Batting still a major concern

By Tony McWatt

7/131 and 3/9. 10 wickets lost for 140 runs. An entire batting unit effectively dismissed for under 150!

Thankfully for the West Indies team and its millions of supporters worldwide, those scores occurred not in a single innings but rather in the team’s respective first and second crease appearances in the recently concluded Antigua-hosted First Test against Bangladesh. Despite both collapses, the West Indies prevailed to win the Test by a relatively comfortable margin of seven wickets. The West Indies victory was also achieved within the first hour of the fourth day’s play, well before the Test’s scheduled fifth-day conclusion.

Notwithstanding the final relatively comfortable victory margin, the West Indies batting in both innings of the first Test again provided evidence of an inclination towards dramatic collapses. A worrying trend and major cause for concern that has been continuing for longer than anyone with less than an elephantine memory can now actually remember.

Skipper Kraigg Brathwaite had scores of 94 and 1. He along with the vice-captain Jerome Blackwood’s encouragingly well-composed knocks of 63 and 26 not out were the only batsmen above reproach for the West Indies.

John Campbell, who opened alongside Brathwaite, failed yet again to covert his solid first innings start of 24 into something far more meaningful. Campbell, however, redeemed himself in the West Indies’ second innings with a polished 58 not out. He and Blackwood added an unbeaten 79 for the fourth wicket to help the West Indies recover from its embarrassing 9/3 to reach the required 84 for victory without any further stress.

Campbell’s second innings half-century should serve to provide him with the confidence needed to become much more reliable as the West Indies’ number 2 Test opener. It will at the very least also temporarily silence the many critics who have been stridently calling for his replacement.

While Campbell was busy re-establishing his credentials, Raymon Reifer having been provided with the opportunity to bat at three did absolutely nothing to justify his most baffling selection. Reifer managed to score only 11 when the West Indies batted first. He fared even worse in the second innings, falling caught behind for 2.

More importantly, at no stage of either innings did Reifer ever look comfortable in his attempt to fulfill the pivotal number three role in the batting order. The Desmond Haynes-led West Indies Selection Panel should now be pondering their choice of Reifer for that role over that of Devon Thomas. As a batsman Thomas has a marginally better First-Class average of 29.60 by comparison to Reifer’s 27.49.

Furthermore, Thomas’ 414 runs aggregate in this year’s Caribbean Regional 4 Day Championships was the third-highest among all batsmen. Punctuated as it was by one century and as many as four half-centuries in just seven completed innings, which collectively yielded an impressive 57.85 average.

Reifer by comparison, scored 345 Four Day Championship runs devoid of any centuries and inclusive of only three half-centuries.

His overall average of 49.28 was significantly below that of Thomas’. The expressed choice of Reifer instead of the arguably more deserving Thomas was, therefore, a very baffling decision on the part of the West Indies selectors.

West Indies’ much practised policy within recent times has been to not change a winning team. The second and only remaining Test of the Series is schedul ed for St Lucia from June 24-28. Reifer will, therefore, most likely be granted a second chance to justify the selectors’ expressed faith in his capabilities as a number three Test batsman.

So too will Nkrumah Bonner at number four. Bonner’s technique was found wanting in both of his appearances at the crease. He had scores of 33 and 0 during the Test.

As the West Indies’ number six batsman, Kyle Mayers managed only 7 in the one innings he batted during the Test. More importantly, Mayers’ last ten innings for the West Indies in Tests have produced scores of 7, 28, 36*, 0, 45, 2, 0, 32, 0, 0, 12, 34, 1, 12 and 49.

Furthermore, it has now been almost two and a half years since Mayers burst onto the international scene with his memorable unbeaten match and Series-winning double century in the second innings of his debut February 3, 2021 Test against Bangladesh. In the months since then, he has yet to score another century. He has also scored only two half-centuries amidst no less than seven single-digit scores, including four ducks, in the 20 innings he’s completed

Mayers’ continued inclusion in West Indies playing XI’s has been solely due to his outstanding medium-pace bowling. His uncanny “golden arm” knack of capturing crucial wickets and effecting much-needed breakthroughs has become a most welcomed asset to the West Indies bowling attack in recent times.

Mayers was back at his best during the recent Test. He had the very impressive figures of 2-10/5 overs in the Bangladesh first innings and equally useful returns of 2-30/13 in their second.

Mayers’ wickets were part of an overall outstanding performance by the West Indies bowlers that was the backbone to their eventual victory. Having successfully negotiated a fitness screening prior to the start of the Test, veteran seamer Kemar Roach then proceeded to further emphasize his affinity for the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium track with Player-Of-The Match returns of 7-74/32.5 overs.

Roach’s victims included a second-innings haul of 5/53. He also now leads the list of Test wicket-takers at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium with 50 victims. He has also now equalled the legendary Michael Holding’s record of 249 wickets on the leader board of outstanding West Indies Test bowlers.

Aside from Mayers, Roach was also admirably supported by his fellow seamers Alzarri Joseph and Jayden Seales. Both Joseph and Seales were not at their absolute quickest following their arduous multi-hour travel from Pakistan to arrive in time for the Test. They both also appeared to be that much jaded from the rigours of their respective participation in the ODI Series against Pakistan and Holland that had preceded the Test.

Joseph nevertheless had career-best figures of 3-33 in Bangladesh’s first innings. He also took 3-55 in the second innings.

Seales for his part also took 3-33 in Bangladesh’s first innings. He was, however, wicketless in the second with figures of 0-45/14 overs.

The West Indies remaining bowler, the debutant leg-spinner Gudakesh Motie, failed to capture his maiden wicket during the Test. He was, however, impressively economical at all times and provided a very useful foil of maintaining pressure on the Bangladesh batsmen by not allowing them to ever score freely off his bowling.

Motie also appeared to be extremely comfortable at the crease during his only turn at bat.