BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Former West Indies batting coach, Toby Radford, has questioned the mentality of the Caribbean side’s batting group, and has pointed to “panic” as one the main reason for their chronic collapses in the Test format.
Welshman Radford, a member of the successful coaching staff which oversaw West Indies stunning series win over England last year, said once the key top order batsmen Kraigg Brathwaite and Darren Bravo were dismissed, “panic runs through the dressing room” because of the pressure placed on the middle order to rebuild.
“When they get knocked over quickly, suddenly there’s pressure on Roston (Chase) in the middle, (Jermaine) Blackwood is in there, before you know it Jason (Holder) is coming in and you’re under pressure,” said Radford, who completed two spells as Windies batting coach from 2012-13 and 2016 to 2019.
“What we do know with the West Indies team is when they lose one or two wickets, suddenly they’re five down – they go bang, bang, bang. It’s almost like the confidence is lost and that’s [in their] mental capacity to say ‘we’ve lost two, we’re going to be calm, we’re going to rebuild, we’re going to build a new partnership’.
“And we’ve seen it a lot over the years, when they lose two or three [wickets], panic runs through the dressing room and the three becomes six and you’re all out for 200. You’ve just got to rebuild, re-gather, the new bloke comes in and you start again.
“We’re not seeing enough of that but that’s what you want to see.”
Batting collapses typified West Indies’ innings and 134-run defeat in the first Test at Seddon Park last weekend, which left them 1-0 behind in the two-match series.
Well placed on 53 without loss in their first innings early on the third morning, the Caribbean side lost wickets in clusters to decline to 114 for five at lunch.
Three wickets fell for just two runs in the space of 15 balls to leave them 55 for three and a further two perished with the score on 79.
Four wickets then tumbled for 24 runs after lunch, with wicketkeeper Shande Dowrich unable to bat due to injury.
The second innings followed a similar tone as West Indies lost their first four wickets for 27 runs before plunging to 89 for six. Only a rearguard action, in the form of a 155-run, seventh wicket stand between Jermaine Blackwood (104) and Alzarri Joseph (86), saved the tourists complete embarrassment.
Radford said Brathwaite and Bravo remained the two key elements of the Windies batting due to their experience and needed to use their performances to inspire the batting group.
“We know the best of Bravo was probably lost. When Bravo was playing well, he lost a year or two and he’s struggled really coming back in,” Radford told Starcom Radio’s Best and Mason cricket show here Tuesday.
“He had one good Test match against England a couple of years ago but he hasn’t quite got back to where he was.
“I thought that with these early matches on tour in which he played well, that he would bring that confidence and form into the match last week.”
He continued: “And likewise Kraigg Brathwaite, we know he’s up and down. He’s had some huge scores, he’s performed. Again, I was hoping [he would take his form] into the middle last week but neither did.
“And they are the two key batters, I feel, they’re experienced, they have scored runs before in Test cricket – you need them to fire to get a good start [and] to build the innings.”
West Indies face New Zealand in the second Test in Wellington starting today (6 pm, Thursday, Eastern Caribbean time), needing to win to level the series.
Radford said he still harboured memories from the last time West Indies played at the Basin Reserve when they also lost by an innings, with aggressive left-arm seamer Neil Wagner snatching seven wickets in the first innings to end the game with a nine-wicket haul.
“It’s interesting playing at Wellington. I was there last time when we toured New Zealand and it was when Neil Wagner ran in and bowled everything at chest and shoulder height and he really ruffled a few feathers,” Radford recalled.
“It will be interesting if the pitch will be similar [and] whether he’ll bowl with that same tactic. He came on first change and he was very aggressive. He had people fending off the gloves, he knocked them over very very quickly.”
