Perreira sees encouraging signs of West Indies revival

West Indies are showing encouraging signs of progress, but the regional side still has considerable work to do before it can confidently claim to have turned the corner, veteran cricket commentator Joseph Reds Perreira has warned.

Fresh from their 1-0 Test series victory over Bangladesh, Perreira believes the team’s batting is becoming increasingly competitive, but says greater consistency is needed, particularly from the bowling attack, if the Windies are to challenge the world’s leading sides.

“Yes there has been steady progress but we must not think that we have turned the corner straight away. We have to be able to compete with people in the top six and in the top five. When we can do that both abroad and at home, it’s going to look a lot more convincing that we turned the corner,” he told Barbados TODAY.

He added: “What is important is that we work with our ‘A’ team and our younger squads, and make sure that we are developing that talent even at the Under-19 level.”

Reflecting specifically on the Test series in Bangladesh, Perreira believes West Indies performed very well, despite drawing the final game.

“Ideally we would have liked to have won 2-0 but you’re playing Bangladesh in their backyard.

“Not many countries are successful in Bangladesh and we had one or two injuries but overall, in a sense, we outplayed and in particular out-bowled Bangladesh on their own very special turning pitches,” he said. 

Amir Jangoo was the top West Indian batsman, after scoring 172 runs at an average of 86.00, followed by Kevin Wickham, who scored half-centuries in both innings of his debut Test, to end the series with an average of 69.50.

Encouragingly for West Indies, Kavem Hodge, John Campbell and Brandon King also averaged over 50 during the series, while captain Roston Chase and all-rounder Justin Greaves averaged 43.00 and 35.33 respectively.

According to Perreira, batting is now the team’s most consistent discipline.

“The batting is getting very competitive and the next time we play in a test, it will be interesting to see what will be the lineup, because a number of players were outstanding. Who is going to get the opening spots eventually? Who will bat at number three? Everybody is marking their name and the batting in general looks very encouraging indeed. There were some excellent partnerships.

“Wickham’s debut was great. I think we can’t fault that debut and the likes of Hodge King and Campbell all pulled their weight. I think Jangoo offers a lot for the future. He is good enough to play all three formats but I would like to suggest that he sticks to the Test game and to the ODIs. Wickham reminds me a little bit of Dujon when he got his place in Australia, after he replaced Deryck Murray. He took his chance with both hands and Wickham… demonstrated that he’s got good fundamental skills….” Perreira noted.

Left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican was named Player-of-the-Series after snaring 16 wickets. It’s a feat which Perreira believes will force Gudakesh Motie to step up his game even further.

“We can’t deny that Warrican is a master spinner in the subcontinent. Those pitches are ideal for him. He has the ability to bowl that consistent nagging line as needed. I think Motie is going to be working much harder on his control. I think he’s naturally more of a hard wicket bowler and is good for Western cricket.”

Perreira also gave high marks to all-rounder Justin Greaves who had a solid series in both departments, but was slightly concerned about the struggles of the pace bowlers during the series. 

“I was a little disappointed in Shamar Joseph and maybe to a lesser extent  Jayden Seales. I expected them to perform a lot better, but if you’re not consistent, you can be giving away a lot of runs. 

“In that situation, you have to be really spot on with your length. It’s time for a serious look and serious work for us to become a consistently better bowling side.” Perreira said.

(KH)