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His record is mediocre but his talent and class is evident. If he dons the gloves, he could bat at 6 and should his batting click, there is more upside there than with a regular keeper.

I feel he should be given a go against Bangladesh. And we take it from there

Let him earn his spot. Play regional 4 dayers and show us.

And ppl who have played the game even little bit, know the 2 formats are miles apart. Test is just that a test, and these fellows have been tested and found wanting. Ho back to FC and develop your concentration and patience.

In reply to natty_forever

True. But it’s not that he’s not showed anything in tests: he’s had a couple of good knocks in tests and then lost his way

In reply to natty_forever

.

Lol. Excuses ..... excuses

Last year Shai Hope played 3 matches as wicketkeeper batsman for Yorkshire and averaged 60 in the 4 innings he batted and yet you folks were saying the same thing to argue why he should not be on the tour to England, of all places. Most of our senior cricketers who play white ball cricket hardly play any 4 day matches in the Caribbean, yet you would want to exclude one who has at least got in some red ball cricket and who averages 50 in one day international cricket. It is just dishonest thinking to suggest Shai Hope would not have the mentality to play test cricket, even batting at no.6.

In reply to Logic

Actually I forgot about that. So he is qualified.

I think that the Super 50 should be the effective qualifiers for the Bangla test series. I think that Silva's place is definitely up for grabs but the metric may have to be good keeping and an average at least 20 above Silva's average for someone to take his place. Aljo's place is also up for grabs. Metric has to be no less than -5 wickets and an average perhaps 3 runs per over lower than Aljo. Motie had a bad outing against SA and only so-so against England. Perhaps his place is also up for grabs as should be Cappo's but each show enough to be given another chance. Athanaze and Hodge probably get another series as each had two good innings from the last 5 matches. Mykyle and Carty each get another series as neither has yet reached 10 tests. I know this sounds like chopping and changing but all of these guys have had 2024 to show steady improvement but none really has and we cannot have others just waiting in the wings forever while we allow these guys to find their feet. Nobody is getting younger.

In reply to PalsofMine

Josh place up for grabs,,? Are you crazy.

In reply to PalsofMine

But you going be chopping and changing if we don't give them more time to find their feet. Doing the same thing seeking a different results. It maybe painful but we have no choice.

Hope back in the test team...

Now there is a thought. With the gloves as an added responsibility? For five days...OK, three days more likely...but still...not sure about the latter part. If he wants it, tell him to bring Pooran along with him.

Joshua Da Silva is fine. Not great but fine. Still young and has much room for improvement but if you are going to chop and change based on his level of performance, then you will NEVER have a settled side. Rather bring Hope and Pooran on board IF they are willing to consistently represent the region at the highest level.

Test cricket is the ultimate test, hence the name. Some people are more content to concentrate for shorter periods of time...you know why..? Well it really is simple...it is MUCH easier. And then, there is the added attraction of dollar$...

Hope and Chase should be fixtures on the WI test team.
All the replacements so far has shown nothing or little. Typical WI batsman as they play one good innings and then "fart' down the place as is the current crop.
Why pick 2 spinners left arm orthodox on same team that will gave the same "mediocre" toss ups? Chase can bat and hold the middle. None of his replacements can and none has lifted their batting to match his.
As for Joshua. Maybe he needs to open with Hope since paint is looking "faded". His Braithwaite has been figured out and they have realized he has no foot movement for an opener. He is not agile at the crease. His batting is boring. Does not help the team. Why block 50 balls and score 5 runs? Is that test cricket?
Most WI batsmen have no foot movement. The batting coach is useless .

Nobody should feel their place is safe especially if they are not performing .dasilva is lucky that no other wk has challenged him i cant believe people see the get out shots he has played and his wonky technique and want to promote him in the order
As for hope and pooran if they wanted to be play test cricket they would make themselves available better off concentrating on players who want to play despite how flawed they are and hope one of them come off.
8 to 10 test matches is more than enough time to see how good a player is .

Sorry for bringing this upp agan.

Windies is a struggling test team.
With a can't bat captain,
an unsurety as VC (Dasilva and Alzarri)
There need to be some serious thinking outside the box.

How many top test teams insist that their players play their first class season.
How many games have Stokes, Anderson, Broad etc played over the last few years?
How many games have Kholi, Sharma played?
I am referring to their local first class competition.

Windies brought in the rules in the 80's when the likes of Greenidge etc
were not playing Shell Shield and making the test team.
I wonder how the team was performing during those times...hmmmm?

Windies need to think outside the box.
They must find a way to play their nest players.
Players are refusing central contracts, which minimize their obligation to the CWI.
Look at what the Paks Board doing to their players with NOC's.

This is not an argument for Hope as cappo,
just an argument for Hope and Pooran to be test players.

