The last two years in West Indies cricket has been, simply put, a period of change. The latest of which will see Kraigg Brathwaite, on Sunday morning in Antigua, taking the field as official captain of the West Indies Test team for the first time. The transition from former captain Jason Holder to Brathwaite, has, in effect, seen the West Indies swapping an all-rounder who currently walks into any Test XI on the merit of performance—while falling short as a tactical leader—for an opener, who has been averaging 22.6 over the last 25 months—while being deemed as the man to lead WINDIES forward, in red-ball cricket.
However, this argument of tactical awareness, or the lack thereof, should not distract us from the fact that the first Test against Sri Lanka will signal the start of a new era for this West Indies team; therefore, demanding patience from Caribbean fans. Gratefully, as with Holder before him, Brathwaite will have a bowling line-up that practically selects itself—with competent ‘second-string’ options. Likewise, the struggles his predecessor wrestled—including Brathwaite’s lack of form, along with that of the entire top-order—neither of which will instantaneously vanish.
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