this squad because we have so much talent,” Sammy indicated.
West Indies will again be part of one of cricket’s great traditions on the upcoming Test tour of Australia. As part of the preparations for the two-match series the visitors will have a four-day pink ball match against the Australia Prime Minister’s XI.
This will be played at Manuka Oval in Canberra on Wednesday 23 November to Saturday 26 November. The day/night match will be played under lights and will recognize the anniversary of the inaugural fixture in 1951, also against the West Indies.
The match will also form part of the team’s preparations for the series against the Aussies, which will feature the first pink ball Test between the two teams. It will be played on 8 to 12 December at the Adelaide Oval following the first Test at the Optus Stadium in Perth on 30 November to 4 December. The series will be contested for the prestigious Frank Worrell Trophy – named in honor of the legendary West Indies captain. It will also form part of the ICC World Test Championship.
2-0 in favour of the hosts. That was the scoreline of the recently concluded Australia-hosted T20I Series against the West Indies as a prelude to the Caribbean team’s participation in this year’s 2022 ICC T20 World Cup Final Qualification Tournament. Even more significantly it left West Indies with an entirely unflattering overall record of 7 wins, 16 losses, and 2 no results from its T20I matches played since last year’s World Cup. Not exactly the type of record that would create any real sense of confidence heading into as big a tournament as the World Cup!
Not surprisingly and as a direct reflection of the 0-2 loss score line there were very few positives to be discerned as takeaways from the West Indies’ performance during the series. By contrast, there were also far too many easily identifiable negatives!
Of the very few readily identifiable positives, by far the biggest would have to be the continuing emergence of Alzarri Joseph as a world-class fast bowler. Joseph had overall returns of 5/38-8 at the end of the two-match Series. Both his average (7.60) and economy rate 4.75 were the very best among all those who bowled at least five overs for either of the two teams. His series tally of five wickets was also second only to Australia’s Mitchell Starc who claimed six victims. As indicated, however, Starc’s 10.0 average and 7.50 economy rate were both much inferior to Joseph’s.
Ball-smashing T20 star Chris Gayle believes the West Indies could struggle at the upcoming World Cup, a tournament that they will head into with a new generation of players.
For the first time in decades, the likes of Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, and Andre Russell will not be a part of the team. While Bravo and Pollard have retired from international cricket, Russell was not selected for the squad after an indifferent run of form.
Instead, the unit will feature the likes of burgeoning T20 star Nicholas Pooran and a host of other talented players yet to prove themselves on the international stage for the Caribbean team.
"It will be very difficult for the West Indies team as the captain of the team is new and there is no Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, and Bravo in the team," Gayle told India daily Dainik Jagran.
