A Look Ahead - Your Thoughts

Sammy will take control of the test team following the conclusion of the series in Pakistan. Will there be sweeping changes? Will they include a change of captaincy? We will have to wait and see...

Next up, a genuine test on home soil against Australia. Three test matches, thankfully, rather than the usual pair, to go up against arguably the best test side in the world.

OVERVIEW:

There are so many issues with the West Indies side, it is difficult to know where exactly to start. Yes, grass roots level is to be addressed but for the immediate future, right at the top, is the best place to start. Personally, I want to see a change in captaincy and a change in approach - more positive from the outset with the bat, rotation of the strike is the key element that has been mostly missing with the West Indies sides of late, this must be addressed immediately. Fielding is overall, OK, at best, with a huge improvement needed in the slip cordon. This, as the fast bowlers best friend, must be made another top priority. For the fast bowling is the one area that the test team is looking strong in. Jayden Seales, Shamar Joseph, the experienced Kemar Roach and to a lesser extent, Alzarri Joseph, will be a good attack against anybody on surfaces that should suit the home side - and this, brings me to another huge problem. For too long, the pitches fail to assist the encouragement of stroke playing batsmen and fast bowlers alike. The West Indies will not be a strong side when the ball is turning, their spinners are rarely going to dominate visitors but the quicks will provide the opportunity to keep them relevant, if the batting can become, shall we say, less brittle.

PLAYERS:

This is where we will all have our own hopes (pun intended!) and opinions. No one player is going to turn around the fortunes of the side but the amount of talent, that is currently out of the picture and not in consideration, is hurting and hurting badly. Shai Hope, Evin Lewis, Daren Bravo, Brandon King and others currently only play white ball cricket. Will this change for one or two of them? Only time will tell.

Gentlemen, I invite your (positive and constructive only) thoughts...

In reply to 4REALQUICKS
he'll need to integrate some members of the ODI squad into the test team for sure. And we have to perform well against australia next year. Under the current threats, i think that series will be the most important series for a WI side in a generation. We beat Australia, and the entire tier 2 talk for us at least evaporates. We have already proven that we can compete against them. I'd also strongly suggest they hire lara and sarwan as batting coaches for the series, let them iron out weaknesses early....doh ask them to two weeks before the tour to try and work miracles. we don't have that wiggle room.

In reply to 4REALQUICKS


I am curious, are the matches being played in Australia?

Sammy will win the series. You can bookmark this post ....

In reply to Kay

not if kraigg in the side............going in with ten men if that happens

In reply to Jumpstart

Sammy is used to the 10 man team operation.

In reply to JoeGrine

Is there time to do an A tour before Australia? Our international batsmen need better opposition than what is provided in our FC season or at least opposition on better pitches. To me, the beginning of any turn around must be that we improve the pitches in the region so that we can sort out who can really bat and who can really bowl. I do not think that a great performance against Oz will end the Tier 2 talk. That is like roaches. By time it came out in the open, it was already infested in the minds of those who make decisions. I have no problem in being in Tier 2 because even one victory against a top side (which is totally unrealistic anyway) does not solve 2 decades of decline. I think that we need to take 2025 as a year of planning. Not trying just to plaster sores by trying to get a victory (which unfortunately is Sammy's style to date which is why we have not blooded any new players in white ball cricket over the past few months) but trying to identify players who, though inexperienced, show the temperament and work ethic to succeed on an international scene. Sammy should concentrate at least in part on that. Our bowling at least appears to be of international standard so this is much less a worry than our batting but Kraigg needs to step down as captain and concentrate on his batting. he would not be the first to do so.

In reply to PalsofMine


we have world class bowlers now....get those batsmen in a camp, prepare decent wickets and chose the guys who succeed.

In reply to JoeGrine


OUCH!

It's been spoken about for years now about the state of the pitches in the Caribbean. They need to be better for genuine battles between bat and ball.

At least 1 'A' Team series or Tour per-year. Some Academy talent like Kevlon, Wickham, Andrew, Thorne and others can experience different conditions, different opposition while it can offer opportunities to Louis etc.

In reply to Jumpstart

It Will be the end of any unity amongst players and team management, if those two indiscipline trouble makers are ever included near the test team, Lara and Sarwan

In reply to Kay

The man said positive and constructive thoughts only.

In reply to JoeGrine

In reply to 4REALQUICKS

The Windies have a very good core of young fast bowlers in Seales, Shamar, Alzarri and Roach. I do not see Roach staying beyond the Test series against Australia.