In reply to TanteMerle

Comparing us to England is so off. How many FC matches did these English players play even before being selected. And why would a proven performer at the highest level need to play FC to keep his place. Hope lost form and was dropped. Seems to have gained that back and lots of confidence. In writing what came to mind, Hope is the exception, most players dropped, fade away, he has reinvented himself. And he has played FC cricket and performed.

In reply to natty_forever

I agree that comparison is not always fair.
However, my point is that we need to get the best players in the test team.
Pooran and Hope are out two best batsmen.
They are proven at white ball.

Same way CWI gave exemptions to Gayle and Fatwall for fitness,
thy need to set up some sort of exemption for Hope and Pooran.

Even King plays red ball when available and do no not get a look in.

CWI rules and stubbornness negatively impacting them.

In reply to TanteMerle

Hope need no exemption, he qualifies for sele tion. Does Pooran want to play Test Cricket?

King qualifies as well.

In reply to natty_forever

That's the route they all have to go so him cyah jess come tek spot like dat,mek him wuk furit.

Johnny Grave in a recent interview said cwi should look to move on from.Hope and Pooran in red ball cricket. I get the impression cwi feel like they got a clear message from the 2

i think good performances in any form of international cricket (not franchise cricket of course) should qualify you for the test team if you are interested in playing test cricket. That message should be sent early so that perhaps certain players may be a little more selective of committing to franchises when WI have test cricket matches. Let us be real. It is more than likely that those who play FC cricket now only do so because they have no other choice to try to get into the test team and get international recognition so as to be scouted. Nothing at all wrong with that in this year of Our Lord 2024. WI, of all test playing nations, has to be realistic because our test team has gone nowhere for the past 20 years

In reply to doosra

That’s why the format is not competitive for WI

The best players don’t want to play it.

The players who commit themselves to red ball cricket are subject to the whims and fancies of the selectors.

Jermaine Blackwood could have gone the white ball route. He has the skill set to do so. Instead, he CHOSE to dedicate himself to red ball cricket.

Despite having no worse, and in some cases a better record than his “competition”, he’s now sidelined from red ball cricket.

Think the best players like Pooran, Hope, King etc don’t pay attention to that? Think that things like that don’t factor into their decision making?

Hope is at the point in his career where test cricket is thankfully a distant memory.

He's reached the pinnacle in his game - excelling in t20!

Why wish the crushing yoke of test cricket pon him?

In reply to imusic

Have you examined Blackwood's white ball cricket.

For one so aggressive in red ball, he was extremely poor at white ball.

He was very below average in red ball as well.

I like Blackwood, but something really wrong with his game.

A very good fielder, a so-so bowler, and an average batsman.

I am not sure that he chose red-ball, as opposed to did not qualify for white ball teams.

Why so much craving for players, who are not very keen on Red ball cricket......There are chalk and cheese difference between red ball players and white ball players......

A red ball player can surely excel in white ball......but seldom the reverse.... very few, player can come from white ball to test.....

West Indies has very good young talents both batters and bowlers.....

Give these 10-12 players, at least 3 years Central contract...groom them to be good test players..... with provision to play IPL & CPL.....in addition one more league......

A consistent selection process and policy......

A robust player development program......

A transparent appointment of team management.....

A set of trained and competent back room staffs.......

In two years time, we will be competing with the best....

https://www.cricketweb.net/modern-day-cricketers-are-pampered-a-bit-too-much-dennis-waight/

Cupboard are full with talents......only arrange to accordingly.....

In reply to Onionman0

If Red ball players are so skilled…..why nobody comes out to see them?

Who besides BCA and CWI sponsoring kraigg Brathwaite?

You telling me with the name Chanderpaul, no company in Guyana willing to significantly invest in Tage?

When last have you even attended a test match?

Even a die hard like Chrissy prefer to stay home and do anything else than go to a test match these days.

It’s a fallacy that IN THE WEST INDIES…..red ball cricketers are better than white ball cricketers. That simply is not the case and you know it.

In reply to imusic

If you look at Australian, England, India,New Zealand and to an extent South Africa....their red ball cricketers also excelling in white ball.....

Kohli, Rohit,Aiyar,Rahul,Bumrah, Williamson,Boult,Henry,Starc,Warner,Marsh, Roots,Brooks,Markaram,Rabada,Ngidi.....the list is endless.....

As for West Indies....your comments.... itself makes it clear what ails West Indies cricket.....

The fans, The administration, The sponsors has all abandoned Red ball cricket..... With no proper development of red ball cricket.....the white ball has suffered worst....

