MANCHESTER, England, CMC – Assistant coach Roddy Estwick has urged batting star Shai Hope to rediscover his best red-ball form, if West Indies are to put pressure on England’s bowlers in next month’s three-Test series.
While Hope has set the world ablaze with his imperious form in the one-day format where he averages 52, he has noticeably struggled in the Test arena with an average of 27 belying his obvious quality.
The 26-year-old masterminded the now famous win at Leeds three years ago when he scored a hundred in both innings of the second Test but has not passed three figures since and has averaged a paltry 19.
In contrast during the same period, he has blasted eight hundreds and 13 fifties in One-Day Internationals, at an average of 57.
“He’s been outstanding in the white-ball format. We now need to get him now to transfer that form he’s carrying into [red] ball cricket,” Estwick told reporters.
“He hasn’t made a century in Test cricket since the back-to-back centuries at Headingley so we need Shai now.”
Hope arrived in England in 2017 with a miserly average of 17 from seven Tests and failed again in both innings of the first Test at Birmingham in a crushing innings and 209-run defeat inside three days.
However, he produced two high quality innings at Headingley to etch his name into history, becoming the first-ever player to score a hundred in both innings at the venue in 127 years of first class cricket.
His first innings 147 helped rescue West Indies from 35 for three early on the second day and propelled them to 427 all out while his second innings, unbeaten 118 saw the Caribbean side overhaul a target of 322 on the final day.
In 33 innings since that tour, the elegant right-hander has notched just three half-centuries with a best of 90 not out against minnows Zimbabwe in late 2017.
Now an entrenched member of the West Indies setup, Estwick said it was important Hope assumed responsibility on the current tour and produced “world class performances”.
“He’s a lot more experienced, we need him to be ready, we need the batting to really click in England because if the batting clicks, it gives us a chance really with the bowling we’ve got,” stressed Estwick.
“And once we can put scores on the board we can become a lot more competitive so Shai is very, very important to us. He knows that, he’s now one of the senior members of the group so he’s really got to stick his hand up and gives us some really world class performances.”
Speaking to media via Zoom from quarantine yesterday, Hope conceded it was a critical time to improve his form in the longest format but remained at a loss to explain why he had not excelled recently.
“Obviously we want to change that [from] around. Red ball is actually my favourite part of the game but the runs and the stats aren’t exactly where I want it to be but I’m working towards that,” he pointed out.
“Honestly, I can’t pinpoint anything at this stage [to explain my form in Tests]. I wouldn’t say my preparation has changed, I don’t think it’s anything major when it comes to my technical side of the game.
“Obviously there are certain things you can tweak as you go along but having said that it’s probably more of a mental thing. Hopefully I can turn that around especially in this series and move on from there.”
