debut: 2/16/24
635 runs
In reply to camos
Technically, Shai Hope is a much better player. Unfortunately, he has not been involved in red ball cricket enough through the past few years.
Blackwood started off with a bang and was hailed as the new Viv Richards. Instant pressure and never reached those heights again. Managed to somewhat curb his natural aggressive stroke play during the latter years of his test career and looked like he may be better for it but for somebody with over 140 first class games, he still makes the same wild shots and basic errors. At nearly 33, his ship has probably not only sailed but gone off the edge pf the map. After 56 tests, he barely averaged 30 and scored just three centuries. Watching him scratch around in February / March during the regional red ball championship was actually quite sad. He looked so far removed from the player he once was.
Hope does not boast that dissimilar a test record in that he too started well but quickly faded. His weakness against fast, short pitch bowling soon found him out (a flaw that has since been worked on). In ODI cricket, he remains one of the best in the world. That, makes West Indies fans clamor for his reintroduction into the test side. His last test match action was away to Sri Lanka in late 2021. It was yet another dismal tour for the West Indies, with the only warm up match being abandoned without a ball bowled. The players looked well shy of practice and were undone by the home team who out batted them comfortably in both tests. Hope, along with the rest of the middle order, really struggled.