Performance at the regional First-Class level will open the door for selection to the West Indies senior men’s cricket team, says lead selector The Most Honourable Desmond Haynes. And the West Indies batting great has stressed that improvement in regional batsmanship was needed across all three formats.
Speaking during a virtual press conference held this afternoon where the squad to play against England in the imminent Test series was announced, Haynes who sits on the men’s selection committee with former West Indies captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, spoke to the batting problems that have plagued the West Indies team for a protracted period of time. He also addressed some of the selections and omissions from the 13-man squad. Noting that the players had to show their mettle in regional tournament consistently, Haynes said the selection panel was aware that something had to be done with regards to improving the senior team’s batting.
“This is the message which we are sending to the batting because we need to get our batting right. Not only in the Test format but the 50 over game, in the T20s,” Haynes told the media.
He added: “That is what we want. . .people question how strong our domestic season is and our competition, but the main fact is that if the guys are playing in it, and they are doing well, and yes they would be up for selection. We are looking at Test cricket now but we have got some fifty over games coming up and we have to be preparing for fifty-over competitions and the World Cup in 2023 as well.
“So, it is important for these guys when they are playing in the domestic season to do well, to catch our eyes and again as I said at the beginning, we are really a new panel, Sars (Ramnaresh Sarwan) and myself, we want to see the players and we want to make sure that when we are judging them from their ability, they have got some runs as well but also they can play a role that we want them to play.”
With the Caribbean side led by captain Kraigg Brathwaite preparing to do battle against England in the Apex Test series from March 8th to 12th at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, Haynes explained that much thought had gone into the selection process of the players who were chosen. While Jamaican left-handed opener John Campbell and Barbadian Shamarh Brooks have been recalled, there is no room for Barbadian allrounder Roston Chase and wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich, along with Trinidadian pacer Shannon Gabriel who is said to be affected by a hamstring injury.
“It is a bit unfortunate that we’ve really got (only) a few more games but with the two games that we saw with a good batting wicket in Barbados – Kraigg Brathwaite showed that if you get good surfaces, he can make big runs and he made a double (century). We have John Campbell, he did make a hundred. . . yes, we did discuss Chase. We think that Chase is a very vital member of the West Indies side especially if he can get the balance right with his off-spin bowling. We had a long discussion about that. We also spoke about his batting. I had a chat with Roston and he realised that he has to go and do some work and he promised me he is doing that,” Haynes said.
Chase averages 14.95 in his last 21 Test innings since the start of the series in England in July 2020, while his compatriot Hope averages 16.28 in 14 innings in the same timeframe. Despite his woes at the Test level, Hope has been the batting mainstay of the ODI side, but now his form has dipped in that format as well, enduring a poor run in the recent tour of India.
Haynes added: “We did get the clearance from the West Indies Cricket Board and the medical panel saying that Dowrich was available for selection but we decided that we will go with Joshua Da Silva. He has had a (good) run since we just came back from the tour of Sri Lanka and he is doing pretty well at the moment. But yes, we did have discussions regarding Shane Dowrich as well and that is the reason Dowrich is captaining the West Indies President’s Xl game.”
Several questions were also raised as to why Trinidad and Tobago opening batsman Jeremy Solozano – who was struck on the helmet on debut while fielding during the Sri Lanka series – was not recalled for the upcoming Test series having not had the opportunity to actually play after his concussion. Solozano, though averaging a meagre 24 in regional cricket, was picked for that tour by the selection panel then led by former West Indies off-spinner Roger Harper.
Haynes stated that the CWI selection panel opted to give Campbell another shot at the Test level given his impressive showing so far in the Regional First-Class competition.
“It was a good discussion regarding the openers and as you know that in itself is something we really want to resolve rather shortly. I think in all good teams you find that they have got good opening batsmen, so we are hoping to get our opening batsmen with some confidence and make sure they can do the job for us. . . it was a bit unfortunate for Jeremy but we decided that – look – put him in the President’s Xl game whereas the selectors can have another look at him. As you know it was a bit unfortunate getting struck on the head and he didn’t get a chance to play in Sri Lanka,” Haynes said.
The chief selector said he was not averse to outside-the-box thinking and explained that he had encouraged Nicholas Pooran – who is uncapped at Test level and has made only five appearances in his first-class career – to make himself available for some red-ball cricket.
“When the team was here, I had a conversation with Nicholas Pooran, saying to him I believe that if he can make himself available to play some red-ball cricket, I believe it will help his batting a lot. He did acknowledge the conversation. I personally want to know that players who are playing cricket for West Indies can play in any format of the game,” Haynes said.
Trinidad and Tobago fast bowler Anderson Phillip is the newcomer to the Test squad after an impressive start to the domestic season where he is the leading wicket-taker with 12 scalps in two matches. He has caught the eye in his first-class career so far with 64 wickets in 16 matches at an average of 20.14.
The other two matches in the Apex series are scheduled for March 16th to 20th at Kensington Oval. Meanwhile, the third and final match is March 24th to 28th at the Grenada National Stadium.
West Indies squad for first Test: Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Jermaine Blackwood (vice-captain), Nkrumah Bonner, Shamarh Brooks, John Campbell, Joshua Da Silva (wk), Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Veerasammy Permaul, Anderson Phillip, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales.
(morissalindsay@barbadostoday)