World Cup 2019...Two wins 7 losses..
World Cup T-20 2021- 1 win relegated to qualifiers..
World Cup T-20 2022..Failed in qualification
World Cup 2023 Failed to qualify
World Cup 2024 T-20 Poor
Failed to qualify for Champions Trophy...
From Holder ,Pollard, Pooran to Hope and Powell... results bad to worse...

We have powerhouse white ball players....plying trade all across the world.... very much in demand....

Building innings, rotating strikes, converting Single into two.....all these basic.....comes from red ball cricket....

In early 2000, England first resurrected their test side....then slowly build towards white ball success...

It's an illusion that we are good at white ball cricket....

The day we... administration,fans, sponsors realise without upgrading our ref ball cricket, West Indies cricket would never excel in white ball cricket...

In reply to imusic

I'm no hexpert, but how do you know this?
What metrix are you using to form this evaluation?

My metrix shows me that the issue may be related to motivation.
I do believe that Hope and Pooran are the best batsmen in the Windies.
My metrix tells me that King would make a great test player.
My metrix tells me that Gayle, Big Bravo and Pollard would have made great test players.
Same for Narine (pelting aside), and Russel (knee aside).

We all speculate about this and that.
Many here keep saying the this and that player not interested in red ball.
Maybe they are not interested in the politics.
Maybe they are not interested in playing under Braffit.

Who really knows!!!

One matrix I know, most good to great test batsmen go on to play all formats at a high level.

In reply to natty_forever

Preach bro.

Windies issues go far beyond the field.

VOR has been preaching it for years now.
GOVERNANCE.

What format do our U15’s, U17’s, U19’s etc play?

When they play for WI at that level, what format do they play?

At that level, how much red ball cricket do they play? Against whom?

since the advent of white ball cricket, our most successful players of that era onwards have INCREASINGLY played white ball cricket, and since fhe advent of T20, they hardly olay red ball cricket.

When the WI won the U19 World Cup, what format did they play? Was it red ball cricket?

The ones that do play red ball cricket are the less successful players…..particularly in the batting department.


If you can honestly tell me that kraigg brathwaite, Mikel Louis, tage chanderpaul, Raymon Reifer, Shamar Brooks, Jermaine Blackwood, Nkurmah Bonner, Josh DaSilva etc are better players than the players that secure contracts with T20 franchises, then there’s nothing more to discuss.

The players in the region that play red ball cricket regularly and get selected for the test team are the best of what’s left over after the best players get contracts with T20 franchises. And I’m speaking specifically of batsmen here.

The lone current exception to that is Aiick Athanaze. And don’t be surprised when he too decides test cricket is no longer for him.

I don’t envy the people in the marketing department at CWI trying to come up with ways to get people to come out to matches when all they have to promote is kraigg Brathwaite and crew.

Perhaps the single most futile exercise in professional sport today

In reply to imusic

One correction, those who went on to play T20 and no longer played test, notice no longer. So they at least played a lot more red ball than these playing for us now. Maybe the biggest factor.

We can probably pay our T20 team less as these players, for marketing purposes, will play for the WI.

And not because F50 is white ball, the better players are those who play red ball.

I’M VERY SURE, that Hope is a better batsman than Kraigg. I feel sorry for the person who would disagree with that.

Test quad for RSA Series: -

Braffit
DaSilva
Athanaze
KC
Bryan Charles
Justin Greaves
Jason Holder
Kavem Hodge
Tevin Imlach
Shamar Joseph
Mikyle Louis
Mootie
Kakaroach
Jaden Seales
Warrican’t

Anyone here really believes that the above squad is better than: -

Hope
DaSilva
Athanaze
KC
Bryan Charles
Justin Greaves
Jason Holder
Kavem Hodge
Pooran
Shamar Joseph
Brandon King
Mootie
Kakaroach
Jaden Seales
Warrican’t

Reserves
Miklle Louis
Alzarrie
Isai Thorne
Imlach
Sinclair
Shamar Springer

I pick a reserve group as I can only pick 15 at a time.

Congratulations to Shai Hope on his 1st BBL stint. He was placed in the platinum category for Hobart Hurricanes whose red ball maestro now t20 guru Ricky Pointing worked with Shai at Delhi Capitals during IPL 2024.

PS...Akeal Hossain, Sherfane Rutherford and Fabian Allen also got BBL contracts. Akael has been involved for a while now.

And on WI go.....

In reply to cumberland

Does that mean they will miss the WI Bangla T20 series?

congrats to all . no surprises

In reply to doosra

Once there are no schedule clashes AND they make themselves available for WI assignment all should be well

In reply to cumberland

start of BBL clashes with that Bangla series

After decades of begging, test cricket will finally be included in the olympics! So that's a great sign for its future!!!

In reply to doosra

There you go....Akael, Shai and Sherfane DU

In reply to VIX

Test cricket?

Are you sure?