Despite the unwelcomed result of a lopsided defeat, by six wickets with 55 balls remaining, the West Indies’ opening encounter of its current, three-match ODI Series against the visiting Bangladesh has provided some useful pointers. Particularly regarding the West Indies’ ongoing preparation for their participation in next year’s India-hosted ICC 50 Overs World Cup.
The nature of the West Indies’ loss, their eight in succession to Bangladesh, has highlighted several areas in which significant improvements will have to be made if they are to remain among the ICC’s top eight ranked teams as automatic qualifiers for next year’s World Cup. The West Indies are currently placed fifth on the standings for the World Cup’s automatic qualifiers.
The results of the matches in their current series against Bangladesh, will, however, have no bearing on the West Indies chances for automatic World Cup qualification. Nor for that matter will those from the hosted ODI matches against India, which will follow almost immediately after the conclusion of the Bangladesh Series. The West Indies’ final World Cup qualification-relevant matches will be at home against the visiting New Zealand this August.
There will be sufficient time and as many as five available matches, two remaining against Bangladesh as well as three upcoming versus India, for the West Indies to correct the now very obvious and serious flaws in their ODI performances. The most significant of which, the alarming number of dot balls faced in each innings batted, has now been an ongoing issue for much too long.
In the West Indies eventual total of 149/9 0ff the 41 available overs in the July 10 rain-affected first ODI against Bangladesh, which was played at Guyana’s Providence National Stadium, there were 70 dot balls out of the 90 deliveries of the first 15 overs, 89/12o after 20 and 124/150 by the completion of the 30th. Small wonder that the West Indies now rank lowest among the ICC’s top eight ODI countries with the highest percentage of dot balls faced.
The West Indies top order batsmen’s apparent inability to rotate the strike, by picking up ones and twos at every available opportunity, still obviously continues to be a major issue. In the first ODI against Bangladesh, opening batsman Kyle Mayers faced 27 deliveries in scoring just 10. Sharmarh Brooks, batting at number 3, was not much better with his 66 balls 33. Brandon King at four required as many as 31 balls for his eventual contribution of just 8 runs.
The dismissal of Shai Hope, the West Indies’ best ODI batsman within the past two to three years, bowled without scoring off the very first ball of the innings was admittedly a major setback that would have necessitated a cautious approach by his top-order teammates to rebuilding the innings. Being cautious should, however, never be equated with allowing opposing bowlers to get away with bowling three, four at times even five balls per over off of which no runs are scored. That equates to allowing opposing bowlers to build pressure into forcing batsmen to eventually play, injudicious, high-risk shots which more often than not subsequently results in their dismissal.
Both King and Brooks’ dismissals in the first ODI were graphic illustrations of that exact cause-and-effect scenario. King was out caught at mid-off, attempting to hit over the top. Brooks followed immediately after, off the very next ball, needlessly slashing at a very wide delivery to be caught behind. Those dismissals left the West Indies struggling at 55/4 off 22 overs. More than half the available overs gone with not enough runs on the board.
The combination of the early loss of top-order wickets for relatively low scores within the first 20-25 overs of a 50-overs match, places undue pressure on any team’s middle and/or lower order batsmen who then must spend time rebuilding the innings before launching into unrestrained aggression as it nears its close. Knowing how to properly pace a 50-overs innings is, therefore, a skill set that the West Indies batsmen obviously now still lack and one which they will have to acquire as part of their World Cup preparation. The 50 overs first strike par score for most top-ranked teams has long since become in excess of 300.
In order to consistently post such totals, either when batting first or chasing, the West Indies’ top-order batsmen will have to be at their very best. One of the top five, usually Shai Hope as the opener, will have to anchor the innings, playing the low-risk shots while rotating the strike as a perfect foil which would also his teammates to be as aggressive as necessary at the other end.
In the hopefully temporary absence of both Evin Lewis and Shimron Hetmeyer, the West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran is arguably the team’s only other world-class batsman. As such Pooran’s recently poor ODI form is rapidly becoming an increasing cause for concern.
In the 41 ODI innings he has played for the West Indies within the past three years (2019-2022), Pooran has scored only 1220 runs at an average of 29.75. That’s a bit short of acceptable for any top-order batsman. Even more so for Pooran as captain and one of the West Indies’ batting leaders.
Pooran in an interview before the start of the first Bangladesh ODI indicated that while he was fully aware of his relatively poor form of late, it was, however, not a major concern. If it isn’t currently then it certainly soon will be if it continues to border on the unacceptable.
“Class is permanent, form temporary,” is an acknowledged cliché that applies not only to all sports including cricket but as well to almost any other form of human endeavour. The flip side of that adage though is the fact that one of the fundamental requirements of cricket captaincy is for the individual who bears that responsibility to always merit his or her place on the team.
Pooran’s primary role on the West Indies ODI team is that of a top-order batsman whose duty is to consistently produce runs. If he continues to fall short of expectations in the fulfilment of his primary role, the knives of those clamouring for his neck will soon be sufficiently sharpened and put to use.
Hopefully, Pooran’s expressed confidence in his talents as well as his ability to recapture his lost form, sooner rather than later, will be justified to the delight and relief of all West Indies team supporters. The remaining
matches against Bangladesh and those against a somewhat weakened India will provide him with ample opportunities to do so.
They will also provide the West Indies batting unit as a whole with opportunities to significantly reduce their dot balls faced percentages and improve their strike rotation. The matches will also provide the West Indies bowlers with opportunities to identify and adhere to the optimum lines and lengths. Those that will be required to sufficiently restrict the scoring by opposing batsmen to the extent necessary to produce the desired victorious results.
Just as importantly, the respective player performances in the World Cup qualification non-impacting matches against Bangladesh and India should provide the West Indies selectors with sufficient evidence to allow them to select the strongest possible squad for the more important series against New Zealand this August. With vital World Cup automatic qualification points at stake against the Kiwis, West Indies will want to be at their strongest for that Series.
Much to be done within an ever-decreasing amount of available time.
About The Writer: Guyana-born, Toronto-based, Tony McWatt is the publisher of both the WI Wickets and Wickets/monthly online cricket magazines that are respectively targeted toward Caribbean and Canadian readers. He is also the only son of the former Guyana and
West Indies wicket-keeper batsman the late Clifford “Baby Boy” McWatt.