Although there seems to be a dearth of good batsmen in the region, there is still some talent among what we have.
In that regard, the coach, the selectors / and the cricket board need to put their collective heads together and come up with a grand plan.

That plan could be a camp.
Extend an olive branch to players like Bonner, Mayers, Hope, Blackwood , Hetmeyer, Jason Holder, Tage, even Reifer. Add some youths like Jewel and McKenzie.
Get these guys together with the current players that are in Pakistan and get two teams of 11 players each to play against each other for a series of several matches.
Ensure that each team has at least two fast bowlers and two spinners.

Mandate that the selectors are present for that camp for every game so they can take notes and observe each player.
You would be surprised at the results.
In the absence of anything else, that would be my approach to pick the best eleven before a series

In all honesty I am not sure how this team will improve in the near future.
The selectors chop and change players because they are not performing, but in doing so all they are doing is exposing a sytemic problem.
Our young lads think they can bat, but they can't.

On this board we tend to hype, even overhype players when they manage a paltry score against local opposition.
That small success gives them a path to the senior team and then they are thrown to the wolves.
After a string of failures in at most 10 innings they get dumped, probably to be never selected again.

Myopic......one word for posters.....

A player who has experience of playing. about 100 test, cannot be simply thrown away..... similarly as in case of Darren Bravo.....Brathwaite is low in confidence and horrendously out of form.....but he is just 32 years old and can surely play regional, get his form back....Kohli, Roots, Williamson, Mccullum,many left captaincy and prospered as player....Brathwaite can surely play for another 5 years....

My take...going forward...three batters

Darren Bravo
Brathwaite
Bonner

Should be the fulcrum.....
Add..newbies
Louis
Hodge
Athanaze
Anderson
Wickham
Carty
Imlach
Tage
McKenzie

Silva also had some technical issues but has shown to be stubborn....he can surely play regional, correct his flaws and comeback as batter....

All rounders..
Holder....most intelligent player, always reinventing his game...

Greaves...very hard working..
Sinclair...a character....can be developed into very good test player...

Motie
Warrican
A leggie from Academy

Shamar
Seales
Joseph
Phillips
Few newbies....

Roach already working as player- mentor....bowlers in safe hands...

.Hooper or Lara be given charge of Academy team, with addition to batting coach of regional side....

Sammy is good man- manager.....
King
Hope surely going to be in squad against Australia...

Lewis can be talked to play red ball, but very unlikely he will agree...

In reply to JoeGrine

It is a home series for the West Indies.

In reply to PalsofMine

I agree with every point you made. For me, that is a well constructed post full of thoughtful comment.

In reply to WICFan

True, very true. The debate about the surfaces produced has seemingly been going on in the background for many years. I was pleased when Brathwaite took the opportunity to openly state how they need to be improved - even though he said that they were slowly getting better, which I agree with. So much more room for improvement though.

Do not get me wrong or be misled by the username, yes, I love watching genuine quicks, especially West Indians! However, I do see a room for a decent spinner or two in the main 20 or so players that should form a nucleus to work with. The problem is, and will remain so, any slow bowler in the region just has to bowl a half decent line & length to claim bags full of wickets in the regionals. The batsmen are so lost at sea when facing slow bowling, it has gotten worse and worse over the years. So, A.Spinner gets his call up after taking 20 wickets at 15 apiece only to be found out at international level. The same can be said of swing and that is due to the same deficiency in moving the feet and maintaining a balanced form when playing the shot.

Get pace and bounce into the surfaces, it improves every type of player and especially, the stroke players and fast bowlers that have always been the strength of the West Indies.

In reply to 4REALQUICKS

It was a rhetorical question. There is no current scenario where WI (playing against Australia) can enjoy a surface that will suit their bowlers and not backfire on their batsmen.

In reply to Onionman0


You are forgetting one key piece of information. Those players (unlike Brathwaite) prospered prior to and during their captaincy.

In reply to JoeGrine

You are correct but only a harsh judge would use that series as the ultimate. They will be up against the best of the best for sure, be it home or away. However, due to the gulf in talent, despite the drawn series in Australia last year (seems so long ago!), a weakened Australia side, especially their bowling attack, may well arrive in the region in six months time. It may tip the scales slightly, if it does happen. That series needs to show a pattern, a change of approach, regardless of results. On more of this 50/3 at lunch...